Meet Sri. T. M. Krishna at Anwesha - Quest for the Best

[ISFoundation]

Interact with T. M. Krishna and get his insights on Carnatic music, before the Indira Sivasailam Endowment Concert on Sept 16, 2014.

Send us a question related to Carnatic music through our Facebook page, ‘The Indira Sivasailam Foundation’ (facebook.com/theISfoundation). The best 30 questions will be selected by an elite jury of members from The Music Academy Madras. These 30 finalists will be invited to an interactive Q&A session and high-tea with T. M. Krishna on Sept 16, 2014.

The contest closes on September 7, so hurry up and send us your questions right away! Remember, you must send the question as a message to our Facebook INBOX. The finalists will also have the opportunity to bring along one accompanying guest.

Rules & Regulations:
1. Only ONE question per participant can be submitted. In case of more than one entry, only the first question will be considered. So choose wisely.
2. All questions must be sent ONLY as a ‘message’ to The Indira Sivasailam Foundation facebook.com/theISfoundation page inbox. Please refrain from posing the questions as comments or as a post on the page.
3. All entries MUST be sent before 5 PM, September 7. Any entry submitted after the deadline, will not be considered.
4. On the day of Anwesha, each finalist will be allowed to bring only ONE accompanying member. We will not be able to accommodate more than one guest for each finalist, whether child or adult.
5. Please share your name, contact details, and email id along with your entry/question. The winners will be notified by us using the details shared; so provide your correct details.
6. Questions that do not relate to Carnatic music will not be considered.
7. Irrelevant questions shall be immediately disqualified.
8. Participant must be 13 years or above to participate in this contest.
9. By participating in this contest you agree that the organizers and jury decision is final.
10. Any expenses incurred to attend the event by the Contest winner/ accompanying guest, to be borne by the participant/s. The Indira Sivasailam Foundation will not bear any responsibility towards meeting these expenses.
11. The Indira Sivasailam Foundation (ISF) holds complete rights to, all the content or intellectual property shared by anybody participating in Anwesha or,
posting on the page.

[Sivaramakrishnan]

Interested to know the outcome of the programme.

[Ramasubramanian M.K]

Sivaramakrishnan: I attended the event bduring my recent visit to Chennai. After the usual speeches by Murali and Mallika Srinivasan(Daughter of the late Indira Sivasailam)--not much to speak about except a recital of TMk's achievements etc.

TMK in his acceptance speech started saying he is going to say things that people may not agree with. he then went on to say how much he pondered over the award,the motivation and the necessity for the awarder and the awarde. he "googled" the word award to find its etymological origins ,found that it was derived from a French word which meant that it was not a reward or recognition but a reminder that one should strive to live upto it. I found the explanation convoluted. He thanked his wife Sangeetha Sivakumar(who was away from India at that time) for the support/inspiration and encouragement she gave to his music besides his mother,SSI et al.

The concert started late because of the speeches and the giving away the mementos etc etc.
As his wont, it was an "arc" formation on the stage with RKSriramkumar to his right and the mridangam lefty Arun Prakash and kanjira(Purushottaman) and Ghatam(Karthik completing the semi-circle. I may be wrong if I got the placement wrong!!! but bear with me on this trivia!!).

The concert started with Muribamu(Mukhari) which he rendered with Bhavam and sensitivity to the composition. I forgot the other pieces(any forumites who attended may have taken notes!!!).

Suffice it to say he gave an excellent account of himself--Now as many of the forumites know I have not been the most enthusiastic supporter of his "breaching" the age-old concert structure. But after this brief concert I am inclined to give him the benefit of doubt .If he feels the conventional concert structure is too rigid and ossified and inhibits his creativity and his own enjoyment of singing , then as a listener my duty is to savor what he has to offer and if it does not seriously violate the grammar-- raga lakshana ,sahithya bhava,and laya suddham etc I should accept it.(GNB always used to say :Nan Koduthal mattum Podhadu,unakku eduthukka theriyanum'(It is not enough if I dish it out--you must be capable of assimilating what I am giving). In that vein I found what he offered was within the contours that he had laid for himself however unconventional it may have been . The sruthi alignment was good,the kalpramanam was consistent with the spirit of the composition.

