Dr. PADMAJA VENKATESH SURESH, AN INTERVIEW

 Dr. PADMAJA VENKATESH SURESH

AN INTERVIEW

(post by Madhavi Ramkumar)

Bharatanatyam exponent Dr.Padmaja Venkatesh Suresh, head of the Aatmalaya Academy of Art and Culture, Bengaluru, assumes the roles of performer, teacher, researcher, author and writer, speaker, administrator and organizer with equal ease. Having taken the art to numerous venues in India and abroad, she also launched ‘Kalachaitanya’ a scheme to reach out to underprivileged children in villages, small towns and cities across the country. Her books ‘Tantra the Science and Natya the Art – The Two Faceted Reality’ and ‘The Liberating Dance – Natya Tantra’ as well as articles in a number of major publications attest to her spirit of enquiry and her academic and intellectual approach to the roots, origins and practice of the art. Winner of several titles and accolades, she continues her deep commitment to Bharatanatyam and other aspects if Indian culture during the current pandemic through multiple programmes on various social media platforms.

In a recent email interview, appended below, Dr.Padmaja Venkatesh Suresh makes several informed and thought provoking points that illustrate her basic philosophy and the core of her identity as an artiste. 

What is the most important lesson you have imbibed from your guru Sri.K. Kalyanasundaram?

The most important lesson is VIDYA DADATI VINAYAM. Masterji always nurtured Guru Bhakti and allegiance. The more one knows, the less is the exhibition as one sees the divine hand in everything. It is the Lord who prompts one towards knowledge and action- this he repeatedly exemplified during class and programmes. The quality of class was far weighed than the quantity of lessons. It is a mutual bonding, truly like life-long foster parents, seen in Guru- Sishya relationship that I have experienced.

Do you follow the same teaching methods as your guru? If not, what are the changes and the reasons for them?

I try to emulate the same ways in teaching the practice and Parampara of Tanjore lineage but have made additions in giving regular theory lessons which was not the case when I learnt from a Guru like Kalyanasundaram Saar who belongs to the traditional families where oral practical training was the mainstay. My students write notes too and are sometimes given video and audio recordings. The present generation should be simultaneously exposed to academics and research in the arts too.

How did your father Sri Chakyar Rajan, who is foremost among your mentors, inspire and guide you?

My father taught me to be an amicable and simple person, easily able to adjust to different environments of stay and travel. Hardwork, perseverance, innovation and faith in God came from father naturally. He instructed me regularly in Sanskrit and suggested that one can improve by watching veterans in the field.  Chakyar Rajan was a legend whom still many people love for his humorous way of looking at life, management skills and philosophical guidance and certainly I am thankful to my stars for these roots.

Do you believe our classical arts including Bharatanatyam have metaphysical and esoteric aspects, and a higher spiritual purpose? If so how can they be correlated to the current social milieu and the financial necessities of the artiste?

If we can take the example of Rishi and Raja in our daily lives, we can make a balance. The material pursuits along with social acceptance feature in the world drama that keeps changing scenes relentlessly. The King in us is bent upon achieving goals. Every moment we pause and reflect, we start breathing effortlessly by connecting within like the Sage and also examining our moral principles. The transactional and transcendental have to go hand in hand in our Karmic journey, these assets and liabilities in the balance sheet have to be worked out. The metaphysical introspection as a classical dancer gives the advantage of witnessing the various happenings SHAKTI, with a sense of detachment as the PEACEFUL SELF IS RESTING IN SHIVAM.

How important do you think knowledge of music, language and literature, and exposure to other art forms is for a student of dance?

Knowledge of most of the chapters in Natya Shastra and the last chapter on dance in Sangeeta Ratnakara are basic requirements if you wish to achieve a level of expertise and long-standing mastery. Besides these treatises, Abhinayadarpanam is good for Bharatanatyam as other texts are for respective dance forms. The dancer should know the song danced, byheart and to be able to sing with Talam even if not possessed with musical talents. The background of the poet is also important to interpret correctly the intention.

What impact can lecture demonstrations, seminars and discussions have on the practice and evolution of a performing art?

The positive outcomes of these seminars, etc are already being seen with wide dissemination of knowledge and emerging young scholars. But caution is to be taken to prevent plagiaristic tendencies which are increasing as people tend to easily extract papers and replace with cosmetic changes. Research has to be original, arduously undertaken and credits given keeping in mind the ethical standards. Shastra has to to go integrated with Prayoga as it is a performing art.

Do you think the traditional margam is still relevant in Bharatanatyam? What is your opinion about the depiction of contemporary social issues as part of the repertoire?

Margam has to be refurbished as it is a spiritual journey to unite with the Supreme in the central piece built up in the crescendo. It follows an inconspicuous sacred design and marks the dimensions in a temple, hence even if the platform is a proscenium stage, the ambience becomes potent as if a ritual has been undertaken. The Margam measures the true mettle of the dancer and no other performance can come close to this in terms of both personal and community benefits accrued. Innovations can be separately presented as and when the need arises but not to meddle with convention.

