Yamini - From Malkauns to Bhairavi

"Yamini meaning ‘Night’ is that night that descends on Bengalooru, gently, slowly, to the mellifluous notes of music and the gentle rhythm of feet. It is the night when the clouds above, part to reveal the star spangled banner of the dark skies. When Yamini is on you wake up to your inner self and dissolve in the shower of music and dance. From Malkauns to Bhairavi, from dusk to dawn, the night of revelation prevails." - reverberated the Yamini site as if trying to lure not only avid connoisseurs of Indian classical dance and music but also the pedestrian listeners.

My wife and I reached the venue just in time for the musical extravaganza. Having arrived late, I could finally get a parking place. There were about 500, no about 1000, may be, I am no expert in counting. But there was a huge crowd. The inaugural address and lighting of the lamp by IIMB director kick started Yamini.

The first concert of the day, err night, was a vocal duet by Smt.Ranjini and Smt.Gayatri. They were accompanied by H N Bhaskar on the violin, Delhi Sairam on the mridanga and M A Kishnamurthy on the ghata.

The concert began with a thunderous rendering of Muttayya Bhagavatar's Gam Ganapate in raga Hamsadhwani set to Aditala. It was followed by a mellifluous rendering of Muttuswamy Dikshitar's Ranganayakam in Nayaki. The sudden change in mood was very well appreciated by the audience. The sisters' Pantuvarali raagaalapana which followed was spell bounding. Bhaskar's reply was too good and impressive. After the detailed exploration of Pantuvarali, Tyagaraja swamy's Raghuvara Nannu kriti was rendered. The highlight was the nerval at "manasuna nIkE marulukonnAnu", which translated means - “In my mind (manusuna), I am in love (marulukonnAnu) with You (nIkE)”

Such was the involvement of the sisters in the nerval that left me wondering whether it was possible to sing like so beautifully, with so much involvement unless one is experiencing it. The soulful rendition concluded with great swarakalpana from the sisters and the Bhaskar ofcourse. It was followed by

--> kandil Kuruti – Mukhari – Mischra chapu – Neelakanta Sivan

--> Vararaagalaya – ChenchuKambhoji – Adi – Tyagaraja

The highlight of the concert was the RTP in Kapi which followed. The pallavi -

"kaNNA vA maNi vaNNA vA kamala padam vaittu viraindODi vA”was set to khanda triputa tala. Kalpana swaras were rendered in raga - kamach, dEs, madhuvanti. It was followed by an excellent Tani avartanam.

After the tani, the duo sang the evergreen Purandaradasa composition Krishna nee begane baro in yamankalyan set to mischra chapu. The Hindustani style ending of the song with was greatly applauded the audience.

Before the last item, there was an interaction session. The sisters were quizzed about coordination and the effect of their violin training on vocal and vice versa. The sisters did admit that they do fight among themselves during practice sessions on various aspects and also on choice of songs

Some one in the audience suggested a Ranjini-Gayatri concert would be incomplete without an abhang. Probably the last song – an abhang – was something the sisters were unanimous in their selection.

The concert concluded with Sant Tukaram’s Abhang - PanDharisE Bhoot mOtE – in chandrakauns. The sisters explained that it was a nindastuti of the God Panduranga where he is critisized as a bhoot (ghost) who captured the soul of Tukaram when he visited Pandarapura and was never able to get back.

Violin Duet by Mysore Nagaraj and Dr. Mysore Manjunath was the next concert. They were accompanied by Neyveli Venkatesh on the Mridanga and M A Kishnamurthy on the Ghata.

They began their recital with Saint Tyagaraja’s famous kriti Saamajavaragamana in Hindola. The kalpana swaras were brisk and the highlight was the sawal jawab style play by Manjunath and percussionists starting with a full avartana and halving it till one akshara. After a roaring start they choose to play the slow haunting piece – Muttuswamy Dikshitar’s Akhilandeshwari in Dvijavanti. It was followed by an elaboration of Mohana raga by Nagaraj and they played Tyagaraja Swamy’s Nannu paalimpa. It was decorated with kalpana swaras in all the speeds one could imagine.

The crowed cheered in excitement when Nagaraj announced the next item. Yes it was Raaga sudhaarasa in AndhoLika.

It was followed by RTP in Shanmukhapriya. Raga and Tana were played elaborately the brothers. However, the pallavi was too short and they dived into the swaras. Swaras were also played in shahana,ranjani, sindhubhairavi.

The concert concluded with most famous bhajan - Raghupati raaghava raajaraam.

It was 00.30 am on 26th January. The temperature might some where near single digit in celcius. We, the audience, in an open air theater, were hiding in our blankets, shawls, sweaters with only our heads out. That was when Smt. Urmila Satyanarayan in typical Bharatnatyam attire entered the stage unperturbed by the freezing cold. Oh my God!! I was wondering how she can dance in such chilling weather that too in an open theater.

She began the recital with Pushpanjali followed by a composition in Faraz. The navarasas were depicted very superbly.

The main item was the Chaarukeshi varna composed by Sri Lalgudi G Jayaraman. The gist of the composition is Krishna crushing Radha's pride. Radha was very proud that the Lord Krishna liked her very much among all the gopis. Krishna wanted to crush her pride and asked her to join him for a stroll into the forest. When they had walked for a long distance, Radha wanted to test Krishna’s love for her and asked him to carry her as her feet were aching. Krishna agreed and bent down. As soon as Radha’s feet touched Krishna’s back, he vanished into thin air leaving her alone. Thus he crushed her pride.

It was followed by Jaavali – SarasamulaaDe in kapi. The song was filled with Sringara rasa. The gist of the song is the nayika is ridiculing the hero (Krishna) for showing his affection to her in a public place. The crowd admired the way in which the nayika blushed and exited the stage at the end of the piece.

The next piece was Tulasidas’ Bhajan -- Tumakachalat ramachandra in Mischra Kamach where the artist depicted a joyous Kausalya when her son Raama attempts to walk for the first time.

The penultimate item was the famous Bhagyada Lakshmi baramma and the recital concluded with a tillana in Tillang composed by Sri Lalgudi G Jayaraman.

The orchestra sounded a bit bland probably because of the preceding two concerts influence was still lingering in my mind.

The baansuri maestro Ronu Muzumdar took to stage at 2 am. There were some disturbances in the sound systems and adjustment went on half an hour. He started the concert with an alaap in Raag Abhogi Kaanada followed by a composition in roopak taal.

By 4 am my eyes seemed to be not cooperating and I decided to drive home before I slept at the wheel.

It was night out which was worth every second of it. It was truly the night of revelation.

Cheers to SPICMACAY. Hip Hip Hurray!!!