BOOK REVIEWS Bara on Bharatanatyam S. Guhan (ed. and tr.) The Sruti Foundation. Madras. 1991 23 pages. Rs 6 In the field of classical Indian dance, one personwhocouldetchherselfinthememory ofthose whowatchedheroncewas Balasar aswati. Entering the universe of dance at a timewhendignitywas beingrediscoveredin a decadent tradition, BaIa (as she is affec tionatelyknown) reigned supreme for over 50years. If the dance style of the Tamil regionhadbeen merely changed in nomen claturefrom Dasi-attam to Bharatanatyam (whichhappened about 60 years ago), it wouldnothavegained instatureor prestige ifTamilNadu had not been blessed with a dancerofBela's calibre exactly in that era. As DOC who has had the privilege of witnessing her dance, I was attracted by a slimpamphlet containing Bala's thoughts, My interpretationofpadasdepends~nDhan~­ views,andreminiscencesbroughtout bythe mal's interpretation of all her mUSIC, not Just padas.Shehassetanidealofri~ess~dsubtlety Sruti Foundation, Madras. But the fifteen of emotional expressionthat shineslikealamp, p~ges. sensitivelyeditedby S. Guhan, con before thosewhohaveheardandappreciatedh~r tamenoughtoread,more thanonce,and to music. Dhanamrnal would not allow. us to SIt ponder.Foritisnot onlyherexperienceasa around: one had to practiseall the tune...Her dancerthat isreflected here; her dedication unbendingmaximwasthatallbodilycomfortshad tothequintessenceoftheartistictraditionis to be sacrificed for the advancementof art. whatcomesthrough, in ringing tones. An added virtue is her infrangible integrity. Bala's mother toowasamusician,asalso Bala'sgoodfortune wastohavebeenborn manyothers inthefamily,thoughtherewas thegranddaughterof Veena Dhanammal,a the dim memory of a great-great toweringpersonality inthe field ofCarnatic grandmotherwhowasadancerintheco~ mus~c: Though she saysof her family, "the of Travancore. Apart from the s~on~ bias traditionsofmusicand dance have been the towards music,there was the SOC1~ climate focus oflifefor generations" the dominant to contend with, thanks to the a~ve cam influencewas that of Dhan:unmal: paign for the abolition of devdasis. How, Sugee,NatakNo.103:January-March1992 30 K.S. SRINIVASAN then, did Bala turn to dance? Bala recalls IspeakasadancerofSOyears'standing.IftodayI that it was the great classical musician, have, at my level, achieved tangible self· Ariyakudi Ramanuja Iyengar, who lent fulfilment,andifnumerous personsbelongingto powerful support to her mother in the various countries have also found spiritualand option.Once her mother'selected' Kandap aesthetic satisfaction in my dance, it ~ the paastheguruforBala,therewasnolooking Tanjavur style that is responsible. back. "Rigorous dance trainiog from him" Naturally, she set her face firmly against was .embellished with sensitive musical 'innovation'inBharatanatyam.Not onlydid education from her mother: Jayammal W she frown on the employment of keeIUDas taught the close relatiooship of abhinaya to (e.g. Tyagaraja's 'Sadinchane) for d:uice, raga", she found a varnam like •Viribhom" in Thai early lesson was to staywith her all Bhairaviunsuitable. Sheexplainedwhy:itis through life. Speakiog at the East-West atana-vamam.!!Q!apeds-venum.Besides, Conference in Hawaii in 1979. she said: "the words and ideas come along too fast and furious". In_demonstrating the art of Bbaratanatyam Bala's faith in the tradition that she abroad. I have made II special point ofshowing imbibed wasthe faith ofa devotee.Shewas audiences howdelicatelylinkedisthe realisation ascontentasshe was convincedthat"tradi of movement to raga expression in abhinaya, induding the subtle expression of gamilis. in tional discipline gives the fullest freedom to lonationof srutiandthe unfoldingto improvisa the individualcreativityof the dancer", She tion in airaval. is forthright in ber disdain for seekers of novelty when she says: "lei those who Herselfanaccomplishedsinger.shewould create novel dance-forms present them as often singwhile dancing:"A dancer, profi separate performances; they need notmake cientinmusic.isabletocompletelymeltand a hash of tbe Bbaratanatyam recital by mould her bodyinsubmissiontoGod".One interpolations of novelties." thing sbe was absolutely clear about-the If Bala attained the status of a doyenne