Category Archives: Historical Links, Pre-Independence

Dravidian language family is 4,500 years old: study

The Dravidian language family’s four largest languages — Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu — have literary traditions spanning centuries, of which Tamil reaches back the furthest, researchers said.

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The Dravidian language family, consisting of 80 varieties spoken by nearly 220 million people across southern and central India, originated about 4,500 years ago, a study has found.

This estimate is based on new linguistic analyses by an international team, including researchers from the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History in Germany, and the Wildlife Institute of India in Dehradun.

The researchers used data collected first-hand from native speakers representing all previously reported Dravidian subgroups. The findings, published in the journal Royal Society Open Science, match with earlier linguistic and archaeological studies.

South Asia, reaching from Afghanistan in the west and Bangladesh in the east, is home to at least six hundred languages belonging to six large language families, including Dravidian, Indo-European and Sino-Tibetan.

The Dravidian language family, consisting of about 80 language varieties (both languages and dialects) is today spoken by about 220 million people, mostly in southern and central India, and surrounding countries.

The Dravidian language family’s four largest languages — Kannada, MalayalamTamil and Telugu — have literary traditions spanning centuries, of which Tamil reaches back the furthest, researchers said.

Along with Sanskrit, Tamil is one of the world’s classical languages, but unlike Sanskrit, there is continuity between its classical and modern forms documented in inscriptions, poems, and secular and religious texts and songs, they said.

“The study of the Dravidian languages is crucial for understanding prehistory in Eurasia, as they played a significant role in influencing other language groups,” said Annemarie Verkerk of the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.

Neither the geographical origin of the Dravidian language nor its exact dispersal through time is known with certainty.

The consensus of the research community is that the Dravidians are natives of the Indian subcontinent and were present prior to the arrival of the Indo-Aryans (Indo-European speakers) in India around 3,500 years ago.

Researchers said that it is likely that the Dravidian languages were much more widespread to the west in the past than they are today.

In order to examine questions about when and where the Dravidian languages developed, they made a detailed investigation of the historical relationships of 20 Dravidian varieties.

Study author Vishnupriya Kolipakam of the Wildlife Institute of India collected contemporary first-hand data from native speakers of a diverse sample of Dravidian languages, representing all the previously reported subgroups of Dravidian.

The researchers used advanced statistical methods to infer the age and sub-grouping of the Dravidian language family at about 4,000-4,500 years old.

This estimate, while in line with suggestions from previous linguistic studies, is a more robust result because it was found consistently in the majority of the different statistical models of evolution tested in this study.

This age also matches well with inferences from archaeologywhich have previously placed the diversification of Dravidian into North, Central, and South branches at exactly this age, coinciding with the beginnings of cultural developments evident in the archaeological record.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Science / by PTI / Berlin – March 21st, 2018

Now, Sing Thyagaraja Kritis in Malayalam

Retired principal translates 101 compositions of the saint-poet

The Telugu compositions of Sri Thyagaraja have reached God’s Own Country and are available to music connoisseurs in “His own language”.

This was made possible by the efforts of Latha Varma, retired Principal of Madurai-based Sri Sadguru Sangeetha Vidyalayam College of Music and Research Centre. Quite surprisingly, Tamil acted as the bridge in translating the Telugu compositions into Malayalam.

Ms. Varma, who belongs to the royal family of Ernakulam, joined the famed college in Madurai when she was 24 and retired a couple of years ago. As Malayalam is her mother tongue and she gained proficiency in Tamil with her prolonged stay in Madurai, she decided to go the extra mile to learn Telugu literature too. And she did master it with élan through a certificate and diploma course from Madurai Kamaraj University.

Though Thyagaraja kritis are sung world over by people of all languages, many are do not know Telugu and as such miss out on its literary beauty. The mellifluous note and rhythm come in for appreciation, but the ‘Bhava’ (substance) more often than not gets lost. It is this void that the musicologist wanted to fill, at least in Malayalam.

She hand-picked 101 most popular compositions of the saint-poet and gave a word-by-word translation (Prathipadartham) and also a gist (Thathparyam) of each verse. As senior Telugu professor T.S. Giriprakash Rao translated the Telugu verses into Tamil, she picked them up for translation into Malayalam.

An academician, performer cum researcher, Ms. Varma spoke to The Hindu on the sidelines of a seminar on “Group kritis of different vaggeyakaras,”organised by Sri Padmavathi Mahila Viswa Vidyalayam’s (SPMVV) Department of Music and Fine Arts, where she was the key-note speaker.

