A phenomenon called Abhishek Raguram - Part I

A phenomenon called Abhishek Raguram

 Definition of Phenomenon is “observable fact” or “Experience”. Like this, in my life, I have so many      experiences like:

T     Through my father, I have experienced Varagoor perum
       Through shri, Venki, Guru at Dubai, oneness with parAshakthi

T     Through paramAcharyal’s discourse, always felt the in debth knowledge from a messiah of God.

        From my wife, perserverance, kindness, love to the children and bondness etc.,

  I have heard the definition of “phenomenon” through

 ;     Flute mAli playing the instrument at the age of 4. Semmangudi mamA’s worry about his future music career.

       Mandolin Srinivas

       Shashank- Another prodigy in flute.

        T,R,Rajarathinam's Todi

        Ramanujam- Mathematical genius

        MahAtma gAndhi

We can say, genius, God’s gift, icon. – But all these adjectives are possible only if you are blessed by God. I always believe in Creator and some of his wonderful creations.

Recent experience, I had when I was fortunate to listen to a beautiful jati of nArAyana TeerTha’s Tarangam by one Mr.Ramakrishna, a professor of Financial Management in reputed college in Mumbai and visiting professor in various colleges. It is very difficult to sing jati, while playing harmonium and moreover, if Mridangam is not following up, there will be chaos everywhere.

I had written about this visually challenged person in another review of Tarangini festival at Varagoor on the last 26^th January. Acharya Rajneesh always contends that 80% of our energy goes thorugh our eyes. When this energy is converged in to your Atma and channelized through Bhakthi, you have people like Ramakrishna.

Abhishek Raguram is, for me, a God send person. I have been listening Carnatic music for the past 20 years. From Ariyakkudi to Semmangudi, Maharajapuram -3 generations, GNB, Mani Iyer. I have the good habit of accepting all these Greats music. My music is not artist-centred, but rAgA-centered. So I always enjoy the beauty of “nAdham” through the Godsend artists like the above.

I had an opportunity to listen to Abhishek raguram live in ratnagiriswar Temple at Besantnagar. Shri G.S.Mani at the concuding speech said “"Edo oru Eashwara Sakthi Npadindrukku, adukku nanga enna solithardu"

Narayanan writes:

jet speed swaras and not a single off key note anywhere. and when he dwelled on the upper registers, oh what a purity of notes. smooth and silken.........he has the most beautiful and dulcet voice on the circuit as on today. and the way he enjoyed the violin and asked the soundman to raise its volume not only here but also when akkarai was playing wonderfully at the jaya tv thamizhisai concert.... the way he obliged with all the song and raga requests with a serene smile...... this man has arrived.

THE HINDU REPORTS- IN THE EVE OF Rasikapriya's 34th anniversary celebrations in Kochi

“Abhishek Raghuram's concert stood out for its trenchancy and verve. The Navaraga varnam of Patanam Subramania Iyer made way to more dulcet compositions such as ‘Muddumomu' in Suryakantham and ‘Saraseeruha ramaiyya' in Mukhari.

The vocalist sang sustained notes of Charukeshi and thus brought out the true raga bhava. The kriti chosen was ‘Adamodigalade,' a composition of Tyagaraja. The vocalist took off to the upper octave with Anandabhairavi and gave the choicest phrases a true Carnatic flavour with long and deep gamakas.

Abhishek sang an unexpected niraval for the phrase ‘Ramanamane' in the Hamsanadam composition ‘Bantureethi koluvu' and proceeded to brisk swaras, which turned out to be one of the highlights of the concert.

The main raga for the evening was the rarely sung Abheri and the kriti was Dikshitar's ‘Bhajare re Manasa,' which is also not too often heard. The brigas were unerring and crisp.”

THE HINDU REPORTS IN ANOTHER CONCERT:

Abhishek Raghuram's heavy repertoire enthralled his audience in Chalakudy. The audience that sat through a protracted meeting, preceding the recital, heaved a sigh of relief as Abhishek broke into the Begada Adi tala varnam of Vina Kooppayyar, ‘Inthachalamu.'

This was followed by a Navagraha composition of Dikshitar, which gave a new dimension to the recital. ‘Sooryamoorthe' in Sourashtram is the first among this series that invokes the blessings of the Sun.

By selecting ‘Sooryamoorthe' Abhishek gave the audience a rare opportunity to listen to the dhruva (chaturasra) tala. The rendition was alluring.

Swati Tirunal's ‘Samodam chintayaami' in Udayaravichandrika followed with an eloquent alapana. Edappalli Ajith's avartanam of the same was well done. The misra chapu composition was ornamented with innumerable sangatis of the opening line, ‘Samodam chintayami sarasiruhanabham.' The composition also served to highlight the clarity of diction of the vocalist. Niraval of ‘Syanandura nagaree sobhayamana geham' was noteworthy.

Then, the audience had the privilege of listening to a popular Tyagaraja composition in Darbar that was popular in concerts in the past. It was ‘Mundhuvenuka niruprakkala thodai' in Adi