VEENA SARASWATI

The Innovative Traditionalist

By V Ramnarayan

The one word to accurately describe her stage presence would be poise. The very picture of tradition in her attire and  the quiet confidence she exudes, little warning does she give the audience of the intricate, sometimes thrilling raga essays she is capable of sculpting, taking full advantage of the aural majesty of the Saraswati veena. Impeccable as it is, her pedigree is also somewhat unusual. hailing from a family of master violinists but choosing the veena as her instrument as she did, her first veena guru an exponent of the Tanjavur bani and her second, well, S Balachander of the Balachander bani; she did gurukulavasam for over two decades with her aunt-guru, at the same time doing a masters in English literature and learning French.

Three role models seem to have shaped Jayanthi’s musical growth and development, her aesthetics and world view in both similar and different ways. Her relationship as a young child with her celebrity uncle Lalgudi Jayaraman was founded on hero worship and family pride, learning the veena from aunt Padmavathy was an exposure to tough love, a combined package of strict guru and doting aunt, and her discipleship with Balachander an exciting ride of awe at the man’s magnificent obsession with his instrument and the ragas whose depths he sought to plumb with enormous physical and intellectual effort, leavened by mirth at his irreverent, quirky sense of humour. She also learnt the twin values of tradition and innovation, that tradition is not a stagnant pool but a dynamic stream where every ‘addition’ is marked by good taste and avoidance of excess.

Moderation, proportion, appropriateness are qualities obvious in Jayanthi’s veena playing whether in Carnatic music concerts, jugalbandis with the likes of tabla  maestro Zakir Hussain or violinist husband Kumaresh, symphonic music with western orchestras or the ambitious Indian National Orchestra, her brainchild to which top musicians from both Carnatic and Hindustani music backgrounds have responded so positively. The home advantage of being married to another brilliant instrumentalist has produced an exciting on-stage partnership leading to original compositions for their two diverse instruments. Thecouple, as well as the Ganesh-Kumaresh duo firmly believe that there is music beyond lyric-oriented kritis and other compositions for both the veena and the violin and have created different compositions highlighting the strengths and nuances of each instrument.

Almost paradoxically, Jayanthi endeavours to exploit the potential of the veena both as a purely solo instrument, which does not require an accompanying instrument and as a majestic centrepiece of instrumental ensembles. At the present stage of her career, she is a youngish veteran of many a summer, poised for take-off into a mature future of even more mature and ripe music. Unafraid to experiment, she has succeeded at the same time, in staying rooted in the Lalgudi tradition.