Baby Sriram’s concert for Arunachala Ramana Sangeetha Sabha was steeped in tradition

Baby Sriram with Kumbakonam Swaminathan on the mridangam, Trichy Murali (ghatam) and M.R. Gopinath (violin).
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Conforming to the classical tradition, Baby Sriram offered an aural treat at her recent concert for Arunachala Ramana Sangeetha Sabha at Arkay Convention Centre. Her sincere approach, clarity of sahitya and bhava-rich renditions added to the concert’s appeal.

Trained under eminent gurus such as T.M. Thyagarajan and P.S. Narayanaswamy, Baby Sriram has added a wide variety of compositions to her repertoire and she is at ease during raga portrayals.

At this concert, she presented an exhaustive Charukesi alapana focusing on its distinct swaras, and the gamakas.

Enjoyable tani

Veteran violinist M.R. Gopinath’s virtuosity was evident in his restrained responses. Swati Tirunal’s classic, ‘Kripaya palaya shoure’ was the chosen kriti. Baby Sriram’s niraval and swaraprastara at ‘Narada mukha muni’ bore the stamp of her guru TMT’s lively sequences and immaculate kalapramanam. In the tani, Kumbakonam Swaminathan (mridangam) and Trichy Murali (ghatam) offered a few tisra nadai strokes. The rhythmic exchanges between them were enriching.

After the Ranjani raga alapana, Baby Sriram rendered Tyagaraja’s ‘Durmargachara’ (Rupakam). The kalpanaswaras at the pallavi afforded her the opportunity to demonstrate her creative artistry. Another Tygaraja kriti that she rendered was the short and crisp ‘Nenarunchira’ in raga Simhavahini. It came with a refreshing swaraprastara.

Baby Sriram’s traditional moorings surfaced in her Nayaki raga alapana, which was followed by the Dikshitar kriti ‘Ranganayakam bhavaye’. She rendered two compositions by Puducode Krishnamurthy (1923-1985), a direct disciple of Palghat Rama Bhagavatar. One was ‘Bhaja Manasa Meenakshi’ (Rupakam) in Bowli with kalpanaswaras, and the other was ‘Adimalar Inai’ in raga Andolika.

Baby Sriram commenced her recital with the Vasantha varnam, ‘Ninnukori’, by Tacchur Singarachari, which featured brief kalpanaswaras. A virutham in Hamsanandi, Anandabhairavi and Behag, preceding Guru Surajananda’s ‘Muruganin marupeyar azhagu’ (Behag-Khanda Chapu) was inspiring. The senior vocalist wound up her evening concert with Nilakanta Sivan’s ‘Theruvathu Eppo’ (Khamas).