Bhakti Shringara - A Tapestry of Emotions by Singapore Indian Fine Arts Society

Featuring senior students on vocals, sitar, violin, mridangam, tabla and keyboard with music arrangements by teachers of SIFAS, Bhakti Shringara will take you on a musical journey that winds through various poetic compositions to capture the soul & essence of two rasas - bhakti and shringara. 

This week, we spoke to SIFAS tutors Guru Nellai N Ravindran, from the Carnatic faculty & Guru Sonali Biswas, from the Hindustani faculty to learn more about their experience working on this unique production. 

Bhakti signifies the pure devotion of an eternal relationship with divinity whilst shringara, considered the mother of all rasas, signifies pure love. Presented by Singapore Indian Fine Arts Society (SIFAS) in collaboration with Esplanade - Theatres on the Bay as part of the Raga series. 

Get your tickets here: http://www.sistic.com.sg/events/bhakti0714

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1) SIFAS ALUMNI: Traditionally, rasas have not been given as much importance in Indian Classical Music as in Indian Classical Dance. What inspired you to present rasas and specifically, Bhakti and Shringara through the SIFAS Orchestra?

GURU RAVINDRAN: It seems that Rasas are dominant in dance, more than in music, with more varieties. But rasas are always in-built in Indian music forms. Dance too needs the help of music to bring out the rasas in proper perspective, so that the audience get the feel, listen, see and enjoy the performances. (Music is an integral part of dance.) In both forms of Indian Classical music, Carnatic and Hindustani, Bhakti is very common rasa and Shringara is philosophically, a beautiful branch or another form of Bhakti. Different Ragas arouse different rasas when performed by the right artistes and listened by a matured listener. These were the thoughts behind the idea of having rasas as theme for a music concert.

GURU SONALI: The rasas were first described by Bharata Muni in the context of drama in his theoretical treatise, the Natya Shastra. While the nine rasas can be expressed through dance, the emotions they denote can only be fully evoked with the help of music. The rasas play an important role by bringing out the aesthetic of a musical composition, making it pleasing to both the artist and listener. Even the definition of raga is incomplete without rasa. Two of the most important emotions of human beings are Bhakti (devotion) and Shringar (erotism). For this production, we have chosen those ragas whose swaras and lyrics depict these emotions and can easily touch the heart of the listener

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2) SIFAS ALUMNI: This presentation features SIFAS alumni and senior students from both the Carnatic and Hindustani traditions of Indian Classical Music. Was it challenging to arrange compositions catering to both these styles? 

GURU RAVINDRAN: It was not challenging, but needed an understanding between the tutors, who are in-charge of the affairs, to decide the course of the concert. Discussions went on, as to how to start the concert and how to end the concert, like proceeding from Guru to Lord Ganesha and various deities. We will try to induce various emotions from the Rasikas, with the inclusion of variety of ragas and compositions.

GURU SONALI: The Carnatic and Hindustani students will be performing in their own styles for the majority of the performance. The finale will see some fusion where Hindustani students are singing and playing a thillana, which is really interesting and somewhat challenging also.

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3) SIFAS ALUMNI: How is teaching and conducting an orchestra different from the day-to-day solo or group classes? What are your thoughts about the SIFAS Orchestra? 

GURU RAVINDRAN: Composing and teaching for an orchestra is totally different from teaching individual students. Composer should understand various things, like capabilities of the participating students and composing accordingly, time available for practice, the use of instruments, selection of ragas and lyrics etc. After these, there are two ways to make an orchestra successful. While participating in an orchestra, students should completely forget their individualism, ability to improvise as individuals etc. and should become a part and parcel of the team and work for the success of the concert, following very seriously, the instructions of the composer/conductor.

GURU SONALI: The coordination and synchronization of the sounds are very important in an orchestra. In solo or group classes, we mentor the students by showing them proper guidelines. The teacher of an orchestra must first be ready with an idea of the production. The teacher then has to teach the compositions, music arrangements, coordination and harmony to the trained students to bring out the best result. The SIFAS Orchestra is doing well.

