Making Light of success
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In the series on accompanying artistes, meet Sadanam Muruka Jyothi, maddalam player.
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GREATER VISTAS: Sadanam Muruka Jyothi in New Delhi. PHOTO: V. SUDERSHAN.
It was over 30 years ago that Sadanam Muruka Jyothi came to Delhi from his native Kerala. He came to join the International Centre for Kathakali as a performer and teacher of maddalam. But in those days, the institution of international renown was just a fledgling organisation. Life was tough, recalls Muruka Jyothi.
"There were just five of us. (Kathakali guru) Sadanam Balakrishnan was the dancer, (Sadanam) Rajagopalan was the vocalist, Unnikrishna played the chenda, I played the maddalam and Kunhikrishnan was the chutti (make-up) artist," he recounts, emphasising how each field of specialisation in Kathakali was represented. "We had a three-room set on rent, at 1/84 Rajinder Nagar, and we all lived together. At the time we couldn't imagine having our own premises, or having houses of our own one day."
The dream however came true. And Muruka Jyothi, who confesses his first love remains accompanying Kathakali performances, has travelled the world, both with the troupe of the IKC and with other artistes, notably Mohiniattam exponent Bharati Shivaji, with whom he has a 25-year association. "I have also participated in programmes of fusion, when great artistes like Birju Maharaj (Kathak), Madhavi Mudgal (Odissi), Leela Samson (Bharatanatyam), Sadanam Balakrishnan and others blended their dance forms. Besides, I have performed with a percussion ensemble directed by edakka genius Pallavur Appu Marar. The other members were Umayalapuram Sivaraman on the mridangam and Pallavur Manian Marar on the timila."
Having learnt to accompany Kathakali, whose music is known as Sopanam, Muruka Jyothi feels it is easy to pick up other rhythmic styles as his training is relatively open-ended. As for open, he is open-minded too. His son, Srinivas, is a student of western drums at the Delhi School of Music, while his daughter, Rukma is training in Kathakali.
Childhood passion
His journey to the Capital, and subsequent role in what could arguably be called the finest institution for Kathakali North of the Vindhyas, began when Muruka Jyothi was a young boy in Vadavannur village of Palakad district. "We are three brothers, all named Jyothi. The eldest is Sadanam Arulpuram Jyothi. He is a vocalist, known simply as Sadanam Jyothi and he is associated for decades with Kalakshetra, Chennai. The second is Chidambara Jyothi. We all learnt Carnatic vocal music together under Guru Arunachala Bhagavatar."
As Muruka Jyothi developed interest in rhythm, he briefly learnt to play the mridangam under Soman Nair. Later he joined the Kathakali institute Sadanam to train in maddalam playing. In Delhi, he polished his mridangam skills under A. Prem Kumar.
It is no longer true, asserts Muruka Jyothi, that Kathakali musicians settled in Delhi are of less calibre than their Kerala counterparts.
"Yes, we have to control the volume. In a closed hall you would wreck the eardrums if you played as if in the fields. But otherwise, the maestros who come to perform Kathakali from Kerala have often said the Delhi orchestra, our team from the Kathakali Centre, is second to none." But coming to Delhi has been advantageous in other ways. "There are greater opportunities here, to learn, to observe and broaden the mind."
ANJANA RAJAN
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