Mixed bag
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Music, a play, a book release... the cultural scene in Mysore was packed with action
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Thingala Sobagu, presented under the joint patronage of Sapthaswara Balaga and The Department of Kannada and Culture, at Kalamandira, was a confluence of many rarities.
G.T. Narayana Rao released the book "Karala Bete", Kannada version of Rabindranath Tagore's "Kaal Mrigaya" (Bengali), and Kripa Phadke, an exponent of Bharathanatya, has choreographed the visual aspects. Taking English as the link language S. Shridhara working with Somanath Datta has translated the work into Kannada.
Music score is said to have retained all the quintessence of the original music composed by Rabindranath Tagore, embodying a fine blend of both Hindustani and Western music.
Bengali couple Somanath Datta and Aloka Datta gave their vocal support along with Nagabhushana Heggade, Anuradha and Nagashri. Somashekhar (harmonium), Prasanna (key board) and Ramesh Dhannur (tabla) constituted the music ensemble.
The theme drawn from Ramayana pertains to the story of Shravana Kumara, son of a blind sage pursuing tapas in the forest on the banks of River Sarayu.
King Dasharatha goes to the thick forest on a dark and stormy night on his regular hunting, coinciding with the boy going to the river to fetch water for his blind parents.
Mistaking the gurgling of the filling water for an animal quenching its thirst, the King, shoots an arrow in the direction of the sound (Shabdavedhi), and inadvertently kills the boy.
On hearing the mishap from the king, the bereaved blind sage in terrible anguish, curses him to suffer the pangs of separation from his son till death.
This play for children provided ample scope for abhinaya, and the students of Nrithyagiri School of Dance left no stone unturned in bringing into reality the relevant emotions and sentiments impregnated in the work — for example: the king's guilt, pangs of remorse, and growing apprehensions over the impending consequences.
Innocence further fortified the expressions thus materialising the choreographer's expectation in reaching the audience to a considerable extent.
Instead of a plain narration, imaginative interpolations of pure dance sections would have advantageously strengthened the choreography in bringing about a better balance in making the show independently interesting and absorbing.
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Harini's vocal recital at Krishnamurthipuram Ramamandira, accompanied by Shrikanth (violin) and Bhargava (mridanga) passed through marked variations in the gamut of her voice, in effecting the tonal qualities and in imparting the required moods.
Ganapathe Mahamathe (Muthuswamy Dixithar- Kalyani), Bagayanayya (Shri Thyagraja-Chandrajyothi), Kamalapthakula (Shri Thyagaraja-Brindavani) were some of the highlights.
The young artiste's method and style of expositions of the raga-s and the texts, and fluency in improvising the notes, augurs all probabilities of her learning and dedication maturing into full-fledged artistry.
"Ninne Nammithinayya Rama" (Mysore Vasudevacharya-
Simhendramadhyama) fulfilled all the desired requirements. With growing confidence, she admirably expanded the raga, and with clarity she was able to convey the intended meaning of the text which was supplemented with neraval and kalpanaswaras.
V. NAGARAJ
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