The magic of music!

 

Music has always been an integral part of our lives and while being ardent followers of Carnatic music, we as a family have been enjoying a wide range of Indian music – from Carnatic and Hindustani music to devotional bhajans, from Kannada Sugama Sangeetha to ghazals and film music, besides tuning in to a few popular genres of western music from time to time. While there’s some music playing on  one of our devices at all times, it is mostly Carnatic music that dominates our household. So much so,  it’s a family joke that our house might as well be branded as the “FM Amruthavarshini house” , with Indian classical music reverberating from every corner of our house as the FM 100.1 (The Indian classical music channel  of All India Radio Bangalore) plays on the multiple radios tuned in - on the ground floor at the kitchen, on the first floor in one of our rooms, and at the terrace balcony on the second floor…..All thanks to my renewed obsession with Carnatic music! Anybody visiting our home or calling in between 6 Am to 9.30 Am in the mornings and between 6PM and 11 PM in the evenings is sure to be treated to some brilliant music in the background, and any such conversation in person or over phone is forced to compete with Sudha Raghunathan’s rendition of “Raaga Sudharasa” or Bombay Jayasri’s “Krishna nee begane baaro”! (I know it’s not fair but I just cannot bring myself to turn off the radio when FM Amruthavarshini  is on)  Since Abhay has been training for Carnatic vocal for some time now,  I have resumed my own training after a long hiatus, and my little one a recent newbie in Carnatic music, our dinner table conversations often tend to be paused (Mind you, it’s never an interruption!) over identifying a raaga or noticing the structure of the “Kalpanaswaras” playing on the radio! Well, that’s when my exasperated husband asks if Yesudas’s rendition “Vataapi Ganapathim” needs to be a part of the discussion on our plans for the next day! 😊

So when the previous  week’s Saturday Buzzar of Funky Rainbow brought up this book on the occasion of World music day earlier last week, I knew I had to lay my hands on this one and sure enough this book has been the raagam-tanam-pallavi of this week’s reads! If my little one loves the book, it’s becomes a family favourite almost immediately with everyone being asked to read to her – from parents and maternal grandparents to her older brother and this book has indeed appealed to everyone who has read  to Aadya. Inspired from the early years of Annapurna Devi, the famous sitar player and daughter of Allaudin Khan, the royal court musician at the court of Maharaja of Maihar in Madhya Pradesh, “The Magic in My Fingers” a Karadi tales publication by Nandita da cunha (a pianist herself) and illustrations by  Nayantara Sundrenath and Kanimozhi A ,  is an endearing tale that is as much a story of sisterly love as it is about the discovery of an innate talent heralding an illustrious musical journey.

Aayan is once again late for his music practice, much to Baba’s chagrin. Before Baba loses his patience at his truant son, his younger sister Roohi steps in to search for Aayan who seems to be more interest in pots and pans than the practice of Sitar. Roohi cant afford to have Aayan upset Baba which would then ruin her chances of a new kite that Baba had promised to buy from the market. But Roohi’s chances of making her father proud of her as she plans to win the kite-flying competition with the new kite, diminish by the minute as Baba heads out looking for his errant son, with a cane in hand. So Roohi hits upon a brilliant but highly risky idea to distract her Baba and soon to her delight and to the shock of her father, she discovers the magic in her fingers, and that indeed makes her father swell with pride! Aided by wonderfully striking illustrations, we love this book as its works on so many levels- from the very relatable reluctance to music practice (I deal with it every day!) to the wonder of a prodigious talent, from the intuitive understanding of a sister of her brother's mind  to the discovery of one’s true potential and of course the exhilarating power of music! A must buy for any music loving family!

 

Hanuman's Ramayana!

July seems to be the month of children's theatre in Bangalore! If we began the month with the play "Gumma Banda Gumma " followed by the week-long Aha! Children's theatre festival at Ranga Shankara .....this weekend saw the riveting performance of Tulika's "Hanuman ki Ramayan" in Swaang-Nautanki style by Gillo theatre repertory at four different locations in Bangalore. 

                                         

With our eight year old already having watched more plays this month than we adults watch in a year, we were  warned by our folks at home that an overdose of theatre might just be a little too much for him! That said, however, we couldn't miss this troupe whose musical rendition of Asha Nehamaiah's book "Granny's Sari" we so enjoyed a couple of years ago ( God..time flies!).  So Abhay went along with his daddy to watch the play at Suchitra film society at South Bangalore. The play was performed in the North Indian folk art form - Nautanki, where the story is performed through an eclectic mix of folk songs, dance and dialogues followed by an interactive session with the audience post the performance. Gillo demonstrated how a simple story can be transformed into an electrifying stage act with minimal props, purely on the strength of their performance , with each and every actor contributing in equal measure.  Though set as a period drama, certain contemporary themes were also blended into the narrative making it even more entertaining! For instance, it was hilarious to watch Narada, touted as mythogy's most misunderstood character, comparing himself to today's "media-wale"! :-) So whether you love the story, or the Nautanki dance drama style.... Gillo's rendition of Hanuman's Ramayan is a must watch! 

As a follow-up to the play, we read the book on which yesterday's performance is based... "Hanuman's Ramayan " by Devdutt Pattanaik and pictures by Nancy Raj. We all know about Valmiki's Ramayan but as the story goes... there appears to be another Ramayan supposedly a better one, according to Narada. Don't believe it.. Neither does Valmiki when Narada discloses the author's name to be Hanuman... the monkey.... a mere character in Valmiki's Ramayan. As Valmiki sets off to the foothills of Himalayas hoping to take a peek at the so called "better Ramayan" , he comes across an orchard full of banana trees with it's leaves scrawled on by what looked like fingernail marks. Upon close observation, the marks turned out to be " letters...words ....sentences" .... and it didn't take long for Valmiki to realise that he was indeed reading "Hanuman's Ramayan"! As Valmiki voraciously takes in the seven banana leaves containing the Ramayan...without missing a single word... he is so overcome with emotion that it falls upon only Lord's Ram's greatest devotee to save the day! Read on as this story only highlights how the mythological classic "Ramayan " lends itself to many different versions and mini-tales that is vibrantly brought out by the folk style illustrations. This is as much a story about Valmiki swallowing his pride as it is a tribute to Hanuman's devotion to Lord Rama. Indeed....a great way of getting our younger generation interested in mythology! Kudos to Gillo's talented performers for choosing stories from Indian children's publications and bringing them alive on stage!