LOCKDOWN EVENTS Leveraging social media as a platform for C. Ramakrishnan

usic has got an ethereal Murthy, Sankaran Namboodiri, Sid and U. Shrinivas, were enriching and quality to heal the disturbed Sriram, Abhishek Raghuram, Priya enlightening. mind and provide solace. Sisters, Madurai T.N. Seshagopalan, M Pallavi Durbar organised by The impact of Covid-19 and the stress violin duet by Mysore Brothers, flute Carnatica and Sri Parthasarathy of confinement within one’s home by Shashank, jugalbandi by Jayanthi Swamy Sabha is an annual event have been multiplied by the disturbing Kumaresh and Ronu Mazumdar, and looked forward by musicians and news flashing across media—both a thematic concert, Khandam Square music lovers of Chennai to enjoy visual and social. In these testing presented by Sriram Parasuram. lec-dems, pallavi-jam sessions, quiz times, many organisations have come Thought provoking dramas like and exotic pallavis in complex talas. forward to provide music to rasikas Tanneer Tanneer and dance This year, it was held online and around the world through social programmes were also aired which media. were viewed by rasikas world over. The webcasts were free and the audio Arkay Convention Centre, Chennai, and video quality were commendable. owned by philanthropist cum music The daily webcasts started with enthusiast Arkay Ramakrishnan, Insights—a unique educational has been providing free music and programme by Radha Bhaskar on the literary discussions throughout the subtle nuances of Carnatic music. year. During this lockdown, when live concerts could not be held, Paalam radio is another flagship Arkay Ramakrishnan was quick channel of Mudhra—providing to provide webcasts of previously 24 hours non-stop Carnatic music recorded concerts everyday in the through the app. A series of music evening. Concerts by R. Vedavalli, concerts, lecture demonstrations and sound track of dramas were relayed T.N. Krishnan, Rama Ravi, Malladi over this channel. The vintage concerts Suribabu, T.V. Gopalakrishnan, of stalwarts, K.V. Narayanaswamy, Prof. Venkitaramanan, Sandeep M.L. Vasanthakumari, N. Ramani, Narayanan, Suryaprakash, Mandolin T.N. Krishnan, Voleti Venkateswarlu, U. Rajesh, and many other top ranking musicians provided sublime music. Special mention should be made of thematic concerts by the late Suguna Purushothaman of exclusive ragamalikas and that of Suguna Varadachary comprising on by other composers. Mudhra Bhaskar, Secretary, Mudhra and the brain behind the Paalam TV, conceived the programme titled Nimmadhi, where high quality music, dance and dramas were streamed in the evenings on their channel. The programmes featured concerts by Gayathri Venkatraghavan, Kunnakudi Balamuralikrishna, Ramakrishnan

