ILaiyaraaja – The Mindful Musician

 

The propensity in human nature to either blindly believe things real or to refuse to believe anything is well known. Most of us see either black or white. The fact that there is something called grey eludes the human mind. This is less surprising given the fact that after all, human beings are designed that way. At the same time, we are also endowed with the ability to break this and the intelligence to see reality which leads to ultimate realisation.

I am not talking about theism or atheism which is one’s personal choice and which is beyond the scope of this post. What I am trying to bring out is the fact that blind faith on anything will do no good and is as good as not believing. This, in fact, is subjectivity at its best.

Now, look at this verse:

நட்ட கல்லை தெய்வம் என்று நாலு புட்பம் சாத்தியே

சுற்றி வந்து மொண மொண என்று சொல்லும் மந்திரம் ஏதடா

நட்ட கல்லும் பேசுமோ நாதன் உள்ளிருக்கையில்

சுட்ட சட்டி சட்டுவம் கறிச்சுவை அறியுமோ?

You worship a stone by decorating it with flowers and go around it chanting mantras. Can that stone ever talk? This is akin to saying that the vessel used to cook vegetables, knows the taste of the vegetables.

Well, if you assume that this was said by an atheist, you are thoroughly mistaken. This verse was written by Sivavaakkiyar, one of the 18 siddhars of the Tamizh land. A rebel who opposed the caste system, Sivavaakkiyar composed many verses with deep inner meanings. To go back to that verse, he says, ‘Can the stone ever talk when the Divine is inside?’

In fact, what is inside is outside and what is outside is inside. My idea is not to leave you confounded nor is it to sound cryptic. The relationship between the cosmos and the living beings is in fact a proven fact. On the face of it, can we live without the five elements- Earth, Water, Fire, Wind and the Space? Now, take the letters Na Ma Shi Va Ya. On the face of it, it just seems and sounds like a mantra on a God pertaining to a particular religion. However, each syllable pertains to one element- Na to the Earth, Ma to Water, Shi to Fire, Va to Wind and Ya to Space. NAMASHIVAYA also means ‘I bow to the inner consciousness’.

What is inside is outside and what is outside is inside. Within and Without.

This applies to Music as well. It is both inside and outside. When we listen to Music, it seems to be external. However, there is that Music which is always running inside us. When there is a match between these two, it strikes a chord. This is not dissimilar to the frequency match when we tune in to a radio station. Now, when there is a match between the external and the internal, we experience pure bliss. This is what happens when we listen to great musicians and composers. Needless to say, this happens frequently in ILaiyaraaja’s music.

On this special day, let us look at a song which is special as well because of many reasons.

The speciality of Koluvai Unnaade from the Telugu film Swarnakamalam (1988) is not just the fact that it is a ragamaalika. As I keep saying repeatedly in my posts, a raga is not as important as the way it is used. Secondly, this song was written by the Maratha king Shaaji sometime during the 17^th Century and this was part of an Opera which was even staged in the temple. ILaiyaraaja modified it to suit the situation in the movie. He also added Kuchipudi jatis.

The story of the movie revolves around a reluctant dancer who aspires for a glamorous life, the kind of life not possible if she became a classical dancer. That glamour and real art cannot thrive together is known to her, but the fact that an art form is much qualitatively superior to any glamorous form, eludes her. The song itself is composed as if to show her what real art form is and how it would look and sound.

Music, Expressions and Laya form the core of any dance form. And this is what the sloka from Abhinaya DarpaNa, a treatise on Indian Classical Dances, say.

The composition starts with the sloka from this text and as if to show how important these facts are, this is set in PantuvaraLi.

It is spiritual radiance all around with the drone of the tanpura permeating the atmosphere. The jatis are rendered with aplomb by SPB, just before the sloka. Kuchipudi is a dance form known for its fast jatis and the first two aavartanaas are full of fast jatis with no repetition whatsoever. The 3^rd and the 4^th aavartanaas show the grace of the dance form by slowing down the pace while the 6^th aavartanaa, which is also the last, has that teermanam. Is Mathematics not an art too?

The Pallavi and anupallavi in the mellifluous voice of SPB and Suseela give the ornate and the indescribable images of the Divine. Set in a raga called Latangi, which literally means the creeper, it says, ‘ The God of Gods is in a great assembly. Shining like a million suns, He is the enemy of the cupid and women get mesmerised by his form’.

The contrast cannot be missed here. He is the enemy of the God of Love and yet others fall in love with him!

The flute continues with melodic charm in Latangi in the first interlude. The mrudangam sounds with pulsating vibrancy. The finely etched melody of the flute traverses with an air of softness while the mrudangam sounds a fusillade of jatis.

