My father-in-law's sudden demise a few weeks back in Chennai led to a series of unexpected events. Having grown up in a traditional Hindu family that diligently followed the lunar calendar, the slew of funeral rites wasn't a complete surprise. But for the first time I was house bound with several females ranging from 84 years to 8 years with my husband being the sole male in the house. And when a couple of sharp tongued women like my sisters-in-law, experts of the madisar sari, were thrown into the mix, it became a testing ground of sorts for me.

“Don't let go of the leg on the sari ...” My husband's aunt muttered under her breath as she tied the nine-yards sari for me for the first time. It appeared to be a complex procedure of gymnastic steps as I followed her instructions. A tuck here and there, legs akimbo, and twirls every now and then. By the third day, I got the hang of it and was ready to face the music even as the women kept up the drill in other activities. “Don't walk too fast, take small steps!” everyone chorused as I flitted around in my new avatar. Whenever I slipped up, my husband's sisters were only too happy to pull me up!

My friends were curious to know how I had pulled this off. For someone who barely knew how to tie a six-yards sari with finesse as a young bride, I had come a looong way. Do I dare mention that the internet can be a marvelous resource for those who have no 84 year old aunts helping you go the whole nine yards?

2. Thursday, October 14 - Srinivasa temple, Kengeri, Bangalore - 6:30 to 8:30 pm

3. Saturday, October 16 - Radhakrishna temple, Sanjaynagar, Bangalore - 6:30 to 8:30 pm

4. Sunday, October 31 - (along with Seethalakshmi Mami and Saralaya sisters) - Ramavibhakthi series - Suswaralaya college of music

Swarajatis are a longer and sophisticated version of geethams. They include a pallavi, sometimes an anupallavi, and charanam(s). Beginning with Rara venu gopapala in ragam Bilahari, students learn 4-5 swarajatis including Shyama Shastri's classic piece Kamakshi in ragam Bhairavi. I recommend that students listen to the rendition of the Kamakshi swarajathi sung by Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer.

After swarajatis students move on to Varnam. The varnam lesson is a turning point in the student's education. Varnams are musical compositions with simple lyrics and swara patterns. A varnam consists of a pallavi, anupallavi, chittayi swaram, charanam and muktayi swaras. The benefit of learning varnam includes voice culture and traversing all the three octaves with ease as well as a sound knowledge of the rhythm. The varnam is sung in two speeds and is the opener in a classical concert.

There are two kinds of varnams – taana varnams which are the varnams sung by musicians in a concert and pada varnams which are the varnams sung for dance performances. Taana varnams are in both Adi and Ata talams. As I had mentioned in the earlier podcast, the primer Ganamrutha Varna Maliga brought out by A.S.Panchapakesa Iyer includes all the traditional varnams. I also believe that Viribhoni, the ata tala varnam in ragam Bhairavi is a litmus test for students. When students sing this varnam in two speeds, they begin to understand the nuances as well the depth of the raga.

Here is a rendition of Viribhoni by MS Subbalakshmi.

Chitra Srikrishna – vocal

C.N.Chandrashekhar – violin

C.Cheluvaraj – mrudanga

M.S.Krishnamurthy – ghata

After the concert there is a group rendition (goshti gayana) of Pancharatna kritis at 12:45 pm followed by lunch.

2. Sunday, March 14, 6 pm at Kamakshi temple, Shankar Mutt, Malleswaram.

3. Wednesday, March 31, 12:30 to 2:30 pm at Sri Rama Seva Mandali, Fort high school (special A/C pandal) Chamarajapet, Bangalore – Ramanavami festival

As I quickly run through the ideas listed on page 3, the phone rings. It's my father who begins a long-winded explanation on why he needs the driver. “Cut to the chase, Dad” the words slip out inadvertently. For a moment he's too befuddled to respond. After all, he's still not come to the reason of the phone call! I assure him that I would return his call in a few minutes and race back to my desk. The ideas are now jumping at me and I'm raring to go. For the next few minutes the sound of furious typing echoes in the living room. Only the quiet chime of the clock can be heard in the background. As I'm halfway through the piece, a sneaky thought appears . Is the writing a tad dull? Does it need a bit of pizazz? Soon enough, alarm bells start ringing in my head. But no, it's the doorbell - who could it be now?

My sister-in-law breezes in behind the maid announcing, "I need to see my brother!". There's a light of battle in her eyes. "Close your ears, I'm going to talk to him!" Easier said than done. I'm out of cotton balls at the moment.

Mentally wishing everyone to perdition, I head back to my cozy little corner. The piece is shaping up well. It's time for that punchline. One that will make or break the article. I run through several scenarios in my head, laugh out loud even as the spouse looks askance at me. When I write the last word of the article, I expect to hear the roll of drums. Or better still the strains of some soft music. Instead I get the jarring sounds of vessels being dropped in the kitchen sink.