supremacy of music in Bharatanatyam. (dancers had not yet begun calling them Guhan reports her comments: "You think selves 'prima ballerina'). it was on the youarc being transportedbythedance;itis strength ofher abhinaya.The richness that the music that is deceiving you". she lent to the interpretation of the song The reference to the dancer's body "in 'Jagadodharana'in Yaman turnedanordin submission to god" belongs to her tenet ary lyric into a famous composition. The rooted:in the notion of devadasi: magic of her art is revealed in some ofthe passages inthis pamphlet, First.shedisting· uishes between abhinaya and actiog: Like theother modesof ritual. such asincense, Dow.ers,c:amphorandsweetmeats,theofferingof music and dance has to be made in a spirit of The gestures usedin Bharatanaryem mustnever worship,devotionandsurrender.Therecanbeno betakentobethegesturesusedineverydaylifeor room for error in this...Even for an ordinary in drama or in film acting. Abhinaya is asfar being litemyself,onsome occasionsandinsome removedfromacting aspoetryisfromprose.No meas~re. dance and musichave enabled a deep feeling.noemotion.DOmood.noexpcriencr.00 .experience of tbe presence of God. locale is portrayed in a self-conscious manner. Theyareallexpressedin the suggestivelangrJ,ge ofimagination. [Emphasisadded.] In. this process. she was convinced. the Tanjavur style and the traditional order of Subtlety was indeed her forte. Watching performance(aJarippu to rillana) were most her. perform at the Indian Council for conducive.Speakingat the IndianFineArts Cultural Relations, Delhi, in the 70s, I Society in 1981, Bala said: recall I was moved to sentimental exhilara- BOOKREVIEWS 3t tion when she rendered abhinaya for the onlyindirectbenefitfrombostingthedaughtersof song'EnpalIikondeeraiya'.Itisdescriptive the elife. il haseven reached a pass whenthey of Lord Ranganatha of Srirangam who is expect: payment for doing so. Instead of being reclinedasseshashayi.Interpretingthespirit temples for Saraswati, Sabhas have becomethe of the devotional lyric. rather than the play-fields of DhanaJakshmi. words, when Bala ran her eyes across the recliningfigure in her mind's eye, deferen In today's context, when dancers are as tially,she demonstrated what she describes culpable as the ssbbss. allthismightevoke asthe "divinecharacter" of dance. "Digni cynical laughter. But that would itself ex fiedrestraint isthe hall-mark of abbinaya", plainwhyBalaremainswithoutasuccessor, she says. For "the divine is divine only because of its suggestive, subtle quality", K.5. SRINtVASA.'1 (The dividing line between a dancer and a philosopher can be truly thin.) Yet, as connoisseur, she says: The Varnam ~~garast~supremeintherangeofemotions; Lalita Ramakrishna ItlSth~~~male?,otionwhichgivesfullestscope Harman Publications, Delhi, 1991 forartisticImprovisation,branchingoffcontinual 286 pages, Rs.380 lyas it does into the portrayal of innumerable moods full of newness and nuances. A thought Kalidasa would endorse! This book is an asset for the student or How did Bala acquire so much, without enthusiastofCamaticmusic.To myknow whatwecal}fonnaleducation?Talentranin ledge, no other book has examined the her blood. no doubt. But it was significant Vamamwithsuchthoroughness.tracingthe that she came under the influence of the entire history of this song-type. cultural tlite-Ariyakudi, T.K.C., Tiro V. Vamams are the very foundation of K. V. Raghavan-to name but a few. Few Carnatic musicas theygivean insightinto ~ave been able to derive so much from the ragaJakshanaandtaJaJakshana.Ifoneisable link~ge between kavya and natya. to master a Varnaminaparticularraga, he Little wonder. therefore that she had can be sure of having acquired full know occasion to express resentment over some ledge of the raga in all its aspects. For len.dencies which are dominant today. but example, the Bbairavi Vamam 'Viribboni' whichhad begun to surface in her lifetime. givesacomplete pictureoftheragaandthe Admom.sh1i09parents who seek quick prog- rhythmic possibilities it offers. ressandpresspublicity for their daughters Unfortunately. in spite of the fact that Bt ala Sat'd: "Let them not, please. bustle' there are innwnerabJeVarnams composed eachers to prepare their girls for