Usual music, unusual place
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The music appreciation course at IIIT ended with a Carnatic music concert.
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IN CONCERT Flautist R.D Phani Kumar.
This time a very unusual place became the venue to listen to pure Carnatic music. The place was International Institute of Information Technology (IIIT), Gachibowli, where Carnatic music appreciation course is an optional subject. As part of the course, students had learned from the basics of Carnatic music to kirtanas.
They heard lectures on Carnatic music, its style, raga, talam, sruti, geetham, varnam, tillana, padam, tarangam and about great composers throughout a semester.
It was for the first time that such a course was being introduced in any technical college. The institute also has a music club that organises concerts too.
This time they chose to have a flute concert by R.D. Phani Kumar, with Vasudevan on violin, Kalyanaraman on mridangam and Janardan on ghatam.
Phanikumar, who has a strong music foundation laid by his mother Vani Saraswathi, continued to learn from T. Kameswara Rao and others. He displayed a good sense for melody and developed scholarly skills that give us a pleasing feel of the instrument.
This was revealed right in the opening number Abhogi varnam, Evari Bodhana, which he played in three speeds. He then played the popular invocatory Vatapi in Hamsadhwani.
The Panchartna kirtana of Thyagaraja Sadhinchene Manasa in Arabhi entertained his audience well, especially when he was playing the line Samayaniki Tagu Maatalaadi.
Then came Durmargachara in Ranjani (Adi talam). The main number of the evening was Bhavanutha in Mohana.
He built it well in a disciplined manner and kept the melodic element. The swaraakalpana he presented in this was a chain of ragas like Kapi, Malayamarutham, Hindola, Rasikapriya and back to Mohana.
The percussionists enhanced the impact of the number with an interesting tani avartanam. The end pieces included an English note akin to Sankarabharanam and a popular bhajan, Om Jaya Jagadeesha Hare.
G. S.
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