Veenavaadhini Vadya Diwas

Young students of Veenavaadhini got together on August 9th to present an evening of instrumental music. Platform was made available for them to render the music taught to them on the veena, under public gaze. Contact mike was provided to the participants which definitely enhanced the sound brought out. All the participants did their best and captivated the audience with the variety presented. The programme started with three children, Harini, Dwaraknath and Aparna, whose hands could hardly cover the entire length of the veena dandi! Yet they impressed, rendering amongst them Gajananya Namaste (Varnam - Muthuswamy Dikshitar), Ninnukkori (Mohana Varnam), Mahaganapathe (Natanarayani-Dikshitar), Gurumurthe(Shankarabharanam-Dikhitar). This was followed by Banu Gopal's recital, a student senior in age, who played Thulasidala (Mayamalavagoulai-Thyagarajaswamy). She was full of enthusiasm and energy while pulling the strings.

It was then left to the students learning veena over skype, namely Radha Madhuri, and twin sisters Jayash and Manash Ramanathan, all from USA. Radha presented Brochevarevare (Sriranjani-Thyagarajaswamy) and Srichakraraja was played adroitly by the sisters. Music coming the Veena of these students was quite absorbing and we could see the confidence and maturity they have acquired.

Kum. Meenakshi, senior student of Veenavaadhini, was the last in the series to play veena. She took up Saveri varnam in two speeds and then Bhairavi raga deliniation. Dikshitar's Balagopala was played in true sampradaya style.

Violin players came in next, and those who participated were Kum Akshaya student of Smt Syamala Rajan and Sri Ashwin Ramanthan, a student of Sri HN Bhaskar. Kum Akshaya played Hamsadhwani varnam. Ashwin, elder brother of sisters Jayash and Manash, essayed a very pleasant Madhyamavathi raga alapana and followed it up with Ramakathasudha (Thyagarajaswamy).

The instrumental recitals were followed by an interesting and educative lecture-demonstration by Sri Jeyaraaj Krishnan and Smt Jaysri Jeyaraaj Krishnan, who also took the help of Sri S Sundar, a mridangam exponent to introduce the subject of "Listening to music" to enhance one's knowledge (kelvi gnanam). They elaborated on how listening is essential in the development of music knowledge both for the practitioner and the listening public. Laptop was used to bring out the taped music of the great vocalist Tanjavur Kalyanaraman, to drive the point home as to how the three moderators have benefited by such exposure. They recommended to the parents of the students present to arrange for a friendly music environment so that music occupies an important place for the wholesome development of an individual. The discussion brought out many questions of interest from the active audience and appropriate answers were made available to them. The programme was well attended and all in all it was a very fulfilling evening for all those present.

Reported by J Thyagarajan