Beauty of contrasts yet again!

There is a sudden twist in the first CharaNam as the raga seamlessly changes to Hamsanaadam. Hamsanaadam is a pentatonic raga and like all pentatonic ragas, it has a beauty of its own.

The CharaNam goes on to describe Shiva and says, ‘He is adorned by the bracelet of snakes on the wrist, the crescent moon on the head and the deer on the hand’. Contrasts yet again to the fore. Snake and the Moon are contrasts as well because it is eclipse when the snake consumes the moon.

Natana Laya Raga Raaja too shows the contrasts with Suseela rendering the lines and SPB rendering the lines parallely. The akaaram in Hamsanaadam is steeped in tranquility and is simple as well as intricate.

Hamsanaadam continues its journey in flute which wafts in and soaks the atmosphere with luminosity. Not to be left behind, the mrudangam sounds with panache, playing some powerful syllables with heightened resonance. It is indeed the monsoon showers from the heavens. Probably, manna from heaven.

O’Henry Raaja continues to enthrall in the second ChraNam by changing the raga to Dharmavati. ‘The gems sparkle and shimmer on the One who wears the tiger skin and who drives away the enemies with His Trident’, says the second CharaNam. Gems, tiger skin and the Trident/ Akaaram, Jatis and Sangatis – Contrasting words, Contrasting meanings, Contrasting sounds.

Contrastingly similar. Similarly contrasting.

And that is what Life is all about. Look for contrasts in similarities and similarities in contrasts.

You will realise the Ultimate Truth!

PS: This post and the previous post in Tamizh were written exclusively for the Raaja Deepam session on Zoom held on the 2nd of June 2021 to celebrate ILaiyaraaja's birthday. It may be noted that though both the posts are about the same song, I have taken two different perspectives.

ILaiyaraaja- The Metaphysical Musician..

Who or what is God?

To some, it is a form. To some, it is without a form. To some it is definite. To some it is indefinite. To some it is finite. To some, it is infinite. To some it is non-existent. To some it exists in the form of Love.

Well, the argument or debate continues and will continue forever.
Whether God exists or does not exist, the very fact that there is always a debate about Him speaks volumes about Him and finally He emerges victorious.(can there be victory or defeat for God?-point to ponder).

Let us look at this verse written by Appar (also called as Thirunaavukkarasar which literally means the one who is the King of the Tongue or Words)

விரிகதிர் ஞாயிறல்லர் மதியல்லர் வேத விதியல்லர் விண்ணு நிலனுந்
திரிதரு வாயுவல்லர் செறுதீயு மல்லர் தெளிநீரு மல்லர் தெரியில்
அரிதரு கண்ணியாளை ஒருபாக மாக அருள்கார ணத்தில் வருவார்
எரியர வாரமார்பர் இமையாரு மல்லர் இமைப்பாரு மல்லர் இவரே.

viri kadhir nyaayiRallar madhiyallar vedha vidhiyallar vinnm nilanum
thiritharu vaayuvallar cheRutheeyumallar theLi neerumallar theriyil
aritharu kanniyaaLai oru baagamaaga aruL kaaNaththil varuvAr
eriyara vaara maarbar imaiyaarumallar imaippaarumallar ivare


He is not the radiant sun nor is He the moon; He does not rule the Vedas; He is not the earth, He is not the sky, He is not the wind that moves around; He is not the glowing fire nor is He the water. He- whose garland is the fierce snake, appears with His consort on one side of his body- is neither a Deva nor a man.

This is one of the beautiful verses that gives the meaning of God in just four lines.

He is not the elements, the poet conveys that He cannot be measured or defined. At the same time, He can take any form-Man or a Woman or both(in fact this particular concept or form of the Masculine and Feminine is called as the Ardhanareeshvara. He was not born. He does not die.

Divine-The one with a form and without a form.

The essence of spirituality.

ILaiyaraaja’s spiritual outlook is well-known. His compositions exude divinity.His music is an external dimension of his spirituality.

As a matter of fact, if one scratches the surface of many of his compositions, one can discover many hidden gems not just in terms of musical value but also in terms of spirituality.

On this very special day as he steps into his 70th year, I am taking up a composition of his that symbolises the Saiva Siddhanta( or the concept of Shiva).

As per Saiva Siddhanta, the Supreme in constantly involved in 5 deeds:

1.Srushti- Creation
2.Stiti- Protection
3.Tirobhava-To obscure/hide (also test)
4.Samhaara- Dissolution
5.Anugraha-To grace

The song ‘Andela Ravamidi’ from the Telugu movie ‘SwarNa Kamalam’(1988) symbolises Saiva Siddhanta.

