Ramakrishnan Arrives

Some years ago, there was young lad who had arrived from The United States of America, choosing a future in Carnatic Music over a life there. These kind of stories are always charming for a Carnatic music lover or anyone who is proud to be an Indian, more proud to live in India. Now that being impressive, the proof of his talent in singing was in listening to him. This was year 2016, where I heard him at The Music Academy and was adequately impressed, but the sceptic in me, wrote ‘that people were praising him too early and he has to keep delivering to an ever critical audience, and there has to be a continuous improvement, if he needs to last in the field of Carnatic Music. The following year 2017, I attended his concert in Marghazhi Maha Utsavam, and had to acknowledge that he had grown as a musician and I could predict that he is there to stay…not just stay but to rule someday!

As he was growing, so was my admiration for his music and he ranked top among my favourites. This year 2022, I had my own challenges, so I picked only a few kutcheris within 3 kms radius from my home. Missed many good kutcheris, his among them. Anyway, I managed to attend his concert in Narada Gana Sabha, though 30mts late. Just realised that I never mentioned his name ….so presenting Ramakrishnan Murthy!!

The first thing that struck me was the simplicity & humility of Ramakrishnan’s teacher Shriramkumar, a very gifted violinist of our times. He was there as an accompanist for his student and showed guileless delight is watching RKM perform. There was a good reason for him to happy & proud, for nothing gives a Guru more joy than watch his Sishya perform brilliantly. Why just Shriramkumar, somehow I was also proud of this young man who has come a long way, maybe I felt that I was a part of his journey ( offstage) & my prediction could come true much earlier than I thought. 

Enough praising about him and moving on to the concert, atleast from when I walked in. Maybe, it was the 3rd song….a Dikshitar composition in Ragam Lalita ‘Hiranmayee Lakshmim Sada Bhajami’. Now, I will start praising and admiring Dikshitar, never can get over the beauty and detailing in all his works. The word Hiranmayee means ‘Golden’ also ‘Deer like’ , so let us say Golden deer ( remember how even Sita in Ramayana was tempted by this and wanted to possess it). There is an interesting story behind this song.

One day, Dikshithar’s wife liked most women, wanted some gold jewellery and asked him to buy her. Now, Dikshithar was not in a financial situation to fulfil her desires. One of his disciples suggested to Dikshithar that he could go to the king’s court and sing in praise of the king, who would become happy and gift Dikshitar with some gold jewellery. This was very common those days. Also, shows how foolish or how eager were the royalty for praises. Dikshithar refused and said that he would sing only in praise of his Goddess and not any human being ! Then he instantly composed this song, calling his Goddess the Golden One. That night, Diskhithar’s wife had a dream where Goddess Lakshmi, came and poured gold on her and asked if she was satisfied. On waking up Dikshitar’s wife apologized to him for wanting material wealth which is so temporary (after all gold can be melted and transformed into something else, it can get lost or stolen) but instead the wealth they had in form music, devotion and the Goddess herself, is the permanent wealth.
Lalita is a beautiful Ragam and Ramakrishnan handled it so beautifully just as a beautiful lady should be….leisurely and in an exquisite manner !! 

His next song was Shyama Sastri’s ‘Kamakshi Amba Anudhinam’ in Ragam Bhairavi. This is a Swarajati by him in Telugu, where it is as if he is a child calling out for his mother, using words such as ‘talli’ and ‘mayamma’ meaning mother. Ramakrishnan’s rendering was not just flawless but endearing and I can’t count the different ways he sang the phrase ‘Bhakta Jana Kalpa Latika.’ Each sangati was beautiful and perfect. 

Actually, I may sound repetitive but fact is there are only that many adjectives, and I keep using them again & again….Wonderful (I don’t think I used it till now) was his RTP..but what came as a surprise was Ramakrishnan announcing before the Pallavi that it was a composition by his Guru, R.K.Shriramkumar, who actually didn’t want to be mentioned. Such an unassuming person that everytime I met him, my respect grew for him. As RKM mentioned the name of the Ragam was embedded into the Pallavi.’Varada Vara Venkatesa Vasa VishwatamaKAMASahita’. The Ragam Kamas was well explored by RKM making the composer & his teacher happy. What a lovely tribute to one’s teacher ! 

Then came a soul stirring Gopalkrishna Bharati’s composition in Ragam Jonpuri …‘Eppo Varuvaro’ …Ramakrishnan ended a shlokam from Ramacharamrutam in Ragam Shenjuruti and one on Hanuman, since it was Hanumath Jayanti….what a lovely way to end a fulfilling concert. It was the icing on the cake !! 

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.)