The translation work, which she calls her “pet project”, lasted for two years. “The copies are now available at the Maharaja’s College for Women and Kerala University, both in Thiruvananthapuram, and the Chittur College in Palakkad. I will soon present some [copies] to the Maharaja’s College in Ernakulam,” Ms. Varma said.

Ms. Varma was felicitated by SPMVV Rector V. Uma, Dean (Social sciences) D.B. Krishnakumari, seminar coordinator K. Saraswathi Vasudev and academic Dwaram Lakshmi on the occasion.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Andhra Pradesh / by A.D. Rangarajan / Tirupati – March 21st, 2018

What made D.K. Pattammal a trendsetter?

D.K. Pattammal performing for Kalaniketan in 1959. Photo: Special Arrangement
D.K. Pattammal performing for Kalaniketan in 1959. Photo: Special Arrangement

Thanks to DKP, women musicians stand out not only in classical but cine field too, where she set a new path

How often do we get to celebrate the centenary of a musician who still shines as a singular phenomenon in the world of classical music? Rarer if that musician left deep imprint on all spheres of art and life and went around with an innocent smile and feet well grounded! D. K. Pattammal’s centenary gives us an opportunity to revisit traditional values, ethics and unflinching classicism. Her 99th birthday concludes and 100th begins on March 19. A function to mark this has been arranged at Narada Gana Sabha, Chennai, tomorrow, March 17. Among others, the Vice-President of India and the Governor of Tamil Nadu are expected to participate.

As T. S. Parthasarathy said, “Pattammal’s greatness in the field is neither an accident nor a fortuitous coincidence. Prodigious effort, supported by a whole set of gifts bestowed on her by God and combined with a mighty stream of musical and artistic elements, have gone into the making of her art. Wonderfully assimilating and adapting, she pressed them into service to fashion her unique style. The results are an incomparable melodic richness, clarity and assurance that have few equals in the realm of Indian music even today.”

How can one ever imagine today, a Brahmin woman opting for a singing career a hundred years ago, defying the restrictions imposed by the community? Rukmini Devi Arundale had already cut the Gordian knot to become the first Brahmin woman to enter the Bharatanatyam field as a dancer. Still, it was with misgivings that Pattammal’s father agreed to her music being recorded by the gramophone company, when she was just thirteen. Then began the journey of tussles and challenge and today, thanks to her fortitude and forbearance, millions of woman singers and instrumentalists stand out not only in classical but cine field too, where she set a new path.

Music Academy invited her to sing when she was seventeen and she sang there uninterrupted for over 50 years and the last many years without receiving any as remuneration. Pattammal, was already a national icon by then, with record makers and film music producers, AIR and music organisations employing her versatility. Thanks to her husband R. Iswaran, who let go his well-paid Government job just to administer her career, Pattammal emerged as the first full-time professional woman musician of India. Not just being the first, but being on par, if not better than her male counterparts in all facets of music, especially in singing Ragam, Thanam and Pallavi.

Appeals to all

Her sonorous voice, uncanny musical acumen and complete dedication were well channelled, with the help of her gurus, in producing music that would satisfy the highbrow critic and provide joy to the lay rasika. There was no tentative attempt at perfection and every new exercise was an effort to better the best. Ananth Vaidhyanathan, noted voice specialist, once mentioned to this writer that only two musicians in this country had voice culturing woven into their music and hence sang with ease and firmness through their long career — Kishori Amonkar in the North and D. K. Pattammal in the South. Pattammal’s rendition of ‘Sri Jalandharam Ashrayayamyaham’ with breathless chittaswaras, a few months after she turned 79, can leave a musician of any generation gasping.

Pattammal was strongly attracted by the music of Ariyakkudi Ramanuja Iyengar. Ariyakkudi in turn regarded her as worthy counterpart among women.

Pattammal’s own style in many ways smacked of Ariyakkudi in its solidity and right mix of madhyama and vilamba kalam. Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer had no hesitation in openly proclaiming that what Ariyakkudi was to male singers, Pattammal was to women. It looks like only a handful of musicians in the last century won the acceptance of their seniors, peers and juniors, very rare for a musician however intelligent or popular. Amongst them were the invincible Tiger Varadhachariar and later D.K. Pattammal.

Now, what marked her music?

— Uncompromising adherence to tradition

— Dedication to the art, with no eye on returns or glamour.

— Judicious selection of what to offer in her concerts, with dignity and spark and

— A rare sense of depth and bhavam communicated with ease and without sentimentality.

Thinking musician

Every composition she took up was studied in its structure, analysed in its scope and finally patterned into her own style as its most defined version. That is why whatever she sang still stands as a guiding light.

