Oothukadu Festival - October 2, 2010, Chennai

Saketharaman opened the concert with a short and impressive sketch of Sri Ranjani. Like the Gopis watching little Krishna climb on top of Kalinga and control the multi-headed snake with a beat and gait, the mesmerised audience watched the little genious ascend and descend the notes of Sri Ranjani, while aptly stressing the "Ni dha" notes in Sri Ranjani reminding us of the Sharanagathi tatwa. He presented Neethan Mecchi Kollavendum, pausing and stressing the right words to bring the rich bhavam in the lyrics. But unlike what was said in lyrics "nimisham povathu yugamaai aaguthu" the beautiful song sadly ended in a few minutes.

What can be a better mood-enhancer for the evening than Hamsanadham? Like the sound that emanates from the Panchajanyam driving away evil, fear and boredom, Hamsanadham brought cheer, excitement and enthralled the audience. Oothukadu's next gem, Kalayanarama, narrating the wedding scene of Lord Rama and Sita. We live in an age where celebrity weddings are telecasted and narrated, but Oothukadu's sahityam narrated a wedding that happened in a different yuga. This kriti is a treat to all sensory organs. Those were the days of no "breaking news" and OVS (Oothukadu Venkatasubbaiyer) starts with the smell of the perfume and goes all the way describing the important sages and rishi's who've come to bless the couple. ASI, Supreme court and Allahabad High Court can argue the janmasthan and history of Rama, but this one song is a testimony to "Janakaja manohara raghurama's" existence. No further arguments or appeals! FYI: OVS composed this song in praise of Vaduvoor Ramar.

It is art and a science to pick up a ragam like Neelambari, manuver through the crests, troughs and sing to the right amplitude without letting the audience head completely fall to the left or right. Mani Noopuradhari was meticulously and melodiously describing the beauty of Mannargudi Sri Rajagopalan. For those of you who've seen him person, you will recollect his visual appeal and charm, but for the rest the lyrics will do so. Description of gems that adorn him, intricate work on his makutam, the color of his ravishing skin, the fragrance of sandalwood, perfumes, herbs and flowers, surrounded by cows and finally being a treasure of compassion. Saketharaman made sure that he didn't wake up the sleeping Santhanakrishna near the Rajagopalan. Enrapture is the verdict on this kriti!

Can Krishna charithiram ever be sung without a Thodi? That is like Gokulashtami without butter! Muthuswamy Dikshithar, a Devi Upasaka sang Sri Krishnam Bhaja in Thodi in praise of Sri Guruvayoorappan. Todi is a sampoorana ragam and so is Krishna! It was Venugana ramana that kept the audience under a mystical spell and completely put the mosquitoes to sleep. Nereval at Karunya komala shyamala nayana was delectable. Saketharaman proved that Venugaanam can be done without a flute. 500 judges shook their heads in soulful satisfaction and gave an arousing verdict without accepting a single pie! Isn't this amazing India of another kind?

I couldn't sit through the concert due to some personal commitment, but Saketharaman's soulful, open-throated, gimmick-less singing is a treat to hear and watch. Saketharaman made full justice to the composer and his guru. If you have not heard him hear him this December season, he is a promising star in the Carnatic world. Most of the musicians are either big in their ego/sariram or both, but this little boy at the center sits like a utsava murthy and gives immense visibility and room for the accompanist to contribute.Let us attend and encourage such young and talented musicians to live like the Trinities and not use Carnatic Music like ATM machines.

Legacy of Oothukaadu

An artist has done a thorough job if he/she can spiritually polarize the crowd and if rasikas leave the hall with a feeling of enlightenment, elation and devotion. Did the 2000+ people - sitting, standing and even seated outside the auditorium and watching Smt. Aruna Sayeeram on the TV screen at the Jaya TV Markazhi Mahautsav 2008 leave the auditorium with this feeling? Did she create a musical trance?

The auditorium was brimming to its fullest capacity 2 hours before her concert given the theme for Smt. Aruna - Legacy of Oothukaadu. I also heard a few of them say they came to hear J.Vaidyanathan on the Mridhangam, Karthik on the Ghatam and HN Bhaskar on the violin. No concert can be successful if there no team-work and if the wavelength of the accompanist don’t match with the vocalist. Was the evening a divine unison?

Aruna opened the concert with a brief sketch of Gambira Naati and rendered the famous krithi Sri Viganrajam Bhaje composed on Thiruvalanchuzhi Ganesha. What other raga than Gambira Naatai can create the right pulse in 2000+ crowd? She sounded jarring at a few places in this song, may be she trying to settle into the theme and mood. Nevertheless, the kalpanaswarams for this piece was rich and short.

