INTERVIEW

“I cannot live without music”

Swati Tirunal was undoubtedly one of the most important modern composers, one who included Hindustani styles in his compositions. Nowadays it has become fashionable to say you must avoid Hindustani in Carnatic music or the other way around. But looking back, Bhimsen Joshi was among those south Indians who became luminaries in the north Indian style. How many south Indians are really open to Hindustani music is debatable. The late M.S. Gopalakrishnan was very competent in the Hindustani field, and my colleague Sanjay Subrahmanyan is a Carnatic musician open to Hindustani ragas – he sings a Rama Varma at the Swarasadhana workshop focussing on Swati Tirunal’s compositions pallavi in Bagesree, for instance. Then again there are ‘fundamentalist’ groups Well known Carnatic vocalist Rama Varma was in Chennai recently to who think Behag, Sindhubhairavi, conduct a two-day workshop (9 and 10 February 2013) Swarasadhana, Yamunakalyani, Sivaranjani and their at the Satyananda Yoga Centre at Triplicane. Here he speaks of the event, ilk should be totally done away with. his journey in classical music and his thoughts on the changing trends of the art form. Rama Varma How did Swarasadhana happen? in conversation with I have been teaching in a village called Perla near Mangalore for the past M. Ramakrishnan four years, at a music school called Veenavadini, run by the musician Yogeesh Sharma. He invites musicians to visit there once a year. Four years ago Veenavadini invited me. They enjoyed my teaching and Do you follow the same style of teaching I enjoyed being there too, and my visits became regular. Some of as your gurus? these lessons were video-recorded and uploaded on YouTube. The Tirupati based Sri Venkatesa Bhakti Channel telecast around I had four gurus, one of whom is 200 episodes of the programme. The organisers of Swarasadhana were alive today. Each guru had something therefore familiar with my way of teaching. special. My first vocal guru Vechoor Hariharasubramania Iyer would What is it about Swarasadhana that has not been done before? repeat parts of songs as many times as This is the first time I am conducting such a camp in Chennai. Also, I wanted, until I got it right. But he 2013 is the 200th birth anniversary of my ancestor Maharaja Swati would not allow recording. I imbibed Tirunal. So I have chosen some unique compositions of his that the his level of patience. My two veena participants may not be able to learn from many other sources. gurus Trivandrum R. Venkataraman and K.S. Narayanaswamy were very analytical, splitting phrases into The Swarasadhana workshop had about 50 participants. The songs Rama Varma taught included Japat japat Hari naam, Kamalanayana the smallest fragments until each Jagadeeswara, Aaj aaye Shyam mohan, Rama Rama pahi, gamaka became perfectly clear. Paramaananda natana, Naama sudharasam. M. Balamuralikrishna, he does not really teach, per se. He could be compared to

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a sumptuous buffet in a five-star hotel where all sorts of electronic keyboard sounds, a saxophone or a medley goodies are in front of you and you could help yourself of film songs to have greater reach. I stick to my own to whatever you liked. Only an advanced student can method, which is to take the trouble to know the truly benefit from him, because he does not repeat parts meaning of what each word in a song means and convey of the song 300 times or break it up into smaller the same to my audience. fragments. While teaching, he sings as he would in a Is your style of explaining the history behind a song as concert. But he has absolutely no problem if you record an introductory note been inspired by one of your gurus him. I record his lessons and then the tape recorder or is it entirely yours? becomes my guru as I play the lessons over and over again. So, my teaching style is essentially a combination I have not seen many others do it. of all these different approaches. Western music involves the participation of groups of What do you like about the way Swarasadhana was people in the form of gospel choirs which essentially are organised? based on their classical styles. Is this applicable to the Indian scenario as well? It was a very sincere effort. Sometimes big, moneyed organisations may help you with organising something Both classical systems (in the east and the west) but their effort may not be genuine. Outside India, you started out as forms of worship. While Christianity get much more money for teaching but no job satisfaction, emphasises a congregational effort, Hinduism allows much of the time. There could be exceptions, though. more individualism. The same principle applies to our singing. If ten persons were to sing Vatapi Ganapatim Does your lineage (belonging to the erstwhile Travancore bhajeham, they would choose different tempos and even royal family) make things easier for you? different sangatis. Our classical music is meant tobe I do not use any title. If I did, my royal image tag could a solitary pursuit with potential for instant creativity, give me certain advantages. But people have branded me pushing limits and exploring new methods. Of course, as a prince in virtually every report. If you look at my we also have bhajans which sound beautiful when sung visiting card, it does not use the title. It’s just Rama Varma. as a group. I follow this rule even when I write an article or produce Do you feel the team effort in Carnatic music is a CD. Earlier there was a misconception that I used my restricted to the main musician and accompanists? title and family influence to get concert opportunities or obtain sponsors easily. People did not know that my Yes. There are also cases of students who have studied family was totally against my performing publicly. As under the same guru and sing perfectly in sync. When royal patrons they believed that their duty was only to I lived in Europe earlier for 10 years, I sometimes had endorse and financially support musicians and singers. to present concerts without accompaniment or This tradition (in the Travancore royal family) was first microphones. They were just solo performances with the broken by me. tambura. It gave scope for elaboration in raga alapana and other new ideas, without worrying about You have said that classical music should be accessible to coordinating with the accompanists. Singing alone has the common man. Do you see this transition happening its own rewards but you should be knowledgeable or is there still a long way to go? enough to know how to go about it. It requires great This sort of transition is a constant process, it has been stamina, aesthetic sense and a sense of proportion. done before. Classical music has had mass appreciation There should not be any hesitation in the mind. through the efforts of people like K.B. Sundarambal, Otherwise it is better to stick with your team and Madurai Mani Iyer and even my guru Balamuralikrishna. perform. Can this task be achieved through cinema or new-age What are your plans? music? There have been films like Sankarabharanam, To continue the same as much as possible. When I was Chithram and Bharatham in the past which have managed 20 years old, I never thought I would go to Europe. to pull it off. While in Europe I never thought I would go to that Yes, these films definitely had a major impact at the time. small village in Karnataka to teach. My family and Some people feel you have to mix classical music with Dr. Balamuralikrishna never got along, but I ended

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up learning so much from him. I was initially attracted done that before. After the exams, all my friends went by some of his compositions thinking I would just to watch Sean Connery’s comeback film as James learn a tillana or two and leave. But it’s been 19 years Bond, Never Say Never Again, which had just been since that meeting took place and I am still learning released. I finished my exam and came back in the from him. I just go with the flow, more or less. I do evening for music class. I realised even then that I could not plan. not be without music, without ever imagining I would Is Swarasadhana on the way to becoming an annual be a singer. They say the same about marriage: you event in your calendar? should marry not someone you can live with but someone you cannot live without! I cannot live That depends on the organisers really. I would be without music. perfectly happy to come again if they were to invite me. (Ramakrishnan is a student of Asian College of Journalism) How much does music mean to you? In the interview, Rama Varma refers to his gurus and During my SSLC exams I used to squeeze in my other musicians with respect – the prefixes and suffixes have music classes even between examination breaks. My been edited in keeping with the magazine’s policy. guru used to say that no other disciple of his had

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