Think of a young Pattammal, who with the full support of her father Krishnaswamy Dikshitar, sang patriotic songs to hundreds and thousands braving the oppressive British Raj. The songs had strong words. She didn’t fear arrest. Luckily, she escaped it! She considered singing Bharatiar’s ‘Aaduvome’ over AIR at the stroke of midnight on August 15, 1947, as a cherished occasion in her life.

As many as 55 film hits from ‘Tyaga Bhoomi’ to ‘Hey Ram,’ several patriotic songs, a classical repertoire that ranged from Tamil hymns to Bhajans of composers including her contemporaries such as Spencer Venugopal and Thanjavur Sankar Iyer — all these make Pattammal the musician beyond compare, of modern India.

Pattammal was no liberal as we comprehend the word today. Freedom, to her, meant being obedient to lofty traditional values and obedience was not a bad word! Independence, to her, meant non-interference in upholding dignity. With this faith and belief, she singularly brought about women’s liberation without ever mentioning that word.

Honours and awards came to her unsought. Even while being a busy performer, she continued to be a successful teacher and even trained a Chinese, Chong Chiu Sen, to be a Carnatic performer. But she remained a student and a typical Indian housewife, taking care of her husband, children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. Her extended family included several students of all ages.

The entire 90 years of her life and music teaches us just one mantra — Simplicity.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Entertainment> Music / by N Vijay Siva / March 15th, 2018

Planning to visit the Chettinad region? For the heritage enthusiast, there are loads to see!

The pillared hall at the Periya Veedu in Athangudi
The pillared hall at the Periya Veedu in Athangudi

Despite its popularity, the Chettinad region, known for its architecturally distinct mansions and temples, still throws up surprises for the heritage lover

Chettinad, which gets its name from the cluster of 75-odd villages occupied by the Nattukottai Chettiar community, is known for its splendid mansions and temples.

Visiting Chettinad, also well-known for its antiques, makes for a different kind of outing. Then there are the stories of crumbling yet vibrant mansions, forgotten traditions, and of younger generations that have moved away to other parts of the world.

Many of the mansions are unoccupied but far from crumbling, and left in charge of caretakers, who charge a nominal fee to let tourists explore them. Those families that do not wish to throw open their doors to the public, keep their premises under lock and key. But because these mansions tower over the compound walls, it offers the visitor a chance to soak in the exterior beauty of these grand homes. The Chettinad Palace’s exterior, with its stark white walls that contrast with accents in vivid primary colours, is arresting and worth a visit.

The inside world

There are many features that are common to most of these stately structures. The use of coloured glass in the door and window panes, stucco work on the roof fashioned like gods, goddesses, elephants and other mythical beings (colour painted in detail), iron gates painted bright silver, decorative railings and awnings, all contribute to the grand stature of these buildings.

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Some of the most opulent mansions in this area are in and around Karaikudi, Kanadukathan, Athangudi and Devakottai. The Periya Veedu at Athangudi is among the most well preserved homes open to the public. From the black-and-white Athangudi tiled flooring to the exquisite ceiling covered in embossed craftsmanship, the place leaves you lost for words. Bevelled glass mirrors from Murano, teak and lacquerware from Burma, vie for attention, as one walks through the mansion. Here and there, there are columns and window frames brightened with flower motifs inspired from Baroque paintings.

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CVRM and CVCT house are twin homes belonging to different members of the same family. Only one of them is open for viewing, and the lady who looks after the place points out the various objets d’art and shows the view of the village from the terrace. The large homes belonging to Meenakshi Meyappan and her parents always welcome visitors. The colours of these homes range from the natural brick and weather-aged brown, to those that are gaily painted to include pinks, lilacs and mint.

Temple trail

The temple gopurams too carry this sort of vibrancy. The Chettiar families continue to maintain and patronise a large number of temples in the region. The insides of these temples are clean and there is no one demanding alms. The thepakulams beside the temple are well constructed and add to their beauty.

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The Pillayarpatti rock temple, home to the famous Karpagavinayagar, attracts a steady stream of people through the day. The Meenakshi Sundareswarar temple (Shiva temple) is being restored, yet is open to visitors. Both temples stand as a proud testament to the stone work done by artisans. The Kundrakudi Murugan temple is another place of worship worth visiting.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Life & Style> Travel / by Shanthini Rajkumar / March 07th, 2018

How a recent archaeological discovery throws light on the history of Tamil script

DECODING THE SCRIPT Archaeologists taking an estampage of the Tamil script found on the oil press. Photo: Special Arrangement   | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
DECODING THE SCRIPT Archaeologists taking an estampage of the Tamil script found on the oil press. Photo: Special Arrangement | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

A team of amateur archaeologists discovered an oil press belonging to 10th century C.E. near Andipatti with a Tamil script. It is one of the earliest Tamil inscriptions to be found in this region.

