Post Perla - Post !

Perla  Post !

Perla'ed again .. Yes , it has become a verb ! Was fortunate to attend the 25th camp . As always ,had to bend backwards , roll up the world and do a cart wheel of sorts before finally catching the 'about-to-be-be missed Bus .Phew !

Well worth all the gymnastics though.The entire Kasargod belt was rain soaked and was so very lush and beautiful. So good to see the regulars and lots of new faces  ..Was such a fun group , I must say !

Day 1 : Warmed up with Maya malava gowla swara exercise followed by Hoova Tharuvara which was taught last time .

Varmaji ..taught  a crisp, rare , Deekshitar Krithi -Panchabhootha Kiranavalim in raag Kiranavali ( The Deekshidar school equivalent of Keeravani ) with a typical Deekshidar style chiseled chittaswaram. This was preceded  by a brief  intro into Deekshitar’s  Asampoorna Mela system .

Kiranavali…Systematic  Swara exercise as usual ! This kiranavali more than made up for the lack of sun light there.

Very magnanimous of him to teach this as he still hasn’t released this in any of the concerts .

Lalith Gowri  or Manorama ( as christened by Dr BMK ) a dwimadhyama raga followed . Not a concert piece  as Varmaji  explained , a  meditative / soulful  Swathi krithi was taught in this raga . Bhajat murali murari Sundar Jamuna kinare … True to what he said and taught , this krithi and the raga lend itself to lot of improvisation .  

Day 2 : What followed was a real surprise ! A vivadi Raga Ganamurthe ! And it was not Thyagayyar ‘s  Ganamurthe .. Shri S D Batish a Hindustani musician is the only musician to have delved into the Carnatic Melakarta system and has composed and tuned in all the 72 mela ragas . Each of his composition spells out the lakshana of the chakra it belongs to , and about the ragas .

Varmaji , shared his knowledge on vivadi ragas and the absence of g1, r3, and d3 in the Hindustani Thaat or raga classification system vis-à-vis  the Carnatic Melakartha system of Venkatamakhi.

The sweet composition went like this :

Indu chakre mein kanakangi aur ratnangi jab aaye

Tritiya mel bhir Ganamurthiko

Guni jan sab mil gaye …

 

This krithi too had a chittaswaram. It was like a capsule with raga lakshana codified . Great work by Shri S D Batish ji. ..And grateful to Varmaji for exposing us to such a treasure . Cant wait to checkout the remaining 71.  S D Batish  foundation could help us here .

Friendship Day ! The diverse group at the camp , in my opinion epitomizes friendship across all barriers . Due to the lovely monsoon this time we had lot more friends ..some on 4 legs , 8 legs , creepy , crawly ..slimy Leeches included . Found a very beautiful Snail / Leech variety which when touched would coil up into a Ball with its shell and start rolling down like a polished pebble !

Purano sei diner kotha … A Tagore song on two long lost friends …was taught as a toast to friendship day . There couldn’t have been a more appropriate song .

This being an auspicious month in the Hindu Calender  Yogesh Sharmaji had arranged for Havans at the camp. Ganapathi havan and Durga pooja in the evening . The Perla kids so beautifully rendered Omkarakarini and Kaumari gowri velavali, in total sync. Cant stop marveling their group singing abilities ..you would just hear one voice !

Got to know that Gangeya vasadhara was taught on the last day . A lovely Hamir kalyani , Swathi Thirunal Krithi .

Heart  full.  Mind nourished . The attention seeking , tantrum throwing , tired limbs can cry all they want , While I plan my next trip likely to be on Nov 28,29, and Dec 1^st .

Stay tuned . And Plan for Perla’ing !