karharapriya . . . .

Hi guys . . .
This Sunday was a special day and I had loads of fun. My day began with the goshti krithi singing of Deekshitar’s composition under sir’s guidance. The items that we presented there happened to be my real favorite ones. Shreemuladhaara, Kamalamba navavarana in ananda abhairavi, diwakara tanujam in yadukula kambodhi, panchashatpeetha in Karnataka devagaandhaara and shri kamalambike were sung in the same order. It is the sheer beauty of the composition, leave you transformed and give you a sense of eternal peace. The positive vibes gather all over you and you are gifted with an aura of divinity.
Later I went home, submitted a few assignments online and hogged on the fantastic bisibelebath that my mom prepares. I then left to Jayanagar to meet a special friend and introduce him to another. It was fun sitting and talking of old times and all the crazy things that we had conspired at college. We laughed our hearts out and we split to do our independent work. I hung on with another friend for a while and discussed some issues that she was dealing with and getting rid off. I was immensely happy and we both did some small shopping too.
I then had to rush to my sir’s concert at Gayana Samaja. The concert started a bit late then scheduled. I was just sitting in the audience and was lost at the magic in sir’s approach to classicism. The varnam and even the hint of Abhogi before that was proof enough of what was coming. The brisk handling of the varnam and the specified naya and ghaata in handling the swara had already shifted the concert to a different plane. Following that was the mellifluous malayamaarutha and janmamenduku with scintillating swara packages fired across wit élan. This was followed by the detailed sketch of devagaandhaari by Sir. I sometimes wonder if all these ragas where ever created because sir could sing them one day! The depths and heights that he scaled in this sowkhya filled raga portrait left me paralyzed and lost. The inner soul had stepped into a celestial dance and had lost myself to music. Tears jut rolled out of my eyes and expressed their gratitude to Sir and music too. Na moraalagimpa followed and the emotional outburst of tyaagaraaja when he says “moralida brochuvumani tanuku sugrevamu gada?” (When I am asking you for help, why are you not blessing me? Don’t you like my voice?) is aptly molded into the soul stirring sangathis of devagaandhaari.
The concert also featured a few snippets like bantureethi koluvu and ramabhakti saamrajyam that added majesty. The main raga for the day was Karaharapriya. The way in which Sir handled the graceful and lilting sangathis of the raga was a real learning experience. The naadaswara phrases just filled the air and built an atmosphere of magic around us all. We where transformed to another era, an era of nostalgia and traditionalism. Karaharapriya was at its best and had come out with full glory in sirs version. The brisk samaanamevaru and the mind boggling nireval at paluku paluku were mystic. The concert ended with a raagamalika ugabhoga followed by “madi madi endu hodedaduvureke?” of Purandara daasa. In Chandra kouns that was awesome. The last item was “hetcharika ga raara” and a minute essay of Suruti which was very classy.
It was a concert that woke you up from your sleep and transformed you to a different person. For many reasons the concert was very special. Sir also looked immaculately radiant with his silk kurta and the very cute Katche panche. Sir will now onwards wear katche panche to all his concerts and that suits him so well. The vibhooti in his forehead shimmered and looked divine on the godly smiling face of Sir.
Another must mention fact about the concert was an awesome karaharapriya by HKV on the violin. He was at his best and the raga as well as nireval stood testimony for his maturity and musical genius. The raga essay was perfect and couldn’t be done better. His vocalized technique of playing and the inherent laya in the raga essay added class and magic to the concert.
I went back home and suffered from introspection disorder J . . .I was feeling very very lost and thanks to friends who are always friends, I spoke about music, karaharapriya and also dicussed the magic of yester year masters in shaping up the raga with a friend over phone, till two in the night. Quite long since I had this session with my friends, which otherwise was a regular habit . . . I know I should continue doing it regularly!!! All in all . . . . . what a day!!!