Audiences of Carnatic music in Boston have come to expect the unexpected whenever a student of the Anubhava School of Tara Anand performs his or her debut concert. As a matter of routine these kids who are barely into their teens have rendered marathon concerts lasting four hours with the poise and professionalism of senior musicians. Yet the audience on 30th August for the vocal concert of twelve year old Pratik Bharadwaj “gazed and still the wonder grew, that one small head could carry all he knew.”  Surpassing Oliver Goldsmith’s Village Schoolmaster in this instance, Pratik displayed not only the potential of the head, but the heart as well.

For Carnatic music is an ideal blend of the intellect and emotion, of rhythm and melody, of fractions and colours. The kalpitha (taught) and the kalpana or manodharma (imagination and creation) complement each and what ultimately comes through is the performer’s vision of the musicscape, that gives an insight into to the artist’s psyche.  This is what makes every performance of every artist one of a kind, as it is always a presentation of individual talent and virtuosity within and sometimes transcending tradition.

Tara Anand’s training and honing to perfection was apparent in every song he presented. Not a note or phrase was casual or clichéd. Whether it was the varnam, or a slow paced “Mayamma” or fast” Ammaravamma”, or the majestic
“ O Rangasayee” Pratik displayed not only a high level of fidelity to the stipulated versions, but also ornamented them with his own flourishes that held surprises all along. In a way he made each song his own as he did with Muthiah Bhagavatar’s Daru varnam in two speeds, a popular number in music and dance. With rhythmic variations in the svara passages and emotive improvisations to the lyrics he literally danced through the varnam.

Many a teacher can teach a language, its grammar and nuances, but it is a rare and gifted teacher that can inspire to create poetry. This became apparent in the creative sequences of the concert. Pratik’s raga elaborations of Kalyani and Kambhodi did full justice to these major ragams and the niravals stood out for a systematic build up, not merely as a raga exposition, but as a crescendo in the mood of the phrases of the lyrics. Scintillating svara passages climaxed the songs.

In the Ragam Tanam Pallavi, the central piece of the evening, every aspect of his musicianship was put to test and came out in flying colours. At the very outset the challenge came on the pallavi format in two ragams, composed by renowned musician Suguna Purushothaman, who has performed, lectured and held workshops in the greater Boston area.  The raga exposition showed a penchant for bravura passages and the tanam in three speeds, something that is becoming a rarity even in the concerts of veterans today, was a sporting field with great team play along with his accompanying artists.  The pallavi, which should have been tightrope walking, given its complexity, became a trapeze where all the young artists could soar and swing as they pleased.  The seamless manner in which Pratik could weave two ragams within every rhythm cycle, keeping the raga bhava intact in every phrase, was testimony enough of his mastery over melody and rhythm. The raga malika svara sequences at the latter part that he built tier upon tier and could zoom down in reverse order was the icing on the cake.

While he could slide with effortless ease into the light classical mode during the bhajan and Yadavaraya in the post RTP section, the measured gait of the javali Bayaraani in Kapi revealed a musical maturity far beyond his age. The vintage thillana in Paras was a fitting finale to an evening of exuberant musical virtuosity.

Sahana Srinivasan on the violin, another star pupil of Tara Anand, has earned a reputation as an able an experienced accompanist. Her masterful support and highlighting of Pratik’s vocal passages was a significant factor in the success of the evening. Her solos were both a continuation of the vocal while establishing her own approach to the ragams. Her instant reply to the tanam where Pratik changed gears midway into a superfast rollercoaster ride, spoke volumes of her mastery of the instrument, the grammar and her own alertness.

Tarun Bangalore, teenaged son of Tara Anand and disciple of Dr.Pravin Sitaram, played like a veteran. His musicality is evident in every stroke and every pause. The acid test was the manner in which he embellished the plaintive and slow paced “Mayamma “right in the beginning of the concert.  The rumbles and murmurs spoke more than strident beats. He came into his own in the Thani Avarthanam he shared with the senior Ghatam artist Dr.Ravi Balasubramanian, where both carried on a dialogue of sonorous rhythmic cycles that rang out with clarity and precision. Dr.Balasubramaniam, the only senior on stage, needed to make no allowances for the teenagers and pitched in with gusto as the fourth team player.

Never flagging in tempo or content, the concert was a joyous experience to the performers as well as the audience. Carnatic music in every sense has indeed become a global phenomenon.

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