Holding on to a grand form
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The Pallavi is a complicated form of Carnatic music and it takes years to master it
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MODEST At 71, Pallavi expert J. Venkataraman doesn't feel he knows enough
At 71, the award winning pallavi singer, feels he has a long way to go before he masters that perfect pallavi. With that, one can quite imagine the intricacies that this complex form involves.
"Concentration is laya. And mastery of laya is at the heart of a perfect pallavi," says the well-known pallavi expert and vocalist J. Venkataraman.
The 71-year-old musician from Trichy, renowned for his expertise in pallavis, though, adds humbly: "I am still a student who has a long way to go." Modesty indeed, considering he won a gold medal in 1998 for pallavi-singing from the Madras Music Academy and has been honoured by the Gurukrupa Trust of T.N. Seshagopalan, Maharajapuram Vishwanatha Iyer Trust, and Sampradaya (Sriram Parashuram).
His first guru was his father, violinist K.V. Jayarama Iyer and later Alathoor Venkateshayyar, father and guru of Alathoor Brothers.
For the uninitiated, a pallavi is a single line of sahitya that is elaborated using neraval and kalpana svaras and rounded off with ragamalika swaras. The pallavi is usually also set to a variety of thaalams, mostly a set of four or five that are in vogue in concert compositions. Thus, a pallavi offers the musician scope for detailed delineation of a raga and exhibiting his talent for improvisation and creativity. The word pallavi is an acronym for padam, layam and vinyasam. And generally a pallavi is preceded by a raga and thaana, hence the popular raga, thaana and pallavi or TRP format of a concert.
However, we see so little of pallavi-singing at kutcheris today. It seems like it is becoming an esoteric art. Why? Venkataraman explains: "One reason is that pallavis are highly technical and advanced music pieces and so the performer feels they may not be understood by the entire audience. Since performers aim to hold audience interest, they forego the pallavi for items of more mass appeal. Second, there are time constraints. Today's concerts are three-hour affairs and to do justice to a pallavi one needs a good one-and-a-half hours at least." "In fact," he adds with a laugh, "one can delineate a pallavi endlessly, considering the infinite permutations and combinations of nadais possible."
So, is there a danger that pallavis will go from the esoteric to the extinct? He agrees, and suggests that to pre-empt it, vocalists regularly include in their concerts `simple' pallavis (complicated ones would be time-consuming). This ensures that the audience is both introduced to and savours the beauty of the pallavi along with the krithis and other regular items.
Rigorous sadhana
What is his advice on how to master the art of a pallavi? "Relentlessly practice singing the alankaras in all five nadais, and then, combinations thereof. And in all 72 melakarta ragas. One needs to practise alankaras in all three edupus or grahams — Atheetha, Sama, and Anagatha. Also, sing the varnams in all five nadais and in permutations and combinations of nadais like khanda and thrisra; or khanda, thrisra and chaturasra." Lastly, since laya is so vital and has to be flawless, it's useful to spend time with mridanga experts. "I myself did an apprenticeship period with Palani Subramanya Pillai and Muruga Bhupathi."
Venkatraman's own grip over laya and thalam as demonstrated in his rapid and highly accurate mathematical calculations are amazing; and this, without any academic background in mathematics. "Ideally, a pallavi should be sung extempore. But till one reaches that advanced level, first design your pallavi, since they have to be mathematically conceptualised and with perfect calculations. Before presenting a pallavi, decide on the thaala, raaga and laya — the three parameters of a pallavi — and work on them meticulously. More simply, prepare the sahitya, give it a fine structure, put it in an appropriate raga and thala including the nadai. Finally, you need total concentration and hard work."
Whom does he rate as the great pallavi exponents? "From the yesteryears, Kanchipuram Naina Pillai, Ramnathapuram Shankarashivan, Alathoor Venkateshayyar, DKP, MLV, etc. Today, the exponents include T.R. Subramaniam, T.N. Seshagopalan, Sanjay Subramanyam etc."
Aruna Chandaraju
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