Another reason for my "turning around" in my judgement is my "guilt conscience". In the hey days of Mali,TNR(whose performances I was crazy about),we have all put up with lot of unconventional antics hoping to get that one lllting note or sangathi which materialised in fits and starts and yet I never turned my back on those artistes--if those artistes'"inebriatedness" did not offend me and was overshadowed by their excellent manodharmam and creativity how can I apply a double standard today to TMK when what he does at times may seem disrespectful to the audience!!
Sorry if I did not give a clear picture of what was sung and how it was sung!!! I did not take notes.

I could not stay till the end but

[mahavishnu]

Very nice and sagacious summary, Sri MKR. I appreciate your open-mindedness and I found your argument about how you arrived at your present position to be most compelling. I feel quite the same way.

TMK in his acceptance speech started saying he is going to say things that people may not agree with. he then went on to say how much he pondered over the award,the motivation and the necessity for the awarder and the awarde. he "googled" the word award to find its etymological origins ,found that it was derived from a French word which meant that it was not a reward or recognition but a reminder that one should strive to live upto it. I found the explanation convoluted.

Personally, I am fine with all his antics, but I would prefer (as the old Elvis song goes) "a little less conversation and a little more action". I too find a lot of his arguments that portend to shake the establishment to be (to use another metaphoric 50s icon) reminiscent of a rebel without a cause.

[Rsachi]

Guys
I participated in the contest to pose a question and see if your question was selected for being posed to TMK during that function. They called me from Chennai and invited me to be there as I was one of the winners. Unfortunately I didn't feel like making a trip just for my 20sec in the limelight.

I can see TMK is doing a lot, perhaps more than anyone else in Carnatic history:
1. Went and learnt from the masters
2. Struck a high note early as a performer
3. Studied the SSP for a deep dive
4. Crafted a new unpredictability in his concert format
5. Made bold statements about many public issues from accompanist inequity to Nov 26 accused hanging
6. Trained students
7. Made many teaching DVDs
8. Participated in seminars
9. Gave a new meaning to his award function
10. Travelled widely constantly
11. Got a solid ensemble with RKS and KAP
12. Performed in ticket less concerts and sometimes for zero remuneration
13. Made a (DVD) movie
14. Wrote books much publicised
15. Wore designer kurtas
16.Frequently changed facial hair arrangement
17. Told off organisers
18. Abruptly ended concerts
19. Told how he doesn't believe in prayer lyrics as the sole content of CM
20. Kept us wondering what's next

[Rsachi]

As someone, when asked to describe TMK, once said:
Imagine if your favourite restaurant had a mad chef.

[munirao2001]

RSachi
Does your finding and listing end up in 'Mad' result? No Sir. I think TMK is Highly skilled and popular Chef cooking conventional food but dressing and serving differently and tasting to either remain in puzzle for the conventional and conditional taster or exciting and fulfilling to unconventional and unconditional taster. I felt for all rasikas rejoicing the the excellent 'kalyana sappadu' full course meal, TMK prefers to offer Buffet meal!

munirao2001

[munirao2001]

mahavishnu

You opine " reminiscent of a rebel without a cause." No Sir. TMK is rebel with cause. His cause is primacy for sacredness of the aesthetics in art form, beauty of abstract unraveled sans conditions and conventions, state of mind in freedom, with internalized devotion to the excellence in the inspired occurrence and urge of a composition. His inspiration is cubism form introduced by Picasso, the great maestro painter with insights to the beauty in abstraction.

munirao2001

[Rsachi]

Munirao-garu,
Remember I said "favourite" as well as "mad" - both affectionate epithets.

[sureshvv]

Does your finding and listing end up in 'Mad' result? No Sir. I think TMK is Highly skilled and popular Chef cooking conventional food but dressing and serving differently and tasting to either remain in puzzle for the conventional and conditional taster or exciting and fulfilling to unconventional and unconditional taster. I felt for all rasikas rejoicing the the excellent 'kalyana sappadu' full course meal, TMK prefers to offer Buffet meal!

