A Muthuswami Dikshitar project that began with a phone call from Mumbai has now grown into a teaching initiative that promises to take Dikshitar’s kritis to students, wherever they may be, writes G Ravikiran
It
all started with a call from Mumbai. A good friend asked me for a thematic
concert on the kritis of Muthuswami Dikshitar. Since the concert was a couple
of months away, I felt this was a great opportunity to enhance my repertoire
and immediately went to my guru, TM Krishna anna.
What
followed that day was a torrent of rare gems by Dikshitar. I did not know this
at the time but I was about to embark on a wonderful journey.
At the time, I was hosting a show for
Worldspace satellite radio and decided to do a Dikshitar special, which helped
me collect valuable information about the great composer. I began learning more
of Dikshitar’s kritis and the more I learnt, the more I was enchanted by the
sheer grandeur of his work… the intricacies of the raga, the historical
contexts and the endearing sahitya.
Krishna
anna exposed me to the Sangeetha Sampradaya Pradarshini, which is a 100 year
old compendium of Dikshitar compositions, and it helped open up more doors of
learning.
It
occurred to me then that the number of Dikshitar kritis rendered in kutcheris
today was very few – it may have increased over the past few decades but was
still nowhere near the repertoire available. As a musician, it was clear to me
that the only way a new kriti could see the light of day was when more and more
musicians were willing to sing it on stage.
And
the best way to ensure this was to create a platform exclusively for
Dikshitar’s compositions and invite musicians to perform a given set. This was how
Guruguhaamrta was born, in 2009.
The
initiative then needed to take the next step. Concerts were fine – they were
drawing the crowds, the musicians were sincere about the kritis – but something
was amiss. How could we ensure future students of music would continue learning
from and performing Dikshitar kritis?
The
answer was to take Dikshitar kritis to the students, the aspiring musicians and
future generations.
I
wanted to conduct a small experiment first, since I was unsure whether students
would respond to the initiative. We held a workshop at Sringeri. And an hour
into the workshop, I knew I was on the right track.
An
enthusiastic group of 20 students enjoyed the lessons and demanded more. In 48
hours, they learnt and presented these kritis in front of an invited audience.
We then travelled to Bangalore, Mangalore, Dharmasthala and within Kerala.
My
aim was and is simple: to take this concept to students, wherever they may be.
So far, Guruguhaamrta has trained approximately 200 students. And they learn
more than just Dikshitar’s compositions. They are taught about the man himself
and his life.
Admittedly,
it has not been easy. Teaching a relatively rare composition demands patience
and perseverance from both the teacher and the student. Making time for
workshops amidst my own concert schedules is also a challenge.
There
are certainly times when you wonder if the effort is worth the reward – the
travel and the long hours of repeating phrases until it is properly absorbed
can be quite exhausting. So, what is it that keeps me going?
Last
month, we held a workshop in Mangalore with over 75 students participating. The
first kriti I taught was Srinathaadi Guruguho Jayathi. After a strenuous four
hour session, they sang in unison. And as they sang the charanam culminating in
“maayaa shabalitha brahma rupo…” the room reverberated with music.
Not
a word was spoken for five minutes after the singing ended.
At
that moment – all my doubts were laid to rest.
G Ravikiran is a Chennai-based Carnatic vocalist
