Swagatham Krishna

 Swagatham Krishna

Living in Mylapore which is very self sufficient, I need a compelling reason for me go towards Annanagar, Kilpauk, Egmore and other places. T.M.Krishna’s kutchery at Rajaji Vidyashram was a good enough reason for me.

‘Swagatham Krishna’ is a composition of Oothukadu Venkatakavi in Ragam Mohanam, which was popularised by K.J.Yesudas. This is the song that came to my mind, when T.M.Krishna announced in the beginning of the concert, that it needed Corona to bring him back on stage during the Music Season. My mind voice reminded me, that despite his self proclaimed decision to hibernate, there have been quite a few times, he has performed during the December Music Season, and I have personally attended a few of them, like a program in Krishna Gana Sabha, one in Spaces at Besant Nagar, another in Dakshinamurthy Hall at P.S.Senior Secondary School, the mega program at Lady Andal school auditorium and one at Nanganallur. If my memory is good, this is the first concert for Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, after him becoming a ‘Rasika’ and it is such welcome thing, therefore it is ‘Swagatham Krishna’ !!

As the crowd waited and watched him fine tune the two tamburas, (won’t it be worthwhile to do all this well before the concert?).... I took a random head count and it certainly was a good crowd, considering the circumstances. After he had successfully increased the anticipation, (after all wasn’t it Oscar Wilde who said ‘Anticipation is better than reality’?), he started the concert with Saint Thyagaraja’s krithi ‘Enduku Nirdaya’ in Ragam Harikamboji. Yes, it is the same Thyagaraja, who Krishna in an article in The Hindu on May4th 2017, had referred to as one who was seeking validation and as someone who was insecure. Krishna was good with the handling of this Ragam although personally one of my favourite renditions of this song is by Nedunuri Krishnamoorthy.

His next song was again a Thyagaraja composition ‘Rama Ninnu Brovara’ yet again in Ragam Harikamboji. If anyone who was just a beginner in Carnatic Music & was inattentive, they would not have realised that he has moved to another song. Agreed that this a beautiful Ragam and several artistes have explored it extensively, but this back to back Harikamboji got me wondering if he had decided to make it a ‘Harikamboji Exclusive’ concert ! No one not even Krishna himself knows what he plans to sing or do !

I am not a musicologist and still an amateur singing ‘dilettante’(impact of Shashi Tharoor’s article this morning) have found the swara korvais very interesting. Having listened to some intricate swarams by DKJ or KVN (the former had a wider repertoire of Harikamboji songs than any musician I have heard), if I were to be a judge in a music competition for Seniors, I would ask them to sing Harikamboji without a trace of Khamas or Kamboji. Was Oscar Wide was proving right ?

After this, he chose to sing ‘Raase harimiha vihita vilasam’ from Jayadeva’s Ashtapati. This being Ragamalika, gave Krishna the entire field to play with and undoubtedly he played with the multiple Ragams well. It sounded like Aruna Sairam’s singing, very powerful but loud ! This was absolutely undoing the romance that the poet Jayadeva must have desired to convey. Radha’s emotions in his writing are multipolar, confessional in nature, deep in love and despair, being unable to shrug off the experience with Krishna as a casual relationship. The residual impact of their time together,her passionate longing for him and the willingness to surrender herself, and the need to be the only one special to him ....all this & more is exquisitely written by Jayadeva. Let me explain this a bit more....... these are verses in response to the verse where Radha's friend describes in detail how Krishna is enjoying himself with other gopis. Naturally, Radha becomes very sad hearing this because she feels that Krishna sees her just as he sees any other gopi, and nothing more special ! What could be more cruel than indifference from a loved one? She goes and tearfully tells her friend, her remembrances about Krishna. A beautiful description of Krishna, through Radha’s eyes is the content of this ashtapadi. She says, my mind remembers Lord Hari when he joked and performed his ‘Raasleela’.

 

Radha remembering his infatuating flute resounding with honeyed tones like the nectar, describes everything from his ear ornament, his hair with lovely peacock-tail feathers, his moon like eyes, and his lovely robes. Radha says...Oh friend, he was like a dark cloud colored with many rainbows that is how my mind remembers Hari, the one who desired for kisses from the gopis.

And so on Radha laments, as she remembers the sandal paste on his lovely forehead. Ironically, this is an erotic narrative of a sublime love ....sublime because after describing in a bodily manner, it says that this song of Jayadeva shows that the path could be any but the destination is at the feet of the Lord, where the surrender is in totality. Now, if this is the essence of the verses then the ideal tone would be one of petulance, love and pining and I should think that Radha would be secretive & coy, maybe not whisper but would certainly not shout.

Just as I was beginning to wonder, where the original Krishna (he of the mellifluous voice) was missing, he announced that he is going to sing only the first line of the song ‘Janani Ninnu Vina’ by Subbraya Sastri, in Ragam Reetigowla.. Now, that convinced me that this was not an impostor but the one & only T.M.Krishna, because only he can pull off anything with that audacious smile ! Well, I must confess this was the best of the otherwise tad disappointing concert. His brilliance was there for all to see...... that single line along with the chittai swarams saw what all things was possible. The original song has not only Pallavi, anupallavi, chittai swarams, sahityam for the chittai swarams and also 3 charanams. I am not sure if Subbraya Sastri would approve of his effort of writing a beautiful song, being reduced to a single line ......but when has Krishna sought approval from anyone?

The next song was Poochi Srinivasa Iyengar’s ‘Sara Guna Palimpa’, in Ragam Kedargowla and followed this was a Purandardasa composition ‘Jagodharana’ in Ragam Kaapi, where he asked the Ghatam artiste to stop playing. It is my unchanged opinion for years, that T.M.Krishna singing this song is the second best I have heard, the first being during my childhood in Bangalore by my own music teacher, Sri Terakoti Chandrasekharaiah. That could be nostalgia, just like how my sons will (hopefully) think that I am the best, since there have been countless nights they have slept listening to me singing this !

He ended the concert with (not with the Mangalam of course) with something I have never heard before, a Javali in Ragam Khamas, ‘Janaro Mohamu’. And, it wasn’t Google which came to my rescue, but Krishna himself after the concert, who told me what this song was ! Here I must admit, despite his many ‘colourful avatars ’ he has always been a good sport, who treats his fans & critics alike !

I have heard Krishna sing so many times and I am convinced that he is one of the best musicians but this particular concert had something missing. That tiny little thing which made this particular concert of his, short of being magical. Now, to make myself clear, he was good by normal standards. But by his own standards, or going by his earlier performances, there was something intangible that was missing, in other words that magical Krishna was missing !

I went home singing, ‘Come back as Jesus, Come back as Allah, but most importantly, Come back as Krishna ! Krishna Nee Begane Baaro !!

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.)