I went through Hynotism on 16 April evening.......

Photo Courtesy : www.aditiupadhya.com

Saturday, 17th April - It was an evening for one more drown into classical music. It was also an evening where I decided to get hypnotized.

Aditi Upadhya, my Guru who changed my perspective of listening to Hindustani classical music, was performing at Canara Union in Malleshwaram.

I also went to this concert in anticipation that I could meet my Sunaad friends after a gap of around 4 years. I was not dissappointed of course. I met shankar, Lalli, Ashok, Tara Kini (she is my another Guru), Revathi, Niyati, Raji, Ram, so many of them. It was a nice re-union in Canara Union. :)

It was quite a good audience and the ambience was more like an intimate theatre where the space between the audience and the performer will be less. This provided more live wire interactions. Aditi, before beginning the concert, mentioned this as well. Aditi also dedicated that evening as a mark of respect to her father and Guru, Pt. Dinkar Kaikini who passed away a couple of months back and also to Sri. Prabhakar Rao who also passed away few days back.

Shankar Prasad, one of my very senior friend, introduced the artistes to the audience . Pt. Ravindra Yavagal, one of the brilliant Tabla artistes of the country and Dr. Ravindra Kaatoti, one of the fantastic exponents of Harmonium were accompanying Aditi for the performance. along with them, Priya, another upcoming extremely talented desciple of Aditi and Lalitha Shankar (we affectionately call her Lalli) was on Tanpura.

And the hypnotism began.

The first round of hypnotism was Raag Purvi which is an evening raag (specifically during sunset). This is a sampoorna raag which has Ga and Ni as Vaadi and Samvaadi sur. Aditi set the mood of the raag so beautifully that literally we could feel the evening. The effect of Nayya mori paar... was simply brilliant. I always wondered what is that these artistes have with which they make these renditions so brilliant. Aditi was weaving the magic with the sur and all of us were trapped into it. The rendition started giving us a kind of a graphical representation of the raag and the lyrics.

The second round of hypnotism was Bhupali. This is again an evening raag which is generally used for melonchalic moods. This raag does not have Ni (Nishad) in its structure. Aditi created the magic in this piece which is about worshipping this raag itself. The notes were connected so brilliantly that Aditi made it look very fluent. But one could realize that she was delivering an extremely tough composition with such ease. In the dhrut, she sang Nahi Maane Jashoda Tumharo Kanhaayi which took all of us Sunaadians (ex and current) into our flashbacks of Bhaav Yaatra. The wonderful aspect of Aditi's singing was that the creativity was flowing in instantly. Overall , rendition was a total "man lubhaavan"

The third round of hypnotism was sadaa suhaagan raag Bhairavi. This raag generally is rendered as a grand finale . Particularly the composition by Pt. Dinkar Kaikini "saajan ghar aaye, bhirmaaye...." wov... what a composition and singing it was. Amazing.

Aditi also performed another composition of her another Guru, the legendary Shobha Gurtu. Shobhaji is a highly respected artiste across the globe and Aditi was trained under her for up-shaastriya gaayan. It was a composition about Lord Krishna

We were all in the deep state of trans during this performance and I totally forgot that I had to leave by 8:15 PM. I refused to, as it was so enchanting and exceptional perofmance that I did not want to miss out the completeness.

One point which I must mention here is about Priya. This little girl who has come all the way from abroad to learn music under Aditi's guidance is proving to be a brilliant performer. I still remember Priya performing at the auditorium of Indian Institute of Science, NIAS, sometime in 2005 or 2006. Priya has come a long way. Even during this concert, it was very interesting and heartening to see the Guru-Shishya communication live on the stage through the sur. When Priya was singing Aditi was advising her to touch the higher note and come back. Aditi was suggesting Priya to expand the rendition a little bit to create that ambience which that Raag is supposed to create. It is these kind of Gurus who create wonders and allow their shaagirds create the wonder. Priya is already on this path.

