After a long long gap, that feels like forever, Ranjani-Gayatri were back in Bangalore to treat us to a concert so full of the RaGa goodness, at Gayana Samaja.
The kutcheri commenced with a beautiful Bilahari, Sharanu Benakane on Ganapati with that unique set of chittaswaras, and the pallavi was further adorned with kalpanaswaras.
Ranjani ma’am started the alapana. I was waiting to see if the Ri was going to show up. He didn’t! It was going to be the pentatonic raga that brims with endearing beauty. Valachi! The alapana was rich with long notes, heart-tugging glides and jaw-dropping chiselled runs. How many varied hues she could paint with just changing how the Dha and Ni appear in a phrase! Magic! The amazing violinist Vid HM Smitha elaborated the raga beautifully in her alapana before they took up Harikesanallur Muthaiah Bhagavatar’s gem – Jalandhara Supeetasthe! Sigh the heart just spent most of the kriti in anticipation of the neraval and God, did they make it worth it! Bhavaroga Nivaarini Bhakta Jana Paripaalini. Such a playful raga but when they sang this neraval it had such an evocative, surrendering quality… the high notes full of intense emotion! Then the second speed took us into full-fledged joy that further went sky high in their leaping swarams, complete with a brief Abhogi-Valachi swaradhuri! Aha’s couldn’t escape me fast enough. After this they plunged us into the lilting Dhanyasi of Meena Lochana. Navaratri concert max!
As soon as Gayatri ma’am started the alapana I was craning my neck to make eye contact with EVERYONE I knew, to share the joy of what was coming 😛 If valachi was one type of infinite within 5 notes, this one was a whole other kind of infinity. Such rich gamakas, tugging and pulling with such precision! Shuddha Saveri filled our hearts as she soared from one note to the next in such delectable progressions in full throated akaara. That one irresistible kriti glimpse! Of course, it was Sadguru Thyagaraja’s masterpiece – Daarini Telusukonti. Oh Goddess what a rendition! Their powerpacked singing showcased the magnum opus in all its glory, how iconic the sangathi progression! Each karvai filled up with a river of joy, cutting non-linearly in the most interesting ways. Be it Daarini, Be it Maaruni, Kumaaruni or the most awesome Raajita! Every second of the rendition was pure joy.
Aaah the swarams! Each round came to each sangathi of Daarini. An absolute CELEBRATION of the kriti, truly. And the way the kriti progressions would come even in the koraippu! And in the final korvai too! What a quintessential carnatic experience this whole piece was! They reminded me what kutcheri joy feels like, all over again. And what makes such an ocean of rasikas show up, standing in the balcony, standing in the sides looking through the windows, sitting on the dais, finding every gap possible to listen in, and soak in this rich music. The tani avarthanam between Vid Arjun Ganesh and Vid Ghatam S Krishna was such electric fun – that moment when their koraippu reduced to an exchange of silences! Giddy fun. Before the RTP came a swift yet emotive Marugelara.
Ranjani ma’am began her alapana. One of Her ragams. I’ve heard her sing this for the submain piece so many times. But their constant sadhana ensures that every portrait is completely new, with new colours, and finds new new ways to move me and break me. Lathangi. What is it about that komal Dha that can colour everything in her melancholy. What is it about her sadhana that every glide, every plain note was full of Lathangi. Such heartbreaking phrases. And then when Gayatri ma’am took over, my brain was telling me it’s Ga3, the happy note. Then why was my heart refusing to get out of the clouds? After one point, while she sings, I know that there’s nothing but the raga. Lathangi has filled Gayana Samaja and will now remain suspended until she breaks the spell, or if I’m stupid enough to snap out of it. Once that is reached there is no more mundane reality, everyone else sitting around me, everything else that goes on, simply vanishes. There’s just Lathangi, and the self. Each drowning in the other. Yeah, THAT is what their kutcheri, their music, is all about. That brief Bhatiyar… Sigh. Spell within a spell!
Taanam slowly took over, again with resonant glides, perfect chisels. And then came the pallavi –
Maathangi Shyaamaangi Sundaraangi Lathaangi!
Shriyam Dehi Raaja(-Maathangi)
A forever favourite. Cha, even though one can know – yes this this will happen in a slow neraval, this this will happen in a fast neraval, the experience of it is never imaginable. Slow neraval started with Meenakshi as the precious child of two most loving mothers, ended with Meenakshi being the Mother they surrendered to, and fast neraval saw her descend down with her unstoppable force and conquer the entire universe. Swarams in multiple speeds led to the second speed pallavi where they wove magic by adorning each word in brilliant ways! Rageshri came as the perfect contrast to the intensity of Latangi before the Swaradhuri madness of Gowrimanohari, Vachaspati and Charukeshi. Such a natural trio linked through Grahabhedam. The Kanda Judumi reference! The NiDha’s continue to keep the jaw taped to the floor.
Malayamarutam came after all, before a moving Darbari Kanada in Ugabhoga as they rendered a composition new to my ears – Shrikantha Enagishtu. Some kid shouted for Bairagi and a few others asked for Atha Kote, so the benevolent Goddesses started with Atha Kote but went to Je Ka Ranjale at the end and made the kid weep as Parameshwari took over. This kid, he keeps crying and then writing long long concert notes, what to do. Not sure if he’s too emotional or they break all his walls.
But when music like yesterday’s hits him, tears and word just fall out, uncontrollably. Thank you, for such music. ❤️🙏🏼
