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In Ramani's footsteps
SHANKAR KRISHNAN, a marketing executive of Karvy Consultants at Kochi, makes it a point to visit Chennai once every month, not to market the financial products and services of his company, but to hone his skills in flute recital under the supervision of Dr. N.Ramani, at the latter's residence in Mylapore.
Initiated into music by his mother Vijayalakshmi Ammal, Shankar Krishnan was fascinated by the recorded flute recitals of Mali (T.R Mahalingam). He began dreaming of turning into a flautist. After picking up the basics from his mother, he started playing the flute under the guidance of M.N Venugopala Rao. It was renowned vocalist T.R Subramaniam, who after listening to Shankar Krishnan, advised him to seek the expert guidance of Dr.Ramani. This marked the beginning of Shankar Krishnan's monthly trips to Chennai. As directed by Ramani, the young flautist now pays extra attention to the literary content and the kalapramana of various krithis.
This is only one side of his musical training. When he is at Kochi, Shankar Krishnan undergoes vocal training under N.P Ramaswamy, who helps him master the intricacies of Swara management. This, he says, helps him a lot while playing the flute. Now Shankar Krishnan is on cloud nine after being invited by Dr.Ramani to accompany him at the forthcoming Tyagaraja Festival at Thiruvayyar.
This year's Navarathri Music Festival, organised by the Kerala Brahmana Sabha, held at the Gramajana Samooham Hall, Kochi, opened with a flute recital by Shankar Krishnan. Accompanying him on the violin was Prof. Parvathi, Subbaraman on the mridangam and T.Gopalakrishnan on the ganjira.
The concert began with Sriraga varnam `Swami Ninnekori... ' by Sreenivasa Iyengar and was followed by the Deekshitar Krithi. `Gajananayutham Ganesa' in Chakravakam raga. After a short elaboration of Natakurinji, Shankar Krishnan presented Swati Thirunal's `Mamavasada Varade... '
Two ragas noted for pathos and Bhakti, Hindolam and Kaapi, were chosen for detailed elaboration. Mysore Vasudevachar's `Mamavathu Sree Saraswathi... ' brought out the sublime elements in Hindolam. And then managed to create a devotional ambience with a sensitive rendering of Tyagaraja's `Intha Saukhyamu... ' in Kaapi.
Before taking up the main ragas, Shankar Krishnan entertained the audience with three bits composed by Tyagaraja (`Thelasi Rama... ' in Poornachandrika, `Sobillu Saptaswara... ' in Jaganmohini and `Sogasutharama... ' in Kannada Gowla).
After the thaniyavarthanam, Shankar Krishnan played a few light pieces, including `Raghupathi Raghava Rajaram... ' But the most popular piece of the concert was `Vana Leela Gana Lola... ' the only Western number composed by Tyagaraja in shades of Sankarabaranam.
Shankar Krishnan feels that he still has a lot to learn. He looks forward to a long spell of fruitful association with his gurus Dr.Ramani and N.P Ramaswamy. Managing finances and sharpening his music skills is indeed a challenge. But Shankar Krishnan is all set to take on the challenge.
M.K.BALAGOPAL
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