Orthodox yet captivating

R Mridula’s rendition of Muthuswamy Deekshitar’s kritis was an endearing affair. The young talent, who brought out the emotions of the lyrics, has a bright and promising future

Nada Bharathi, a cultural organisation known for unearthing young and prodigious talents, organised a concert of promising musician R Mridula. Disciple of Maha Mahopadyaya Kollegal R Subramanyam, Mridula won first prize in the All India Muthuswamy Deekshitar Music Competitions held in the city recently. The young musician stuck to the winning formula: she chose Deekshitar’s kritis for the concert. Her rendition was pleasant, true to the orthodox style but it was captivating. It was an achievement that the prodigious talent reached the expectations of nitpicking the audience at the venue.

She opened her concert with “Sami Daya Choodu”, a Kedaragowla varnam. She impressed the audience with her rendition. For the invocation item, she took “Siddhi Vinayakam” (Shanmukhapriya). As prayer to Goddess Saraswathi, she took “Saraswathi Manohari” (Saraswathi) and rendered it in all its fairness and astute adoration. She then presented “Varasiddhi Vinayakam” (Sriranjani) with an emotive appeal. Swarakalpana for this kriti was good and it garnered applause from the audience. She then moved on to “Sri Venkatesam Bhajaami” (Kalyana Vasantham). She sang this kriti in a narrative style and the swarakalpana was good too.

The main item of the evening was “Sri Kanthimathim” (Hemavathi). It was presented elaborately, which impressed the audience. Equal credit has to be given to Radhika Srinivsan (disciple of Calcutta Krishna Murthy), who followed the young artist as well as showcased her mastery over the strings creating melody on a violin.

The Taniavarthanam was majestically done. In short there was right mixture of accompanists, Radhika on violin and P Srinivasa Gopalan on mridangam elevated the concert. Mridula concluded with a thought provoking krithi of Deekshitar “Gangemam Pahimam Gambheera Kayeh Geetha Vadya Priyeh” (Janjhoothi).

“Seers and even purana purushas (people whose stories are narrated in epics) have knelt before and prayed to you. Ganga maa I submit myself to you, please shower your blessings on me,” this was the thought of Deekshitar while penning this kriti. Deekshitar wrote this during his stay at Varanasi, where he learnt the Vedas. Deekshitar’s works are a treatise and they have deep philosophical meaning.

Mridula, the name denotes ‘mrudutva’ (gentleness) and her rendering proved that she can sing as gentle as her name. She is a promising talent with a bright future.