20 l SRUTI August 2020 some of the musicians presented Vignesh, Hemantha and Heramba Aishwarya and Saundarya, great complex pallavis mostly with only (flute), amongst others, conformed to granddaughters of M.S. Subbulakshmi, the tambura; a challenging feat which high standards, had good viewership presented a series of concerts on the talented singers carried out with and received appreciable feedback Facebook with dedication, and unison aplomb. In the inaugural concert, from the viewers. in rendition, which appealed to a Suryaprakash rendered mnemonic- large number of viewers. The sisters K.N. Shashikiran and Carnatica themed Srotovaha yati ragam-tanam- deserve appreciation for curating an Archival Centre organised IMPL pallavi in set to entire concert with songs in eleven 2020 (International Music Premier chatusra jati Ata tala. Saketharaman, languages. League 2020) in which eminent in the company of Vittal Rangan musicians like A. Kanyakumari, In the absence of live concerts, (violin) and Patri Satish Kumar Malladi Ravikumar, as well as many Facebook provided platforms for (), presented Tamil isai up-and-coming musicians posted their many musicians to present their songs pallavi in Mullaipann () songs on their Facebook pages. Radha and stay connected with their fans and set to sankeerna jati Dhruva tala. Bhaskar chaired some interesting music aficionados. Musicians Sudha Kunnakudi Balamuralikrishna panel discussions. Ragunathan, Jayanthi Kumaresh, presented a unique “Reverse 20- Suryaprakash, Abhishek Raghuram, 20” themed pallavi rendered as a Charlotte Swati Tirunal Sabha Sanjay Subrahmanyan, - ragamalika with Kokilapriya as the organised Swati Tirunal Jayanti Gayatri, Gayathri Venkatraghavan, anchor . Vishnudev Namboodiri celebrations titled ‘Gems of Swati Trichur Brothers and several top presented a dwiraga-dwi-nadai pallavi Tirunal’ for seven days in which ranking artists posted their concerts with the combination of Poorvikalyani renowned and aspiring musicians on social media which attracted lakhs and Begada. Sisters Anahita and posted a song of Swati Tirunal on of views. Vocalist Amrutha Venkatesh Apoorva and Kalyanapuram Aravind Facebook. There were many instances also engaged rasikas by posting one also presented challenging pallavis. of dance programmes as well. a day on her Facebook page Mani Krishnaswamy Academy of Popular television producer and during this period. Music, Mangalore, streamed over organiser Subhasree Thanikachalam, Vocalist Gayathri Girish uploaded a 100 concerts live through Facebook. curated a programme of vintage Tamil compilation of slokas from different The musicians performed with film songs titled ‘Quarantine from texts that align with the cause of only the tambura; the absence of reality - Gems of Tamil film music’. freeing the world from disease, as per pakkavadyams did not hamper the Several classic hits were streamed the benevolent orders of the Kanchi enjoyment of the recital. The concerts every day for over 90 days on her Sankaracharya Vijayendra Saraswathi by Aditya Madhavan, Amritha YouTube channel Ragamalika TV. In Swamigal. R.P. Shravan composed a Murali, Vivek Muzhikulam, Palghat her introduction, Subhasree provided Ramprasad, Kruthi Bhatt, Vignesh a fund of information about the film, Gayathri Girish Easwar, N.J. Nandini, Malavika, music director and nuances about the Sunil Gargyan, Aditya Prakash, Sai chosen song. The programme brought to light many songs of yore and the young singers strived to revive the emotions of the long forgotten numbers without the help of any background score.

21 l SRUTI August 2020 posted two sets of 73 raga snippets— in rapid fire succession, bringing out the raga contours through raga alapana, tanam, or snippets. It was heartening to see some of the temple festival concerts online during this period—Panachikad Dakshina Mookambika Kalamandapam, the cultural wing attached to the famous Saraswathy temple in Kottayam district, organised online music Madurai Sivaganesh concerts to provide a platform Adyar D. Balasubramani for musicians. The concerts of Lalgudi G.J.R. Krishnan, Mavelikkara Subramaniam, Vivek Muzhikulam, and Tamaracaud Govindan Namboodiri in this series maintained high standards. The online concerts have been appreciated by a large section of music lovers as is evident from the feedback received during the webcasts. But it can never replace the experience of a live concert. This model works well for short duration concerts where raga alapana, niraval and swaras are limited. But the contribution of accompanists is essential as the concert assumes greater heights when there is a confluence of the musical ideas of all the team members. prayer for world peace titled Sukhino Bhavantu which is posted in his A more serious issue deserves our YouTube channel. attention. The absence of live concerts and festivals, cancellation of temple Madurai Sivaganesh presented festivals, all have resulted in a snippets of 100 within a span of serious financial setback for artists. 55 minutes bringing out their essence The concerts on social media may very eloquently, using key phrases. bring lakhs of likes and comments He was awarded a certificate by the and shares—but unfortunately do India Book of Records in recognition not translate monetarily to the same of his seamless feat. His concert for extent. Some musicians holding the ‘Times Tyagaraja Awards’ also alternate jobs or pursuing online received much appreciation. classes may remain unscathed by this Adyar D. Balasubramani played 121 adversity, but this has devastated the ragas on the nagaswaram in a span of livelihood of majority of artists. The 28 minutes which also was a pointer worst affected lot are the nagaswaram- to the deep insight and sadhana of tavil vidwans and panchavadyam the nagaswaram vidwan. There were artists as their only source of income is from temples and marriages. Under many such feats by young vidwans, these stressful conditions, the only with varying levels of perfection. solace is that some organisations and Toronto based young musician, Abby musicians have come forward to raise V (Abhishek Iyer), disciple of Raji funds and provide financial assistance Gopalakrishnan and Ranjani-Gayatri, to the suffering artists. n

22 l SRUTI August 2020