 Showcasing our heritage
As always, I opened the email invitation from the sponsors of the South India Heritage lectures with eager anticipation. This is what the recent email from that body said:
Sikkil Shri C.Guru Charan has been selected for the Ramabhadran Centenary Music Award 2005.
The award, which carries a purse of Rs 30,000, is meant to encourage a talented and promising young Carnatic musician. The award will be presented to the singer on Sunday, October 23, 2005, by Mr. R. Rajagopalan, eldest son of Shri R. Ramabhadran, at TAG Centre, New No. 69, T.T.K. Road, Alwarpet, Chennai 600 018.
The award honours the memory of Shri Kombur Vangipuram Rajagopalan Ramabhadrachariar, father of Mr. R.T. Chari, on the occasion of his centenary year. His star birthday falls on 22nd October.
This annual award has been instituted under Ramu Endowments, the family trust of Mr Chari and his brothers. The award will be presented every year on the Sunday closest to Shri Ramabhadran's star birthday. The award-winner will then render a two-hour concert.
Programme for October 23, 2005
8.30 a.m. Breakfast
9.30 a.m. Presentation of the award.
Concert by Sikkil Shri C. Guru Charan
Violin: Shri Sriram Kumar.
Mridangam: Shri Arun Prakash
The South India Heritage Lectures, organised monthly at the TAG Centre auditorium, have been a noteworthy addition to the cultural life of Chennai over the last few years. The idea has been the brainchild of Mr R T Chari, successful industrialist and music-and-art aficionado of the no-nonsense school, and his brother R V Gopalan, executed under the aegis of the TAG group of industries and Ramu Endowments, a family trust the Chari brothers manage.
A series of talks by distinguished scholars and achievers from various walks of life have been the mainstay of the series, music and dance have played a key role, both directly and indirectly. If music, musicians, dance and dancers have been the subject of a number of lectures and presentations, every programme almost invariably features some rare recording of long ago music.
The talks at TAG centre are designed to promote awareness and stimulate pride about the rich heritage of South India, and no less than 42 lectures have highlighted various facets of south India’s heritage, science, history, philosophy, religion, architecture, culture, drama, cinema, music and the arts, cuisine. The event is held on the last Sunday of every month, with rare exceptions. The breakfast served before the start of the programme is delicious and filling and the coffee of unquestionable ‘degree’ quality. Coffee is also served during a short break at the end of the lecture or presentation, following which the audience is encouraged to chat with the speaker of the morning. Sometimes, this takes the form of a formal question-answer session; author and playwright Indira Parthasarathi led one of the most electrifying such sessions, after his talk on Tamil theatre.
Other than lectures, there have also been the occasional concert, play and even katha kalakshepam. The short play ‘Veedu’ based on Indira Parthasarathi’s short story was outstanding, and there have been a number of programmes based on the multicultural milieu of Tamil country, including programmes on Jains and Maharashtrians in the state by S Sripal and N Vittal. Randor Guy is always a huge draw with his incredible memory for facts, figures, people and incidents from the past cinema being his forte.
V Sriram is perhaps the most popular, most successful speaker so far featured in the heritage series. His programmes on Ariyakudi Ramanuja Iyengar, Musiri Subramanya Iyer, Papanasam Sivan, Maharajapuram Viswanatha Iyer and M L Vasantha Kumari, were not only entertaining because they included so many delightful stories real and apocryphal, but were frequently moving, with their empathy for the subject and deep insight into the rich, if often, turbulent lives of his subjects.
Mr Chari, who has been a great patron of Carnatic music, and at one time supported a number of musicians, organising their concerts and bringing out cassettes of their music, decided to divert his attention to conduct the heritage lectures a few years ago. He has been doing so with precision and perfect planning, in a spotlessly maintained auditorium with excellent acoustics. What he is doing is pathbreaking work, and his is a lasting contribution to the heritage of south India.
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