It was an evening of serenity that Sudha Ragunathan's music offered at The Music Academy recently. The vocalist turned the dais into an altar of prayer, worshipping the three-eyed deity through songs and slokas tunefully rendered. The simple but elegant backdrop provided the right ambience.
From the Pantuvarali ‘Shivoham’ to the stately ‘Sri Visvanatham Bajeham, the 14-raga gem of Muthuswamy Dikshitar, ‘Om Shivoham’, had variety that kept the audience riveted. Supported by a full orchestra consisting of violin (B. Raghavendra Rao), mridangam (Neyveli Skandasubramaniam), morsing (R. Raman), tabla (Kiran) and the veena (Bhavani Prasad) which followed the mood unobtrusively, Sudha met the expectations of a houseful audience that had gathered for nadopasana of high calibre.
As a fitting finale, the listeners joined the vocalist in the namavali as the hall reverberated with the names of the deity whose abode is Mount Kailash.
‘Om Shivoham’ was organised by CANCARE Foundation in association with Sriram Properties in aid of treatment and palliative care of cancer patients. At a brief ceremony that preceded the concert, Sudha Ragunathan handed over a cheque for Rs. 1 crore to the Foundation on behalf of her Samudaya Foundation.