Munirao sir... You did not mention the book!

[Sivaramakrishnan]

I felt for all rasikas rejoicing the the excellent 'kalyana sappadu' full course meal, TMK prefers to offer Buffet meal!
munirao2001

Good, you agree that 'rejoicing' and 'excellence' are associated with 'kalyana saapadu'!

[Sivaramakrishnan]

Ramasubramanian M K's and mahavishnu's posts (#3 & #4 respectively) are superb!
RMK's is a model of how to put thoughts and ideas across gracefully and without any compromise on one's individuality.
Young mahavishnu's brief remarks are laudable too.

[munirao2001]

sivaramakrishnan Sir,

With only one live concert experience of TMK's concert(a musical discourse), I am still with the conditioned mind of ARI concert paddhati of a beginning, a middle and mangalam. To listen with unconditioned mind, I must be convinced that quality of musical excellence by TMK is achieved in comparison with the quality of TMK's music strictly following ARI paddhati and also such excellence is not possible to be achieved in well established ARI paddhati.

munirao2001

[rajeshnat]

If he feels the conventional concert structure is too rigid and ossified and inhibits his creativity and his own enjoyment of singing , then as a listener my duty is to savor what he has to offer and if it does not seriously violate the grammar-- raga lakshana ,sahithya bhava,and laya suddham etc I should accept it.

MKR sir
Based on my years of listening of TMK , I agree with your viewpoint on TMK's excellence in raga lakshana and sahithya bhava . With respect to laya suddham I think he has to offer more to reach excellence, if you say TMK has laya suddham - I have to respectfully disagree.

[munirao2001]

Sureshvv Sir,

Reading the reviews of TMK's performances by forunites, the written expressions and messages can wait(the book)to be read and reviewed, when the much more powerful oral communication and expressions in TMK's Classical Music are being experienced with deep appreciation. Now, my reminder recommendation to read the mind through written expressions is superfluous! Don't you agree?

munirao2001

[Ponbhairavi]

In the etymology of award, french is only of cosmetic value.The word is as much of medieval english origin and more of latin origin. the french root means only watch or keep( not keep up ) MKR has rightly noted that it is convoluted.
T M K does raga alapana, sings traditional kirtanas,, does RTP together or piecemeal neraval, swaram everything as per the CM music grammar and content, in a jumbled order and does not want it to be called a concert.If the structure is "too rigid and ossified and prevents his imagination to fly high and far to explore the hidden recesses of the musical horizon in chowka kalam of his predilection then he should be able to sing only four or five items in one program and the rest given up because of the shackles. Then How is it that most of his singing sessions have 13 or 14 items as in a traditional concert ? All the varieties prescribed by the Ariakudy Bani are necessities for him.." His excellence is not possible to be achieved in the well established Ariakudy paddadi" has exclaimed a Rasika. Does it mean that M M I MSS, SSI, MDR Balamurali ...and many others do not have his excellence.?
Take for example his delivery at Detroit.It has 13 items varnam.alqpana swaram neraval thani besides javali. behag. hari tumaharo and even mangalam all of them as in any traditional concert. Only the order is jumbled. His brand of revolution in the southern music lies only in unpredictable jumbling, disorder for the sake of disorder,. If unpredictability is one ofthe hallmark of genius, he has already acquired it. TM KRISHNA (SHRINK MAT) wants to be ,as observed by Mahavishnu, " a rebel without a cause " and appear as l"enfant terrible "

[kvchellappa]

While 'rebel without a cause' appears to describe the artist fairly, he disagreed in a mail that he is a rebel. While RSachi has summarised his splendid contribution to the art from various angles, my nagging doubt is not cleared whether his excellence is the cause for his maverickness rather than the other way round. At least historically, the excellence preceded being unconventional. Piecing together the eccentricities of a few artists and their being maestros, may not mean that eccentricity is a concomitant, much less a requirement, for excellence (cf. Pavlov experiment). The artist is top drawer now and enjoyment of his music is a natural thing. That has no bearing on the eccentricities. For the record, the artist denies he is eccentric.