1.Srushti-

‘My Salutation to such a Guru, who is the Supreme Being’.

The sloka gives an introspective touch and raises our level of consciousness. The raga is Lataangi whose structure is sa ri2 ga3 ma2 pa dha1 ni3 Sa/Sa ni3 dha1 pa ma2 ga3 ri2 sa. The akaaram at the end of each phrase in the clear voice of VaNi Jayaram adds sobriety.

The veena flows like a clear stream. The tabla tarang(melodic percussion) that appears for exactly 4 beats at the end of each avartanam symbolises the smiling buds ready to blossom.

There is a pause.

It is then a panoramic sweep as the raga changes to Dharmavati-whose structure is sa ri2 ga2 ma2 pa dha2 ni3 Sa/Sa ni3 dha2 pa ma2 ga2 ri2 sa- and the TaLa pattern changes to the 3-beat cycle Tisram.

It is Creation as the sloka on Shiva is rendered with clarity and coherence by SPB and VaNi Jayaram. The sloka as well as the percussion follows ‘ta ka/ta ka dhi mi’.

The Tala pattern now changes to Chatushram as we see the beauty of Creation in the Veena that plays the silken strands of Dharmavati.

The ‘ta ta/ ta ri ki ta ta aam’ is played by the mridangam and the ghatam leading us to the Pallavi that has a ‘anaagata eduppu’ with the song starting after the Tala (at 3/4th place).

‘The melodious music from my anklets-is it from my dance steps or is it from the heightened state of my mind’?

‘Does this divine song emanate from my lips or is it just the natural flow of happiness’?

‘This is the fruition of yaagas and the yoga’.

‘PraNava Naadam- the Life’.

Though these are the words of the lyricist( Shri.Sitarama Sastry), the swara patterns themselves convey the meanings.

The entire world reverberates and jumps with joy as the flute and the veena gleefully show a myriad of melodic phrases. The violins move with delicacy and dexterity.

The solo flute shows vivid vistas and the percussion leads to the first charaNam.

Ta ta ri ki ta thom ta ka ta thom thom ta ki ta

2.Protection:

‘Ankle bells sound like the thunder and the movements are like the lightning’

‘I am like the cloud that brings the rains happily, I move like the wind’

‘It is the flow of the Ganga River, expressions like the myriad hues of the sky, True meanings to the art (of life)

‘It is the Dance of the Universe, Song of the water-falls, greenery all around. It is Parvati Devi’

The swara structure in the first line is majestic and beautiful.

The swaras amble across in the second line while the third line shows flexible movements-breezy and reposeful.

The last line shows the classical depth of the raga.

3. Tirobhava:

The chorus sings with an yearning with the sitar going around looking for answers. The search for the ‘hidden’ continues with the flute and the violins tugging at the heart strings.

4.Samhara:

The percussion plays the korvai
Ta ka ta ki ta/ ta ka ta ki ta/ ta ka dhi mi ta ka dhi mi ta ka dhi mi( twice with the one shown in bold played in ‘mel kaalam’)

Ta taangu (5)/ta ka tham(4)/ta ki ta thaam(5)/ta ka dhi mi thaam(6)/ta ka ta ki ta thaam(7)/ta ta thaam(4)/

/ta ta thaam (4)/

ta ka ta ki ta (5)/ ta ri ki ta ta ri ki ta thom (5 in keezh kaalam)/

ta ka ta ki ta(5)/ ta ri ki ta ta ri ki ta/thom (5 in keezh kaalam)/

ta ka ta ki ta(5)/ta ri ki ta ta ri ki ta thom((5 in keezh kaalam).


5.Realisation and Grace:

The glowing eyes -Na
Determination of mind- -Ma
Movement of Breath -Shi
Desire -Va
Thought -Ya

Naadam, Mantram, Stotram,Vedam, Yagyam-

Namashivaya!

At the basic level, meaning of Namashivaya
At the next level, the range of Dharmavati ragam.
At the highest level, salvation.

It is the TaaNdava, Ananda TaaNdava.
It transcends Time, Space, and Form.

It is the Ultimate Truth!

Brathuku pranavamai mrogu kadha..


PS: This is my 100th post in this Blog.I thank all the people who have been supporting and encouraging me.My aim is to make at least 500 posts and I am sure it will be possible with His blessigs!

Natana Raaja- Part II

How do we define beauty?
Anything that is pleasing??

But again, is it also not true that ‘Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder’ and therefore is ‘beauty’ not subjective?
What looks or sounds beautiful to me, need not look/sound beautiful to you.