When R. Udhayakumar a research scholar of Government Arts College, Melur got a call from Tamil teacher Balamurugan from Andipatti about an age-old stone structure that resembles a grinder, he did not take it seriously. But when he along with his friend C. Pandeeswaran, who is also a research scholar from Madurai Kamaraj University, visited the spot he came to know that it was not a grinder but a ‘chekku’ (oil press, used to extract oil).

“When I went there I could locate the oil press neatly carved on the rocky bed of a wild brook, which now runs dry,” says Udhayakumar. “The place is very near to the revenue department office in Andipatti and many villagers say that they had seen water flowing through when there was flood some years ago,” he says.

The team took estampage of the inscription and it was brought to C. Santhalingam, secretary, Pandyanadu Centre for Historical Research, to decipher. “Based on the inscription, the oil press belongs to 10th century CE. It is written in Tamil script and says that the oil press was installed by one Kudiyaan Thevan for common purpose. Also, the inscription throws light on the village and its geographical location. The place is inscribed as ‘Thenmutta Naatu Kannimangalam’. Probably, there should have been many Kannimangalams and this one is located in Thenmutta Naadu, a geographical unit Kings followed in those periods. Places in and around Andipatti region were called as Thenmutta Naadu and there are references,” says Santhalingam.

Though discovering an oil press is nothing new in these parts as the team identified similar one in Chitharevu near Periyakulam six months ago. What made the discovery significant is the Tamil script on it. Earlier ones had Vattezhuthu script. “King Raja Raja Chola I ruled Pandya Kingdom during 10th century CE and he introduced Tamil script here as he was quite adept in it. Also, he did not know to read Vattezhuthu. Hence, he recorded all his documents in Tamil script and encouraged the people to learn the same. The king had even translated Vattezhuthu script to Tamil script evident from the Kutralanathar Temple inscriptions in Courtallam. Comparatively, Tamil script was easy to learn than Vattezhuthu and public patronage grew that saw the decline of Vattezhuthu. Gradually, Tamil script gained prominence,” he says.

Tamil script was widely practiced and popularised by Pallavas who had inscribed on the door jambs of sanctum santorum of temples in Thanjavur. “In fact, it was Pallavas who helped Cholas learn the script. Most of the inscriptions after Chola rule in Pandya kingdom are in Tamil script,”

Early inscriptions found in Pandya Kingdom are in Tamil Brahmi and Vattezhuthu scripts. Even in Irukkandurai, a medieval period port city in Radhapuram Taluk in Tirunelveli, which was discovered by Santhalingam and his team last year, there are 25 inscriptions. Of them, only three belonged to early Pandyas and they are in Vattezhuthu whereas the rest are in Tamil script and they talk about the prowess of Rajendra Chola I.

The oil press found in Andipatti goes into history as the symbol of transition from Vattezhuthu to Tamil script.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Society / by T. Saravanan / Madurai – February 21st, 2018

Meet the archivists of Carnatic music

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Even in this day and age, when any music is available at the click of a button, their passion propels them to keep adding hours of music to their personal stockpile.

They seek out the old and forgotten and curate them back to life. They hoard them, in thousands of hours, they revel in their possession — even if they can no longer ‘touch and feel’ it. They are the collectors of Carnatic music.

Even in this day and age, when any music is available at the click of a button, their passion propels them to keep adding hours of music to their personal stockpile.

There are many, like K.G. Sivaramakrishnan, a retired physics teacher and a die-hard Madurai Mani buff, who has about 700 hours of music in his possession. There are people, like Rajappane Raju, an oil industry professional and an avid photographer, who has built a collection of Sanjay Subramanian’s music by picking up every bit of his music put on sale. But people like Sivaramakrishnan and Raju are really small-timers in the collection game.

The big collectors are those who have tens of thousands of hours of music, and counting — result of decades of meticulous mopping-up of private pools of music, often lying in the cellar gathering dust.
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S.L. ‘Yessel’ Narasimhan of Triplicane, Chennai, claims to own the “biggest collection of Carnatic music in the world” in his computer — about 60,000 hours of music. R. Sridhar, executive vice-chairman of IndoStar Capital Finance and a former managing director of Shriram Transport Finance, owned about 25,000 hours of music. R.T. Chari, a septuagenarian, who runs the TAG Corporation, is another major collector who merged his 10,000-hour collection with another huge trove of the Music Academy, the premier music and dance chamber in Chennai.