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National Indian Music Competition - S.T. Ramana

The National Indian Music Competition held from the 16th to the 22nd of June at the School of the Arts was a roller-coaster of a ride. This was my first time I was taking part in the competition, and I didn’t know what to expect. I took part in the intermediate flute category, with a song selection of Parat Para (Sri Papanasam Sivan, Vachaspati, Adi) for the preliminary round, and a choice of one song from the following three – Aananda Mruthakarshini (Sri Muthuswami Dikshitar, Amrithavarshini), Vaathapi Ganapathim (Sri Muthuswami Dikshitar, Hamsadhwani, Adi), and Bantureethi Kolu (Sri Thyagaraja, Hamsanadham, Adi) – for the final round. Slightly nervous but composed as I walked on to stage during the preliminary round to play in front of so many great musicians, including Dr S Sowmya and Mdm Sikkil Mala Chandrasekhar, I had only eyes for my flute teacher, Sri V. K. Sivakumar, as I played Parat Para. 

I felt confident of getting through to the final round, which took place two days later. In the final round, I was told to play Aananda Mruthakarshini. A personal favourite, I found myself thoroughly enjoying the piece and I felt really confident while playing, and with that piece I won the first prize. It wouldn’t have been possible without the relentless and selfless guidance and tutelage of my teacher Sri V. K. Sivakumar. It is hard to come by teachers like him who are so dedicated in teaching, and the many practice classes he gave me, especially for this competition, have paid off. I’m really happy with the win as this is but a testimony of how much effort my teacher has put in. I’m really looking forward to more such competitions and concert opportunities in the near future.

National Indian Music Competition - Sharadh Rajaraman

The National Indian Music Competition is one of Singapore’s most prestigious such competitions, being hosted by the National Arts Council (NAC) itself. I participated in the competition twice before, in 2008 and 2011, and wasn't successful in securing a place in the top three, both times. This year however, I resolved to give it my very best, ever since I received an e-mail from the NAC about this year’s competition; this was while I was on vacation in New Zealand in January. Fast-forward two months and my preparations for the competition had begun in earnest, as I learnt two new songs just for the competition. I had done something similar for my 8^th Year exams in June 2012 as well: I learnt my main krithi the previous November, while I had begun practising for my RTP in January.

One main hurdle was singing a raga alapana, the krithi and kalpana swaram, all within the stipulated time limit of 8 minutes. It was even harder, as my tutor, Guru Nishant put it: ‘to sing an alapana within the time limit, without compromising the essence of the ragam in question.’ He emphasised this to me from the very start (Nishant sir has always been very particular about sticking to time limits, even in a 1 ½ hour concert). My habit was to not look at a stopwatch while singing and instead estimate how long each segment had lasted, because I realised that my quality of singing became worse if I kept referring to the time elapsed (perhaps I got nervous and rushed; I don’t really know exactly why it happens.) Slowly, a fifteen-minute song became halved; and the ‘essence of the ragam’ in each song was also more than satisfactory.

Not to discount my violin practice and this began slightly later, due to my performance at the music festival. I asked Ravindran sir to teach me Thanayuni Brova, a Thyagaraja krithi in Bhairavi. I had learnt this song in Carnatic Vocal before; hence I found it slightly easier. However, Bhairavi, no matter how experienced one is in vocal, is always a complex, challenging ragam to render on the violin without practise. My violin tutor, Guru Ravindran, put it this way: ‘To be as good a violinist as you are a vocalist, your skill and experience in playing the violin needs to be three times as much.’ A big problem as a violinist is keeping your own talam; you have to refer to someone else’s or use your feet. Doing the latter becomes quite distracting, as your focus is torn away from the music and is on the rhythm. Relying on someone else is also risky; what if they make a mistake or go off-tempo? This problem is exacerbated especially while doing neraval and kalpana swaras. Hence, it took a lot of time to practise the songs and the manodharma without someone keeping the talam, all while not going off beat. It’s honestly harder than quantum mechanics.

At the competition itself, I realised just how much competition there was (repetition not intended): eighteen participants in the Intermediate Carnatic Vocal category, while there were six in the Intermediate Violin category. Thankfully, I passed through the Preliminary Rounds for both categories with relative ease. I really enjoyed singing and playing Sari Yevvaramma and Janani Ninnuvina, respectively, although I was told that I had gone off-talam while playing (ouch).

