Carnatic Music

Most of my posts start with the perpendicular pronoun - more commonly known as I.

Digressing briefly - I heard this phrase in the television series Yes Minister. Here is a gem of obfuscation

Sir Humphrey: "The identity of the Official whose alleged responsibility for this hypothetical oversight has been the subject of recent discussion, is NOT shrouded in quite such impenetrable obscurity as certain previous disclosures may have led you to assume, but not to put too fine a point on it, the individual in question is, it may surprise you to learn, one whom you [sic] present interlocutor is in the habit of defining by means of the perpendicular pronoun."

Jim Hacker: "I beg your pardon?"

Sir Humphrey: "It was...I."

I wanted the title to be I like Carnatic Music. Later the feeling grew on me that if you are not already tired of my posts, the frequent self-aggrandizement, I am referring to the frequent use of the word I, must surely tire you. So to lessen the impact of my ego, I changed the title.

That said, I like Carnatic Music. In fact I like it a lot.

My friend Krishna says when I fall for something I go overboard. In fact he says I am very extreme in my likes and dislikes. Either I like it or I hate it. It seems I cannot take it or leave it!! He may be right.

Coming back to music, growing up in a South Indian Brahmin family, it was impossible to avoid Carnatic Music. My mother had to learn it as a child. Growing up my sister was also introduced to it. So was my wife. I use the word introduced loosely. Neither of them were particularly fond of it at that time. My parents were so enthusiastic, they took it up again when I was a teenager. In short there was no shortage of exposure.

Yet I hated it. To make it worse, my parents made me listen to it. They would try to get me to recognize raaga and all I wanted to do was listen to some Kollywood film songs. My parents enjoyed listening to raaga alapana. I liked it as much as I liked having my teeth taken out with a hammer and chisel, maybe a hack saw and without pain killer!! Watching an artist perform a raaga alapana was most comical. I have frequently had to think distasteful thoughts just to avoid laughing!!

Digressing again, I now inflict this pain on my older daughter. When we travel we usually listen to a mish-mash of songs, Kollywood songs, Bollywood songs from the past 60 years, Pop music, Rock&Roll, and Carnatic music. I then compete with my parents and my wife in identifying the raaga. If it is song in the raaga my daughter has learnt she has to make an attempt at recognizing it. I guess I could not take revenge on my parents!!

Back to myself, this state of affairs did not change during teenage life when I discovered pop music and took to liking Boney M, ABBA and Bee Gees. Yes I had bad taste, but even in my stupidest moments I never wore bell bottoms. In any case my parents could not afford to waste money on frivolous fashions.

Later during my years at Delhi College of Engineering I developed a taste for Mohammed Rafi. This passion for Bollywood music still persists and not a month goes without me extolling the virtuoso of Rafi to my wife who incidentally likes Kishore Kumar. I think the latter is extremely talented just a shade behind Rafi. Just kidding. I like them both equally.

I met Jannavi when we were both in graduate school and she introduced me to Carnatic Music. For almost 2 years I listened to it just to please her. By chance I happened to come across an album of Maharajapuram Santhanam. There was no turning back.

I had now caught the fever and I was hooked. I am thankful the fever has not left me since it has enriched my life as nothing else has. One of my greatest pleasure is listening to some familiar movie songs and realizing after an hour of mental torture Oh that was Valaji.

The last comment was not made idly. During a concert several years ago, one of the violinist, in the middle of a Raagam Tanam Pallavi, started playing a Rafi/Asha duet Hai Agar Dushman from the movie Bollywood Hum Kissi Se Kum Nahin. Several people in the audience smiled at this. After the concert when I asked the artiste why she played a movie song she informed that the song in based on Raaga Valaji.