Yessel would track down a person who has old music — cassettes, spools, gramophone records, or even iwire — and talk him into gifting the huge collection. He never stops until he succeeds in his mission. He has no compunctions about having sometimes copied the music clandestinely, without the knowledge of the owner, for after all, there is no commercial angle here.

“Those who possess recordings generally are willing to share, but they fear the cassette or spool may not be returned and are loathe to part with it even for a few hours of recording,” says Chari. “Many people had old music recordings in the form of spools, but would say, ‘you bring the machine to my house and copy it here’, and that is what I did.” Sometimes, people died leaving a pile of music and their family, not being particularly interested in classical music, would happily hand them over to a collector like Chari or Sridhar.

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Sridhar recalls a happy moment in 2003 when he made a big acquisition — about 2,500 concerts. An acquaintance of his, called Krishnamurthy, told him he had some music recordings and invited him home to see his huge collection — filling up the shelves. Just when Sridhar thought he had seen it all, Krishnamurthy pulled a big drawer from under the cot filled with cassettes. Krishnamurthy himself had built up the collection, copying private recordings of concerts from spools and gramophone plates.

When Krishnamurthy expressed his concern about safe-keeping of his stockpile, Sridhar offered to digitise the entire hoard. The cache changed hands. Meanwhile, Y. Prabhu, son of R. Yagnaraman, who was the secretary of Sri Krishna Gana Sabha, also donated recordings of around 1,000 concerts from the sabha archives to Sridhar, for remastering it digitally.

Chari’s story is similar, except that he began collecting earlier than Yessel or Sridhar.

Why do these people collect music? After all, there is only so much music a person can listen to in a lifetime! The answer is: to preserve for posterity.

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Chari, who is the vice-president of the Music Academy, after donating his collection to the Academy, sets himself upon the task of digitising the whole lot. The Academy, in May 2008, made available a room and four full-time assistants. Chari, spending ₹ 30 lakh, has converted about 12,000 hours of music and “another 25,000 hours waiting to be converted.” Meanwhile, Mathew Chacko of the Precision Group of Companies developed a software for the Academy, gratis. The result of the effort can be seen in the archives of the Academy — it has ten terminals, with individual headsets, where any person can come and access music and dance according to the year, artiste or raga-wise. A researcher can compare the same artiste’s music over the years, or a raga sung by different people over decades and analyse the evolution of music.

Like Chari, Sridhar also donated his collection to the Yagnaraman Memorial Trust that he founded, in memory of the late secretary of Krishna Gana Sabha.

Yessel, who prefers to call himself an ‘archivist’ rather than a collector, says his 60,000 hours of music, available in hard disk, is a database for any researcher. He has put a lot of his music for public access at sangeethapriya.org.

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But how many access it? Unfortunately, not many.

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For instance, the Music Academy archives gets not more than three visitors a day, says Chari. And the visitors are either students or junior artistes, who want to pick up tips from the masters or researchers. Rare is a visitor who wants to listen to the music for the pleasure of it.

“You have to make music available to people on their mobile phones,” says Sridhar, who, in collaboration with Yessel, attempted, in vain, to get people come to his ‘listening sessions.’ Now the two are jointly developing an app for that purpose.

That is the irony of Carnatic music today. While the supply has increased exponentially, both with new artistes coming onboard and collections in Cloud, the constituency of listeners has not gone up.

“Nothing can be done,” says Chari, nonchalantly, “Carnatic music is a complex system to understand.”

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Entertainment> Music / by M. Ramesh / February 01st, 2018

The legend of Vellayi

TALE OF A TOWER: The Eastern Gopuram which stands testimony to the poignant tale of Vellayi, in the Srirangam Temple. Photo: S.R. Raghunathan
TALE OF A TOWER: The Eastern Gopuram which stands testimony to the poignant tale of Vellayi, in the Srirangam Temple. Photo: S.R. Raghunathan

Eastern gopuram, symbol of sacrifice

On the eastern entrance of the Srirangam temple, there stands a white tower, popularly known as the Vellayi Gopuram. Residents of Srirangam call this east tower as the Vellai Gopuram. It is generally believed that the tower is so called since it has been painted white by the temple authorities. But the tower has actually been named after a Devadasi called Vellayi who had sacrificed her life to protect the idol of Namperumal from the Sultanate forces who had invaded the temple.