early bymasters,onlyafewareinvogue:oflate. arangetram".To the critic, she stressed the practising musicianshave simply not taken "responsibilitytocloselymonitordrawbacks the painstoenlargetheirrepertoire.Infact, and to expose them, so that they can be the Vamam is being used practicaUy for ?,neeted.I am afraid that these days there clearing the throat at the start of a n 100muchpraise and 100little concernfor perfonnance-a rather sad state of affairs. protecting the quality of the art." Fortunately, the pada-varnams as against She did not spare the sabhas either-. thetana-vamamshavenotbeensubjectedto suchcavaliertreatment.OurBharatanatyam whogive OPPOrtunities only to those who have dancers have utilized many pada.vamams ~oney or prestige..• For the daughtersof the for imaginative interpretationin their recit e te, dance isonly a hobby. Sabhas desire not als. JZ SUBBUDU third finger as in the case of the Ada-tala Vamams. The 14 beats of the Ada-tala Vamams are not organized in two equal halvesof sevenbeatseachbutdivided into twosegmentsof fivebeatseachandoneof four. TheAda-talaVamamiscalledKanda jathiTriputaTalainmusicalparlance.Many such details are well brought out in this book.Itschapteronthehistoricalreviewof the Vamam should also be useful forstu dents of Carnatic music. The authorhasnotbeentooconservative inherapproach tothesubjectandhasbeen catholic enough to give due importance to present-daycomposersofVamamslikeLal gudi Jayaraman, T.R. Subramaniam, and BalamuraliKrishna.Thisisasitshouldbeas both Lalgudi Jayaraman and Balamurali Krishna have given a new dimension to Vamamswiththe bhava andlyrical excel lenceof theircompositions.TheirVarnams areextremelypopularthesedayswith both It must howeverbenoted that this book musicians and dancers. by itself, with its notations, cannot help students comprehend the full import of the SVBBUVV Vamam. Notations can only guide us to some extent in Carnatic music. This is because the seven solfas have different Sitar Technique in frequenciesindifferentscales. Forexample. Nibaddha Forms the rishabbam in Saveri is quite different Stephen Slawek from the rishabbam in TOOi. Our music solely depends upon kama-param.para; Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi, 1987 that is10say,onlybylistening(andlearning 232 pages. Rs. 250 fromagood teacher)canonedojusticeto a composition.IIwouldthushavebee.agood idea to preparean illustrativecassette to 1bis book attempt> to provide a basic accompany the book. understandingofimprovisationinHind~ta­ AstudentofCamaticmusicwouldgainby niinstrumentalmusic, particularlytheSitar. leading the chapter on 'Etymology, Fonn The major pan of the book composes ~ and Structure' here as it provides a good thesissubmittedtotheUniversityofHawaII deal of inlonnation about the Vamam-its foramaster'sdegreeinMusic(EthDomusi~ origin,thenamesofthecomposers, andthe cology) in 1978. mudras used by them.The author has also Going bythetitleofthebook,onewould carefuUy gone into the structure'of SOme expect at least a shan description of til< Vamamsandbroughtoutthecontentsofthe termsnibaddhaandanibaddhaattheoutset. rhythm-orientedswarapatternsofVamams, but this one doesn't find. On page 2. !be giving an insight into the genius of the author simply says: composers. Varoamsdonotalwayscommenceonthe ...it is necessary to remember thatthepreseut sam; thereareVarnams which starton the studyislimited to the aibaddhll sanged (bound BOOK REVIEWS JJ music, setto a rhythmiccycle) ofclassical style. The improvisatory processoflightclassical music will.not be:dealtwith,not willthe useofSitarin eon-classicalmusicbeexamined.Healsodeclares that the role of thegharanain definingmusical stylehasnotbeendiscussedinthepresentstudy. The book isdividedintotwo sections.The first section consists of an outline of the thesis(itsbackground, research and metho dology), aratherbriefsurveyofwell-known theories about the origin and development of the Sitar, an account of the possible sources of present-day Sitar technique including the basic "building blocks" of left-and right-hand technique-and a de scription of how these techniques are com bined to deal with larger musical structures during performance, The second section provides a short dis cussionofthe variables of