Raghavendraprasad, who from a very young age showed unusual aptitude for music.
And then there was the very talented violinist G. She confessed to have been straining her ears to listen keenly to his “arudis”, the rhythmic flourishes sometimes unfortunately drowned, in the finishing points, particularly, by enthusiastic applause intervention. The same Dandayudapani Pillai she remembered giving lessons on rhythmic touches on the mridangam to the then much younger Chandrasekhar - the mridangam expert for the recital. Raghuraman, (hailing from a family of Nattuvanar/musicians) she still recollected the image of the young boy in half pants attending concerts. As for the exquisite flute music of her husband G. After having been treated to the soaring melodies of Sudha Raghuraman’s singing, Leela’s thoughts went back to her late grandfather, father and uncles - all of them musicians of a high order.
No young dancer those days could command a team of such top quality musicians as Tara Rajgopal had for her recital - each of them representing a family parampara. The high point of the morning recital with the dancer presenting Leela’s interpretation of Dandayudapani Pillai’s varnam “Samiyai vara solladi” in Poorvikalyani, set Leela Samson off on a nostalgic journey about her own student days in Kalakshetra where this guru taught for years. Leela recollected the trepidation with which she and her ilk went through their respective debuts with giants and acclaimed gurus conducting the recital. This arangetram for a change, exemplified what this occasion should be - with friends, well-wishers, old school and college teachers of the dancer - exuding a sense of fulfillment for the student, her family and the teacher who had passed on what she had had been given by her acharya to a deserving student.
Arangetram, when dance has become business, seems to have lost sight of the fact that it marks a testing of the waters - the starting point of a long journey for the one who wants to take to it. Addressing the audience after the customary post performance courtesies to all the musicians and other contributors, Leela pertinently pointed out the significance of this function. Aditi Jaitley’s teacher, Leela Samson, the chief guest for the occasion, set the tone with her dignity and elegant simplicity. Striking a note of complete contrast was the warmly intimate atmosphere at the India International Centre, its lobby and auditorium packed with friends, family and well wishers for the arangetram of Tara Rajgopal, a student of Aditi Jaitly Jadeja. The more wealthy the guardians of the young dancer, the more opulent every aspect of the event - from invitations to costumes, to the invitees from high society, with the performer’s legitimacy shown by the presence of politicians. Arangetram (which comes from Arangu +etram - literally meaning to rise to the performance space), the debut of the Bharatanatyam dancer when she steps on to the stage for a maiden solo performance, has over the years been made to resemble an extravagant coming of age of a society debutante. Classical artistes love to intone away the sacredness of a tradition, while subjecting many of its manifestations, over the years to the worst type of commercialisation.
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