Violin Special Issue

Dwaram Venkataswamy Naidu

P. V. Rajamannar, then Chief Justice of the High Court in Madras and an expert connoisseur of music, speaking at a Sammana Mahotsavam got up in 1949 to present a purse to Dwaram, said: Naidu Garu is a master of the technique. He can produce notes of linked sweetness long drawn out and with equal facility evoke strains of melody pulsating with the quickness of love and passion. He is a rasika among the players of violin and his music traverses the whole gamut of the navarasas. His soft and delicate touches have a remarkable soothing and healing effect. Naidus handling of Tyagarajas kriti- music, like arts and sciences, should be perpetually progressive and any effort to confine it in narrow pigeon- holes and fixed, unchangeable grooves must be thwarted. For him, rigid and immutable laws laid down for all time were stultifying and ignored the truth that music changed to reflect the tendencies, aspirations, hopes and fears of each age. Against this background of his convictions, Naidu utilised ideas from Hindustani and Western music in his rendering of Carnatic music, without affecting in any way its fundamental structure and ancient tradition,

Dancing Feet in Kathakali

The hero in a Kathakali play may be gentle, sublime or simple but he is courageous. Whatever his character , his steps are firm. Neither he -nor for that matter the heroine - is a pussyfooted weakling. Thus, for example, in the unusual scene of Ravana outraging the modesty of Rambha in Rambhapravesam, the damsel (portrayed by a male, of course) is in distress but yet she is strong enough to curse Ravana, the conqueror of gods. Her steps, too, are firm, very different from the soft gliding steps of a Mohiniattam dancer and her lasya style. Mostly the Kathakali dancer stamps his feet hard, sending tremors along the floor. He stamps hard to create an aura of a magnificent personality . He certainly needs strong boards for his stage. Man has three gunas; satvik, rajas and tamas. A person of satvaguna is gentle and disciplined and has his emotions, especially anger, in a tight rein.