‘Sadhana’ (practice) is the essence of music and it is a life-long activity for any musician, said noted playback singer K. J. Yesudas.
It is only through practice that one can seek more knowledge, he said.
Speaking at a ceremony held to honour him for his 50 years’ contribution to music Mr. Yesudas said that the acquired knowledge is wasted if pride takes over humility in an artiste. The occasion also marked the platinum jubilee of his alma mater, RLV College of Music and Fine Arts.
Sadhana is a kind of meditation that is a must to reach higher levels of musical knowledge, he said. It should not stop with the end of an academic course, he said. For this the relationship between the teacher and the student also needs to be pure. Honouring a guru is great, but it should come from the heart, he said.
Mr. Yesudas also inaugurated a recording studio set up at the RLV College that will help students to hear themselves and improve. The programme ‘Sadhana’ was inaugurated by violin maestro T. N. Krishnan.
K. Babu, Minister for Excise, who inaugurated the platinum jubilee celebrations, said the government would consider financing the cost of a radio station for RLV College. He said that the centre for learning music and fine arts will be raised to a centre for excellence. Mr. Babu said that the College has given the State its golden voice in Yesudas and the singer has played a major role in making classical music popular along with film music.
At the function, R. Venugopal, chairman, Tripunithura Municipality, M. Balasubramoniam, principal of the College, mridangam maestro T. V. Gopalakrishan, Thara Kalyan, vice-president, PTA and Kiran Raj, chairman, College Union, were among those who spoke on the occasion.
A classical concert of Mr. Yesudas followed the inaugural ceremony. He was accompanied by S. R. Mahadeva Sarma on violin, Changanasseru B. Hari Kumar on mridangam and Tripunithura N. Radhakrishnan on ghatom.
The week-long celebrations has a number of academic programmes charted for the day and performances in the evening.
