‘Teamwork is the key'

April 26, 2012 05:43 pm | Updated 05:43 pm IST

P.L. Sudheer

P.L. Sudheer

I t is not often that someone trained in a particular classical instrument, and a university rank holder on that instrument to boot, teaches himself another instrument and goes on to make a name for himself with it. Perukavu P.L. Sudheer is a trained mridangam artiste who passed out from the Sree Swati Tirunal College of Music, Thiruvananthapuram, with the first rank in Ganapraveena (1991). Today Sudheer is more known for his skills on the ghatam, and has accompanied both senior artistes such as Umayalpuram Sivaraman, Dr. M. Balamuralikrishna, Rudrapatnam Brothers, T.M. Krishna, and Sreevalsan J. Menon, and up-and-coming artistes such as Kunnakudi Balamuralikrishna and Amruta Venkatesh, at prestigious venues across India and abroad. A double B-High artiste (in mridangam and ghatam) of All India Radio, the 42-year-old works as a lecturer in mridangam at the RLV College of Music, Thripunithura. Sudheer is also perhaps among the first few musicians to adapt the ghatam to fusion music and is an expert in rendering konnakkkol. Excerpts from an interview with the Thiruvananthapuram-based percussionist...

Initiation into classical music

I've always had an affinity for music, even when I was a child. Perhaps it's because everyone in my family had an ear for music, especially my parents, Padmanabhan Kutty and Lalithambika. We were not well off but my father never stopped me from following my dreams. Thiruvalla Ponnamma, my music teacher at school (St. Xavier's, Peyad), was the one who encouraged me to take up arts. I actually wanted to be a vocalist and went with that intention to college. But I had to choose mridangam because there were only a few seats available in vocal music. I was taught mridangam by vidwans such as Kadanad V.K. Gopi, Velukutty Nair, Palakkad C.S. Krishnamoorthy, Parassala Ravi, and so on.

Choosing the ghatam

It was actually by default; accidental almost. I was doing quite well on the mridangam and had a few concerts too, even when I was in college. I think it was in my third year of college that I decided to teach myself the ghatam. Soon afterwards I was asked to fill in for another artiste and it just rolled from there. If you have a sound base in mridangam – which I believe to be the best, the most apt and the most complex of all percussion instruments – then it's fairly easy to play the ghatam, the very same mathematics apply. Actually, I enjoy playing the mridangam more and I think I am better at it. The irony is that I am known for ghatam. I don't mind. However, I'd like to be known for both mridangam and ghatam equally.

Style of playing

As I taught myself to play the ghatam, I don't play using any of the authorised styles. My style is actually a whole lot of mridangam fingering mixed with my own inventions! I've tried the original ghatam fingering but somehow it does not work for me. In fact, a lot of ghatam artistes in Kerala today – other than those who have been trained in Chennai – don't play with the original fingering techniques. Perhaps that's because there are no professional courses for the ghatam in Kerala.

Accompanying in a concert

Teamwork is the key of any good concert. During a concert, a ghatam artiste is like an astrologer! He should be able to read the mind of fellow artistes, be a step ahead of them and anticipate their every move. Of course, a ghatam does not have the freedom that a mridangam has in a concert.

Playing with stalwarts

You cannot play with maestros such as Dr. Balamuralikrishna and T.N. Seshagopalan as you would play with up-and-coming artistes. The seniors' musical knowledge is like an ocean and you've got to do your homework beforehand. They know everything! You just need to support them. Playing with relatively younger vocalists allows for a bit more freedom. Often, they support us and vice versa.

Ghatam in fusion

Ghatam is the perfect instrument for fusion concerts, much more pliable than the mridangam, and goes well with both Indian instruments and Western instruments alike. The rhythmic scale of the ghatam is similar to the drum and the base guitar. I first played fusion with violinist Balabhaskar in a band called Big Band. We played at a number of venues including the Soorya fete. In 2001, I was selected by the National School of Drama as the Indian representative of a gathering of Indian, Japanese, Candian, and Indonesian musicians in Japan. Apart from the ghatam, I took along various percussion instruments such as ganjira, udukku, edakka, and the mridangam. Being versed in the mridangam and ghatam, I found it very easy to play the Japanese percussion instruments.

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