Ladies
& Gentlemen,
Namaskaram.
Sruti
has always been steeped in tradition, but it has never shied away from
technology. We use contemporary tools to analyse our ancient arts. Sruti’s very
first issue way back in October 1983 had the archetypal traditionalist DK
Pattammal and boy wonder Mandolin U Srinivas on its cover. It was still in its
early years when it switched from physical cutting and pasting to desktop
publishing solutions. The Sruti website was launched as early as 1998, by the
venerable doyen of Carnatic music, Semmangudi Srinivasier, another happy
juxtaposition of tradition and modernity. When the magazine introduced colour
in late 2006, some of our friends were critical of the move. One of them said,
“I don’t like the new Sruti. It has too much colour. “It was in some ways the
expression of a valid fear that we would in the process forsake some of our
aesthetic values. Happily, we have by trial and error largely avoided the trap.
The
Sruti App will soon be launched and I shall not dwell on it, except to say that
the young dancers who follow me will perhaps appreciate the App much better
than most of us belonging to an older generation. The young man who is about to
enthrall you is a veritable genius equally comfortable with a traditional art
rooted in our soil and modern technology.
The
gentleman who is set to launch the app is someone who is well versed in the
state-of-the-art in technology as well as the classical arts. Rajiv Menon is
original in his thinking, brilliant in his creativity and crystal-clear in his
articulation.
Like Sruti, Gowri Ramnarayan, one of its founder editors,
straddles the fields of music, dance, literature and theatre with consummate
ease. So do the other members of her team this evening, the artists Mythili
Prakash—a talented American-born Indian bharatanatyam dancer—and vocalist
Amritha Murali—also an accomplished violinist who has a master’s degree in
finance management—and the technical team of Venkatesh Krishnan, a sensitive
lighting specialist respected by all theatrepersons,
scholar-actor-writer-artist Akhila Ramnarayan and the gifted and versatile
Sheejith Krishna, dancer, choreographer, conductor, and percussionist.
On
behalf of Sruti, I welcome our generous sponsors and all our distinguished
guests to this evening’s programme. It also gives me great pleasure to welcome
you all. Where but at Kalakshetra founded by that ultimate traditionalist and
fearless innovator Rukmini Devi Arundale can we find such a perfect ambience
for the proceedings of this evening?
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