 Sir VP sat with his eyes closed. A torrent of beautiful svarAs were cascading for vAtApi gaNaptim. Ramanathan too had his eyes closed. A particularly beautiful pattern elicited a sabASh from Sir VP and an AhA from Ramanathan. The two expressions emerged together and appeared to collide in mid-air. Sir VP opened his eyes and looked at Ramanathan who was looking back at him in open-mouthed wonder. They quickly went back to their meditations.
Semmangudi began an AlApana in pUrvikalyANi. The nasal tone of his singing was drowned in the sheer melody he was creating. His face twisting this way and that, he was coaxing his greatest enemy, his voice, to obey his brain and sing whatever were its thoughts. Rajamanikkam Pillai was following him like a devoted slave climbing up and down on the permutations and combinations that Semmangudi was weaving. At each turn, the audience was responding in ecstasy. Sir VP’s arm shot up in response to a magical turn of phrase. In doing so, it touched Ramanathan’s shoulder. Ramanathan was sitting rock still savouring the music. He had not even felt the touch. Sir VP smiled and resumed listening to the music.
The violinist completed his solo and Semmangudi began 'mOyyAr taDam pOigai'. “Round 2 to you,” said Sir VP to
Ramanathan.
“But the AlApana was a round to both of us. After all, it has no language,” said Ramanathan. Sir VP nodded sagely. That was a profound statement.
The concert continued. Semmangudi sang tyAgarAja yOga vaibhavam and Ramanathan marked time for each cadence of the song by waving his fingers in the air.
“Where did you learn to keep time so perfectly,” asked Sir VP.
Ramanathan smiled back. “I have had plenty of time to observe concerts in the Triplicane temple. Not busy like a top-notch lawyer like you.”
Sir VP looked pensive. “That is true,” he replied. “I have never had the time to sit through full concerts, much as I would like to. As a child, I remember attending a concert of
Ramanathapuram Poochi Iyengar...”
“Was he not wonderful? I too remember a concert as a child...”
“Spare us your reminiscences,” chimed in KVK’s voice. “Is this the place to be chatting?”
They resumed their attention of the concert.
ShankarAbharaNam was beginning. It appeared to flow like a river from Semmangudi. It submerged Sir VP, Ramanathan, KVK and gradually proceeded to drench each and every row and flowed out through the street to the National Girls School and beyond. People stopped on the street, spellbound. Cyclists halted in their tracks and rickshaw-pullers refused to accept any new savAri as they sat on their vehicles stretched out on the seats. Even the call of the birds, as they winged home in the twilight, appeared to be muted out of respect for the maestro who was rivalling them. It was the shankarAbharaNam of Tyagaraja, Muttuswami Dikshitar and Syama Sastri and of
Gopalakrishna Bharati, Marimutta Pillai and
Muttutandavar.
Ramanathan wiped his eyes. Sir VP blew his nose into his cambric handkerchief. KVK beamed. Today’s concert was a phenomenal success. tAnam was being rendered and out of deference to Semmangudi’s current place of employment, it was accompanied by the mridangam. Ramanathan began keeping time on the arm rest and it was quite some time before he realised that he was tapping on Sir VP’s arm. The great man had not thought it necessary to take his arm away.
Semmangudi began the pallavi. Set in tamizh, it appeared simple. Sir VP, who began keeping time, gave up half-way. Noticing this, Ramanathan turned round and indicated to him the correct way of putting the tALa for the song. A grateful Sir VP caught on and had soon elicited a look of admiration from Ramanathan for his accuracy.
The tani Avartanam over, it was now time for the shlOka. It was a viruttam this time. 'mAyai Enum iravil' was rendered in bilahari, sahAna, sAvEri and finally nAdanAmakriya. This was followed by shiva shiva shiva
bhO.
“Now whom should this round be allotted to,” asked Sir VP.
“A rhetorical question. Let us give it to Semmangudi,” said
Ramanathan.
'IDadu padam tUkki Adum' followed and later came the tillAna and the mangaLam. Strangely, it was the maNipravALa shrI rAga mangaLam of Muttuswami Dikshitar. As the Telugu, Sanskrit and Tamizh words rolled off the song, Sir VP and Ramanathan sat staring at the singer, who merely smiled back at them.
The applause that rent the silence was deafening. KVK ran to the gates to ask the watchmen to prevent gate-crashers from coming in and creating confusion during the exodus.
Both Sir VP and Ramanathan stepped on to the stage, pushing the curtains aside. Semmangudi stood up doing a namaskAram to both of them.
“Seenu, I have nothing more to say. All our questions are answered.”
Semmangudi smiled.
“As a lawyer, I must have the last word on the subject,” said Sir VP. “When I came here, my mind was teeming with questions. I was only thinking about the sAhitya of the songs. Now I realise I had forgotten the musical element. You have opened my eyes, Srinivasa Iyer. There will come a time when all of us, myself, Ramanathan, KVK, why even this hall, will be forgotten. But you will be remembered forever. You are blessed and in turn you have made us all feel blessed.”
“Anna and Sir VP vAL, you are too kind. AnAyAsEna maraNam, vinA dainyEna jIvitam, that is all I ask for.”
“You will have that in full measure,” replied Sir VP. “Now I must leave. That terror KVK will be fidgeting about my car blocking the drive. I have had enough trouble with it for the day.”
“And I too must leave. The last tram has long gone. It will take me an hour at least. Goodbye Seenu, see you later Sir VP.”
Sir VP’s car rolled down the street. Through the window he could see Ramanathan walking down the street, his head covered in his angavastram to protect it from the dew. Sir VP tapped the glass partition with his cane. The car stopped. He opened the door just as Ramanathan reached it.
“Allow me the pleasure,” he said. Ramanathan gratefully climbed in.
“Celebrated lawyer drops freedom fighter home after concert, will be the headlines tomorrow,” he said.
They both laughed. The darkness swallowed them up.
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Once Upon a Season-VII
