Ranjani Gayatri at Gayana Samaja. How long I’ve waited for this! Just thinking about the venue makes my mind flood with so many precious sound memories and yesterday made the treasure chest a lot heavier and the heart a lot lighter!
They began with a crisp rendition of Dikshitar’s Shuddha Dhanyasi kriti in Rupakam, complete with the unforgettably perfect brigha at ‘Shri’ Parthasaarathina, swarams decorating Tumburu Naradanutena. Ah the Vivadi teaser beginning. The gentlest rays of the rising moon, the two Ri’s flickering so exquisitely in the Chandrajyothi. Every phrase was so buoyant and made the heart flutter. Can’t believe these are the same Vivadi notes in Ganamoorti, in this they sound much less haunting! Except when she made them so. What a fun rollercoaster our puppet hearts went through. Those disarming glides, those blinding runs. And then came a beautiful alapana by the wizard Vid Vittal Rangan before the evergreen kriti of Sadguru Thyagaraja. Ah the way they sing swarams to the different sangathis! Precious maximus.
Yesterday’s Ranjani-Gayatri concert was one of those experiences that drown every cell of my being in musical bliss.
The evergreen Vallabha Nayakasya kickstarted the concert with some crisp swarams in Begade. Gayatri ma’am didn’t even complete her first phrase but I knew the Ga that was going to come. The intense, poignant Varali! What an iconic Ga. How beautiful jantais sound. How it pulls heartstrings when sung with such purity. There are those must-do things in every raga, right? The way she merges from the Ri into Sa, time slows down and you see the entire colour gradient that results from the two rivers meeting! After a sweet and raga-rich alapana by Vid Charumathi Raghuraman came the exquisite rare gem – Karuna Elaagante. Even though this person nearby said Kaa Vaa Vaa at least five times during the alapana I knew it was going to be this kriti because of those two little glimpses that came so organically.
Two of the brightest stars of Carnatic music get their most incredibly well-deserved National recognition. As a rasika, on multiple occasions when their long list of awards and achievements is read out in many a concert introductory note, a sigh of impatience would escape me, mixed with undeniable awe. But for this particular one, I think it’ll ring sweet every time I hear it.
Padmashri Ranjani Gayatri. Yes, it sounds like the sweet notes of the Nalinakanti RTP my ears were devouring just a few minutes ago, before my flight took off and I forgot to download the track. As always, their music makes words fall out of me so easily.
I’m too young to even fully understand the meaning of the phrases, but these two beings are to me the very definition of Karma Yogis and Nada Yogis. Sadhana for Sadhana’s sake. Music itself the reward. Music itself the purpose. Music the journey, Music the destination. Even when they’re not singing I’ve only ever heard them talk about music, always with those sparkling eyes – How to make music fly even higher, how to take this precious classical music to every corner of the world, how to create maximum beauty, how to evoke and create emotion, how to immerse further and further in the endless ocean of musical sadhana, how to never settle for anything less.
To be the topmost musicians in the field and yet be the most generous and unassuming people… To be celebrated so much globally yet constantly be the seekers full reverence and humility… To have so many decades of experience but still revel in the joy of every little detail in music with such pure and childlike innocence… To treat every kutcheri as a means to elevate every single listener present, to never take any of this for granted, to deliver music at constistently high standards of creative brilliance… Who else can ever come close to these two?
They mean so much to music seekers like me. In fact, countless souls like me know to seek music only thanks to them. In it we found something larger than life, beyond the mundane, something profound to immerse ourselves into. That otherwise low-lying graph of life’s happiness lifted to a higher plane and then peaks plotted, all raised by music. The heart lotus of every Sangeetha Rasika, every Sangeetha Sadhaka can’t help but bloom joyously in response to their soul-stirring music. That probably is already the highest accolade for any musician. But this Padma from our entire Nation, is still something extra special…
My dearest Goddesses Ranjani-Gayatri, I know even today your most consuming thought was probably something about how to make Rasikapriya’s vivadiness more aesthetic, or which two ragas would make a great Dwi Ragam Tanam Pallavi, or which soulful Viruttham to sing next that would make our hearts melt, how to make a Swaradhuri even more magical, or which new raag to tune your next exhilarating Abhang in. Because MUSIC is what you are all about. But as someone whose heart cannot possibly contain the love and respect and admiration his soul has for you two, I have to say I’m beyond ecstatic that this happened for you. You deserve the BESTEST of everything in this universe. So fiercely proud of you and over the clouds (literally and even more so figuratively) with joy. Grateful to Her, for making Her undoubtedly favouritest children acquire yet another crowing jewel. 🙏🏼🙏🏼
When Ranjani-Gayatri sing a CONCERT, Everywhere is Mylapore. And Everywhen is Margazhi.
Yesterday’s concert for BVB Coimbatore began with Sadguru Thyagaraja’s Raghunaayaka in the brightest Hamsadhwani, adorned with some fun swarams. Kovai concerts MUST feature Murugan and yesterday it was Thanjavur Sankara Iyer’s Manasaara Mathi, in the most evocative Saramathi.
Every time the year comes to an end, Ranjani-Gayatri through the course of their Margazhi concerts would have opened up completely new vistas in music that makes the next year extra exciting to look forward to! While the NGS kutcheri had 3 very different ragas in Ragam Tanam Pallavi that explored their beautiful commonalities, yesterday’s kutcheri for BGS was about the subtle differences that make for two entire systems of music!
Notes on Ra-Ga 