musical perform anceinimprovisation,followed bythenota lionofaperformancebyPanditRavi Shank ar and a detailed analysis of the same. ChapterY,whichdealswith talim shrinkha ls,canbetakenasthelink betweenthetwo sections of the book. Here the author analyzes in detail the different gat-types: account relevant textual material on this Masitkhani, Razakhani, vilambit, drut-all topic.Theauthor onlymakes a briefrefer settoTeentala-aswellasgatscomposedin enee 10 the hastavyapar of the Ekatantri ether taJas and their vistar. Against this Vine, a term used bySharangadevafor the background the sixth and seventh chapters repertoryof techniquesfor thai instrument. ofthebook aredeveloped-themostimpor Further. he talksabout the contributions of tant ones-providing notation and analysis the Been, Rabab, percussion instruments, of vilambitand drut gat-vistar by Pandit and vocal musicto current Sitar technique. Ran Shankar. The relevant recording is of This topic itself could be the subject of a raga Rasiya (Capital international series, full-length doctoral thesis and cannot be S.P.10482LP).This recordisthebasisofall dealt with in just one chapter. analysesin the book; the Tabla accompani In ChapterV the authorspeaksat length ment is by Kanai Dutt. about the talim for different gat-slyles and Going through the book, one feels that their improvisation. Though he devotes thefirst section lacks incomprehensiveness, more space (and anention) to the d~scri~ ~ougb the topics dealt with here are judi tion and analysis of the Teentala vilembit Cl:O~ly chosen, For example Chapter III, gat,healsodescribesthe drutgatandgatsin dealing with the sources of modem Sitar tslssotherthanTeentala,whichhecallsthe technique.reliesentirelyon discussionswith fur bu.This term wasoriginallycoined by Pandits Lalmani Misra and Ravi Shankar, Pandit LalmaniMisra inhisbook Bharatiya Although the author reaches some intelli SangeetVadya. While it is not uncommon gent and useful conclusions one does feel today to play a vi/ambit garin Rupak or thai the chaptershouJd also havetakeninto Jhaptal,it wasramer rare even in the early J.l SUNEERA KASlIWAl 70s.PanditLalmaniMisrausedtoplaysuch theinterrelationshipoftheshrinkhaJaofthe gats on the Vichitra Vina. Again, Pandit vistar with tempo, range, and technique. RaviShankarhaspopularized many other Going through this analysis, one wantsto tsles like Ada Chautal, Dhamar, etc. for know about the aesthetic aspects involved, vi/ambit and madhya-Jaya compositions. but these are not substantially dealt with. Apart from vilambitJhumra, Jhaptal, Ada Also,theTablaportionsarenotcommented Cbautal, etc., the author gives the mizrab uponatall.Thoughthefocusofcourseison patternsforPanchamSayanandMarta-tala. Sitar technique, some attention to Tabla Notating Indian music is a very difficult accompaniment would have enriched task, As Pandit Ravi Shankar says in his Slawek's analysis. foreword tothebook:"Interpretinganoral The analyses in the book are well sup art tradition through writing canbeconfus ported with clear charts, graphs, andnota ing, unsatisfactory or even misleading in tion. The author has devised a modified spite of the seriousness andcompetence of version of staff notation to deal withSitar the writer."Slawek.-formerly astudent of music. The use of the left and right hands Pandit Lalmani Misra at Banaras Hindu has been indicated between the lines of Universityandsince1978astudentofPandit music. Ravi Shankar-passes muster in this re The book would have been more useful spect. (Notation of music exercises and haditattemptedacomparativestudyofthe compositions has been common enough performancesofafewselectSitar-playersor since the appearance of Pandit Bhat analyzed three or four performances by khande's Krami! Pustale MaJika. but nota Pandit Ravi Shankar alone. The analysis tionoffuUperformancesforthepurposeof here is solely on the basis of one perform analysisis still quite rare.) ance by Ravi Shakar, Even so, the book Theauthoranalyzesvilambitanddrotgats does prepare the ground for moreserious separately~ limiting his parameters to analytical works on the Sitar in future. structural elements in general form. the contextofaprecomposedsection.technique in variation ofa precomposed section, and SUNEERA KASUWAL