Nothing But Wind
His concerts always open to a good audience, and it was not surprising to see a full house at Raga Sudha Hall, despite it being (the so called) ‘after the season’ concert. What was impressive is the nature of the audience…. these were not the usual dazzling people, who probably plan the previous day itself, what to wear and plan the accessories as well. After all, they need to look almost as good as the artiste on stage, which is not easy if it is someone like RaGa .The easiest artistes to match up to, in terms of dress code, will be Sanjay or Kunnakudi Balamurali or Palghat Ramprasad, who decide to keep it all white ! This audience is not those who are more interested in the canteen menu than the concert, in any case Raga Sudha Hall, which is tucked away behind Nageshwara Rao Park, has no canteen facilities (thankfully).So, those who come there do so for the sheer love of music, which Raga Sudha unfailingly provides regularly.
That said, a full house in the morning hours is rare….it was only so because Jayant is an incredible flautist who grew up with a flute, his grandfather being a flautist himself. But if that is the logic to become an amazing artiste, by this time I should be playing the Veena since my grandmother played quite well, I should be a dancer , since my maternal aunt (a Padma award winner) is a famous Mohiniattam dancer, and dozens of aunts all of whom, sang, danced and what not ! But, all that happened was that I could sing a bit……anyway, maybe that is why I love music & dance and ended up wandering from sabha to sabha.
For Jayant, there were so many foreigners swarming there with cameras and taking his pictures, recording his music, either closing their eyes soaking in the magic of his flute or nodding their heads in appreciation. I feel, they must be enjoying instrumental music more than our kind of vocal music, because this is more pure ,distilled of words or language ! Hey, I don’t mean that vocal music is impure or inferior, on the contrary I am crazy about it and am fascinated by the lyrics and take effort to learn the language and understand the meaning thereby enjoying it more. I just meant that instrumental music transcends language and cultural barriers. And to think that all this magic is ‘Nothing but Wind’ (remember the Ilayaraja album?).
Jayant opened his concert with a composition by Ootukkaadu Venkatasubbaiyyar in Ragam Gambeera Nattai ‘Sri Vigna Rajam Bhaje’. This was followed by a composition by Saint Thyagaraja in Ragam Surutti ‘Geethaarthamu Sangita Anandamu’. What an apt song ,which means …To understand the significance(arthamu)of the(Bhagavad)Gita and the bliss(ananda)of music, you have only to delve deep into your heart and behold them. To enjoy the kind of music Jayant offers, one should delve deep into it and lose oneself and just travel along with him trusting him to give you more than you expect.
Next came a composition in Ragam Shanmugapriya by Patnam Subramanya Aiyyar’s ‘Marivere dikkevarayya Rama’
which is where he calls out to Rama to come and give him relief. I find it interesting how Ragams such as Shanmugapriya has been used to convey both joy & sadness.
Jayant had just begun to enthrall us and what he chose next was Saint Thygaraja’s ‘Dandamu Pettenura’ in Ragam Balahamsa. If he had not announced the Ragam, I would have been absolutely clueless, because I didn’t know a single song in this Ragam and unlike in a vocal concert, you can’t Google the lyrics and find out in a jiffy.
My knowledge is not so poor, the next song I knew instantly ,it was Saint Thyagaraja’s ‘O Rangasayee’ in Ragam Khamboji’. Do I write about Jayant’s wonderful rendering or my fascination for Saint Thyagaraja’s lyrics? I choose Thyagaraja for this song….just imagine the devotion he had, which brought innumerable different relationships he had with the Lord. Possibly, he would have not needed any other relationships besides the one he had with Lord Rama…in him he found everything. The Pallavi of this song is enough to indicate the intimacy he felt for the Lord. The first line goes : O rangasayee pilacite O yanucu ra rada’..he asks, O Rangasayee (we often address someone dear as ‘O’ ..there itself Thyagaraja shows his relationship with Rama. And he calls the Lord as Rangasayee and not Rama…what a wonderful choice of name among the 1008 names the Lord has. Thyagaraja actually chooses this name to address because it shows the Lord is reclining & relaxing while here his dearest Thyagaraja is repeatedly calling out for him . The least Rangasayee could do is to respond ‘with an O’ ! What a gem of a song !! Now how does someone convey all these emotions without words and only the flute but you have believe it …Jayant could do it wonderfully!
What followed was the ‘never to fail’ ‘Thunbam Nergayil’ in Ragam Desh. There is something in this song….. When my second son Vaishwath keeps playing Sanjay Subrahmanyan’s rendition of ‘Thunbam Nergayil’ for what seemed the 100th time one day, I sat up and took notice. I wanted to understand why he was so entranced with it. Whether it was the song or the singer or both ?
My son’s epiphany with ‘Thunbam Nergayil’ brought me back to considering what role lyrics play in enriching the listening experience of Indian music. Yet, without lyrics how do instrumentalists like Jayant recreate a similar magic? Words, their power to move notwithstanding, can sometimes get in the way of our own imagination — as we’ve seen with many films, poorly adapted from books. Listening to instrumental music, however, gives the listener the freedom to imagine the lyrics on a blank slate. My son’s Tamil is nothing scholarly ,but despite that he discovered that the power of lyrics is indeed transcendental. Bharatidasan wrote ‘Thunbam Nergayil’, a poem about how the travails of our lives can be lessened by Tamil poetry, song, dance and wisdom. The lyric was set to tune in ragam Desh by the poet’s friend Dandapani Desigar, enhancing the charm of the work. Jayant’s rendition brought these lyrics to life in a manner that reinforced the magic of the words.
Talking about lyrics and words, the next song I could recognise as Ragam Kamaas, but was clueless about the song, now here Google cannot help, because there will be countless songs in Kamaas and if I don’t know a single word to begin with, it is a futile exercise. So, I managed to ask Jayant himself, obviously after the program and the answer was that it was Pattabhiramayya’s composition ‘Apadhuruku Lonaithine’.
His concert finished with the , ‘Ennathavam Seidhanei’ in Ragam Kapi, a Papanasam Sivan all time favourite composition.
Jayant is already a fabulous musician and I can’t wait to see him grow further in the years to come.
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.
(*The views and opinions expressed herein are those of the author and not necessarily those of Music of Madras.)
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