What were your objectives when you took Bharatanatyam to large numbers of underprivileged children? How successful have you been in attaining them?

I have been satisfied that I could dedicate several professional hours of work in training the underprivileged fora sustained period of over 12 years through government schools, rural NGOs and other institutions. There are times when suddenly some  young ladies walk up to me after a performance or a college event or even at a store saying that they were in such and such school and have been able to further the training or use the skills to secure better occupations. The handful who came to Arangetram stage and completed it became teachers and often learn further from me. We continue to hold such workshops. The Rashtrapati Bhavan programme became history for many children who have their dancing photographs with Dr. Kalam, for posterity. Looking back, the objective to touch upon lives, to create oppurtunities for the deprived and to share knowledge is a gift from Almighty.

What do awards, prestigious venues and official recognition mean for you as a performing artiste?

Awards create added motivation but for a short while as the deeper quest is what drives one constantly. Venues never mattered, whether a municipal school or a high ranked Sabha, one has to do the best on stage and strive to connect with the audience. The moment the music starts, it is a total surrender. There is no PADMAJA...almost  all performances  brought out the magic and continue to do so. The Shikshak, Shodak, Sevak are all acting their roles through me but I AM happiest in Advaitic state as a humble NATYA-SADHAK.

Do you believe the changes brought about by the current pandemic, especially the use of technology and social media platforms, will influence the progress of the Indian performing arts in the long run?

The Pandemic has given inner meaning to our pursuits. How much we need against wants in every part of life became our choice. The arts taught virtually and the webinars are all keeping us connected but the REAL is missing. RASA cannot be derived through an external device. The change is a stop gap and hopefully, like we get further energized after an EKADASI fasting, this too can lead to progressive strides after normalcy returns. The noise on social platforms is unbearably loud and mediocrity has risen to the forefront. New benchmarks that give room to constraints but cannot stray from the trodden path have to be made. The situation is tough for upcoming artists but serious study can be fostered for the future of the art.

GAYATHRI RAJAPUR KASSEBAUM, A TRIBUTE

 GAYATHRI RAJAPUR KASSEBAUM

(16^th MARCH 1938 TO 5^TH 0CTOBER 2020)

A TRIBUTE

(post by Madhavi Ramkumar)

photograph © Parvathi Ramkumar

Gayathri Rajapur Kassebaum, outstanding musician, consummate gottuvadyam artiste, musicologist, academician and scholar, author and writer, meticulous, loving, caring and giving guru, and wise, warm and wonderful human being, passed away recently. Unswerving guru bhakthi, reverence for and fidelity to tradition in Carnatic Music, and indefatigable enthusiasm and dynamism were the hallmarks of her approach to music, rather than the pursuit of fame and recognition. Her unassuming and gentle presence will be missed by everyone who knew her and the music world is the poorer for her passing.

The following article, first published in the Friday Review of The Hindu, Bengaluru, on March 11^th 2011, is being reproduced here as a tribute to Gayathri Rajapur Kassebaum.

A LUMINOUS LEGACY

-          Madhavi Ramkumar

A priceless artefact in the possession of Gayathri Rajapur Kassebaum is a gottuvadyam that the great master Budalur Krishnamurthy Shastri once owned and constantly played. She believes the instrument to be about a hundred years old, a living testament to her close and long association with the guru under whom she learnt to play, first as a student of the Central College of Carnatic Music, Chennai, in the fifties and as a recipient of the Government of India scholarship thereafter. In a recent interview she spoke of her experiences in India and abroad as musician, academician, writer and teacher, all sustained by a quiet and abiding passion for music.

Gayathri Kassebaum first took up gottuvadyam as a subsidiary to her main subject, vocal music, but it soon became her chief area of interest. “What sets the Budalur style apart is, I think, the holding of the kattai – it’s a shorter one – and the meetu,” she observes. “The methods he followed, except for the gottu, were based on and similar to those of the veena, though you can tell the difference between the instruments. His models were Karaikudi Sambasiva Iyer and his brother Subbarama Iyer, but he developed his own style, a way of moving the left hand, with very delicate gamakas and nuances which sound very much like singing,”

Gayathri obtained her Ph.D, in ethnomusicology from the University of Washington, Seattle. “Since I was abroad, I wanted to make the best of it, and the closest thing to Carnatic Music was ethnomusicology. So I could teach, learn something and that is how I became an ethnomusicologist,” she recalls. About the relationship between the folk and classical traditions in India, she feels that a lot more research on the topic is required. Author of ‘Bharatiya Sangita Darshana’, a book in Kannada, her articles have been published in several journals including those of the Asian Music Research Institute, the Music Academy, Madras, the Sangeet Natak Academy, and in the Garland Encyclopaedia of World Music. The subjects handled range from ‘Regional Music Traditions of Karnataka’ to ‘Ornamentation in Okinawan Classical Singing’ and ‘A Method for Analysis for Gamaka in Alapana’.