The Final Rounds were going to be much harder, and I hoped beyond hope that I would do well. To be very honest, there was a lot of pressure on me - especially from my Gurus. As already mentioned, I was determined to outdo myself this time. Fortunately I did, and clinched the first and third prizes in the Intermediate Carnatic Vocal and Violin categories. As a slight damper, I was told again that I had gone even more off-talam while playing Thanayuni Brova during the finals; five times according to someone (ouch again).

At any rate, both my parents and I are very happy with my performance at the competition, although there is the tiny twinge of regret that I could have done better on the violin. Nevertheless, it was an enriching experience, and a great way to keep in touch with music. I hope to do much better come 2017.

Besides this NAC Competition, I've performed several other concerts, and accompanied several more artistes. There are many lessons to take away from both this competition and other performances, which include 'controlling the stage', and while accompanying, subtly supporting the main artiste without them finding our music distracting or worse, disturbing. It's always an act of holding the equilibrium in a concert. A well-planned, well-rehearsed concert is always a joy to perform, as well as to hear. I hope that my next endeavours are up to this benchmark.

Generation Next - Nishanth Thiagarajan

The National Indian Music Competition organized by the National Arts Council, triennially, is perhaps the most anticipated and competitive event in the Indian classical music scene in Singapore. This year’s edition was no different, and having participated and won the Intermediate Category in Carnatic Vocal previously, I was looking forward to pit myself against some stiff competition this time. The unique thing about the open category is that you cannot predict who your competitor is; in the intermediate category you would roughly know who you are up against living in a small country with strong connections all around. The Finals was quite a challenge; I must say it was quite merciless of them to test me on Suddha Saveri right after a competitor sang Madhyamavati. I relished the task, though, and took conscious effort to distinguish the two ragams with my Raga alapana. Once that was done, the mood was set, and the rest followed. Creativity, perhaps, flourishes in an environment most testing.

I am definitely not the first SIFAS alumnus to win the Carnatic Vocal Open category, and I am sure there are many juniors learning from the esteemed Gurus of this institution, who will continue to bring pride to themselves, their families, and their Gurus. I wish that the classical music scene in Singapore continues to develop, and not stagnate, expanding beyond this triennial series and the occasional other small-scaled festivals which do not receive much publicity or attendance. We definitely could do with a culture and spirit that promotes, why even self-promotes the talent of our youth. While this may sound obnoxious, it is perhaps the best and only way for classical musicians to have a sense of pride in the art they so passionately pursue.

By brewing an environment that seeks to bring the best out of every musical talent we have in the Indian classical scene, through support, opportunities and publicity, it is even possible that more would consider taking the art as a professional career. With the huge advantage of proximity we have to Chennai (It takes only slightly longer to get from Singapore to Chennai as it does from say Delhi to Chennai by flight) it seems reasonable that we should be able to nurture musicians who are based in Singapore but regularly perform year-round in India along with the professionals from India. If there’s ‘Chennaiyil Tiruvaiyaru’, what stops there from being a ‘Singaiyil Mylapore’?

I am also glad to share that I have a few concerts coming up concerts in which I am singing. The first is the Ragam Taanam Pallavi series organized by our own alumnus, Ganesh Jayabal, on the 12^th and 13th of July. Also, I am privileged to sing at Trivandrum on the 20^th of July, for a Neelakanta Sivan festival. It thrills me that, right after my concert, at the same venue, Sanjay Subramaniam is singing!

Last but not least, I have been given a chance to perform at the Spirit of Youth Music Festival, a concert-competition series organized annually by the Madras Music Academy. I will be performing with and against some of the most talented Carnatic musicians of my age category. It’s going to be one serious challenge. The violinist accompanying me, for instance, is a child prodigy from the US! It’s going to be a steep learning curve as I prepare for this concert, along with the guidance of my Guru. I’m glad that I have these chances, and I have to thank SIFAS for being the nurturing institution it has been, allowing me to mature in my music and presenting me with ample opportunity to perform at places I would otherwise be unable to.