Chanceyillai RaGa - Ranjani & Gayathri


Chanceyillai RaGa


This program happened on the 30th November this year and if I am writing about this after more than a week, it’s only because I have been busy, so busy, busier than the busiest artistes! Come November-December every year, a kind of disease strikes me. I have been in a state of anxiety, running around in a frenzied state from one sabha to the other, beginning every morning with planning my day like never before, and ending it completely exhausted. Isn’t this is also a kind of addiction?

This was a program organised by Times of India, who are doing everything in their capacity to eat into what is left of The Hindu’s loyal readership! Selling at half the price of The Hindu and yet not being a monopoly and understanding that the people of Chennai have strong likes such as their morning filter coffee with The Hindu and Carnatic music. They have a talent contest every year, and the prize winners of that will get an opportunity to sing before an elite audience who have actually come to listen to RaGa well ahead of time to get better seating!!

This year the first concert was of Sudharshan Ravi the runner up of this talent contest and the second concert by the winner K. Giridharan. I am not even going through the details not because they didn’t sing well but neither you or me are interested in their performance ... it’s RaGa who matter!

Then come the sisters Ranjani and Gayatri wearing their carefully coordinated sarees. They began the concert with Ambujam Krishna’s ‘Vezha Mugadh Arse Vaa Vaa’ in Darbaar Ragam. The first thing that came to my mind was that Gayatri’s voice had gained more depth and was sounding better. Probably a result of extensive singing, maturity and age (how I hate that word) or maybe it was just in this concert that her voice seemed deeper!

Their next song was a lovely composition by Saint Thyagaraja in Todi Ragam ‘Koti Nadulu Dhanushkoti’. In this song Thygaraja says ‘ There is no need to go and take bath in several rivers hoping to wash away your sins and attain salvation. All one needs to do is to chant Sri Rama’s name which guarantees moksha. All other things you do externally is no match to this sacred name’. This is exactly what Kabir Das says in ‘Bajore Bhaiya Ram Govind Hari’. All these seekers who used music as their medium to reach the ultimate speak in one voice. Actually none of them advise rituals and complex methodologies. There is no doubting the abundant talent the sisters possess, but what takes them to the next level is that they are not just fabulous singers but they are ‘Performers’!!

They really know the pulse of the audience, they know when to sing, when to smile, when to pause, when to nod perfectly. The advantage they have as a pair is that if one of them is closing her eyes as she is engaged in singing, the other one can engage with the audience by giving the eye contact.

Next was ‘Akhilandeswari Raksha Maam’ a marvellous composition in Ragam Dvijavanti by Muthuswami Dikshitar on the Goddess Akhilandeswari in Thiruvanaikavil temple near Trichy. This place is a Panchabootham Kshetram where the presiding diety is Jambukeswara but most people associate this temple with his consort Akhilandeswari. An example of our culture glorifying womanhood! In this particular song, Ranjani slipped in her rendering which is surprising at their level. It was so obvious that we could see them exchange ‘knowing’ glances.

It was a RTP time and here Ranjani excelled herself, in fact dominating Gayatri or should we say Gayatri allowed Ranjani to dominate her. This is what I would term as Effective Team Work coupled with Crisis Management because their mutual understanding plays a huge role in their success story. Gayatri allowed Ranjani to take over and Ranjani had an opportunity to showcase her strength and thereby this slip was kind of forgotten!!

Next was a Bharatiyaar composition in Ragam Saraswati ‘Vani Poogai Kuriyena Keli’ .. Frankly it was the first time I was hearing this song. From Saraswati they glided to Ragam Nalinikanti which was all Ranjani time and Gayatri, not to lose the pulse, moved on to Ragam Parameswari so very wonderfully.

Anirudh Athreya on the Kanjira could well have been sitting with us as the audience, since the only time he played was during Thani Avartanam πŸ˜€.

Towards the end, they sang Suddhananda Bharati’s ‘Yeppadi Padinaro Adiyaar’ in Ragam Karnataka Devagandhari doing complete justice to the emotion behind the composition.

They ended the concert with their customary Abhang, a composition of Namdev ‘Vitoba Sala Sala Mandira’. As far Abhangs go, there is nobody to match them. Their high energy singing leaves the audience at a peak of excitement. A peak so high, that all slips are forgotten and we come back after a wonderful evening !


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.) 

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