KOCHI: He’s 73. But that’s no reason for Umayalpuram K Sivaraman to grow tired of experimenting, innovating and performing with his musical instrument. When people ask whether he runs a school his reply has always been, “I am only running a school of thought.’’ And in the 63rd year of his journey with the mridangam, Umayalpuram says, “I find solace, bliss and tranquillity when I play the mridangam in concerts, doing research and creating novel work for the present and future generation of percussionists.’’ Such a novel work was released in the state at a function held at Thiruvananthapuram the other day - ‘Mridanga Cintamanih’ - a collection of seven DVDs - which covers the A to Z about mridangam, running into a time-frame of 22 hours and 30 minutes. Thoroughly excited and proud about his unique venture, he said, “This first-of-its kind venture is a magnum opus and encyclopaedia on mridangam.’’ Umayalpuram has scripted the entire collection.
“Anybody who is interested in the art will benefit by listening to the DVDs which start with the posture of sitting to the highest level of excellence in accompanying vocal and instrumental artists.’’ The work has been brought out by the Chennai-based Swathi Soft Solutions (www.swathigroup.com).
But a guru is always important, right? “There’s no denying that.
In this DVD I play mridangam with 27 disciples, aged 7 to 71,’’ Umayalpuram said. The project was finished in seven days. The 120 hours of work were later edited to 22 hours and 30 minutes.
The whole collection includes the e-version of Umayalpuram’s book ‘The voyage of mridangam and its high voltage art’. The DVDs will be useful not only for mridangam artists but also for those who play ghatam, ganjira, morsing, konnakkol, tabla and drums. It comes with lucid explanations in English and is in a classroom format.
It has been Umayalpuram’s passion and desire to be a trendsetter in his art and he is happy with the journey so far. “I am thankful to God for having blessed me as an artist of repute. This has brought me close to divinity, great ‘vidwans’ of the past and the present and my ‘rasikas’ all over the world.’’Regarding the DVD, he said, “I formulated the book and teaching methods in these DVDs almost 40 years ago. But I got the divine sanction to give them a concrete shape only now.’’ Talking about his selection to the board for revising the music curriculum in Kerala, Umayalpuram said that discussions were going on. “My love for Kerala is more than half a century old. I’ve been a great admirer of Kerala, the artists and the teaching of music here. It is a great opportunity for me to share my musical experience and knowledge.’’ “I am blessed to have been born in Umayalpuram, the seat of culture, heritage, music and sastras.
I am twice blessed that I learnt this divine art form from illustrious gurus and that I have been in the field for more than six decades,’’ said Umayalpuram, who belongs to the direct ‘shishya parampara’ of Thyagaraja.
m_athira@epmltd.com