“Do you know what tha dha ri na means? Everyone who has learnt carnatic music hums these syllables; find out what they mean,” said a smiling K.J. Yesudas. No other music is as great as carnatic with its 72 melakartha structure and the manodharma involved in singing it, he added.
“And you can sing it only if you have the blessings of your guru. Even if you study under someone for 10 years, if he does not bless you, it won’t work,” said the veteran musician, who has trained under greats including Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavathar.
“It was T. V. Gopalakrishnan and the Jaya-Vijaya duo, who took me to my guru when my father insisted that I learn carnatic music. Though the family was passing through very difficult times, my father, who was a theatre artist, insisted that I learn music as he himself had not been able to. He did not ask me to take up a job and earn,” he recalled.
Mr. Yesudas also said that every student who had learnt music under Chembai, as he is known, had done well in life. “Despite me being a Christian, he made me sit near him and taught me for five years. I remember learning a keerthanai from him during a train journey. He never took money from any of his students,” he said.
Mr. Yesudas, who addressed the press in connection with the second edition of Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavathar festival to be held between August 30 and September 1 at Krishna Gana Sabha, said at least 14 senior artists including P.S. Narayanaswamy, S. R. Janakiraman, Madurai G.S. Mani, Umayalpuram K. Sivaraman and R. Thayumanavan would be honoured during the three-day festival. On all three days, a workshop on carnatic and sound technology would be held. Concerts by upcoming and senior musicians would be organised from 9 a.m. on all days.
Musician K.J. Yesudas recalled his life-changing experience as a student of Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavathar
