The music of the Carnatic greats — from M.S. Subbulakshmi and Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer to K.V. Narayanaswamy, GNB, and Madurai Mani Iyer — has one thing in common: their foundational pillars. What made these musicians extraordinary?
In Carnatic music, there’s no concept of falsetto or “head voice”. The stalwarts understood the importance of a full-throated approach to singing. They tapped into the unbridled, free emotion of this music’s form by throwing their voices; breathing life and passion into every swara, sangathi and rendition.
Carnatic music is a deeply intricate art form, with equal importance given to composition and improvisation. The challenge and excitement of the journey lies in understanding how to operate within its complex parameters, and finding creative liberation within these walls, thus making a unique and personal statement with each piece. The masters that we look up to thought about and experienced this art form with every waking breath, spending dedicated time with their art each day. This gave them a true grasp of its essence.
While listening to Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer ease into madhyama kaala swarams in Dwijavanthi or GNB scaling a mountain as he builds up a tanam in Kambhoji, you can hear the core identity of each raga move effortlessly through the music. When listening to M.S. Subbulakshmi’s Sankarabaranam, from the raga alaapana to her rendering of ‘Saroja Dalanethri’, you can feel her profound connection with the music. You can’t help but sway joyously along with D.K. Jayaraman as he launches into the thara-stayee of Mohanam. The ragas and compositions the legends mastered, lived within them. For them, it was not just a grasp of the proper notes or even the proper phrases; it was a deep understanding of the nuanced ‘assaippus’, and subtleties of the appropriate dynamic, gait, and emotional intent for a phrase or set of phrases.
My journey with Carnatic music has been a search. When I started singing at the age of three, the search was sub-conscious. I didn’t know what I was looking for, nor did I know how to get there; I just knew that singing brought me immense joy. The exhilaration that came from letting my voice soar was pure, and I felt it in my core. My mother, who is my guru, instilled in me the importance of using my full voice and making sure my posture and breathing techniques were precise from a very young age. It was mandatory that I did voice exercises every morning, and I practised for a couple of hours every day. This gave my voice the foundation to evolve and open up freely as I grew older.
I realised early on that much of the beauty in Carnatic music existed in the ‘surrender’ of the musician. I discovered its emotional and spiritual pull, which opened my heart and consciousness exponentially. This strong, visceral connection to the music pushed me forward in my search. As is the case with any journey, one’s intuition can only lead to a certain point. My hunger for a deeper grasp of this music grew intense. I knew that I loved to sing, and when I did, I put everything into it. But, something seemed to be missing.
Through the years, I continued practising, performing and listening to countless recordings. Ever so often, I’d chance upon a deep resonance with the music’s essence, trying desperately to hold on to it.
Slowly, through persistence, and thanks to my gurus and mentors, I started gaining a grasp of the abstraction; with this perspective, I was able to start breaking it down. The vocabulary of phrases unique to each raga started to make much more sense to me. With a new-found, more logical understanding of the identity of different ragas and how they could manifest in the context of compositions and various improvisational forms, my subconscious love for the music grew. Singing a Bhairavi alapana was no longer about knowing when to touch on which nishadham; rather, it became about enjoying the evolving flow of ascent, descent and plateau. There was a great liberation in being able to find creative freedom within the detailed order of Carnatic music.
Music is boundless. Carnatic music is my foundation and fountainhead. My exploration with this music has helped sculpt an artistic identity that shines through all my endeavours. Whether I’m performing a Carnatic kutcheri, providing vocal and nattuvangam support for a Bharatanatyam performance, composing my original music, or recording a song for a film, this core identity remains intact.
I’m sitting here, listening to a Thodi ragam tanam pallavi by the late genius M. Balamuralikrishna, and I’m reminded of the vast brilliance of Carnatic music. It is humbling and inspiring to know that music is far greater than any one individual, and that this search is life-long.
I am especially excited about where I am now in my journey. I invite you all to be a part of it, and to join me this Margazhi season.
