The sublime quality of Bombay Jayasri’s music is a product of aesthetics meeting a meditative state of mind. This sensitivity and depth in her alapanas and rendering of kirtanas, conferred sweetness, and was exhilarating.
Each raga and song in Jayasri’s concert served as a vehicle to convey an experience which others have perhaps had but cannot express well. The diadem in her performance was Thodi and the Tyagaraja kriti ‘Dasu Kovalena.’ Traditional values and rakti content were written all over the raga. Vibrant sancharas, delivered with subtlety in a mellow voice modulation, flowed with ease and elegance. She took splendid strides through the depths and heights of Thodi. Her raga essay carried the message that it is not enough to make alapana imaginative, it has to be tranquil.
Earlier, Jayasri presented a profile of Begada (‘Neevera Kula Dhanamu,’ also Tyagaraja). She developed the raga in such a way that she wished to measure up her alapana to the elusive shades of Begada. The charm was not so much because of the manner in which she shaped the expression as the way she conceived of the beauty of expression. It led her to the Thodi enclosure.
Two other songs – ‘Mundu Venuga’ (Darbar) and ‘Anandamrita Karshini’ (Amritavarshini) of Dikshitar were also included.
From her programme that day, three inferences could be drawn: one, her song selection marked her preference for the best of Trinity. Two: It was clear that she was aware of the need for constant renewal of higher objectives. Three, her concert experience has given her the capacity to strike a balance between appealing to the non-connoisseur and providing a niche for the elite as well.
Set against her mood, the violin support from H.N. Bhaskar fell short of expectation. The bowing was harsh and the sancharas in Thodi were too quick, without proper spacing. The Begada version was a shade better.
The mridangam play by Manoj Siva absorbed the prevailing composed environment and the artist muffled his beats to gentle decibels. The ganjira sound of Anirudh Atreya complemented the mridangam.
