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 Thyagarasa - Supriya Prakash e-mail: supriya.prakash2@gmail.com August 16, 2024 Often, looking back at an experience makes it shine and glimmer like the diamond that it is. Our mind polishes every angle as we see it again through the most savoured bits of our experience. Two weeks since Tyagaraja, as I sit down and sip my filter coffee, it takes me back to the packed 'Medai' in Koramangala, Bangalore. The cozy stage was a perfect place to share a highly refined repertoire not based on the traditional margam but promising to be much more. The lighting was very questionable... there, I said it! I really needed to get that out of the way, but the music... Despite the change in the meaning of Bhakti in today's times, Tyagaraja's personality and character came to the forefront in this show. To me, the precise synergy between Shobana Bhalchandra and Anand Satchidanandan was mesmerizing; they matched each other in energy and style. The costumes brought them together in prayer, and the atmosphere was serene and spiritual.  "Dorakuna," the opening number, is new to nobody, and yet the combination of bhakti and athbuta in Shobana Bhalchandra's iconic storytelling style transported me to a different world - a world where the bhakta feels so close to the lord, a world of magical times when saints like Tyagaraja found Lord Rama within themselves. The number was beautifully interspersed with jathis that ended with graceful poses, leaving the audience enthralled. "Entula Brotuvo," a very complex number, was a seamless narrative. The metaphor of the bull astray showcased narrative craft at its best. Anand embodied Saint Tyagaraja in all his humility and brought out the relationship with subtle expressions that left the audience thinking deeply about the lord. My favorite number was surely the kriti "Ramabhirama Ramaniya Rama." The metaphorical maid, so fleeting within the bhakta's heart, was embodied in subtle choreography. Certainly a number where the dancer and the music became one within the other embodying bhakti in every step and grace in every movement. "How effortless!" was the thought in the mind of every participant watching. Radha Badri's soulful rendition certainly had me putting my hands together in prayer. The unconventional lineup of Tyagaraja had a larger story to tell - one of a devotee in his utter surrender to the lord. In times when the showstopper is always a peppy tillana, the revered "Santamu leka soukyamu lethu" brought the audience to a moment of deep meditation and serenity. In summary, this repertoire was certainly worthy of the jam-packed roads characteristic of Bangalore. For no YouTube concert can ever replace the joy and exuberance one feels as they connect with seamless artistes like Shobana Bhalchandra and Anand Satchidanandan live on stage... now, can it?  Supriya Prakash is a Literacy Coach at Neev Academy, Bangalore, and a rasika of dance for the last two decades. |
