'Raga sudha rasa panamu jesi,' so says Saint Tyagaraja in one of his compositions. The knowledge of ragas and swaras gives one the bhoga or enjoyment. This was what one got at Bombay Jayashri's concert for Kalarasna on December 21. Jayashri not only enjoyed the nectar of music herself but also made the assembled rasikas relish her music. Her presentation was remarkable. And, the high point came when she sang a dvi-raga pallavi (pallavi in two ragas) in Dvijavanti and Abheri. It came as a total surprise. Jayashri's creative music has been under focus for quite sometime now. Her guru Lalgudi Jayaraman is an outstanding creative artiste. Jayashri's training under this maestro must have also triggered the creativity in her. Of late, Jayashri has taken concert presentation to an elevation by constantly working on novel ideas. Yester-year greats such as MLV and others were experts in introducing novelty to their concert presentation styles. Jayashri has indeed carved a niche for herself in creative singing.

The peak point of her concert was indeed the dvi-raga pallavi in misra jampa talam. The pallavi line chosen ran as "Muruga unnai marava varam arulvai tirumal maruga vel". She rendered tanam in Abheri and Dvijavanti with quite proficiency. There was a touch of elegance in her tanam singing. A striking feature of this phase was the way she eased into different ragas with so much fineness. The icing of the cake came when she decorated them with some lovely and incredible swaras. Ragas such as Hamsanandi, Bowli and Vasanti came and went fleetingly before she reversed back to Dvijavanti. It was akin to an acrobatic exercise. The intermittent applause gave a clue or two to the audience appreciation for this creative exercise. There was something traditional about the way she rendered "Mundu Venuka"(Darbar). Even as she went into an alap in Nalinakanti, a guessing game was on whether she would follow it up with Saint Thyagaraja's "Manavyala kim para". It was not to be. Instead, she opted for GNB's "Ni Padame gati Nalinakantimati". Thyagaraja's "Atukara" in Manoranjani was racy and Jayashri rendered it so pleasingly. Mohana Kalyani kriti "Tamadam Tagadayya" was sung with poise.

Rakti raga Suruti glowed, as Jayashri began "Geetharthamu Sangeethanandamu" in her tantalizing voice. A neraval and a few swara cycles added shine to the Suruti piece. Tani avarthanam phase saw ghatam S. Karthick and J. Vaidyanathan (mridangam) produce creative beats, much to the delight of the audience. Both held the audience captive for some time with their scrupulous korvai. The popular piece "Muruganin maru peyar azhagu" went down well with the rasikas, as Jayashri sang it with utmost expression. She brought the concert close with a tillana in Sivaranjani. Well, the music had indeed left a civilizing effect on the minds.



Bombay Jayashri's concert evokes contemplative mood

A celebration concert for Bombay Jayashri and T.M. Krishna