CHENNAI: Do I remind you of the pole star? Do I remind you of things long and complex? Do I remind you of the concept, rare things are beautiful? Name Me! — says a riddle. Another page carries a poem that decodes Raga Mohanam. Presenting the complex and in-depth subject in an interesting and simple style, the tome by dancer and musicologist Vidya Bhavani Suresh titled 50 Evergreen Ragas of Carnatic Music is a joint effort by her family including her teenage daughter and tween-aged twins.
A student of dancers Dhananjayans and the legendary K J Sarasa, Vidya, says that the idea of writing the book stemmed from her observation of audiences at a typical carnatic kutcheri. “I am fascinated by the excitement people show in identifying ragams. I feel when they attach so much of importance to the raga part, they lose out on many things. Not all concerts have the names of the ragams announced before the performance. By assuming that your audience knows a lot about music, you are excluding a number of people from the group. As such, the genre of music has a selective crowd — mostly senior citizens and music learners. Carnatic music has so much content and can reach everyone. For my part, in order to bridge the gap, I can familiarise people with the genre so that the music reaches a wider audience,” she says.
Vidya, who has penned 35 titles so far, in the last 14 years, has been on a mission to take classical and traditional art forms, both music and dance, to a larger group.
“When you educate them about one raga, they are automatically aware of a few songs. In this book, I have chosen 50 evergreen ragas, each of which has a unique trait. The idea is to create a comfort level,” says Vidya, who has an MA in Folklore.
Helping her in this music expedition are her kids — daughters Mahitha Harshitha, and son Nipun. Adding spice, colour and verve to attract a larger crowd, the book is replete with insights in the form of the boxes titled melodic sparklers. Apart from these, there are ragam references to a few compositions that are in praise of presiding deities in temples in and around Chennai.
Published by Skanda Publications, ‘50 Evergreen Ragas of Carnatic Music’ is available in stores across the city.