Kalayanarama composed on Vaduvoor (aka Dakshina Ayodhya) KothandaRamar in Hamsanadham brought fond memories of DK Jayaraman along with beauty of Vaduvoor Ramar. Kalapanaswaram at Raghava Raghu Rama in duritha kalam was delightful and divine.

There are not that many krithis in Umabaranam and we’ve all heard the popular one Nijamarmamula by Thyagaraja. Oothukaadu has done just 2 kritis in this raga and Udajagopasundara was along the lines of Nijamarmula loaded with bakthi.

Oothukaadu is the master when it comes to Saptharathna krithis. Aruna rendered Alavadennalo Sivane in Paras, the only Saptharatna kriti in Thamizh. The krithi mentions all of 63 Nayanmars in the madhyamakala charanams. After every 5 Nayanmars there is swara passage. The main charanam line “Innavaril oruvaraipole” pleads with the lord for a release from the cycle of birth and death, but if born again may it be like one of the 63 Nayanmars. The composer’s humility and mastery over Shiva Puranam is reflected in the words “adiyark adiyark adiyanai” and he asks Shiva if he can be Shiva baktha’s baktha’s baktha. This piece won Aruna a thunderous applause.

When Aruna started Oyyara kanna kuzhal oodha – virutham in Kambodhi the spell bound audience were fascinated by description of Kannan and recreation of Aayarpaadi. Kuzhal Oodhi Manan yellam followed the virutham.

Aruna explained the composer’s devotion towards Sri Rajagopalan of Mannargudi and Santhanakrishan and presented Mani Noopuradhari in Neelambari. She brought out the vatsalyam in the Neelambari.

Aruna was surrounded by papers on the dais and the Mama besides me made an interesting comment. “ Idthu yenna vadaam vathal kaya vekkara madiri ore paper a irukku”. One can refer to lyrics for songs like Alavadennalo Sivane, but not for popular numbers.

Adathu asangathu vaa kanna (Madhyamavathi) is what Aruna asked the almighty, but she could not hold the audience from swaying in bakthi and in the jeevan of the lyrics. Her alapana reminded us to Late ML Vasanthakumari and Kanna piece in this raga. Neraval at chinnan chiru padangal was done with finesse to bring out the tenderness and beauty of the Krishna’s feet. She did a ragamalika rendition of the same line in Todi, Bowli, Atana and Hindolam. In zeal and excitement she dragged charanams from the krithis into this Madhyamavathi and made it taste like payasam and curd rice together. She should have refrained from singing swaram in Todi for a Madhyamavathi krithi. You can be an ardent devotee of Krishna and Oothukaadu, but it is not right to try such experimentation on the concert platform however sweet and interesting it may sound. Creativity and innovation should never go beyond tradition.

Oothukadu has not only sung on Krishnan, but also made compositions on Ganesha, Vishnu, Shiva, Devi, Rama, Subramanya, Ranganatha, Parthasarathy, Saraswathi, Aghora Veerabadhra, Nrisima, Anjaneya, and Surya. He is one of the 3 composers (other being Muthuswami Dikshithar, Swati Tirunaal) to do Navavarna krithis. Bhajaswa Sri Tripurasundari on Garbarakshambikai in Nadanamakriya. How can one forget the one who protects fetus and takes care of the process of srishti? The madyamakala sahityam “Gajamukhajanani sasadharavadani sisiritabhuvani sivamanoramani was so beautiful rendered.

When you call Shanmukapriyan, the nephew of Vishnu for a boon, you should do that with atmost devotion. It took Aruna a minute to bring the essence of Shanmukhapriya in the krithi Varamondru Thanduarulvaai. How can one ever forget the rendition of the same krithi by Maharajapuram?

The penultimate piece of the concert brought out the pranks played by Krishna. Vishamakara Kannan (popularized by Smt. Sudha Raghunathan) in Chenchuritti lightened the atmosphere and lines pakkattu vittup-pennai azhaippaan showed that bakthi can be fun too. HN Bhaskar brought out the folk essence of Chenchurutti.

The 2 hour spiritual journey started from Thiruvalanchuzi, Vaduvoor, Mannargudi, Thirukarukavoor, and finally reached Oothukaadu and concluded with the Kalinga Nardhanam. J Vaidyanathan and Karthik helped Aruna recreated the picturesque scene.
This was definitely a divine unison of jeevatmas with the paramatma. Legacy of Oothukaadu is in the right hands and is definitely preserved.