CHAT CORNER
Passion is the bottom line
The Hyderabad Brothers
The Hyderabad Brothers, Seshachari and Raghavachari, performed a hat-trick by winning the Music Academy's best vocalists award in 1990, 1991 and 1992. Other achievements and titles they have been conferred make a long impressive list. Harmony, grace and majesty co-exist in their concerts, making them a popular pair. Seshachary traces their growth and talks of the value they cherish.
Importance of notation…
We attach immense value to notating songs. In those days, childhood meant school and an extracurricular activity (in our case, music). No distractions. These days we do a variety of things and our memory is always fully loaded. Therefore the moment a song is heard, an attempt should be made to notate it fully. The advantage - when you revisit these songs after several months, recalling the sangatis would be simple and easy. This of course calls for a special gnaanam and the notation thus made has to conform to the thalam - the kaarvais and the brigas. It also becomes a documentation exercise which will serve future generations. The alternative is to listen repeatedly, follow, recall from memory and sing - which may not be always very successful.
Our gurus…
Sri Rathnamacharyulu, my father was our first guru and for me the only Guru. Our mother Sulochana Devi also taught us. Raghavachary learnt from Sri Susarla Sivaram. He passed the certificate exam in music privately and pursued the diploma course under the guidance of Sivaram and further learnt from him. Our father was a personality who virtually stored the whole of Valmiki Ramayanam in his brain cells (Kanto Paatam). He was a scholar who had mastered Sanskrit and Kannada. When it came to abhyasam, his method was both intense and quite rigorous. A varnam had to be sung in two kalams 25 times. If there was an error, we had to begin the count all over again. The result - there never would be a single mistake when we rendered these in concerts and this developed in us the power to concentrate.
Ramnad Krishnan and how we became Hyderabad Brothers…
Though we belonged to Hyderabad, our Inti-Peru (family name) is Daruri, to tell you the truth. In fact, we were initially giving individual concerts. One fine day, the late N.S. Srinivasan of AIR Hyderabad decided to make us sing together in duet, in spite of the fact that we did not belong to the same grade under AIR's categorisation. He had also introduced us to a legend, Ramnad Krishnan (i.e. his performances on spool tapes) and gave us a task. We had to sing ‘Ninnada' - the Kannada Krithi of Thyagarajar - the way Krishnan had sung. We accepted the challenge, succeeded and even decorated the song with kalpanaswaras. We performed as Hyderabad-Brothers at Tiruvaiyaru and it was the same ‘Ninnada,' so fresh in our minds, which was sung perfectly. This prompted the then secretary, A.K.C. Natarajan, to provide us with extra singing-time at that great shrine of Tyagaraja. Our identity as Hyderabad-Brothers thus stayed.
Our success as a duo…
The accent (the way words are pronounced) and the gamaka alignment have to synchronise when two people sing together. (Demonstrates) In respect of kirtanas there should be no place for two opinions. I normally prepare the notations for the songs and we adhere to these faithfully. Raga alapanas should always carry the stamp of each singer's manodharma.
Our association with Maha Vidwans…
Semmangudi had spared his time to listen to a concert of ours. We met him the next day and still remember the way he greeted us - “Hyderabad Brothers, Welcome! Welcome.” He reposed faith in us and expected us to carry on the tradition very much like Nedunuri or Voleti. Lalgudi also saw in us the strength of tradition when we had a chance to meet him. Balamurali of course allowed us to be inquisitive about his methods and his unique approach, whenever we interacted with him. We were also humbled by Pattammal's humility. In fact DKP and Brindamma are our “Manaseega Gurus.” Their kind words and guidance have mellowed us.
Our approach to new ragas…
A new raga's presentation cannot stop with a mere alapana. What would be needed further is a kriti that will help in learning about this raga. While a kriti of the Trinity will be the ideal choice, you can make an informed selection from the many kritis of other vaggeyakaras too. The next step would be to locate a raga from the regular known ragas that is nearest to this new raga you wish to innovate and delineate. Now you will have to combine all these, enrich your knowledge and then get into a serious attempt to bring out the contours of this new raga. This will satisfy the rasika and the purist simultaneously. They will be in a position to link this raga to an already familiar one and thus immensely appreciate your effort and your original thinking would thus get rewarded.
A few words for youngsters…
Our music is such that one has to develop a Pichi for it. Pichi in Telugu means madness or in this context acquires a positive connotation, as passion (for a concept or an ideal). If your aim is to become a great musician, an occasional contact with music will not get you there. Even we - given the long journey we have made - feel that we still are only “searching” and cannot utter anything with an air of finality about music. If you treat music-learning as one among the many activities of your daily life, you will finally be one among the many ordinary musicians. You will have to choose the right guru who can impart the essentials. Unwavering focus thus becomes a primary requirement. It is a challenge in today's times, but a challenge worth facing.
S. SIVAKUMAR
(sivakumar2004@gmail.com)
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