We have a very good family friend where the whole family are professional musicians in Kuala Lumpur. Mostly the uncle and aunty will accompany my mother for all her Arrangetram and Salangai pooja's.
In 1992 my mom did an arrangetram for her student and I was two years old baby by the time. So barely I remember the rehearsals and everything. But while growing up, amma and sister used to discuss about all the past rehearsal sessions they had with her students along with this uncle and aunty. Almost we all call them mama and mami. So I made sure, next time any performance and rehearsals, I'm not going to miss it.
Keeping this in my mind since I was so small, I always expected, soon my mom to do any salangai pooja's to her senior batches or at least hoping to meet this mama mami quite soon to see how mami sings and how mama plays the mridangam. I have seen my brother practices his tabla, so I only know what tabla was and had no any single idea about mridangam except sound it makes. So this music thing totally fascinates me.
The day I was eagerly waiting for arrived somewhere between November-December 1996. And that was for a salangai pooja for the batch of students that came from Midas Technology College. I remember each of them very well and also the financial crisis they all faced to conduct this program. I think both my parents helped them a lot by cutting down lots of expenses and make it to a very reasonable prices. For one or two of them, my mother didn't get her guru dakshina as well. She did it for FOC - (she has told me vithya thaanam is always the best, teach for those who are under-privileged children's and your whole generation will be blessed with knowledge).
Practices and choreograph sessions were going on full fledged and my sister played the main role in this salangai pooja. As she also studied in the same college and those girls who gonna perform are her batch mates, she help them out with extra hours of practicing in the college class room itself. Sometimes she will take over the classes, as my mom will be coming a bit late - of coarse by getting me ready, she will be spending hours of time with my hair ( a very tragedy one). Practice session is always fun, exploring many adavus with different syllabus and learning them. I loved watching both my mom and sister teach them, while I sit in a corner like a pumpkin and try to do the same in my head. Sometimes in bathroom at home :p (nobody knows it) If akka does thakka thimi in third speed level, I will try the same in fourth speed.
If a student not able to catch up with the speed, first these both my mom and sister will teach them only the leg movements and go with the speed level. Once they are able to do the speed required for the song, mom will move to the hand gesture. After getting it perfect she will ask the students to do both hand and leg movements together and the output will be amazing!
Soon the day I was looking forward came. We all went to the mama and mami's house - where a full musicians that needed for a natyam katcheri is already there, having their coffee in tumblr (believe me mami's iyer-ish coffee is the best). Mama, mami, a flutist - we call him Perambalam uncle and a violist Yogeshwari aunty and everybody seeing me after four years - from a 2 years old baby to a 6 years old kid. And yeah, I was everyone's the apple of eye. After some coffee time, everybody went back of the house where mama had a big hall for katcheri rehearsals et all. My brother joined with mama-mami's two sons who were his age equal and watching some programmes on television. And me roaming around the house and saw two girls who are just a year or two elders to me ( mama & mami's younger daughters), they greeted me happily into their room and we started playing all sorts of games. They was my first ever friends I made and we ate chocolates and bring those balance left chocolates to our brothers to have them.
Tired with all the games we played, Suganya the elder daughter went to sleep and left only me and Sharanya. We both preferred to watch the rehearsal sessions, so we came down and joined with the others at the back-yard hall. I don't even know why I remember these scenes, but I do.
My mother was on nattuvangam while mama with his mridangam and the others on their respective musical instruments. Mami first suggest to sing keertanam, which my sister going to perform in that salangai pooja as a special dance during costume changing time for the others.
I remember this keertanam so well- it was composed by papanasam sivam in jaganmohini raga and starts like Shivakama Sundari and how mami sang it so flawlessly. During this rehearsal time, my full concentration was on mami only. Totally awed the way she sings every swaram and sahityams. Dance was going on and mama keep on praising my sister for her perfection of tala and adavu's. I didn't pay much attention to her, I can watch her dancing anytime but mami only twice in a year or two years, so prefer to eyed on mami herself. Three days of full rehearsal from evening till midnight and followed by the final stage performance was just an amazing thing. For me even today, nobody can match up to her level in singing for bharathanatyam katcheris. Obviously there are many other classical singers who sangs well but for me mami is the best.
And I really wanted to learn sangeetham and sing like her one day. I told my mother to join me in sangeetham class. As I was so young she didn't enroll me, and she asked me to wait for a year or two. The day also finally arrived, after four years in 2000 for saraswati pooja. There was a sangeetham teacher near to my house in Rasah Jaya, apparently who was a family friend to this mama and mami. I joined happily in this sangeetham class and always waits for the Fridays 5pm. The teacher was extremely sweet to me and she also took good care of me during my class hours.
My first day class with her was extra special as it was Saraswati Pooja, she thought me to sing a Ganapathy Geetam - Sree gananatha sindoora varna karuna sagara karivathana followed by swaram
M P D S S R S D P M P. I was so excited that within a day I can sing a swaram already. Done with Ganapathy geetham and moved to Saraswathy Geetam - Vara Veena. One month, two month and three months went off like this. Everything was going well until I discover one carnatic book in my home, somewhere in old bookshelf drawer or what. And then I realized that I never learn the basic of sangeetham at all. There was swaravali Varisai and jandai varisai and more and I've no any idea about it. I went to my mom and asked what is this and she says these are basics and you should know swaravali by now what?! I pretend like I know and I'm testing you ma.
The following week Friday came and I went to the teacher, showed the book I found at my house and asked her why she never teach me this. All she says was oh you're a daughter of classical dance teacher and you should know this earlier itself. This is actually not necessary for you dear, just go with the songs and learn them. There are enough swaram in those songs already, so nothing much to be worried about. I'm already 11 years old and know certain things already. I told okay fine, no problem teacher I will ask about this to my aunty who is also a classical singer, and she asked me for the name and I said my mami's name.
The next thing she did was took me back to my home and she says that she going to stop teaching music for me as I'm not much concentrating on what she's teaching me. And she gave back the guru dakshina my mom gave to her when I joined the class, but amma says she's not going to take it back as she knows what it does really mean.
After ending the conversation with my music teacher my mother came in and asked what happened, and I explained her everything since the first day of class - on what I've learnt and what's not. Mom was quite disappointed with the teacher and so there ends my music journey.
And the natyam began again!!!! :) Sometimes, I think probably god never bless me with music, so I never had the chance of learning it properly even-though I did have a little knowledge about raaga and tala. Maybe in my next birth with both Bharathanatyam and Carnatic Music :D
