Tiruvarur bhaktavatsalam - Article in Deccan Chronicle for Music Festival 2010

Respect all, especially the elderly
By Shubashree Desikan
Dec 22 2010


At Parthasarathi swamy sabha, that Monday, the violin brothers, Mysore Manjunath and Nagaraj were exploring the scope of the duet to the fullest. Framing the pace to their portrayal of Sankarabharanam, Saroja Dhala Netri, was Tiruvarur Bakthavatsalam on the mirudhangam. It was hard to separate the tune from the beat as the two vied with each other for the audience’s attention. What was it that inspired the musicians? ‘It was a lovely concert,’ says Mr Bakthavatsalam, ‘a combination of good players, mike and speaker systems, appreciative audience and grace that made me feel very good about that day’s concert’.
Fifty-five years old now, he has been playing since he was nine years old – fortunate in that his mother was herself a concert singer and his own uncle his guru. There was no formal transition from learning to performing, as he remembers, ‘ except that when I was younger, I used to practice for twelve-to-eighteen hours a day! Now, I am into music all the time, practice is when I teach my students and even my concerts are sessions of practice because later I study my recordings and think about how to perfect my techniques’.
How has he been able to cope with the physical strains of being a mirudhangam player? ‘You have to learn the right finger techniques and how to use them skilfully instead of blindly using force. This is the heart of what you observe and learn from the teacher. Posture is important and so is being disciplined about food and drink. Above all dedication is most important. You have to treat the instrument like divinity’. As he speaks, there is a phone call from Dr Ramani, for whom he is playing the next day. Over the telephone, he sets the note of his pitch pipe to match the caller’s pitch. This will be used to tune in his mirudhangam. After making some plans for the concert, they call off. He adds, ‘The day before every concert, I focus on the player I will be accompanying and everything else is set aside. I know their style and plan accordingly’. He concludes with a word to newcomers: ‘be respectful to everyone, especially elders, and never wound anyone’.