ಶಂಕರ್ ನಾಗ್, ನೆನಪು

1988 ರ ನವೆಂಬರ್ ಚಳಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಕಲಾಕ್ಷೇತ್ರದ ರಿಹರ್ಸಲ್ ಶೆಡ್ ನಲ್ಲಿ ಮಂಟೇಸ್ವಾಮಿ ಕಥಾ ಪ್ರಸಂಗದ ಹಾಡುಗಳನ್ನ ಹಾಡುತ್ತಾ ಕುಳಿತಿದ್ದೆ... ಜೊತೆಗೆ ವೆಂಕಿ, ವಾಸು, ಜಿತೂರಿ, ರಘು ಎಲ್ಲಾ ಇದ್ದರು. ಸುರೇಂದ್ರನಾಥ್ ಕರೆ ಕಳಿಸಿದರು. ನಾನು ಮತ್ತು ಜಿತೂರಿ ಹೋದಾಗ ನಮಗೆ ಸುರೇಂದ್ರನಾಥ್ ಹೇಳಿದ್ದು ಕೇಳಿ ಸ್ವಲ್ಪ ಗಾಬರಿ ಆಗಿತ್ತು.. "ಶಂಕರ್ ನಾಗ್ ನಿರ್ದೇಶನದ ನಾಗಮಂಡಲ ನಾಟಕ ಕಲ್ಕತ್ತಾದಲ್ಲಿ ಇದೆ ಮತ್ತೆ ಆ ನಾಟಕಕ್ಕೆ ನೀವಿಬ್ಬರು ಹಾಡ್ತಿದ್ದೀರಿ".... ಹೀಗೆ ಹೇಳಿದ್ರೆ ಯಾರಿಗೆ ತಾನೇ ಗಾಬರಿ ಆಗೋಲ್ಲ ?.. ಅದರಲ್ಲೂ ಶಂಕರ್ ನಾಗ್ ತಂಡ ಸಂಕೇತ್ ಅಂದ್ರೆ ಇನ್ನೂ ಜಾಸ್ತಿನೇ. ಸಿನೆಮಾದಲ್ಲಿ ತೆರೆ ಮೇಲೆ ನೋಡುತ್ತಿದ್ದ ಡಿಶುಂ ಡಿಶುಂ ಹೀರೋ ಜೊತೆ ಕೆಲಸ ಮಾಡೋದು ಅಂದ್ರೆ... !!!

ಸರಿ, ನಾಗಮಂಡಲ ನಾಟಕದ ರಿಹರ್ಸಲ್.... ನವೆಂಬರ್ ತಿಂಗಳ ಕೊನೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಇತ್ತು. ನಾನು ಸಂಕೇತ್ ಸ್ಟುಡಿಯೊಗೆ ಹೋದೆ.. ಅಲ್ಲಿಂದ ಶಂಕರ್ ಅವರ ಫಾರಂ ಹೌಸ್ ಗೆ ಲಿಂಗಯ್ಯ ಓಡಿಸುತ್ತಿದ್ದ ಮೆಟಾಡೋರ್ ನಲ್ಲಿ ಸಿಂಗಸಂದ್ರದ ಫಾರಂ ಹೌಸ್ ಗೆ ಹೋದೆ. ದಾರಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ತಂಡದ ಗೆಳೆಯರೆಲ್ಲ ಜೊತೆಯಾದರು. ಶಂಕರ್ ನಾಗ್ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ತುಂಬಾ ವಿಚಿತ್ರವಾದ ಕಲ್ಪನೆಗಳಿದ್ದವು. ಸಿನಿಮಾ ಹೀರೋ... ಕರಾಟೆ ಕಿಂಗ್... ಹೀಗೆ ಏನೇನೋ.. ಅದೇ ತಾನೇ ಅವರ ಸಿನಿಮಾ "ನರಸಿಂಹ" ನೋಡಿದ್ದೆ. ಜೊತೆಗೆ ರಮೇಶ್ ಭಟ್, ಬಿ ಜಯಶ್ರೀ, ಕಲ್ಪನಾ ನಾಗಾನಾಥ್, ಸುಧಾ ಬೆಳವಾಡಿ, ಕಾಶಿ, ಎಲ್ಲಾ ಇದ್ದರು... ಇದು ಇನ್ನೂ ತಳಮಳಕ್ಕೆ ಕಾರಣ... ಅವರೆಲ್ಲಾ ಆ ತಂಡದಲ್ಲಿ ಕೆಲಸ ಮಾಡುತ್ತಿದ್ದುದು ಗೊತ್ತಿತ್ತು.

