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College students gathered at the Srushti Centre to touch base with one of the greatest legends of Carnatic music
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Youngsters nowadays know all about Britney Spears, why shouldn't they know about our legends as well, asks Lakshmi Hariharan, Director Srushti Performing Arts and Communication Centre. Recognising a certain reluctance amongst college kids to embrace the classical arts, she devised a programme which would include anyone interested in music, dance or theatre regardless of whether they had any formal training in these areas.
Initiation
In February, over 20 college kids from different city institutions gathered at the Srushti Centre in Marathahalli to explore one of the patron saints of Carnatic music, Sri Thyagaraja, in a daylong workshop. Some of them, such as Zenith Rajesh and Sowmya A. had years of learning either music or dance behind them, but others such as Shwetha H., a student from PESIT, admits "no formal thorough background, but just an interest in knowing more." Some of them knew the daylong workshop would concentrate on the works of Thyagaraja and had been recommended to attend by their gurus, but others came simply because their friends were going to be there, or out of curiosity. Most of them knew very little about Thyagaraja's work.
Before she attended the session, Zenith says that all she knew about the well-known composer and poet was "that he was a singer", but already now just a few months later she jokingly narrates an incident where she was listening to a tape on a friend's car stereo. "That must be Thyagaraja," she thought, listening carefully to the song, and sure enough when she flipped the jacket cover she found she could now recognise Thyagaraja's style and his work. Readily bursting into the "Seeta Kalyana Vaibhogamé ", Sowmya explains just why Thyagaraja, who achieved popularity in his own lifetime despite no long-reaching arms of mass communication such as today's media, is relevant even today. "It's his versatility," she says, excitedly. "Look at the way he switches from being a philosopher to a romantic poet in the same song!"
The workshop invited exponents of Carnatic music, dance and theatre to interpret four compositions of Sri Thyagaraja in their own way. It was interesting to watch a theatrical interpretation, say the students, since it brought out the visual element in the words, and the dance came naturally since his verses have so much inherent rhythm in them. "We were culture-smitten," they say, and Zenith goes on to describe how she used mudras to remember the answers in her recent business paper examination.
After the workshop came an inter-collegiate competition where some seven colleges presented their interpretations of Thyagaraja songs. There was also much discussion and debate on the importance of knowing about legends, since Srushti prides itself on using the performing arts to also impart communication skills. "It's important to know your roots," emphasises Lakshmi Hariharan, herself a Bharatanatya dancer. "When students go abroad, it's so fashionable to `be Indian' and everything Indian is so `in'. But what is Indian? It's really the responsibility of cultural institutions to bring students in touch with their past."
Unlike Chennai
The students agree that even in their colleges classical art forms such as dance and music have taken a backseat to more modern genres of dance and music. Shwetha says there are just four members in a group performing the classical arts in her college. "We think it's outdated to know about our legends," admits Sowmya of her peer group. "We create a wall around ourselves." Zenith adds that these attitudes to the classical arts are probably pronounced in a city such as Bangalore, where "there are so many MNCs". "Look at Chennai, the culture is totally different there. If there is a musical or dance performance, everyone goes."
The workshop had only four boys performing, but Lakshmi hopes that the students who did this first workshop will convey its values of "appreciating aesthetics" to their peer group, and that the next workshop, with another legend, will see a greater, more heterogeneous participation.
Srushti can be contacted on srushtiarts@hotmail.com.
HEMANGINI GUPTA
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