In the name of Rama
DEEPA GANESH
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CULTURAL CONFLUENCE Politics hasn't left Rama and Ramanavami alone. But some institutions that were born in the true spirit of this festival of camaraderie march on. The Sri Ramaseva Mandali is one such
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Photos: Courtesy Sri Rama Seva Mandali
MEMORIESUstad Bismillah Khan and his group performing for the Sri Rama Seva Mandali as part of the Ramanavami concerts series. The festival falls on April 18 this year
In the peak of summer, when the skies rain fire, comes the festival of Sri Ramanavami. It is a coolant, literally. For, it brings with it panaka, kosambri and lots of good music. Over the years, Ramanavami has come to acquire different meanings. While panaka and kosambri are still around, the protagonist, Maryada Purushottama Rama, has got himself horribly sticky with all the political baggage his name now comes with. Hence, over the years, our understanding of Rama has grown in complexity, and it has historical reasons.
Nevertheless, there are people and organisations which, oblivious to the new image of Rama, continue to celebrate Sri Ramanavami with the same fervour and an enduring commitment. In the Old Mysore region particularly, a number of institutions cropped up in the pre-Independence era, celebrating Ramanavami as a community festival. To this day, one finds in the bylanes of the old pete areas of Bangalore the festival existing in its true secular spirit, with both Hindus and Muslims distributing panaka and kosambri and singing together in bhajan mandirs.
Sri Rama Seva Mandali, Chamrajapete, was also born of such a tradition, 67 years ago, in 1939. S.V. Narayanaswamy, the founder of the institution, used to take an active part in Holi and Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations with his young friends in the neighbourhood. What started out as pure fun turned into a passion, and Narayanaswamy found himself the organiser of the biggest Ramanavami festival in the country.
It was Narayanaswamy's good fortune that he developed close bonds with the legendary violinist T. Chowdiah and flute whiz T.R. Mahalingam. These two musicians gave him all their support and put him in touch with some of the best musicians of the time. In the Forties and Fifties, the Mandali, with the kind of musicians that it invited to perform during Sri Ramanavami, shot to fame not just in Bangalore but also across the State. Connoisseurs travelled from far-off places to watch their favourite musicians perform.
It was no mean task bringing together the country's best. The preparations would get under way as early as in November. Narayanaswamy would go to Madras, spend days together to book the artistes. Gradually, he gained such a fine reputation that artistes seldom turned down his invitation. In 1968, a good 30 years after their inception, the celebrations shifted to the huge Fort High School Grounds, which can seat about 8,000 people.
Continuing tradition
Though Narayanaswamy passed away in the year 2000, his sons continue to carry on the tradition with unwavering enthusiasm. "It is an extremely difficult task to bring so many musicians. But my father has built such goodwill with his selfless work that artistes willingly oblige to our requests," explains Ramaprasad, managing trustee of Ramaseva Mandali, who now freezes the programmes over telephone.
The Fort High School pandal no longer looks the same. Commercial enterprises have stepped into the arena with the huge pandal now dotted with assorted stalls — from eateries to those put up by music companies.
Business offer
This year, WorldSpace Satellite Radio also approached the organisers, hoping to record the Ramanavami concerts. "But it didn't come through, because the offer wasn't good enough," says Ramaprasad. However, they have a stall and conduct lucky draws where the winner will get a WorldSpace set.
On the lines of the Madras Music Academy, the Mandali now has another wing, SVN Academy, in memory of Narayanaswamy.
Apart from organising concerts round the year, the younger generation hopes to set up a music school. There are plans to even adopt a government school, identify interested learners and teach them music after school hours. Potential musicians will be trained under well-known musicians, promises Ramaprasad. One can't be blind to the fact that the spirit that drove Ramanavami celebrations has changed. But there is hope in Ramaprasad's words, in his commitment to go right back to the community where it was born.
The Lord for all times
"All his life, Gandhiji lived with Lord Rama as his ideal. There wasn't a single day when he didn't take Rama's name. Even in his death he said, `Hé, Ram!'. It was around this time, between 1936-49, that the epic Ramayana also saw a revival. It was translated into several Indian languages. Even in Kannada, during the Navodaya period, Kuvempu wrote Ramayana Darshanam; Masti wrote Sri Rama Pattabhisheka... .
For a people who had developed an amnesia for classics, Rama reclaimed his position and became the icon of the times.
"As Gopalakrishna Adiga in his famous poem Sri Ramanavamiya Divasa rightly speaks of the transition of the kodanda to danda, the image of Rama has also seen a transition, in that he has been devalued by us.
"He has been relevant for thousands of years and will continue to be. It is we who are irrelevant. In this time and age, I see Rama as an immediate need."
Kannada poet G.S. Shivarudrappa
"Post-Babri Masjid episode, rathyatra, and the BJP's appropriation of Sri Rama, I was infuriated. So much so that I didn't even want to say `Ayyo Rama'.
But I got over it soon. For me, my childhood memories of Ramanavami, panaka, kosambri in the neighbourhood temple in our village is very strong, though we never celebrated the festival at home.
"The Rama with a bow in hand and sporting European looks like in most photographs is not the Rama of my imagination. He is neither the saffronised, aggressive Rama. To me, he is the Rama who prompted my wife-beating uncle to swear by his photograph never to torture his wife. A Rama whom I meet during my travel, as having visited a pond, sat under a tree... He is not to me the God who lives up there in heaven, but a humanised version."
KANNADA POET G.S. SHIVARUDRAPPA
Rare moments
M.S. Subbulakshmi's first concert for the Ramaseva Mandali was in 1952. From 1952 to 1992, she performed 31 times for the Mandali. It was a matter of strange coincidence that it would rain during most of MS's performances, but that certainly didn't deter her or the crowd. She would perform to a packed audience, who would leave only after she did.
With great difficulty, S.V. Narayanaswamy brought the brilliant Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan in 1956. A day before the concert it started pouring, and rains continued to lash the city for the next one week. But Narayanaswamy was determined to make the Ustad sing for the music lovers and wouldn't let him leave. The Ustad, ever gracious, didn't disappoint and performed a week later.
From the year 1947 till his death in 1998, Veena Doreswamy Iyengar performed every single year without fail.
The Mandali cherishes the visit of the Mysore Maharaja, Jayachamaraja Wadiyar, in 1955. He came again in 1957, and that year, C. Rajagopalachari shared the dais with him.
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