Carnatic vocalist Bombay Jayashri Ramnath and veena exponent E. Gayathri were conferred the P. Obul Reddy and P. Gnanambal Memorial Awards for Lifetime Achievement, respectively, at the Bhavan’s Cultural Festival here, on Friday.
Speaking on the occasion, Chief Justice of the Madras High Court Sanjay Kishan Kaul said despite various external influences, Indian culture had retained its originality.
“It has absorbed external influences in the course of its long journey of history from ancient times to the recent past. It is only the dynamism and flexibility of its character that enabled it to survive the foreign invasion and to still hold onto its traditional quality even after imbibing the best of foreign influence,” he said.
The Indian mind has assimilated much of the thinking of other cultures and become unique in its character, he added. “Today, it is this uniqueness that attracts the western society to Indian culture.”
C.V. Krishnaswami, chairman of TAG VHS Diabetes Research Centre, said both artistes who received the award had maintained the tradition of south Indian music in modern times.
Ms. Gayathri said she had been absolutely thrilled playing the veena for five decades. “It is extremely difficult and challenging to play the veena as we have no violin support. We, entirely, carry the concert on our shoulders,” she added.
The programme was followed by a concert by Bombay Jayashri.
