His private sanctuary

Mridangam exponent G. Babu says that music is a form of worship for him

August 19, 2016 04:47 pm | Updated 04:47 pm IST - Thiruvananthapuram

G. Babu at his residence Photo: Liza George

G. Babu at his residence Photo: Liza George

G. Babu is deep in practice when I meet him on the first floor of his residence near Vadayakkadu. The artiste is seated cross-legged on a rug, his mridangam resting on his lap. His nimble fingers are drumming various rhythmic beats on the mridangam. “I am currently composing a thillana on the Malayalam alphabet. Each line ends in praise of a Hindu deity,” says Dr. Babu, an A-grade artiste of All India Radio.

There is a picture of Lord Ganesha above him on the wall. The shruti box that rests by his feet produces a low, steady hum as a white curtain flutters gently in the breeze from the fan. A tanpura rests in a corner and a book case carries interesting reads and some of the awards he has won. I seat myself on a divan in the room.

“No one uses this floor, so I have the whole area to myself. As you can see, I store most of my stuff up here, be it my clothes, books, mridangams… This is my private sanctuary; it’s calm, quiet and is the place where I create and practice my music. You can find me here when I am not travelling for a music programme or consulting patients,” says the homoeopathic doctor, whose first love is music.

The artiste gets up and takes another, slightly larger mridangam from a shelf in another room. “I have 18 mridangams in my collection. Each mridangam produces a different tone. This one is bolder and is used to accompany male vocalists while the other one is softer and used to accompany women vocalists,” says Babu, who has accompanied music maestros such as Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, Parassala Ponnammal, M. Balamuralikrishna and Aswati Tirunal Rama Varma in concerts.

His late parents, P. Gopalan and L. Sumangala, were the ones who fostered his interest in music. “My parents would take my sister, S. Jaya and I to various music concerts in the city. My father noticed my interest in beats when I used to drum them on my seat while watching the programme. He felt I had the potential and enrolled me in Professor Kadanad V.K. Gopi’s mridangam classes. I later polished my skill under Karaikudi Mani.”

The pooja room of his parents’ home in Nalanchira was his first music room. “My sister and I woke up early in the mornings for practice. She would sing and I would accompany her. Playing in front of the images of Gods and Goddesses made the whole experience of playing music, spiritual.”

And music is still a form of worship for Babu who has composed several thillanas to the deities. In fact, an album comprising 10 thillanas, sung by Sankaran Namboothiri, was released by Akash Audios. “The thillanas in the album were composed during my stint at Indian Institute of Performing Arts in Bahrain. I had spare time on my hand and would work on my music in my classroom. It was a small, sound proof room. The first thillana I composed was dedicated to Lord Vishnu,” says this recipient of the Ustad Allah Rakha Memorial Award and the Kerala Sangeetha Akademi Kalashri Puraskaram Award.

But it’s not the just the calm of his music room that inspires him. Music, he says, comes to him at all times. “When I am travelling, sleeping, at a concert… I either write it down or record the tune on my mobile phone. See this book? It contains all the music I have written.”

The musician makes sure the windows of his current residence are closed before practice. “I don’t want to disturb the neighbours. Apart from working on the thillana on the Malayalam alphabets, I also practise on improvising tisrams in concerts. I recently shot a laya vinyasam for Doordarashan Malayalam. A laya vinyasam is when a percussion instrument or instruments are given importance during the taniavartanam of a concert. These days, recitals featuring just percussion instruments are in vogue. Parts of the programme will be telecast on television. As for what next? I intend to compose more thillanas, odes to the Gods, who have been gracious in gifting me music,” says the artist, as he returns to his world – music.

(A series that explores the workspaces of creative people in the city and its suburbs)

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