Notes of a passion

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Music has an inherent ability to permeate all things alive. The spirit behind Nadavidyalam Sangeetha Satsangam is this faith, says Ajit Namboothiri, whose untiring efforts to sing paeans to Indian Classical music is finding rebounding echoes. The monthly lecture demonstration by exponents of Classical  music and Indian musical instruments organised in the Capital City is fast gaining popularity among music enthusiasts. “The ambition to organise musical satsang was always there which prompted me to start a Facebook Community called Nadavidyalayam in July this year,” says Ajit, recalling the origins of the virtual platform that soon found a huge fan following. The enthusiastic sharing of interesting and informative nuggets between members inspired him to translate it into real time gatherings. “On October 3, we had our first Satsang with veteran vocalist Parasala Ponnammal leading the session at the Tamil Sanghom Hall, Statue. Quite a few members of the Facebok Community joined us along with a large number of music lovers. We had a second meeting in November when Cherthala Ranganatha Sarma interacted with the gathering,” he says. Ajit, a trained musician and television anchor, began his efforts to preserve the Carnatic music tradition with a cultural organisation-cum-publishing house called Sangeetha Gurukulam which was inaugurated in Thiruvananthapuram a few years ago. The institution brought out a series of books Carnatic music including ‘Sreshtasangeetham’ – which was an introduction to Indian music and ‘Swarasagaram’ – which is an elucidation on the Saptaswaras. The lecture demonstrations have been conceived as a way to maximise the reach of authentic Indian classical music and information on the same among the public. “Among the particpants, there are musicians, music students, music lovers and commoners who are just curious to check out the proceedings,” he says. “The sessions are divided into four segments - Abhyaasanam (learning),  Abhyaasam (practice – saadhana),  Anubhavam (the experience of listening) and Anusandhaanam (follow-up discussions). In the learning and practice segments, simple pieces are sung to the audience who are asked to follow the Guru. This generates in the listeners, especially those who have not learned music, inspiring them to take lessons,” says Ajit. In the session with Ranganatha Sarma, the audience were introduced to a technique developed by the vocalist to quickly  identify the basic notes of all the 72 melakartha ragas. “He has devised a method by which a musician can figure out the arohanam and avarohanam of the basic ragas at the snap of a finger. His student, 14-year-old Krishna Priya from Thiruvananthapuram, demostrated the technique to the gathering. A book elucidating the method, ‘An easy guide to melakartha ragas’, was released on the occasion,” he says. The third satsang will be held on December 8 at the Tanjavoor Ammaveedu, Airport Road, West Fort. A lecture demonstration on the traditional musical instrument, ‘Mizhavu’ will be done by Kalmandalam Ravi Kumar Chakyar. Participation is free. Nadavidyalayam will also conduct a Kacheri competition for young musicians from 12-18 years in January. The last date for registration for the competition will be December 31. For details, mail to [email protected] or contact 9447374646.