A magical experience in musical spirituality through a brilliant three and a half hour musical journey….

A musician and a carnatic music rasika perspective..

A lot has been discussed about Vidwan Krishna lately, his perspective on music, his deep social commitments, ( this concert is a part of a short 4 concert tour, to raise money for his social projects), his brilliance as a musician, the core restlessness in his beliefs as an artist, and that of being a top notch artiste, questioning traditional norms of the Carnatic music margam as we know it. As we sat there awaiting the opening of the curtain, there were many mixed feelings, some wondering, some anticipating with perhaps the smallest doubt in their hearts about what was to come. But there was no doubt, that everybody was excited and charged, there were many racing hearts at the prospect of the brilliant musical journey that lay ahead, given that the artist in question was none other than the inimitable Vidwan T.M Krishna…his concert was a giant surprise package, all of us wondering, what would he pull out next?

He commenced his recital with a most soulful rendering of “Entani ne varnithunu Shabari bhagyam”. As Saint Tyagaraja asked in this song, “ How can I describe the great good fortune of Shabari”, so did Krishna, in his heartfelt musical phrasing, spontaneous creativity throughout the song. For the musician in me, the joy of witnessing the manodharma sparkle, neraval in one line, the slow exploration of swaram on another and the faster kalpana swaram on yet another.

Right after, a brilliant Naatai exploit, alapanai and tanam, extraordinarily creative. He explored phrases hitherto unheard. His tanam had a theme, one that foretold of the neraval that was to come on the line, “Omakaara panjarakkerapura”. The rasika in me loved all of it, the musician marveled at the creativity in the thinking. The exploring of a Pancharatna krithi in that manner, one that is rendered so many times by musicians and devotees alike…for him to think of it, envision the possibilities and execute them so perfectly, it was a treasured treat!

The javali, Virutthams (the latter being compositions of Thayumanavar and Perumal Murugan) that came after, a slow, but detailed and uniquely explorative journey into many ragams, Bilahari, Varali, Behag, Kalyani, Kamboji, Kapi…. it is to be noted that while none of his raga explorations in alapanai or viruthams were lengthy, they were powerhouses of quintessential classicism and relentless creativity. Rich essence wins over volume for volume’e sake any day, and Vidwan Krishna proved this in every minute of this concert, even through his rendering of songs. The behag viruthham was followed by an adaptation of an Islamic devotional song, tuned in the Carnatic format, and the Kapi was followed by the ever popular “Jagadhodharana”. Devotion was amplified in every piece, devotion to music and lyrical beauty.

In between the Virutham/songs, there was a most touching rendition of “Vazhimaraithirukkudhe”. Krishna explored the majesty of Todi in a luxurious coiling manner as only he can. Brilliant as always, touching and poignant…

Enroute to the conclusion, a surprise awaited us in the form of a Dharu Varnam, 'Mathe' in Kamas. This composition was preceded by an exemplary raga essay in Kamas, by violinist M. Rajeev, an excellent artist upholding the highest standards of his stalwart Guru, Vidushi A. Kanyakumari. His accompanying was stellar and he was shining in his own right even as he imbibed and adapted the mammoth musicality of the singer on stage. Not enough can be said about him or the mridangist Rajna Swaminathan. The latter, trained by Umayalapuram K. Sivaraman, played with an extraordinary level of maturity, one that belied her young age. Krishna’s kalapramanam (pace of rhythm/music), was challenging for a percussionist. Keeping her accompaniment very somber at most times to match Krishna’s pace and mood, she played a memorable thani and rose to the demands of every piece performed.

A short but rich Surutti outline followed by an interesting rendition of the bhajan, Vaishnava janatho, in the raga surutti, (along the lines of the artist’s effort to make music border- free) with a switch midway into the original tune. Krishna concluded with another masterful rendition of the timeless classic, “Sagara Shayana Vibho” in Bagesri, once again violinist Rajeev doing full justice to the mood as set by Krishna in his essay of the raga. Krishna was so immersed and moved by his involvement in the aesthetic beauty of the raga/lyrics, there were times he was visibly moved, he had to pause to recover from the deep impact his own soul stirring music had on him. That was a powerful phenomenon to witness as a listener…

There was something in the air on the day of this concert, perhaps it was holistic vibe created by all the unselfish and unconditional work that Shashi and Dwarakanath and so many other wonderful volunteers do at the Chinmaya center. Perhaps it was just meant to be, but most would agree that we were all in a higher place, closer to what each of us considers spiritual and pure, whatever that might be, all thanks to the the musical genius that is T.M. Krishna. True happiness and soul fulfillment comes when we put our analytical and judgmental hats on the rack……in this case it was to understand that this music was as transcendental as it was meditative, invigorating while being calming, a mysterious juxtaposition, only to be unraveled by a true rasika. There is no doubt that his music is a penance, it is a result of years of unimaginably hard work, immersion, devotion and dedication to the art and his work continues…a true inspiration to all is Vidwan T.M. Krishna, the artist.

Our heartfelt gratitude to Chinmaya, the cultural team headed by Durga, for bringing top notch artists to Chinmaya, not only for our listening pleasure, but for the immense benefit of all the children who pursue the learning of Carnatic music.

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