On the highway of music
RANJANI GOVIND
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The sway of a high-flying IT profession was immense. But music was to stay for the talented young vocalist, Manasi Prasad
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Photo: K. Bhagya Prakash
NEW IDEAS Manasi Prasad: ‘We needn’t get obsessed with bhakthi bhava alone in the Carnatic genre, there are other emotions too’
“I would love to bring in an amalgam of MS and MLV for experiencing bhava and manodharma in my presentations,” says Carnatic vocalist Manasi Prasad, Bangalore’s new-generation successful performer who holds her Bharatanatyam triumphs as an integral part of her vocal renditions.
“Knowing the medium of dance helps me get expressive in more ways than one,” she says.
The Information Science engineer from BMS College also has a Finance and Marketing MBA from IIM, and is seeing her academics blossom into a Credit and Sales Manager at the Corporate Division of Standard Chartered Bank. A booming career and an exciting occupation in fine arts that’s running parallel in electrifying speed, how does she balance the demanding roles? “Although I am brought up in an ambience soaked in music, I was equally drawn towards academics. I don’t think I can sacrifice my line of work in spite of my first love being music. Right balancing helps one in rejoicing every passion,” says a confident Manasi.
Manasi lived in Kuwait for almost a decade and her toddler years were sufficient proof that music had a genetic bearing, says her mother Tara Prasad, a vocalist who was trained under Prof. V. Ramaratnam (disciple of violin Chowdiah) at the Ayyanar College and later by the Mysore Brothers.
“As a two-and-a-half-year-old baby Manasi had sung the Ganesha Pancharatnam during a culturing gathering at Kuwait Kannada Koota and it was then that many had called her ‘an artiste in the making’ recalls Tara, who explains Manasi’s startling grasping power. Manasi’s bond with the local culture even saw her return from Singapore after her scholarship pre-university study at Raffles, as her obsession for music was too strong.
Enthusiastic learner
Manasi had tutors such as Jahnavi Jayaprakash and Dr. K. Varadarangan who put her on the right track. The teenager’s full-length concert soon established her skills even as she evolved her own distinctive approach in her presentations. Her advanced classes under R. K. Padmanabha is what she cherishes now. “The guru-shishya rapport is transformed into knowledge-gathering sessions that are priceless moments,” she explains.
Says Manasi: “Fine tuning is paramount for someone who aims to set-sail smoothly on stage and the modifications and improvements are over riding factors that my teacher Padmanabha has diligently channelled me into. “He insists on point-frequency shruti alignment and says the accuracy comes only with an inbuilt focus and good mental configuration.”
Take raga-precision, another aspect that Padmanabha is resolute about, “Handling allied scales like Kambodhi-Yadkula Kambodhi or Nayaki-Darbar can easily put one on a sticky wicket as the arohana and avarohana swaras are nearly similar. But where one needs to carefully tread upon are the time-honoured prayogas of the scale. This helps you gather the essence of the raga ,” she explains.
If these are essentials for a true musician, it’s her guru’s challenge of handling exceptional facets that make her plunge into experiments with dash and spirit, says Manasi.
Her demonstration of ‘Avadhaana Pallavi’ in Kambodhi leaves you in awe as you see her handling two complex talas simultaneously in both hands with the ease of a seasoned musician. “We are only trying to revive our age-old presentation features. These were earlier being dealt in concerts by stalwarts such as R. A. Ramamani, T. S. Satyavathy and Padma Gurudutt,” says Manasi, who is always looking for unique platforms to showcase her talent.
“Giridhara Mira” was a one-woman show conceptualised by Manasi. It had music, dance and monologue on the life of saint Mirabai. Steering away from the predictable, her “Olave Jeevana Saakshaatkaara” had her handle kritis, and poems eulogising several shades of love and her package consisted of a javali, Tyagaraja kriti, Kumara Vyasa’s poem and a couplet from a Malayalam poem set to her own score. “We needn’t get obsessed with bhakthi bhava alone in the Carnatic genre, there are other emotions that can be focussed upon,” she argues. Manasi’s performances for top rung sabhas in India and institutions abroad and her lecture-demonstrations and workshops in Tanzania, Chile, U.K. and the U.S., as a 27-year-old, speak volumes of her multi-faceted talent. How is she able to pack in so much?
“Time is never the limiting factor, planning with right inclination can take one across,” is her belief.
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