ಫಾರ್ಮ್ ಹೌಸ್ ಸೇರಿದ ಕೂಡಲೇ, ವ್ಯಾನಿನ ಬಾಗಿಲು ಪಟಕ್ಕನೆ ತೆರೆಯಿತು. "ವೆಲ್ಕಮ್... ವೆಲ್ಕಮ್...." ಧ್ವನಿ ಕೇಳಿದ ಕೂಡಲೇ ತಿರುಗಿ ನೋಡಿದರೆ... ಕಪ್ಪು ಬಣ್ಣದ ಶರ್ಟ್ ಮತ್ತು ಜೀನ್ಸ್ ಧರಿಸಿದ್ದ ಶಂಕರ್ ನಾಗ್ ಬಾಗಿಲು ತೆಗೆದಿದ್ದರು. ಒಮ್ಮೆಗೇ ಇದ್ದ ಚಿತ್ರ ವಿಚಿತ್ರ ಕಲ್ಪನೆಗಳೆಲ್ಲ ಢಮಾರ್ !!!! ತಕ್ಷಣ ತಲೆಗೆ ಬಂದ ಪ್ರಶ್ನೆ. "ಈ ಮನುಷ್ಯ ಇಷ್ಟೊಂದು ಸಿಂಪಲ್ಲೇ ???" ಡಿಶುಂ ಡಿಶುಂ ಹೀರೋ, ಕರಾಟೆ ಕಿಂಗ್, ಹೀಗೆಲ್ಲ ಕಲ್ಪನೆ ಇದ್ದ ನನಗೆ, ಅವರ ಮನುಷ್ಯ ಮುಖ, ಗೆಳೆಯನಂಥ ಮಾತು, ಇವೆಲ್ಲ ಒಮ್ಮೆಗೇ ಮನಸ್ಸಿಗೆ ಆಪ್ತತೆ ತಂದುಕೊಟ್ಟಿತ್ತು. ಅವತ್ತಿನಿಂದ ಇವತ್ತಿನವರೆಗೂ ಆ ಮುಖ, ಆ ನಗು ನನ್ನ ಮನದಿಂದ ಮಾಸಿಲ್ಲ..

ರಿಹರ್ಸಲ್ ಶುರುವಾಗುವ ಸಮಯ, "ಸೂರಿ ಸಾರ್ ಸಾರ್. ನಾನು ಹಾಡೋ ಹಾಡುಗಳು ಯಾವುದು?". ಸೂರಿ ಉತ್ತರಿಸಲಿಲ್ಲ.. ನನ್ನನ್ನು ಶಂಕರ್ ನಾಗ್ ಬಳಿ ಕರೆದುಕೊಂಡು ಹೋಗಿ "ಇವನು ರಮೇಶ್ ಅಂತ. ಮಂಟೇಸ್ವಾಮಿ ಕಥಾ ಪ್ರಸಂಗ ನಾಟಕದಲ್ಲಿ ಹಾಡಿದ್ದಾನೆ.. ಚೆನ್ನಾಗಿ ಹಾಡ್ತಾನೆ" ನಾನು ಶಂಕರ್ ನಾಗ್ ಗೆ ಕೈ ಚಾಚಿ "ಹಲ್ಲೋ ಸಾರ್" ಅಂದೆ. ತಕ್ಷಣ ಶಂಕರ್ ನಾಗ್ "ಹಲ್ಲೋ ಬಾಸ್... ನನ್ನನ್ನ ಶಂಕರ್ ಅಂತ ಕರೀ ಪರವಾಗಿಲ್ಲ... " ಅಂದರು.. ನನಗೆ ತಿರುಗಿ ಆಶ್ಚರ್ಯ... ಹೀಗೂ ಉಂಟೇ ಎಂದು. ತಕ್ಷಣ ನಾಗಾನಾಥ್ ಅಲ್ಲಿಗೆ ಬಂದರು... "ನಾಗಾ, ಇವನಿಗೆ ಹಾಡುಗಳು ಹೇಳ್ಕೊಡು" ಶಂಕರ್ ತಕ್ಷಣವೇ ಕೆಲಸಕ್ಕಿಳಿದರು. ಒಂದು ನಿಮಿಷ ಕೂಡ ತಡ ಇಲ್ಲ..

4 - 5 ಕೆಲಸಗಳನ್ನು ಒಟ್ಟಿಗೆ ಮಾಡುವ ದೈತ್ಯ ಶಕ್ತಿಯನ್ನು ನೋಡಿದ್ದೇ ಅವತ್ತು.... ನಮಗೆ ರಿಹರ್ಸಲ್ ಮಾಡಿಸುತ್ತಲೇ, ಕಂಟ್ರಿ ಕ್ಲಬ್ ಕೆಲಸಗಳನ್ನು ಮಾಡುತ್ತಲೇ, ಫೋನ್ ನಲ್ಲಿ ಯಾರೊಡನೆಯೋ ಮಾತನಾಡುತ್ತಲೇ, ಎಲ್ಲವನ್ನೂ ಹದ್ದಿನ ಕಣ್ಣಲ್ಲಿ ನೋಡುತ್ತಿದ್ದ ವ್ಯಕ್ತಿ ಶಂಕರ್ ನಾಗ್.