At the same time, there are some unwritten codes and norms that make us jump with joy and say ’this is beautiful!’.

Though it is very difficult to say what these codes or norms are, one can say that these are directly linked to their upbringing, knowledge, familiarity and open mindedness.

I am not a sociologist or a social scientist and am not qualified enough to understand the traits of people. Nor am I a psychologist to do any psycho analysis. I am making these observations solely out of my experience of meeting interacting with different kinds of people.

First of all, environment plays a very big role in appreciating beauty. By environment, I mean the place we grow up. It could be the home, place of study, work place, and peer group. When any or all the people in these sets say something is beautiful, we too start appreciating it.

Then comes knowledge. Things that we did not like earlier, start sounding or looking beautiful the moment we start understanding them.
Familiarity with a subject also makes us appreciate beauty.

I shall come to the aforementioned factors a little later.

For appreciating anything, what we need is the ability to keep the mind open -shorn of any prejudice. This makes us more objective and also gives us the power to appreciate genuine beauty.

Therefore, what do I conclude?

Is beauty subjective as it is claimed to be?

Before I answer this, let me go to the two aspects-knowledge and familiarity.

Generally, fine arts like classical music, classical dance, and poetry are said to be appreciated only by some sets of people. Others either say ‘it is boring’ or (when probed further) say they ‘don’t understand it ‘.

Does this then not mean that if only they had the knowledge about these arts, they would start understanding? And if they are familiar with these forms (having listened/seen/read frequently), would they not say ‘yes.. these are really beautiful’? And once they become more familiar, would they not have the ability to separate the chaff from the grain?

Am I then saying that beauty has to do more with the head than with the heart?

Well…Not really!
Beauty is a thing that has to be savoured, enjoyed and cherished.

Confucius said ‘Everything in this world has its beauty, but not everyone sees it’ while Helen Keller said ‘The most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart’.

But how do we see the unseen? How do we feel what cannot be seen or touched?

Aren’t those four factors-Environment, Knowledge, Familiarity, and Open mindedness- responsible at least subconsciously?


When we see/hear/read something beautiful, there comes a moment when we totally immerse ourselves and begin to forget ourselves.

A moment when everything seems to stand still.
A moment when we feel nothing else exists in the world.

That is the defining moment when the Head and the Heart meet in an act of perfect coordination.

And there lies the beauty!

Now, have a look at this poem:

யாமாமாநீ யாமாமா யாழீகாமா காணாகா
காணாகாமா காழீயா மாமாயாநீ மாமாயா

‘yaamaamaa nee yaamaamaa yaazhee kaamaa kaaNaagaa
kaaNaakaamaa kaazeeyaa maamaayaa nee maamaayaa’.

The poem from either side-beginning or the end- reads the same letter to letter. Though it is best appreciated by people who can read Tamizh, I am sure others too can appreciate this by understanding the concept.

It is a palindrome.

This was composed by the great saint poet Thirugnaanasambandar-who is considered to be a child prodigy- and this is part of Thevaram, the collection of Holy Hymns on Lord Shiva.

The words are not just empty words without any meaning.

It means, ‘We are Pasus(animals) and you are the Pasupati (one who herds us).Oh Lord-The one who plays the beautiful Yaazh (a musical instrument), the one who wears the snake, the one who is liked by all, the one who made Kaama (God of Love) invisible, you who does the act of concealment! Please dispel and shatter the Maaya surrounding us!’

It does sound beautiful when we recite it but does it not sound more beautiful when we understand the meaning as well? And once we have the meanings in place, don’t we appreciate the beauty more?

Precisely for this reason, have I been trying in this thread to analyse the intricacies of the Maestro’s compositions-of course with my little knowledge- so that others can appreciate it more.

And precisely for this reason, have I started this new series on Dance where I touch upon some basic aspects of the beautiful art.

In my previous post, I gave an introduction to the various classical dance forms of India. I also covered some basic aspects of Bharatanatyam.

Let me now briefly take up some of the other aspects.

Bharatanatyam was earlier known as ‘Sadir’ and was generally performed by people from a particular community called ‘Devadasis’ in the Temples and in the courts of Zamindars and Kings. Learning or performing this art by people belonging to the other communities was considered an anathema and even sacrilegious.

Smt.Rukmini Devi Arundale dispelled all the myth surrounding this great classical art form and strived hard to make the art more respectable. The so called Devadasis-who were until then confined to the courts and the temples- were encouraged to give stage performances and this emboldened people from other communities to learn this art form. Accordingly, the nomenclature of ‘Bharatanatyam’ was given and officially accepted by The Music Academy in the mid ‘30s.

