Making music, with love

"YOU CAN never dance again." The young girl closed her eyes when she heard the doctor's verdict. She had just been acclaimed for her role of Nati in the ballet "Discovery of India", premiered at the Asian Relations Conference and before the illustrious author of the book on which it was based - Jawaharlal Nehru. Earlier, she had made a name for herself as a Bharatanatyam artiste, having trained by a very exacting Kandappa Pillai (Balasaraswati's guru). But watching Uday Shankar's electrifying performance in Madras brought changes of direction. It took her to far off Almora where Shankar had set up his Cultural Centre. She became a lead dancer in his repertory, and also performed Bharatanatyam solos in his shows.

In Almora, the Carnatic music trained teenager found it easy to learnt bhajans from visiting musicians such as S.S. Bodas and Dilip Kumar Roy, Rabindra sangeet from Sati Devi. Between the creative pursuits there was time for romance, and marriage with Rajendra, Uday Shankar's brother, her senior by two decades. When the Almora centre closed down in 1944, the couple shifted to Bombay where Rajendra became a film script writer and scenarist at the Bombay Talkies.

In all these pursuits, revolutionary for those times, Lakshmi had the support of mother Visalakshi, a singer and short story writer; and father, nicknamed "Harijan Sastri" by the Mahatma, because he edited Gandhi's journal, The Harijan.

In 1946, the Shankar brothers, Debendra, Rajendra and the now world famous sitarist Ravi, decided to choreograph Nehru's historical text. Lakshmi was not only a main performer in that ballet, she was also at the same time playing the lead role in the Tamil film "Bhaktha Tulsidas". When the shows ended, she found herself stricken with pleurisy.

"I recovered, but never to dance again," she recalls. She learnt typing and shorthand to help her husband, wrote short stories, did playback singing in films like "Mastana", "Neecha Nagar", "Dharti ke Lal" and "Do Phool". She sang for and directed the dance sequences in Nav Ketan's "Andhiyan".

But brother-in-law Ravi Shankar kept saying, "Your voice is ideal for classical music." Music director Madan Mohan brought Ustad Abdul Karim Khan to her house, suggesting that Lakshmi take lessons from him. When Khansaheb sang a thumri, "I felt I had been waiting for this all my life!" Classes began the next day. "Considerations of time and money didn't weigh with my guru. I was 28 then but he was convinced that I could make it." Her sound training in the Carnatic genre was a great advantage, but sometimes it hindered her in picking up the completely different methods of handling the tala in the northern genre. "I am giving up," she once announced. "Are you crazy?" Khansaheb shouted. "You have done in a year what it takes people a decade to achieve!"

The first public recital was at the Entally Conference,Calcutta, 1957, where she won the medal for outstanding performance. "By God's grace I have never looked back." She even did her B.Mus degree under Professor Deodhar's guidance. He augmented her raga repertoire, composed special pieces for her. Soon Lakshmi herself began to adapt Carnatic ragas like Vachaspati and Charukesi for khyal elaboration. Raga Dhaani is a favourite, having its equivalent in Suddha Dhanyasi; but the singer found it in the form of a scale in a Hindustani text and breathed life into it.

Lakshmi Shankar has performed all over India, is fluent in six tongues, has sung and cut discs in fourteen languages. She has participated in Ravi Shankar's creative experiments such as "Melody and Rhythm", which orchestrated Indian music, and the "Shankar Family Album" presented by former Beatle George Harrison. She even rejoined Uday Shankar's troupe in 1962 for a tour of the U.S, Europe and the former Soviet Union - this time as singer and conductor of the orchestra. She has sung for nephew Sachin Shankar's ballets, and toured abroad with Ravi Shankar's ensemble.

After husband Rajendra's demise (they spent years in Chennai before he passed away) Lakshmi divides her time between India and the U.S. She has known the grief of losing a vibrantly talented daughter (Vijayasree, wife of violinist L. Subramaniam) but continues to find solace in the music she makes with love and commitment.

Today, many Chennai musicians from the Carnatic fold have trained themselves in Hindustani music and performed full length recitals. Lakshmi Shankar and N. Rajam (violin) however, have identified themselves wholly with the Northern system, and established themselves on par with North Indian practitioners of that genre. But the Tamil born vocalist (who sings at Hamsadhwani on 3 January, 2001) has not forgotten her Madras roots. "I am absolutely and totally a South Indian. I believe that my foundation in Bharatanatyam and Carnatic music have enabled me to achieve success in other fields quickly and easily."

GOWRI RAMNARAYAN

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