The age of impatience
GOWRI RAMNARAYAN
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Will padam singing become extinct in these days of changing audience tastes?
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EXCLUSIVE CLUB: Subhashini Parthasarathy, S. Sowmya, Rama Ravi, Nirmala and Sundaram exchanging notes. Photo: M. Karunakaran.
Say `padam' and a pensive, reverent look appears on the face of Carnatic musicians and connoisseurs. "Nothing can bring out the essence of Kambodi, Yadukulakambodi, Sahana, Varali and Saveri as padams do," they sigh. Old timers reminisce about Veena Dhanammal's Friday soirees, or daughter Jayammal's singing for Balasaraswati's dance, and the finicky classicism of grand daughters T. Brinda and T. Mukta.
Not everyone can sing a padam. It needs gnanam, breath control and tazhaivu (malleability) in the voice, they conclude. Where is the time for such painstaking training, evolving into ripeness while struggling through the race for performance?
Years ago, P. Unnikrishnan, Anuradha Krishnamurthy, Anooradha Sriram and Sashikiran were among those who attended a workshop conducted by T. Viswanathan. But padams did not become inevitable in their recitals. Sanjay Subramanian and T.M. Krishna do air a padam now and then. But for exceptions like Chitraveena Ravikiran, present day musicians do not teach this obsolescent genre.
Sundaram Ramachandran, Nirmala Parthasarathy, Rama Ravi, S. Sowmya and Subhashini Parthasarathy, who received direct training in this specialised genre from members of the Dhanammal family, met to debate the issue.
All agreed that it was not their slow pace that had marginalised the padams. "Once the brikha held sway, but nowadays there is a surge of interest in slow music," said Sundaram. "Sung by men, not women," Subhashini amended. Yet padams did not gain currency. Why?
"They can't be learnt from notation. There are few competent teachers," said Rama. Was it because the Brinda School hid its treasures? Rama responded with some heat. "You can't jump straightway into padam singing. First you have to learn kritis in that style. Anyone who stayed on was taught everything."
Staying on was not easy. The teachers were stringent, did not allow the least tampering with tradition. "Such was their reverence for guru and parampara that even wrong pronunciations could not be corrected," Nirmala remembered. "If anyone did correct the text after checking books, Muktamma would sarcastically call it nagareeka sangitam," Sowmya laughed.
However, youngsters find padam singing a novelty today, different from the beaten track. "In the U.S. they sit through a three-hour padam javali lecdem," said Subhashini. But are they able to actually sing a padam with its form intact? Learning a padam is to realise how difficult it is to achieve the required tautness in the slow tempo. Even a Palghat Mani Iyer exclaimed over their fantastic rhythm structure. Their subtlety can be matched by very few percussionists.
Padams are not clipped to concrete swaras, they explore what happens between the notes, explained Sundaram. Which is why the gamaka-redolent music could not be taught to groups. The genre demands an individualistic approach in teacher and learner. Sowmya was quick to warn: "You can't raise questions about grammar — argue that this raga doesn't admit that swara" with Subhashini adding, "This asks for surrender."
"You need tremendous exposure to begin to grasp the stylistics of raga-laya nuances. Anyone who has heard T. Viswanathan sing Maade Avar Seida Vanjanai and Maane Mayile Kuyil Kanmaniye would know that Bhairavi and Todi never sounded as magical or more moving." The question troubling Rama is that youngsters can no longer hear such singing live.
Surprisingly, the speakers believed that the eroticism in padams and javalis posed a greater problem in modern times than in the conservative past. "We only thought of their incredible musical values," said Rama. But today it is difficult for her to sing a blatantly sensuous Tatthai Mozhiyal in a public concert. "In the temples they cast a divine aura. So did Balasaraswati's abhinaya on the stage," recalled Sundaram. Nirmala conceded that such sahitya might now cause embarrassment. "We didn't think about the meaning until people began to analyse and explicate. Now we too feel embarrassed ..."
Are padams fit only for chamber music? "Even in the past they were confined to connoisseurs," said Nirmala and Sundaram. But Sowmya and Subhashini believe that it is possible to widen the circle by developing audience tastes.
As a tailpiece it may be too solemn but why not sing a padam in the first half of the concert? Those who relish "Brovavamma" (Manji) will surely enjoy "Ramarama Pranasakhi" (Bhairavi). The seniors too agree that if established artistes sing padams regularly, listeners will begin to ask for "Mora Topu" and "Bala Vinave" along with ``Ksheerasagara" and "O Rangasayee."
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