CHENNAI: There was a change in Bharathi Thirumagan’s tone when she began explaining the history of Villupattu. From a meek voice she skillfully tunes into a high pitch song uttering a rhythmic Thanthanathom. The spirit of a passionate Villupattu artiste practising her craft for almost 50 years was palpable. “Kolaikaruvi kalaikaruvi aanath eppidin sollitharen,” she says enthusiastically. It’s a story of a king who was filled with guilt after hunting animals and killing people for several years. “When the king was in a dilemma, his minister advised him to look for an alternate way to repent for the sins committed. The bow that was used for hunting was now advised to be used for playing music and telling stories. Thus, a weapon for hunting changed into a weapon of art,” narrates Bharathi.
Taking this traditional art from Tirunelveli to different parts of the world had been Padma Shri awardee the late Subbu Arumugam’s mission. Today, his name is synonymous with Villupattu itself. After his demise, his daughter Bharathi, along with her son T Kalaimagan, is taking his legacy forward. Of the belief that we live in an era where people are lacking the perspective to understand the age-old craft and its importance, Bharathi takes us through the folk art and her experience of learning and performing it.
Learning the craft
Bharathi was seven years old when she got introduced to her appa’s world. From then on, learning the songs, singing it and travelling to different places with him for concerts became a routine. “In my childhood, it was difficult to learn Villupattu. Now, we are singing for 10 minutes or so. Earlier, it was for four to six hours without any break. So we had to learn the entire song without eliminating anything and sing continuously. Only water and milk will be given during the show.
Pasiyelam paaka mudiyathu (We could not pay attention to hunger). Also, we could never plan a day as it would get altered as per the concerts,” she recalls. But her reverence towards the craft was more than anything. Like many children belonging to a legacy of arts and craft, Bharathi too imbibed many lessons from her father.
Appa’s dedication towards the craft, deep involvement in the process of creating art, treating every art form and person equally, motivated me to be dedicated to my profession. So I chose Villupattu over any corporate job. Whatever I am today is because of my appa and amma, SA Mahalakshmi. Appa’s demise was hard to deal with. I hope to spread his lessons and my learnings through my journey as an artiste,” she shares. And not just her, Arumugam had left his mark even on his grandson, Kalaimagan, a carnatic musician and faculty at Kalakshetra. “I have seen thatha writing scripts throughout the night and preparing around three drafts for each performance. His dedication, determination and honesty has inspired me,” he adds.
Singing to transform
Every year, Bharathi performs almost 400 kutcheris. Along with her father, there were a minimum of 26 concerts a month. Having performed more than 7,500 concerts overall, the artiste hopes to reach even more people through Villupattu, as the craft is more than just livelihood for her. Through Villupattu, Bharathi also narrates stories with strong messages, making sure that she is serving the society through her talents. Sharing the types of stories they narrate, she says, “In the beginning, it was only mythological stories that were narrated through Villupattu.
Esakki Amman kadhai, Saathanar kadhai, Neeli kadhai, Ayyanar kadhai, Sirudeiva vazhipattu kadhaikal — We used to sing all these pre-written scripts. During appa’s time we started writing our own songs with social messages. We have sung songs to make people aware of government schemes including fish farming, how to buy train tickets, census, blood donation, eye donation, AIDS awareness, tree planting, employment opportunities and sanitation schemes. Padaatha thurai illai (There are no subjects on which we haven’t sung).”
Some of these themes came with their share of criticisms. Recalling an incident when they were criticised for singing songs on AIDS, Bharathi shares, “Someone asked us, Ramayanathile Ramane pathi paadiyavar AIDS ah pathi padalama? (How can someone who sings about Lord Rama also sing about AIDS?)”. Appa replied, “Ramane maathiri vaazhunthal AIDS varaathu. (If you lead a life like Lord Rama you won’t get AIDS)”.
Mastering the folk art
Bharathi has also mastered altering the source material for the audience. She has even sung a full tale in English for a Singapore audience, educating them on the history of the country. “If the organisers suddenly ask me to perform about Siva Thandavam, I have to switch my plan and practise the songs on that,” Bharathi shares. This agreement, even at the last minute, is only possible because of years of consistent practice. Every day she religiously dedicates at least five hours for practising her craft. “In the beginning, I used to sing the songs which were written by appa. Then, he encouraged me to write my own songs. Appa used to say that what you write will be like your child. For me script writing is the most important part of villupattu and everything else is secondary. To put it in a philosophical way, I would say that script writing is like the pulse and performing on stage is like oxygen,” she shares. From taking almost 10 days to write her own scripts, she can now perfect it in five days.
Art in today’s world
With a permanent team including Kalaimagan, her husband S Thirumagan, principal of Hindustan College of Arts & Science; B Ganesh Rao, tabla artiste; Prakash Ramachandran, keyboardist, and N Saravanan, keypad artiste, Bharathi promotes both Carnatic and folk art forms. Even though Villupattu is popular on social media, she feels that a certain set of audience doesn’t value it. “A few people always keep asking questions about the art form’s longevity. They want to know if they will get money immediately, or will become famous instantly after learning Villupattu. They don’t understand that it is something divine,” she rues.
To educate the newer generations, they have set up the Subbu Arumugam Fine Arts Centre for teaching music and imparting knowledge that has been transferred through three generations. “There are so many academic courses for different art forms but none for Villupattu. With an academic course, it will be a career option and people can venture into it with the assurance of getting a job after the course.
This has been thatha’s dream. With my family’s assistance and with the experience of performing concerts and conducting many workshops, we have formulated a syllabus. We, as an institution and a family, are trying to propagate the message that there is a future in this art form. We are concentrating on not diluting the traditionality of the art but presenting it to suit the needs of today’s generation,” signs off Kalaimagan.