Sangita Kalanidhi Sudha Ragunathan, recipient of India’s fourth highest civilian honor, the Padma Shri, performed on May 10th at the English High School, Jamaica Plain. The concert was organized by the MIT and Boston chapters of Association for India's Development (AID). AID is a volunteer movement that is committed to promote equitable, sustainable and just development in India. AID supports various grassroots organizations who work on interconnected spheres such as education, livelihoods, natural resources including land, water and energy, agriculture, health, women's empowerment and social justice.

In a three and a half hour concert, Ms. Ragunathan and accompanying artists, Shri VVS Murari on Violin and Shri Kallidakuruchi Sivakumar on Mridangam enthralled the audience through their renditions of classical Carnatic compositions and bhajans. “I felt as if a lot of positive energy was flowing from the music”, said a young girl in the audience who was attending her first Carnatic music concert. “I am definitely going to keep coming back for more”, she added. The concert was attended by about 300 people.

The audience included a mix of people from Indian and non-Indian origin, with a fairly good representation of both young and elderly people, some of whom have seen the artist’s performance in the past. AID Boston volunteer, Pooja Parameswaran started the event by inviting Durga Krishnan, an eminent Music teacher at the New England School of Carnatic Music, to introduce the artists. She shared her personal experience from one of the previous concerts of Ms. Ragunathan where her soulful singing had brought rains to the hot weather of Chennai for three consecutive days. With this thought, she invited the artists on the stage.

Ms. Ragunathan started the concert by singing the famous song “Mathe”. The song created a very peaceful atmosphere in the auditorium, with members of the audience murmuring the lyrics along with the artist. “Ragas do have power to move the elements of the nature and I have witnessed rain several times when people stop singing” said the artist after singing the first composition. “Ragas can have an effect on health problems like hypertension and I hope that one day they will make their way to medical therapeutics” she added. She mentioned that she started the concert with “Mathe” because it is dedicated to universal motherhood. She also explained the meaning of Ragas and Taalas and how they are mostly addressed to gods or goddesses. She said she believes that when someone truly brings out the purity of Ragas, one is able to connect to divine. By recalling what her guru, Dr. M.L Vasantha Kumari, told her once “At the beginning artists and audience are different entities but towards the end of musical performance all these entities melt and become one”, she continued with a series of beautiful compositions. For the next one and half hours she sang many renditions like ”Vatapi Ganapatim”  in the Shanmugapriya raga. All compositions were a great blend of different languages, with an incredible interplay of raga, tala and pallavi.

During the break, people explored AID, ICJB (International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal) and MITHAS tables, which were set up outside the auditorium. Delicious Indian food for the audience was catered by Udupi from NH. A student from MIT who had come to the concert upon recommendation of an AID Boston volunteer said “Though I am not too much into Carnatic music, I could recognize the first three songs easily”.

The program resumed with a beautiful video, which showcased the philosophy of AID, its people-centric approach to understand the interconnectedness of issues and holistic solutions to empower the voice of the marginalized. During the second half of the program, she sang a Hindi composition “Mann ki aankhein kholo”, addressing Sai Baba after reminding the audience that all songs are dedicated to the Almighty. Before the last series of compositions, she made a heartfelt appeal to the audience towards supporting AID initiatives and herself made a generous donation to the cause. She also mentioned that she learned the art of giving from her guru, which in her experience has always made her happier and joyful.

Ms. Ragunathan concluded the concert with Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay's famous patriotic rendition “Vande Matram”. The audience gave her a rousing ovation. It was a befitting end to a concert, which was put together by the tireless efforts of the volunteers from AID MIT and Boston Chapters.

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