ಕಲ್ಕತ್ತಾದಲ್ಲಿ ಸ್ಟೇಜ್ ರಿಹರ್ಸಲ್ ಮಾಡುವಾಗ, ರಂಗದ ಮೇಲೆ ಎತ್ತರದ ಜಾಗದಿಂದ "ಹಿಂಗಿದ್ದಳೊಬ್ಬಳು ಹುಡುಗಿ" ಹಾಡಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಜಂಪ್ ಮಾಡುವಂತೆ ಶಂಕರ್ ನನಗೆ ಹೇಳಿದಾಗ ಸ್ವಲ್ಪ ಹಿಂದೇಟು ಹಾಕಿದೆ... ಶಂಕರ್ ಕೂಡಲೇ ಸರಸರನೆ ಆ ಜಾಗ ಏರಿ ಅಲ್ಲಿಂದ ಧುಮುಕಿ ತೋರಿಸಿಯೇಬಿಟ್ಟರು. ಇಷ್ಟೆಲ್ಲದರ ಮಧ್ಯೆ, ಯಾರೋ, ಶಂಕರ್ ಸಂದರ್ಶನಕ್ಕೆಂದು ದೂರದರ್ಶನದಿಂದ ಬಂದಿದ್ದರು. ಅಲ್ಲೇ ಸ್ಟೇಜ್ ಮೇಲೆ ಕೂತು ಸಿಗರೇಟು ಸೇದುತ್ತ ಕ್ಯಾಮೆರಾ ಮುಂದೆ ಶಂಕರ್ ಮಾತಾಡುತ್ತಿದ್ದರು. ಅವರನ್ನು ನೋಡಿ, ನಾವೆಲ್ಲಾ ಎಂಥಾ ಸೋಂಭೆರಿಗಳು ಎನ್ನಿಸುತ್ತಿತ್ತು... ನಾಟಕ ಅದ್ಭುತವಾಗಿತ್ತು. ನಾಟಕದ ನಂತರ ಎಲ್ಲರು ಒಟ್ಟಿಗೆ ಸೇರುವುದು ಎಂಬ ತೀರ್ಮಾನ ಆಯಿತು. ಮಾರನೆಯ ದಿನ ಶಂಕರ್ ನಾಗ್ ಮತ್ತು ರಮೇಶ್ ಭಟ್ ಬೆಳಿಗ್ಗೆ ವಿಮಾನ ಏರಬೇಕಿತ್ತು. ಶಂಕರ್ ತಮ್ಮ ಟಿಕೆಟನ್ನು ತಂಡದ ಸದಸ್ಯನೊಬ್ಬನಿಗೆ ಕೊಟ್ಟು, ವಿಮಾನದಲ್ಲಿ ಹೋಗಲು ಹೇಳಿದ್ದು ಇನ್ನೂ ಕಣ್ಣಿಗೆ ಕಟ್ಟಿದಂತಿದೆ... ನಮ್ಮೆಲ್ಲರೊಡನೆ ರೈಲಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಎರಡನೇ ದರ್ಜೆ ಬೋಗಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಪ್ರಯಾಣಿಸುವ ಶಂಕರ್ ನಿರ್ಧಾರ ನನ್ನ ಮಟ್ಟಿಗಂತೂ ಪರಮಾಶ್ಚರ್ಯ... ಆ ಸಮಯಕ್ಕಾಗಲೇ ಶಂಕರ್ ಸೂಪರ್ ಹೀರೋ..... ಅವರು ರೈಲಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಎರಡನೇ ದರ್ಜೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಬರುವುದೇ ??? ಯಾಕೋ ನಂಬಿಕೆ ಬರಲಿಲ್ಲ..... ಆದರೆ ಅದು ನಿಜ ಎಂದು ಗೊತ್ತಾಗಲು ಜಾಸ್ತಿ ಹೊತ್ತು ಬೇಕಾಗಲಿಲ್ಲ