Here is the list of songs that was presented at the concert -

1. Karikala – Saveri – Dikshithar

2. Orajoopu joo – Kannada Gowla – Tyagaraja (neraval at the line “dheena raksha..” was a good choice”

3. Guruvina – Pantuvarali – Purandara dasa (raga alapana and swaras rendered)

4. Brovavamma – Manji – Shyama Shastry

5. Ramakatha – Madhyamavati – Tyagaraja (Here was the classic neraval Baama mani at the anupallavi with swara)

6. Seethamma – Vasantha – Tyagaraja

7. RTP – Kambodhi - “Kancha padam thanjam yena Anjal yedhu Nencham adhu Senchadai panchanadha” in Misra nadai Rupaka talam. The RTP ended in a ragamalika with Bowli, Amirkalyani, Kathana koothuhalam

8. Somasundareshwaram – Shuddha Vasantham – Dikshithar

9. Divyaprabandham (ragamalika)

10.  Harivasarala – Sindhubhairavi – Purandara dasa

11. Tirupugazh – Purvikalyani

Charulatha Ramanujam on the violin was phenomenal. Neyveli Narayanan on the mridangam and Amrit on the kanjira gave a neat thani avarthanam.

1. Jaya Jaya Swamin – Nattai – Narayana Teerth

2. Tulasamma – Devagandhari - Tyagaraja

3. Bhuvaneshwariya – Mohana Kalyani – Muthiah Bhagavathar

4. Dhaarini Telusu – Shuddha Saveri – Tyagaraja

5. Shankari Neeve – Begada – Subbarayar Shastri

6. Emi chesithe – Thodi – Tyagaraja

7. RTP – Kaapi & Behag ending in a ragamalika Hindolam, Vaasanthi, Hamsanandi and Yaman

8. Tarangam

9 Tillana – Desh – Lalgudi Jayaraman

The first item in Nattai was a brisk opener with kalpana swaras for the pallavi. Tulasamma in Devagandhari created a meditative ambience. An outstanding alapana in Mohana Kalyani followed by Bhuvaneshwariya was an instant hit with the crowd, swaras sung for the pallavi. This was followed by a quick rendition of Dhaarini Telusu and then she began Begada. There’s the standard Begada sung by musicians, with predictable sangatis/sancharas. But here she came up with some unusual patterns handling them with great finesse. H.N.Bhasker was a stalwart accompanist and supported her at every point throughout the concert. In the Begada piece, neraval was at the usual line in the charanam (“kanakadri sadhana dheena”) but surprisingly she took up kalpana swaras for the pallavi. A novel approach (and welcome). Emi chesithe nemi, Tyagaraja’s piece in Thodi set to Misra Chapu was an unusual choice and beautifully rendered with swaras for the pallavi (no neraval). The thani avarathanam by Patri Satish Kumar (m) and Anirudh Atreya (k) was energetic and brilliant.. The RTP in Kaapi and Behag set to Tisra Triputa (nada pallavi) showed trademarks of a Bombay Jaishree concert – effortlessly switching ragas at any point with great ease both at taanam, swarams and ending in a ragamalika, elevating the concert to higher level. The audience was in a trance. Last year when I heard Jaishree at the same festival I thought nothing could top the Saama-Sivarajani RTP in that concert. But I was wrong!

Sarali varisaigal are sequential swara patterns sung in Ragam Mayamalavagowla. They help students get a good grip of shruthi or pitch, talam or rhythm and a good foundation of the different notes. Janta varisaigal are patterns of two notes while the Dhaatu swaras are zigzag patterns that give students greater control over the notes. Later when students attempt kalpana swaras using their imagination, these initial exercises come in handy. So even if you're grumbling and moaning while your teacher is relentless in making you practise these exercises, you'll certainly thank her later! Students of Hindustani music learn these swara patterns in raag Bilawal, which corresponds to raga Shakarabaranam in the Carnatic scale.

Beginning with sarali varisaigal, students learn to sing 14 different patterns in three different speeds. Once they master sarali, they move on to the janta. My teacher often asked me to practise singing the same sarali and janta varisagal in different ragas (sampoorna ragas which had all seven notes) to break the monotony! Practising the dhaatu varisaigal, whether as a vocal or an instrumental exercise, helps students get a firm grip on the placing of the notes at any point. The melstayi and mantra stayi patterns exercises the vocal chords in higher and lower octaves.

Alankaras, the next stage in abhyasagaanam introduces students to the tala scheme of Carnatic music. There are 7 different tala families in the system, each tala having 5 varieties, thereby allowing 35 possible talas in the system. The three kinds of beats in a tala are anudhritam (one beat), dhrutham (two beats) and laghu (3/4/5/7/9 beats).

Geetams and Swarajathis are the next stepping stones on the path of learning Carnatic music. Geethams are basic songs with simple swara patterns and lyrics. I remember the day I Iearnt my first geetam, Shri Gananadha in ragam Malahari. Finally after several weeks of hearing me sing swaras, swaras and more swaras my teacher got tired of seeing my mournful face in class. When he began teaching the song - one which had lyrics I felt I had stepped into the big league-:)There was a renewed surge of energy in my music classes as I waded my way through the geethams, each captivating me with a magic of its own. As you listen to the podcast, please remember to comment on the blog (the good, the bad and the ugly). Happy listening!

In case you missed our first podcast on Gamakas, you can catch it here

The fact that Ashok is based in San Jose and I am in Bangalore and our insane schedules (not to mention my difficulty with this audio editing stuff) did not help matters. Nevertheless, we finally got down to it and in this post I present the first episode of our podcast - Gamakas.

Gamaka as the classical definition goes is grace - however calling it grace does not explain much. In ordinary terms gamakas are oscillatory patterns traveling from one note to another in successive repetitive pattern within a confined space. This episode explores when to use gamakas or not, with short demonstrations of appropriate gamakas.