Srirangam was attacked by the Sultanate forces in the year 1323 during the Tamil month of Vaikasi. Nearly, 12,000 residents of Srirangam island had laid down their lives fighting to protect the temple. The forces attacked the temple and Lord Ranganatha’s jewels and the temple gold were taken away.

The forces also wanted to seize the idol of Namperumal, which they believed was made of pure ‘Abaranji’ gold. They searched for the idol but the Vaishnavite Acharya, Pillailokacharya had taken the idol away and fled to Madurai. (The idol of Namperumal that left Srirangam in 1323 returned back only in 1371).

Unable to locate the idol, the Sultanate forces killed the temple authorities and later launched a massive hunt for Pillailokacharya and Namperumal.

Fearing that the forces would capture the Acharya and the idol, Vellayi, performed a dance before the commander of the forces thus gaining time for Pillailokacharya to escape with the idol.

Her dance lasted for hours together and finally she took the commander to the eastern gopuram and pushed him down. After killing him, Vellayi jumped to her death from the tower chanting the name of Ranganathar.

Hailing Vellayi’s sacrifice, the chief of Vijayanagara forces, Kempanna, who drove away the Sultanate forces, named the tower after her. The gopuram continues to be painted white in her memory.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Tiruchirapalli / by T.A. Narasimhan / January 04th, 2012 & updated July 25th, 2016

Church Park’s centenary

Oh my god, I can’t believe you’ve actually come!” exclaimed a middle-aged woman as she hugged her friend. All around, there was non-stop chatter and raucous laughter. The excitement was palpable at the school auditorium as young and old merged to form a timeless mosaic. For long moments, the alumni who had gathered seemed to bring the past alive, looking every bit the giggly schoolgirls they once were. The occasion was the celebration of 100 years of their beloved alma mater, the Sacred Heart Matriculation School, Church Park.
As a significant part of the centenary celebrations, the alumni association brought out a coffee-table book, The School in the Park: 100 years of Church Park.’ The contributions of several past students were put together and edited by S Muthiah, Chennai chronicler.

The book traces the beginnings of the Church Park story that had its roots in County Cork, Ireland, where Nano Nagle founded the Presentation order of nuns in 1771. Some of the nuns came to India in 1842 to set up schools in Madras, Kodaikanal, Delhi and Rawalpindi.

Uma Narayanan, past pupil and principal writer of the book, said that they used old log books, archives from the Nehru Memorial museum and various interviews of alumni and Presentation nuns to gather information. “This was an exhilarating journey for all of us at Church Park and we are very proud of the outcome,” she said. Pointing out that he had to face many battles with “this incredible group of women,” Muthiah said tongue-in-cheek, “If I lost some of those battles, it was only because those were Church Park girls. By the end, we had formed a story of courage, a story of Irish nuns who came to India at a time when it was unthinkable.”

Kenneth Thompson, the Irish ambassador to India, received the first copy of The School in the Park: 100 years of Church Park.’ “Many of the nuns’ names are forgotten, but their sacrifices to further education in India will be cherished forever,” he said. He quoted the book and added, “It’s not the names that matter, but the school and its ethos.”

Copies of the book were presented to the school’s old teachers. In the audience were Pramila Ganapathy, the first Indian student of the school, and Chandok, one of the boys who passed out of the school in the eleventh standard. There were a few celebrities too – Dr Kamala Selvaraj and Lady Darshana Sridhar, special adviser to British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. “It was here that I learnt to be confident,” said Sridhar, “the fact that I can deal with different situations with impartiality and integrity is something I owe to Church Park.”

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News> City News> Chennai News / by Lakshmi Kumarswami / TNN / January 11th, 2009

Tracing their roots from Reunion Island

A French Reunion island team interacting with students at Cauvery College of Engineering and Technology at Perur near Tiruchi on Sunday.... | Photo Credit: HANDOUT
A French Reunion island team interacting with students at Cauvery College of Engineering and Technology at Perur near Tiruchi on Sunday…. | Photo Credit: HANDOUT

Out of the 8.5 lakh population in the island, 3 lakh people are Tamils

It was a trip Bernard Goulamoussen (50), a French citizen of Tamil origin settled in Reunion Island, had been longing for since his childhood.

Eagerness writ large on his face, Goulamoussen tells how he was able to see traces of his roots wherever he went during his current trip in Tamil Nadu.

For, he had no idea to which part his ancestors who had migrated more than 200 years ago belonged.

Goulamoussen was among a group of 10 such visitors to Tamil Nadu from Reunion Island, a French overseas territory in the Indian Ocean, who have come to the State to understand their forefathers’ culture, tradition, civilisation, ancient history, educational system, rituals and practices.

