Prosaic Prasanna Venkataraman - Prasanna Venkataraman
Prosaic Prasanna Venkataraman
There is so much hype about getting a chance to perform in the Music Academy during the Marghazhi Season and the most coveted slot being the evening 6.45pm. For decades it’s been an accepted thing that if an artiste performs in this slot, then he or she will have to be extremely good. Only the BEST get to perform during that time or the least is that he or she has to be a crowd puller.
I attended 2 concerts back to back at The Music Academy on the 20th December, with a quick coffee in between. It’s going to be another post about the first concert but this review about second concert can’t wait.
It was Prasanna Venkataraman who was a student of T.R. Balamani, T.K. Govind Rao and who I heard was now learning under Sanjay Subramanyam. This was enough for me to check him out. The queue in the canteen delayed me and made me miss his varnam, for which I am now thankful. In my earnestness to present facts, I tried checking people sit next to me which varnam he sang and they seemed clueless. So much for a good start !
He then sang ‘Aazhi Mazhai Kanna’ from Andaal’s Tirupavai in Varali Ragam. It was soulless and I doubt if Andaal or Sri Ranganathan Swamy would have been pleased with the rendering. One thing was evident the audience weren’t pleased as we could see several of them moving towards the exit. And it was only the second song.
But I am made of tougher stuff and don’t give up easily and I stayed on to listen to the next song which was Dikshitar’s ‘Dhandayudhapanim’ in Ragam Ananda Bhairavi. If Andaal would have been displeased with the earlier Tirupavai, then with this song, Dikshitar would have been distressed. At this point more people got to up to leave and it wasn’t even Thani Avartanam. Who knows maybe that would have been better !
By this time, my mind was asking some questions, which I would appreciate if anyone can answer. What are the parameters that determine the slots allotment? Is it the artiste’s age, experience, talent, skill, confidence or ability to entertain or keep the audience engaged ? Or your pedigree, who your teacher or parent is ? Otherwise it baffles me when something so obvious as quality is ignored and rasikas are led to believe that what they are offered is the best available !
An average regular rasika would know the complicated process one had to go through to merely get tickets at the Academy, forget getting membership that’s like get admission in one of the IIMs. And after all the drama, fact is that the halls are not always full as we are informed. So, is someone just buying tickets in bulk and letting it go waste ?
Inspite of all these challenges, you manage to attend these concerts, and you feel cheated if the line up is nothing exciting. If the Sabhas are on a high horse in restricting membership then the least they need to do is some ‘Quality Control.’
I have always tried to remain positive and when facing adverse situations, believed that things will improve and often it’s proved true. Being the optimist that I am, I sat there hoping for better singing.
And what came was Saint Thyagaraja’s composition in Ragam Saraswati Manohari ‘Enta Vedukonda O Raghava.’ This song’s meaning goes as such :
O Raghava ! How often, how long have I solicited your grace? And why are you so obstinate in relenting even though you live in my inner soul ? I solemnly believe and hope whenever you choose to relent, there will be no greater bliss !
Saint Thygaraja may have had hope but I had lost all mine. Realising that I have failed the ‘Endurance Test’ it helped me decide that I was in control of my time and it’s upto me to put an end to my suffering and so I made my way towards the exit !!
I attended 2 concerts back to back at The Music Academy on the 20th December, with a quick coffee in between. It’s going to be another post about the first concert but this review about second concert can’t wait.
It was Prasanna Venkataraman who was a student of T.R. Balamani, T.K. Govind Rao and who I heard was now learning under Sanjay Subramanyam. This was enough for me to check him out. The queue in the canteen delayed me and made me miss his varnam, for which I am now thankful. In my earnestness to present facts, I tried checking people sit next to me which varnam he sang and they seemed clueless. So much for a good start !
He then sang ‘Aazhi Mazhai Kanna’ from Andaal’s Tirupavai in Varali Ragam. It was soulless and I doubt if Andaal or Sri Ranganathan Swamy would have been pleased with the rendering. One thing was evident the audience weren’t pleased as we could see several of them moving towards the exit. And it was only the second song.
But I am made of tougher stuff and don’t give up easily and I stayed on to listen to the next song which was Dikshitar’s ‘Dhandayudhapanim’ in Ragam Ananda Bhairavi. If Andaal would have been displeased with the earlier Tirupavai, then with this song, Dikshitar would have been distressed. At this point more people got to up to leave and it wasn’t even Thani Avartanam. Who knows maybe that would have been better !
By this time, my mind was asking some questions, which I would appreciate if anyone can answer. What are the parameters that determine the slots allotment? Is it the artiste’s age, experience, talent, skill, confidence or ability to entertain or keep the audience engaged ? Or your pedigree, who your teacher or parent is ? Otherwise it baffles me when something so obvious as quality is ignored and rasikas are led to believe that what they are offered is the best available !
An average regular rasika would know the complicated process one had to go through to merely get tickets at the Academy, forget getting membership that’s like get admission in one of the IIMs. And after all the drama, fact is that the halls are not always full as we are informed. So, is someone just buying tickets in bulk and letting it go waste ?
Inspite of all these challenges, you manage to attend these concerts, and you feel cheated if the line up is nothing exciting. If the Sabhas are on a high horse in restricting membership then the least they need to do is some ‘Quality Control.’
I have always tried to remain positive and when facing adverse situations, believed that things will improve and often it’s proved true. Being the optimist that I am, I sat there hoping for better singing.
And what came was Saint Thyagaraja’s composition in Ragam Saraswati Manohari ‘Enta Vedukonda O Raghava.’ This song’s meaning goes as such :
O Raghava ! How often, how long have I solicited your grace? And why are you so obstinate in relenting even though you live in my inner soul ? I solemnly believe and hope whenever you choose to relent, there will be no greater bliss !
Saint Thygaraja may have had hope but I had lost all mine. Realising that I have failed the ‘Endurance Test’ it helped me decide that I was in control of my time and it’s upto me to put an end to my suffering and so I made my way towards the exit !!
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.)
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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