ರೈಲಿನಲ್ಲಿ, ಶಂಕರ್ "ಬಾಬುಲ್ ಮೊರಾ... " ಹಾಡನ್ನ ಹಾಡುತ್ತಿದ್ದಾಗ ನನಗೆ ಇನ್ನೊದು ಆಶ್ಚರ್ಯ... ಅದ್ಭುತವಾಗಿ ಹಾಡುತ್ತಿದ್ದರು..... ಜಯಶ್ರೀ ಮೇಡಂಗೆ ಕರಿಮಾಯಿ ನಾಟಕದ ಹಾಡನ್ನು ಹಾಡುವಂತೆ ಕೇಳಿದರು... ಜೊತೆಗೆ ವೆಂಕಿ ಇದ್ದನಲ್ಲ.... ಅವನೇ ತಮಟೆ ಸಾರಥಿ... ಹೀಗೆ ಬೆಂಗಳೂರಿನವರೆಗೆ ದಾರಿ ಸವೆದದ್ದೇ ಗೊತ್ತಾಗಲಿಲ್ಲ... ಒಟ್ಟಾರೆ ಶಂಕರ್ ಜೊತೆಗೆ ಕಳೆದ ದಿನಗಳು ಅದ್ಭುತ ಮತ್ತು ಯಾವತ್ತಿಗೂ ಮನಸ್ಸಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಹಸಿರು

The Grown up Deeksha

Deeksha has grown up now and she is in her high school !!!! Time runs so fast..... :)

I still remember. It was June 15th, 1997.
When Deeksha was born, she weighed 2 kilos and 500 grams. She was born one month earlier than tha scheduled date. A couple of days later, she caught up with Jaundice (this is the case with quite a few newborn children nowadays). The doctor spoke to us and told that the intensity of Jaundice was bit high. In that context, we were asked to put Deeksha in the incubator with artificial yellow light. We used make Deeksha sleep one hour with her facing the light (did she get that instinct of facing the arclight on stage with this ?? :) ) and one hour in the ulta position where the light used to fall on her back. By this way, they wanted to activate the liver functioning. At this point of time, doctor told us that the jaundice level was at 8 (not sure what was the measuring unit). She said that if it reaches 12, then the blood transfusion has to be done. For this, everyday, they used to take her blood for testing. That got us into a bit of worry and confusion. Somehow, she was able to come out of Jaundice. At this point of time, doctor said that she was worried about the parity of lungs since Deeksha was born one month early. But, the lungs were normal.

Back home, we started seeing Deeksha slowly responding to the sounds, voices. We got a cradle done specially for her from Chennapattana, the place known for colorful wooden toys. We got a walker again made from Chennapattana for her. This was one of those colorful traditional triangular wooden walker with 3 wheels (that walker has already crossed 7 children !!! :))

Deeksha slowly started crawling around, trying to converse with us. We were finding it extremely difficult to understand what she was trying to say... :) One fine day, she started walking with support and we were quite happy about it.

Above all, she had a ear for music !!! We used to put music in the night before she went for sleep... surprisingly, even today, she has the habit of putting on the music and sleep !!

She was 6 years and she started developing the sense of rhythm. We observed that and decided to put her to learn dance. I wanted her to learn a different format of dance and hence put her under Vyjayanthi Kashi for Kuchipudi. Most children learn Bharatanatyam. But I wanted Kuchipudi as that was more story oriented and Abhinaya oriented. This had the combination of theatre, music and dance. Deeksha liked the form instantly. It was very nice to see her going through the learning sessions. She must have been around 3 feet and we got her a small uniform stitched for the dance class. It was very interesting to see her dancing to the rhythm.
In the school also, she started participating in the extra curriculums. Every dance event, every music event, till date, she is part of that in her school since her LKG days. From the time she was dancing with colorful umbrellas when she was in her 1st or 2nd standard, to now, where she performs her solos, it's been a wonderful journey for her. Academically also, she has been on A and A+ which I am not really bothered. What I believe is that the children have to grow in the external world and not in the world of bookish education.

She wants to do her fine arts or journalism when she completes her 10th standard. I want her to see the practical world more than the imaginary world which we all provide to our children. She do not want to become an engineer or a doctor as she do not like science and mathematics.

I still have kept the option open for her. I am not forcing her to do what I like (But, for sure, I have spoken to her about how studying fine arts or journalism would enrich her life and exepriences). She want to continue her dancing and she wants to be in the field of arts. There remains the target as of now... :) :)