After visiting several parts of the State including Chennai, Madurai, Dindigul and Thanjavur, they landed in Tiruchi on Sunday to explore its cultural heritage.

Led by Yogacharya Nilamegame, a native of Puducherry who had settled in Reunion Island about 30 years ago, they visited Cauvery College of Engineering and Technology at Perur near here and interacted with the students to understand the Indian educational system.

Like Goulamoussen, most of the group members also have no knowledge of their mother tongue Tamil.

But, they still practice Tamil culture reflecting in the way they dress and religious practices.

“We do not know where our forefathers lived in Tamil Nadu. We feel ecstatic to be in the land of our origin. We may have forgotten Tamil. But we have not given up our tradition yet,” says Goulamoussen, a temple priest, in French.

Out of 8.5 lakh population of Reunion Island, 3 lakh people were Tamils. Except one-third among them, the rest had poor knowledge about their roots in Tamil Nadu.

“But then, it is because of our deep understanding of festivals of Tamils and religious practices that we regularly recite Devaram and Thiruvasagam in temples,” said Nilamegame, who has penned a book on rituals of Tamils in Tamil and French.

After the interaction, N. Nallusamy, former Minister and Chairman of Cauvery College of Engineering and Technology felt that the State government should set up an exclusive Department to teach Tamil language to the diaspora, particularly in Reunion Island, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Myanmar.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Tiruchirapalli / by C. Jaisankar / Tiruchi – January 08th, 2018

Tracing the genealogy and features of that unique species, the Mylapore Music Aficionado

ThanjavurMamaCF08jan2018

A tongue-in-cheek, two-part piece that traces the genealogy and features of a unique species

Tamil Nadu erupted in the early 20th century into what can only be called a revolution, the Dravidian revolution, which transformed the texture of Tamil society.  It was ‘Periyar’ E.V. Ramasami Naicker, who changed the classist nature of public life in Tamil land. Within a generation, Tamil Nadu was transformed; with people from various castes taking control of politics and society; the ‘Periyar’ effect.

In this avalanche of change, Brahmins who were at the top of the social food chain became the singular targets of the new revolutionary correctives. But in a small corner of the beleaguered Brahmin world of  Tamil Nadu existed two art forms — Carnatic music and Bharatanatyam — which became a new sanctuary for the Tamil Brahmin, very specifically, the Mylapore Brahmin, unmistakable as the ‘Mama’ of Mylapore, Madras’s most famous temple-suburb.

In the winter of 1927, a historic session of the Indian National Congress was held in Madras, presided over by Dr. M.A. Ansari, at which, on the motion of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Purna Swaraj or Independence was accepted as the objective of the Congress.

The session was also historic for the music community in Madras because of the series of music and dance performances organised alongside. The very next year, Madras Music Academy was established for the “further advancement” of Carnatic music and to conduct music conferences and performances. And December became the chosen month, the one month in the year that Madras calls ‘cold’ and when the monkey caps come out.

Madras emerged as the ‘classical music place’ to be in within the first half of the 20th century, and a number of music-saturated Brahmins homed in on the city. In bygone centuries, Carnatic music was spread around the towns and villages of Thanjavur and Tirunelveli but it was now concentrated in cosmopolitan Madras. Here the art form was reorganised, systematised and intellectualised. Madras became the Mecca of Carnatic music.

By the 1980s, people from across India were heading to Madras every December. There were over 15 sabhas and leading musicians performed in almost all of them.

Through this period, the government was filled with leaders who took forward the anti-Brahmin legacy. But that did not matter when it came to celebrating the December festival.

Chief ministers and governors inaugurated sessions of Carnatic music and acknowledged its great aesthetic strength. Rationalist leaders and atheists didn’t blink an eye when speaking at events, though Carnatic music was lyrically religious. Carnatic music and Bharatanatyam became examples of the cultural refinement of the Tamils, and musicians and dancers were celebrated as cultural ambassadors.

Enter, the hero

Paradoxically, a state that insisted on social equality came to be known nationally and internationally for two art forms practised, promoted and patronised only by the cultural elite.

From this rather serious sociological narrative emerges one person, a charismatic and entertaining embodiment of a societal overhaul. With his sheer presence he bestows upon Carnatic music its antiquity, at the same time containing it within his own identity.

He is today an ignored social animal, but when the sounds of the tambura waft through the humid Marina breeze, his face lights up, shoulders broaden, the space becomes his to own, he is on home turf, a turf he understands better than any curator, one on which he has watched so many masterful innings. The players and audiences look up to him, as he gives to the art as much as he receives, or so he believes.

