This King can Sing! - Prince Rama Varma

This King can Sing !

I must admit, that it was for the first time, that I was hearing Prince Rama Varma’s concert. And I came with back with a feeling of having attended a lecdem (lecture demonstration) program and an interesting one at that. 

To explain myself better, when he sang a Varnam in Ragam Shanmugapriya composed by the inimitable Dr. M. Balamuralikrishna, who was incidentally one of Prince Rama Varma’s teachers, he gave an elaborate background to it .
Rather than dissect and discuss Prince Varma’s singing, I must mention that there was so much value add in the form of explaining the swaras of the composition and the way Dr. Balamurali had his unique way of composing songs. Almost everyone knows Dr Balamurali’s fascination for himself. Like Prince Rama Varma mentioned smilingly that Balamurali Sir was a big fan of Balamurali himself. To the extent, he even created a Ragam and named it after himself. Prince Varma was witty & amusing while narrating this anecdote about how this particular Varnam was composed in a moving train by Dr Balamurali who was accompanied by Dr Padma Subramanyam. She was so impressed that she expressed her desire to dance to this and instantly Dr Balamurali recreated it to suit the Bharatnatyam dance form. Just imagine, the very next day, Dr Padma Subramanyam had choreographed and performed this composition on stage. These are our legends who took their own chosen art as a personal mission. 

Prince Varma even mimicked his teacher Dr Balamurali so well, in a good natured manner. Haven’t all of us mimicked our favourite schoolteachers ? We often imitate those who we admire. Isn’t imitation the best form of flattery? 

Prince Varma next sang ‘Shobilu Saptaswara Sundarula‘ in Ragam Jaganmohini composed by Saint Thyagaraja. He described the grandeur of the song which talks about the beauty of the 7 notes or Saptaswaras in a Ragam which has ONLY 6 notes. Our composers have had their own creative puzzles and I am sure they derived a lot of fun & joy in the process. 

The last of the anecdotes was something not many people will know. Apparently, the song ‘Enna Kutram Seidheno’ written by the one & only M D Ramanathan set in Ragam Huesini which was dedicated to the Goddess Kanyakumari. This song was composed during a train journey. Looks like trains have a deep connection with some best music ever created . Whether it’s Dr. Balamuralikrishna’s Shanmugapriya Varnam or MDR’s Huesini Krithi or S D Burman’s ‘Mere Sapno Ki Rani‘ from the film Aradhana, all had a train backdrop. Probably the rhythm of train moving is musical enough to inspire. 

Anyway, the story is that the Goddess Kanyakumari desires to marry Lord Shiva who resides in the nearby Suchindram temple. And as she is waiting for him, Narada wants to abort these plans because the purpose of Kanyakumari’s incarnation will be futile if she ends up getting married. The reason being that only a virgin can kill the demon Banasura for such was the boon the demon received. Narada calls out like a rooster and Kanyakumari thinks the Brahmamuhurtam has gone past and Shiva has not come to marry at the fixed time. Hugely disappointed, she takes a vow that she will remain celibate. That is why people who want to enter celibacy go to this temple like Swami Vivekananda who stood on a rock gazing into the Indian Ocean. This is the famous Vivekananda Rock ! Coming back to MDR and his song.. MDR is eager to see the Goddess but the temple is closed as he reaches there. He boards the train to Madras without a darshan of Kanyakumari. He is deeply anguished and bursts into this lovely song and the person who sets the tune to this is his co- passenger who was none other than the violin mastero Sri Lalgudi Jayaraman. 
It is indeed a long story but Prince Varma had the complete attention of the audience. He also mentioned how he was lucky to hear MDR himself sing this song in his unique voice and in the slowest possible manner. Today some well known singers like T M Krishna and Bombay Jayashree sing so slowly and are highly lauded. MDR who was a devoted student of Tiger Varadachari, used the name ‘Varadadasa’ as the signature for his compositions. A man with a squint and a tuft on his head and who served for a long time at the Kalakshetra, was recommended for the prestigious Sangita Kalanidhi award. But, because of prejudice and bias he didn’t receive it, which left him very disillusioned and he died shortly after that . Atleast this disproves a theory floated by a senior musician like TMK that being a Brahmin or dressing up like one gives a person an advantage in the Carnatic Music world. We have seen Sheikh Chinna Moulana for the Nadaswaram and Thirupampuran Swaminathan Pillai for the flute being awarded the Sangita Kalanidhi title and deservedly so !
MDR had a style of starting a song from the Anupallavi which today singers like Shreya Goshal do it in their live shows. 

He went on sing a song ‘Anjaneya Raghuraman Dhoota’ composed by one of his ancestors Swathi Tirunaal in Ragam Saveri. 
Prince Varma is a descendant of both Swati Thirunal and Raja Ravi Varma the artist .., what a combination of genes ! 
He concluded the concert with a composition of Muthaiah Bhagavathar. It had western notes and he hit the audience involved by making them clap and sing with him.

Prince Rama Varma is a treasure of musical knowledge and historical anecdotes. This post will say so little about his singing and more about his talk but that was what it was ! 

All of us are familiar with a marketing strategy, which is ‘Buy One and Get One or Get Something Free’ offer ! That is exactly how I felt ... I went for a kutcheri and got a lecdem on the nuances of music and lot of gossip free ! 
Haven’t many of us bought something we don’t so much need but bought it only because we like the FREE gift that comes along ???

About the Author:

Sandhya Shankar belongs to a well respected business family in Chennai. She is a Life Skills & Corporate Trainer by profession. She is an avid reader and a natural writer, who has written several poems and articles. She even presented her poems as a reading at the British council. She has keen interest in all art forms  and has explored many different forms of painting like stained glass and Tanjore being among them. 

Music being her first passion, she had her formal training under Terakotti Chandrasekharaiah at Bangalore and later briefly under Mrs Champa Kumar. She is a regular visitor of concerts, theatre and other live performances. Her witty reviews have gained a loyal and interactive readership for their sound technical commentary and relevance for every kind of melophile, from the casual-goer to the ragam expert, frequenting Chennai’s rich music scene.

(*The views and opinions expressed herein are those of the author and not necessarily those of Music of Madras.)