Bowing in faith
RANJANI GOVIND
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An otherwise chirpy Lalgudi Rajalakshmi transforms into a devout person as soon as she steps on the dais
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photo: bhagya prakash k.
PERFECTLY IN TUNE Rajalakshmi learnt the nuances of music from her brother Lalgudi Jayaraman
The glowing lamp and the fragrance from incense sticks permeate a pious feel as much as with the row of veenas and violin lined up in the pooja room of violinist Lalgudi R. Rajalakshmi at her residence on Kanakapura Main Road.
"The property handed down since generations in our family is music, our prayers are Carnatic in nature and our world is soaked in melody," says the energetic and bubbly Rajalakshmi. The 68-year-old transforms into a stern and solemn musician only when she is on the dais or wielding the teacher's wand. The dichotomy is simple:"Life itself has never been a serious play to me, I have never sulked or complained even under extreme duress, but with my art I am very sincere." Born in a village in Trichy district, Rajalakshmi, one of the four children of violinist V.R. Gopala Iyer, belongs to the family that claims direct descent from Tyagaraja, through her great grandfather Pallavi Rama Iyer.
Rajalakshmi was married to an airforce officer in Bangalore when she was 17 and is settled in the city since 1957. "I like the people and the place, surely now I'm a Bangalorean," she says, pleased with her participation in several sabha concerts and recognition received here. This violinist on the staff of Bangalore AIR for 13 years, has been a veena, violin and vocal teacher for several years at Bangalore Tamil Sangam and an enthusiast of poetry and cookery. "I hate to sit quiet, if there is tranquillity, I take advantage of the silence and pen a few lines of music or verse," she says. Although her father did ensure a firm foundation in music, Rajalakshmi is grateful to her brother's contribution in helping her shape concert patterns and the melodic samvaada that an accompanist is expected to develop. "My brother Jayaraman would teach me the subtle nuances of being a solo player and a follow-up to the main artiste. It is primordial to sketch the differences in each path and obey the rules, as otherwise melody becomes cacophony," he would warn. Performing as an accompanist is an art, because one has to operate within limited boundaries, thus adding to the melodic exercises as a whole. "After all a concert is team work."
"I can never forget how my brother perfectly reproduced a pallavi in a tricky Simhanandana tala in Mudikondan Venkatrama Iyer's concert. He received blessings from the maestro and rapturous applause from the audience," recollects Rajalakshmi.
"A focussed understanding also helps one fit perfectly into the groove of melodic complementing," she reiterates, having accompanied the likes of MLV, Bombay Sisters, D.K. Pattammal, Sikkil Sisters etc.
While the honours and titles she has received occupy the shelves in her drawing room, her list of performing students, runs into a serpentine one, including her own daughter Jayanthi Kumaresh. From our own violinist M.S. Govindaswamy to scores of performing NRI artistes, her violin, veena and vocal students are spread worldwide.
Rajalakshmi as a disciplinarian guru? "We have at least 15 performers in our immediate family. I know the lessons that work and the mindset that clicks. My lessons start with vocal exercises for a year for making one understand the swara sthanas even if one chooses to learn a violin or veena. I put students through the mill with akara sadhane in trikala for sarlivarse, jantivarse and alankara, apart from other exercises for instrument familiarity. ."
Rajalakshmi is also a composer. Her 32-raga jathiswara is all too familiar in the dance world as is her music for Adi Shankara's Gangashtakam. Her students abroad long for her arrival, her lessons at the Pittsburg Summer Course are what several NRI students fondly reminisce.
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