Our hero is the Brahmin man, the chief patron of Carnatic music in ChennaiBut he is not just any Brahmin man; this person is special, the hard core ‘Carnatic-ite’. We call him the Mylapore Mama. He has lived for centuries, probably saw Tyagaraja sing on the streets of Thanjavur, discussed the nuances of ragas with Konerirajapuram Vaidyanatha Bhagavathar, and bemoaned the death of Vina Dhanammal in the early 20th century. He is the typical Brahmin but wait, he is much more.

The essence of Todi

He proclaims, “I have music in my blood. After all, I grew up drinking Cauvery water.” Most of these Mamas seem to have had ancestors who lived around Thanjavur. He walks around Chennai the way his great-grandfather would have ambled on the banks of the Cauvery. He is great friends with the maestros, usually addresses them by first name, and even teaches them a thing or two about singing.

His essence is Kamboji, Kalyani, Todi and Kedaragoula. Within his mind exists the collective wisdom of the last 150 years of music.

He is, therefore, someone who has lived with Carnatic music from its times as a triangular (Brahmin, isaivellalar and devadasi) social preoccupation to its present singular Brahmin obsession.

He has seen all the changes of the 20th century and discussed its pros and cons, probably sniggered at them, and held on to what he believes are the core values of Carnatic music. Don’t think he is antiquated. He is not; he will surprise you with the most bizarre acknowledgement of a musician you thought was awful. You cannot slot him, he will deceive you, be careful. His greatest function has been as Carnatic connoisseur, the person who shapes the music and the musician, or so he believes. He will stroll into concerts, discussions and lectures and find his way out, all the time exuding an air of great superiority.

Metaphor for music

Why Mylapore? Because Mylapore is not just a Brahmin-dominated location in Madras (sorry Chennai); it is a metaphor. A metaphor that conjures up images of a man with a tuft, betel nut in mouth, bare-chested, clothed in a veshti. But these images themselves are metaphors, circles within circles. All Mamas don’t dress this way, but they retain the qualities that these images imply: traditionalism, comfort, belief, knowledge and control.

The Mylapore Mama has great command over the Queen’s language, though with a strong Sanskrit accent. He reads The Hindu over a cup of filter coffee, has strong opinions about everything, and, of course, can reel out the names of ragas, talas, compositions and — to the amazement of all — render snatches of several ragas. It is sometimes difficult to understand him as the words escape arrogantly from the corner of his mouth, the one-liners are cryptic, the words loaded and the sarcasm natural. Today, Mama may live in San Diego, Melbourne, Singapore, London, Delhi or Johannesburg but he is after all from Thanjavur.

Usually addressed as Shankar Mama, Sundaram Mama, Ramamurthy Mama or Krishnan Mama, these men are the custodians of Carnatic music.

Bearing that great responsibility, they operate differently with different people, and it is this that I find most fascinating. As in any field, there are always musicians at different levels of acumen and status; all of them build relationships with the Mamas.

Now put the Mama and Chennai’s music season together and we have a potent combination. The Margazhi Season is the Olympics of Carnatic music. The Brahmin music world assembles from around the globe to witness the show and Mylapore Mama is the mascot. It is his time to rule, dictate, pontificate, control and deliver a verdict.

A careful structure

The music season itself is structured in an interesting fashion. The organisation, the concert timing, the duration and venue influence artists and audiences, and together determine the artist’s status within the establishment.

As a general rule, mornings are devoted to lec-dems or concerts by super-senior musicians. Super-seniority is not equivalent to super-speciality; it only indicates the average age of the artist. Yes, there are also some greats, but the majority fall into the purely geriatric category. Over the years, this has changed a bit with younger artists also performing in the morning. The mid-day concerts are by novices and first-timers. After 1:00 pm is for artists a little more mature, which means they have performed at the mid-day level at least a few times before. These last till 5 p.m. roughly, with entry free for all.

The evening concerts are, of course, for the ones who have made it, the stars, the popular artists, to listen to whom people are willing to spend money. These hierarchies have been in play for decades and every musician hopes and prays to move from mid-day to evening concert. This is the equivalent of the Bollywood box-office dream.

These timings are also referred to in terms of the artists’ seniority: junior, sub-senior and senior, and each category is called a ‘slot’. Everyone — and I mean everyone — wants to know your slot and based on that decides your status in the Carnatic world.

(To be continued…)

The writer is a rebel, whether against cultural conventions or injustice or just bad tea.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Society / by T.M. Krishna / January 06th, 2018