Like the glowing lamps that are set afloat on the waters at the Dashashwamedh Ghat just before the rousing Ganga aarti, notes seem to ride on the high and low waves and beats capture the rhythm of the flowing water and moods of the people crowding the mighty river. Srikrishna and Ramkumar Mohan, popularly known as Trichur Brothers, wish to motivate people to free the Ganga of filth and pollutants with a specially composed ‘Namami Gange anthem’.
This is no way to treat the sacred river that flows through two nations and five Indian states, has nourished our civilisation and is our cultural icon,” says Srikrishna.
So when the Central Government came up with the Namami Gange Programme to clean and protect the river, the brothers decided to do their bit by paying an ode to it and encouraging people to join the movement. Music is unifying and an incredible way of conveying a message, they feel. And recently when the Government announced an outlay of Rs. 20,000 crore for the clean-up task, a trailer of the anthem was released on YouTube.
“We began working seriously on the song after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Madison Square address. We roped in friends who were equally enthusiastic about it. Thus stepped in Deepika Chandrashekaran as director and Prashanth Techno as music producer. The orchestral team features brilliant musicians such as Vedanth Bharadwaj, Aalaap Raju, Karthick Iyer, Josh Mark Raj, Jeoraj Stanly George, Vasanth Jayaraman and D V Venkat. Our mridangist-father Mohan joined too,” says an excited Srikrishna.
As successful young Carnatic vocalists, who have been experimenting with raga and rhythm through their band Anubhuti, the duo saw this as another opportunity to explore the realms of music. “Quite like how this majestic river originates in the Himalayas and flows blissfully along with its many tributaries, our music emerges from the classical and gladly makes space, when necessary, for a global sound,” explain the brothers. It was a heart-warming moment when they finished recording the song. “Delighted with the outcome, we sent the video to the National Mission for Clean Ganga. They liked the concept and sent in their approval four days ago,” says a beaming Ramkumar.
With the increasing number of hits for the teaser, the brothers are convinced that the full-fledged version, backed with an elaborate video that captures the myriad emotions, locations, activities and phases associated with the Ganga, will generate a positive response. “As the river has devotees and admirers across the world, we wanted the anthem to initiate a global dialogue on the vital clean-up issue through its cross-genre appeal.”
Explaining the essence of the composition, says Srikrishna, “It starts with Adi Shankaracharya’s ‘Gangashtakam’ that describes the glory of the river and then moves on to verses in Hindi (by Vayu) asking people to spare a thought about the plight of the river and finally, urging them to take an oath to keep it clean.”
The anthem ends with the Namami Gange chant, echoing the importance of the river in our festivals, birth, death and everything else in between.
