JOIN USIt is not easy to get maestro Lalgudi Jayaraman as a guru. One has to be truly blessed to receive knowledge from him. Shreya Devnath, a Chennai girl, was the fortunate one. She picked up the violin at the age of 10. Lalgudi was her mentor and guru. Though a senior, he took real interest in her, and asked her to get a small violin to start playing. Although a tough teacher, it was Lalgudi who nurtured her talent to perfection and made her what she is now.
Learning years
“Any class could be your last class. He had high standards and would never tolerate any kind of mistakes. At the same time, he was so committed that he would be with you through all your difficulties, helping you till you got what he wanted you to learn. He would struggle with you, agonise over you… but never leave you if your efforts were sincere.” His spontaneity, with a balance of intellect and emotion, and approach to ragas composed and improvised music… everything got transferred to his students. “That was the greatest learning. To look at music as a whole. One has to understand the reason and meaning… and express the story every raga has to give. Every sangathi you play has layers of meaning. One should know where to split it.” Shreya sings to explain that. “Only then the perspective of every raga can get expressed. Every raga should tell a story.”
Shreya has to her credit 20 performances last season. “It is competitive. The organisers and the sabhas are doing their best. But vocalists are more in demand. Besides, violin being an instrument that is played as an accompaniment, solo performances are given little encouragement. There is only one instrumental performance for every 10 vocal ones.”
Her first performance was at the Sri Krishna Gana Sabha in their Gokulashtami series. She was only 16 then. “The hall was packed and the first few rows were filled up with great musicians. Lalgudi was sitting right in front, crossed-legged on a chair.” But Shreya, being young, did not realise the seriousness as she played the violin, says her mother. It was much later that she did. Now she travels a lot. In India she has played in Chandigarh, Jamshedpur, Kolkata and Bengaluru. Abroad, only in two places — Singapore and London.
Crowd connect
Audiences are not the same everywhere. “Within Chennai itself, the crowd varies. Mylapore and T Nagar audiences can be different from other places. The same combination of songs and ragas elicits different reactions from different audiences. For instance, in Singapore, there are more hardcore connoisseurs.”
One has to plan the repertoire according to the audience as well. If one succeeds in connecting with the audience, the performance becomes a success. “In Kolkata, for instance, the organisers had asked me to keep the performance light and were anxious. But the audience received it so well that the performance exceeded the usual allotted time,” she recalls. “They were a little hesitant in the beginning, but soon the demand started growing. The performance finally ended only after 10 pm.” However, no performance is complete without Lalgudi’s thillana. Everybody loves it.
Criticism and reviews do not bother Shreya much, though her reactions may not be the same. Lalgudi always said, “Evaluate yourself. Even before others comment. It is easy to get flattered. One has to see music as it is. Working is the easiest thing for an artiste. Once you establish a connection with the audience, satisfaction comes easily and the performance is a success.”
Shreya’s appeal to the audience is, “We work hard. It would be nice to evaluate music for what it is. To encourage an artiste, come for the concerts. All we want is to perform for you. Enjoy with us.”
As a young and accomplished violinist, focussed on music as a profession, Shreya is still asked by people, “So, what are you doing?” If she says it is music, then they repeat, “Yes, music. But what do you do?” It is still difficult for people to accept music as a full-time profession. And, in a way, not surprising as she was excellent at academics, a university topper. “Still I chose music.” Shreya smiles.