In the previous post, we saw that the basic aspects of Bharatanatyam are Nritta,, Nritya and the Natya.

In Bharatanatyam, even standing, sitting (half and full), walking and moving the hands follow certain unique patterns and this is what makes it more beautiful.

The combination of all these is called as an ‘adavu’.There are basically 10 different adavus and each adavu has a rhythmic pattern with a syllable.

For example, the syllables for ‘Tattadavu’ is ‘tai ya tai hi’ and this adavu is always done in the half-sitting posture.

Similarly, for ‘Tattimetti’ adavu, the syllables are ‘takadhimi takajhanu’ (depending on the jaati)…

Adavus form the foundation of ‘Nritta’.

Bharatanatyam(for that matter all dance forms) uses the body as a means of communication in a beautiful way.

People who have watched any performance must have noticed hand movements and gestures by the dancers. These hand movements are called as Hastas and each Hasta depicts an object or objects.

For example, a Simhamukha symbolizes a ‘Animal face’ and is used to denote not only the face of the lion, but all animals and even a ‘Homam’.And a ‘Mukula hasta’ is used to depict a bud or a flower and cupid with arrows.

As per the Abhinayadarpana, there are in all 28 single- hand hastas and 23 double-hand hastas.

What does a typical performance comprise of?

We shall see this in the forthcoming posts along with some more basics.

ILaiyaraaja being the Laya Raja that he is, has done wonders in his Dance compositions.
Today’s song is also one such composition.

It is ‘Aadum Padam thozha’ from ‘Ponmekalai’(2003).

The speciality of this song sung by Sudha Raghunathan is the dominant presence of the percussion instruments. Except for the subtle violin, there is no other melodic instrument(similar to ‘Aa Vedana’ discussed in the previous post).

The composition is based on Latangi.

Latangi is a very unique Raga and as per the Melakarta system, it is just two melas before Kalayani and only the variant of ‘dha’ separates the two.However, Latangi has its own identity. In fact, it also sounds very different from its Sudhdha Madhyama counterpart Sarasangi!

In Classical music, Saint Thyagaraja and Patnam Subramaniya Iyer have composed songs in this Raga. Muththuswami Dikshithar called this raga Geetapriya.

ILaiyaraaja has given us some beautiful Latangis and ‘Aadum padam..’ is one of the gems.

The composition starts with a melodic majesty and gives us a glimpse of wonderful vistas that are to follow.

When the pallavi is rendered the second time, the sangatis at ‘kooththaadum’ and the one at the end of ‘arum poruLe..’are vivacious and are pregnant with classicism.

The anupallavi is intricately detailed with the sangatis(called as ‘palukkal’) after ‘layangaLil..’ being rendered for one complete avarthanam (rhythmic cycle).The composer’s brilliance is shown when the same line is rendered the second time absolutely without any sangati. In ‘vasanthangaL koNdaada..’ we see the gleaming phrases integrated with the laya.

The CharaNam is built on a panoramic edifice. We see the raga, , bhava ,rasa ,tala and the Natya clasping their hands together and giving us an extraordinary and exceptional feeling.

The first line is softly textured and we hear the syllables ‘ta tit ta ri ki ta tham’.
The next line is sensitive and perceptive and it is followed by a wonderful array of ‘jatis’.

The sparkling phrases have Tisram, Chatusram and the Khandam.

The following line gives gentle and powerful touches of Latangi. The syllables that follow are unexceptionable and are a treat even for people who do not follow classical dance.

The next line moves with vim and vigour and as the swaras are rendered, we feel the melodic beauty of Latangi. The first set is woven around the ‘sa’ while the next set shimmers with the ‘pa’. In the end, when the ‘pa’ is skipped(ni ri ga ma dha ni ri sa), it gives a spectacular feeling. This brilliant interplay of the swaras in just a matter of minutes shows us as to why he is called the ‘Isaignani’.

The mirudangam now repeats the two sets of syllables rendered earlier.

The next two lines-followed by the swaras- have the beautiful arithmetic of rhythmic permutations giving us a pleasant breezy feel.

The varied jati patterns now follow and we see a vibrant cluster of powerful motifs.
So immersed we are in the beauty that when we hear ‘you are missing the beat’ (as per the situation in the movie) we feel people who do not listen to such compositions ‘miss something’!

The myriad cascading ‘sollukattus’ that follow are delightfully layered with Laya being the diadem.

Beautiful, Pleasing!

We feel the meeting of the Head and the Heart!!

உயிர் தொடும் ஸ்வரங்களில், மனம் தொடும் லயங்களில், ஆடும் பதம் தொழ ஆனந்த கூத்தாடும் அரும் பொருளே..