Kalki's poetic genius, expert song selections and reliving memorable moments in the life of the legendary M.S. Subbulakshmi was what ‘Malai Pozhudinile’ held at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan recently, was about. Made possible by the endeavours of Priyadarsini Govind (Bharatanatyam dancer), Gowri Ramanarayan (raconteur) and Nisha Rajagopalan (Carnatic vocalist), the evening brought alive images of MS — the pottus on her forehead, eyes closed, ‘kadalagi kasindu urugi’ (love and bhakti pervading her very being); nevertheless, Gowri chose to reveal another side of MS’s personality.
'Kalki' Krishnamurti's lyrics seemed to work like magic in MS' voice:
‘Kandadundo Kannan Pol’ (ragamalika) was rendered aesthetically by Nisha at the show.
MS beautifully brought out feelings of the nayaki in this song… ‘Kanmani nee enban, kai viden enban, kannai imaithal kaanaan’ (he would call me his beloved, promise never to leave me; yet, at the bat of an eyelid, he would disappear).
In ‘Malai Pozhudinile’ (ragamalika), Kalki’s imagery knew no bounds, ‘Velondru kaiyil
endi ennaye vizhunguvan pol vizhittan; Neelakkadalinaipol en nenjam nimirndhu
pongidavum.’ (Velavan would appear, spear in hand, and gaze most passionately at me;
at this, my heart would brim and surge like the waves in the ocean), Priyadarsini through her abhinaya captured the emotions in these verses.
Gowri spoke of how MS appreciated poetry. For instance, she would say: “unakku theriyuma intha poet oru Muslim, Ras Khan” (Do you know, this poet is a Muslim, Ras
Khan). He sings of Krishna in the song, ‘Gaave guni’.
Nisha began the programme with this Sufi Krishnaite poem.
Priyadarsini’s ‘Theruvil Varano’ (khamas), a classic padam of Balasaraswati focussed on MS' friendship with Balasaraswati, who would ask her to sing and dance and would sometimes even sing when MS danced.
Later in life, MS passed on these nuances imbibed from Bala to Radha and Anandhi. Priyadarsini presented eloquently the ‘gambiramana parvai’ (the glance of the handsome one), and how the nayaki is thrilled by this glance. Nisha warmed up beautifully on this inspiring presentation.
Once when MS visited Gandhiji with husband Sadasivam and Radha, the distressed leader asked MS to sing. Unhesitatingly, she rendered ‘Ghana Shyam’ from the film ‘Meera’, even as Radha danced. The Mahatma felt relaxed after hearing the song. Priyadarsini helped the audience relive those moments by dancing to ‘Ghana Shyam’ and portrayed how overjoyed the nayika is on sighting Krishna smiling, flute in hand, at her door.
‘Yaro Ivar’ (Bhairavi) and a bhajan taught by Devdas Gandhi to MS were also part of the show that captured rare moments from MS’ creative journey.
