musings.....

Abheri is like a beautiful, shy girl. Much like the way Jodha catches herself eyeing Akbar on a sunny,sweaty swordfight practice morning. Suddha Dhanyasi is not far behind either. Consequently it is hard to tell them apart,sometimes. Karnataka Devagandhari,Bhimplas and Dhanasri make our make lives more complicated. But that is not the intention of this post. (I have finally learnt how to embed videos on blogger, but that is not the intention of this post either.)



"Narayana ninna namadha" - Purandharadasa pours emotion and Bhakti into this song, and what better raaga to express this than Suddha Dhanyasi.Listen to the song, and you will not notice a thing. Ranjani starts virutham in Saveri and Gayathri takes over. The first line is in Saveri and then she transitions over to Suddha Dhanyasi.

About 2:11 minutes into the video something happens. As Gayathri transistions to Suddha Dhanyasi, she ends the first line in a barely audible "Pa" that sets the stage. The violinist follows, except she thinks it is hindolam so plays the hindolam "Dha" instead. If only looks could kill, the violinist would be RIP by now. And then Gayathri proceeds to show elaborate the raagam a little more, and the accompanist catches on. All in the wink of an eyelid, almost transparent to the naked eye.

Until a little thing called YouTube caught on. With its action replays and viral nature , it has become the third umpire, an unfailing,sometimes harsh judge. But this is also a testament to the knowledge of the rasikas out there. That is just very good carnatic music in my book.




Suddha Dhanyasi - Arohanam : SGMPNS

Avarohanam : SNPMGS

Hindolam - Arohanam : SGMDNS

Avarohanam : SNDMGS