“I had not even started dreaming that we would perform together some day and this day came so quickly.  I am really thankful to have had this wonderful experience” says Geetha Murali whose talented daughter Rasika provided violin accompanied for her vocal recital. The recital was part of the Learnquest Music conference help at the Waltham McDevitt School on Saturday April 12, 2008.  Geetha Murali is a star Carnatic vocalist and a much sought after music teacher. Mahalingam (Mali) Santhanakrishnan, a brilliant Mridangist from Norwood provided the Mridangam accompaniment.
The concert though short in duration was filled with bhakthi and bhavam. The recital had to be curtailed to sixty minutes, and Geetha rightly chose not to pack her presentation with too many items. Instead she provided ample scope and space for each of the six kritis she presented.

 Negotiating with ease the fluid graces of the crisp varnam "Era napai" in Thodi, Geetha set the stage for a concert rich in devotion with traditional kriti on Vinayaka "Vallabha  Nayakasya" in  Begada by Muthuswami Deekshithar. That led to a soul-stirring and powerful rendition of "Ninne Bhajana" of Saint Thyagaraja in Nattai. The surprise package came in the kalpana swarams for this song in the form of the atheetha eduppu (extra-ordinary reckoning of the beat) before samam illustrating the perfect synergy of lyric, melody and devotion around the words"Seetha Natha".

 The next piece was in Arabhi  presented exquisitely, both by the mother and the daughter, beautifully brought out the rakthi bhava of music in Thyagaraja's "Nadha Sudharasa". The artistes swayed the listeners without tarrying over long in any one particular suite, the effort being evenly distributed among the alapana and the swarams.

The Shanmukapriya  raga alapana and the rare composition "Varada Lambodara Sahodara" by Pallavur Mani Iyer formed the centerpiece of the concert.  The rendition of the swaras was a delectable long spree with a multiple matrices of swara sets. Amazingly, Rasika rose up to the occasion with equal vigor, playing seamless and impressive replies on the violin and showing maturity well beyond her low teen-years.  The thani avardhanam (percussion solo) by Mahalingam (Mali) Santhanakrishnan was crisp and impressive showing his mastery over the instrument. He provided able accompaniment throughout the concert. The finale, Thillana in Brindavani by Dr.M.Balamuralikrishna, had to be dexterously packed into a fast tempo due to paucity of time but was nonetheless very vivacious.

As people were raving about the performance of young Rasika,  Geeta was quick to attribute the success to her Guru. “The entire credit goes to her teacher, Tara Anand who had so much confidence in her that she is capable to take up this project and I am so happy that she kept up to her Guru's expectations.  I am very thankful to her Guru for suggesting this to me” said Geeta.

A good artist requires great Karma in their previous life to be able to get an able Guru and caring parents who can understand her talent and guide her appropriately. Rasika’s performance clearly showed the expertise of her Guru Smt Tara Anand and the hard work put in by the very talented Rasika and her parents to reach this stage. New England should be proud have such an artist growing on our soil!

Lokvani wishes the Mother-Daughter duo the very best and prays that we get to listen to many more such recitals.

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