The wait seems to be over

It was uncanny, the way Baradwaj Raman emulated S. Balachander.

April 16, 2015 06:08 pm | Updated 06:09 pm IST

Baradwaj Raman performing at the Arkay Convention Centtre.

Baradwaj Raman performing at the Arkay Convention Centtre.

It is 25 years since S. Balachander, the veena ‘lion,’ passed away. I am using the word ‘lion’ because he was always majestic, both on and off the stage. His gigantic personality added to the stature. The veena looked like a toy in his hand, as his thick fingers would cover the entire melam. Two of his disciples who were well trained left for the States then. Jayanthi Kumaresh is the one who is now doing rounds in concert circuit. Die-hard S. Balachander (SB) fans have been waiting for a veena player, who would employ the varied techniques of SB, such as playing a raga in the pit, pulling and travelling through an octave from a single fret, simultaneously playing the respective gamakas and landing with a cat’s agility on the same fret, followed by a few mottai notes, only to embark on a new sojourn in the scale.

The search for a successor has finally ended, this writer felt, as he listened to Baradwaj Raman, grandson of SB, in a concert to mark the 25th death anniversary of the doyen at the Arkay Convention Centre on April 14. Every year, the family organises concerts in SB’s memory.

Baradwaj Raman emulates SB’s playing style with all his mannerisms intact. It is surprising, for Baradwaj was hardly five, when SB passed away while on a concert tour to Bhilai. At present, Baradwaj is being trained by Sanjay Subrahmanyan.

A sedate start with Tiruvotriyur Tyagaiyer’s varnam in Kanada set the tone for the evening with Baradwaj playing on one of the several veenas crafted by SB himself. He proceeded to play ‘Mahaganapathim’ and ‘Venugana’ in quick succession before setting out to scale Hindolam. He started from the pit and produced some breathtaking phrases, all with a tightrope walker’s perfection.

The pallavi of ‘Samaja Varagamana’ gave him the liberty to improvise it multi-fold. Guru Raghavendra, aptly, played his mridangam as though a compressor was attached to his hands. Either it was soft sarva laghu or deft patting on both sides during the arudhis with liberal khumkis, thereby lifting the concert.

Can presenting a kriti sans any raga, niraval and swara impress a rasika? Yes, if done perfectly. One has to practise the kriti several times to achieve this, and Baradwaj seems to have done that, as was evident in his rendition of Tyagaraja’s ‘Vidajaladura’ (Janaranjani), which was enthralling. His elucidation of Dhanyasi, the evening’s main item, bore the classical stamp and had touches of SB throughout. ‘Meenalochani’ (Syama Sastri) was approached unhurriedly, enabling him to do justice to it. Raga Lalitha, which evokes a meditative mood with every phrase, was treated with respect. Baradwaj’s angled turns, plain phrases, pulls ending with a long rest either in the shadjam (Sa) or madhyamam (Ma) were all expressive and he crowned it with Dikshitar’s ‘Hiranmayeem Lakshmim Sada.’

The concert came to a close with ‘Intha Sowkhiya’ (Tyagaraja) and Lalgudi Jayaraman’s Sindu Bhairavi thillana. It was heartening to see some SB’s fans among the audience.

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