Friday Review
Bangalore
Chennai and Tamil Nadu
Delhi
Hyderabad
Thiruvananthapuram
With a passion for research
LALITHASAI
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ENTERPRISE Organising concerts and editing a magazine are only few of the tasks Radha Bhaskar accomplishes.
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Photo : R. Ravindran
Achiever: Radha Bhaskar.
The compositions of the Trinity, the common factors, how the ragas are given structure in the songs… Radha Bhaskar can talk endlessly on the subject. She is a musician, musicologist, journalist (editor of Samudra) and cultur
al organiser (Mudhra) all rolled into one. “I am yet to achieve perfection and striving towards it,” says Radha.
“I was born in Calcutta and was inducted into music at a tender age of four. My mother aspired to learn music but could not and so was keen that I should be initiated into the art,” Radha recalls. The learning took a serious turn when Radha attended the annual festival of R.R.Sabha at the age of 10. As she listened to the performance of stalwarts she realised that she was far from that standard. That made her move to Chennai, where she joined Queen Mary’s College to study music. “Even then research caught my attention,” observes Radha.
She went on to do her Masters at the University of Madras and junior research fellowship from the Central Government fuelled her enthusiasm. She went on to do her P.hd (Carnatic music concerts, an analytical study) under Dr. N. Ramanathan.
Simultaneously she began reviewing concerts for magazines. She has also done a case study of ‘Content and structure of contemporary concerts, a thorough research.” She plans to bring it out as a book in the next couple of months.
Mudhra is born
What inspired her to start a sabha? A desire to combine education and entertainment led to the birth of Mudhra, in 1995. Husband Bhaskar, a mridangam vidwan, was the brain behind the move. “I had the inspiration and some talent but it was Bhaskar’s entry into my life that added meaning to these aspects,” Radha says candidly. Mudhra means impression. The motto of the sabha is to create more awareness among music lovers about the nuances of Carnatic music, according to Radha. The couple started it in a small way in June. In December they went ahead with a 10-day fine arts festival. They wanted to introduce novelty in the programmes. Some of the concepts they introduced were one-hour concerts, one-raga one-kriti fest, kalpita festival, concerts in a single tala and tukkada festival.
One concept worth special mention is the Janak-Janya festival which held in 2001. It featured a study of the relationship between parent and offspring ragas, in the concert format. Participants were also either mother and daughter or father and son. Performing artistes in all these festivals were of good standard and Bhaskar made sure that the accompanists were also proficient so that the quality would be good. The June concerts are always accompanied by seminars and power point presentations.
An important milestone in Mudhra’s progress was the music appreciation programme which was mooted by Bhaskar and moulded by Radha. These are one-week courses held for two hours a day. “We have been conducting these courses in all areas of the city,” says Radha. These courses are attended by top industrialists, doctors, IT personnel and other professionals. The sessions discuss all aspects of music, its relevance in day-to-day life and so on.
Amidst all this, Radha did not forget her writing skills. Thus started a newsletter for music. After 56 issues it blossomed into Samudhra, a monthly. The journal tackles current issues and contains interviews, titbits about activities related to music, dance and drama, thus attracting the attention of all age groups. The magazine, which is well in to its fifth year, confers the Gnana Samudhra award on a person who has done well in journalism or musicology.
In lecture-demonstrations, Radha found another ideal channel for her research-oriented mind. Lectures and interactive sessions are conducted throughout the year. Manodharma sangitam and compositional forms are discussed with accompanying artistes.
A disciple of P.S.Narayanaswamy, Radha is a regular performer in sabhas. ‘Yuva Kala Bharathi’ from Bharat Kalachar, Sangeetha Sudhamayi, Sangeetha Kalasevak, Gnanamurtha Rathna, best vocalist award from Sri Krishna Gana Sabha and Indian Fine Arts Society are some of the accolades that have come her way.
“Learn music to enrich your own personality and it will give a holistic experience,” Radha concludes succinctly.
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Friday Review
Bangalore
Chennai and Tamil Nadu
Delhi
Hyderabad
Thiruvananthapuram
|