As a teacher and performer in India and abroad, she observes, “In the west there is great attention to detail. The sound system is very good – they check it out an hour before, and the audience is punctual and attentive. But the auditoriums are set up for western classical music – in India there is more intimacy, the audience is more vocal in appreciation.” Exposure to other systems of music such as Japanese, Korean, Arabic and Persian, she feels, would expand perceptions. “African percussion is fantastic, Indonesian and Javanese music with its gongs and bells which create a special atmosphere is very interesting. We should be proud of our music but must have an open mind.” Regarding the status of Indian classical music abroad, she opines that it “is highly evolved, with a literature, which is rare. Instrumental music and North Indian classical music are probably more easily acceptable, but there is more acceptance for Carnatic Music now, and it is highly regarded in academic circles.”

The gottuvadyam, says Gayathri Kassebaum, is a beautiful and very ancient instrument and deserves more popularity. “It is a very difficult instrument to stick to – in the beginning it is difficult but in the advanced stages, veena is more difficult than gottuvadyam, in my opinion. I would always advise gottuvadyam students to learn singing – and then they can appreciate the nuances of the instrument. This is true for all instruments, but especially so for gottuvadyam. It is easy to produce apaswarams, more obviously than in veena, so that also discourages people. I think there has to be a campaign such as the one the Department of Kannada and Culture had for a year, for rare instruments. Musicians could also encourage their students to take up gottuvadyam. It has been a rare instrument for a long time, but that could change.”

Gayathri Kassebaum believes that what she learnt under the great stalwarts like Musiri, Budalur and T. Brinda who taught at the Central College was “a whole way of behaving towards music, the gurus, and even the musical instrument. It was a guru-shishya relationship that was not taught but communicated.” She has donned diverse roles in her long musical career spanning about six decades, but she concludes thus: “To tell you the truth, my heart and my soul is in making music, performing and playing gottuvadyam.”

A CASCADE OF THILLANAS

(post by Madhavi Ramkumar)

The pandemic rampant throughout the world has altered the situation almost irreversibly for performing artistes. Live concerts have been replaced by virtual shows that have a completely different set of demands and challenges, and some benefits too. It is indeed heartening to see that many innovative and absorbing programmes that would probably not have been conceived in the pre- pandemic milieu have been devised and presented to an audience that is not restricted by space or time. One such outstanding endeavour is the series ‘A Thillana a Day’, comprising no less than 50 thillanas sung by Amrutha Venkatesh and published on her Youtube channel from the 1^st April 2020 onwards.

The presentation comprises works by T.V.Gopalakrishnan, M.Balamuralikrishna, Lalgudi Jayaraman, Tanjavur Sankara Iyer, Thirukkokaranam Vaidyanatha Bhagavathar, Patnam Subrahmanya Iyer,  Srimushnam Raja Rao, M.D.Ramanathan, Swathi Thirunal,  Maharajapuram Santhanam, Muthaiah Bhagavathar, Veena Sheshanna, and Mysore Vasudevacharya. The wide spectrum of ragas employed, ranging from traditional favourites such as Anandabhairavi, Khamas and Kapi to Hindustani ragas like Ahir Bhairav, Basant Bahar and Sankara, highlights the variety and diversity extant in this category of composition. Some of the thillanas are well known and have gained wide currency in the concert circuit and on the dance proscenium while many others are relatively unknown.

The series starts with a thillana by T.V.Gopalakrishnan, set to Chandrakauns raga and adi thala featuring both tisra and chaturasra gathis, and ends appropriately enough with Swathi Thirunal’s timeless classic in Dhanashri raga and adi thala. Inclusion of masterpieces such as the Poorvi thillana by Thirukkokaranam Vaidyanatha Bhagavathar and the one in Khamas by Patnam Subrahmanya Iyer impart a welcome vintage flavour to the preponderance of modern pieces. Though adi thala features prominently, both popular and rare pieces in thalas as diverse as khanda chapu, rupaka, mishra chapu and multiple gathis of adi thala in the same thillana have also been incorporated.

Though the thillana is conventionally sung towards the end of the concert, its inherent complexity and intricate rhythmic permutations call for a great degree of expertise and skill on the part of the performing musician. To acquire a repertoire of so many such compositions, and to internalise and perform them with certitude, is indeed an admirable achievement. Despite the fact that the entire presentation here has been sung without accompanying violin and percussion support, it is remarkable for clarity of exposition and rhythmic and melodic precision. The brief notes, and the occasional quiz appended to the compositions, serve to evoke interest and enhance involvement among the viewers. The thala could have been mentioned in all of the notes in order to avoid any ambiguity whatsoever. Overall this is an impressive effort that could serve as a reference point for  musicians and connoisseurs alike. It is hoped that the series will be extended with the inclusion of both recent compositions and others that were in vogue years ago, like the Sankarabharanam thillana by Ponnaiah Pillai in adi thala tisra gathi, and the Purnachandrika thillana in adi thala by Poochi Srinivasa Iyengar.