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Both Sanjay and Sriramkumar sing the krithis together and then alternately sing kalpana swarams with relaxed ease. They quickly show us how the notes are arranged. “The way the notes are handled is quite striking,” says Sanjay. “In Bhooshavathi -which corresponds to Vachaspathi in the Melakartha system of Venkatamakhi - the arohanam and avarohanam are as follows” … Sanjay then proceeds to sing these. Sa ri ga sa - Sa ri pa ma pa da sa Sanjay speaks lucidly in layman’s terms. He says Dikshatar was a stickler for tradition. He thought the bhava element was more important than adherence to the mela rules. Therefore, in order to give greater emphasis to that, he would use other prayogas.
Ravikiran makes the point that gamakam also lend unique distinction to certain ragas. Rags like Kalyani, Thodi and Yadukulakambodhi would not be the same without their characteristic gamakam. Other ragas like Keeravani may be presented either with or without gamakam. He goes on to say that there are certain ragas like Hindolam “that will be killed” by use of gamakam. The discussion goes on for some time with Sanjay only able to get the occasional word in edgewise. The program ends with Sri T.K.Govinda Rao congratulating Sanjay and his team for an excellent presentation and added that Sanjay had put to bed the theory that good lec-dems can only be presented by musicologists who cannot sing very well. Sri S.Rajaram’s lec-dem on the next day is about the music of his grandfather, Mysore Vasudevachariar. Beginning his program by paying homage to his guru with the utterance “Sri Vasudeva Gurubhyonamaha” Sri Rajaram first warn us that he has a bad tooth ache and asks the audience’s indulgence. No such warning was called for. He begins with Madari varnam “Vanajakshi” and hits the notes dead on. I am sure he spent some time singing earlier and his voice was already warmed up. He then sings Vande Nishapadam in Hamsadwani. Anecdotes follow about Vasudevachariar’s student days when he was with his guru Patnam Subramanya Iyer. Then another story about meeting Gopal Raja of the Mysore court at a tent city set up during the great plague that afflicted the capital in the 1890s. He is persuaded to compose for the Maharaja. Rajaram Sir then sings “Chintayeham Janaki Kaantam” in Mayamalavagowla - the first composition by Sri Vasudevachariar.
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Tuesday morning finds us listening to a rare vocal duo. Sanjay Subramaniam and R.K. Sriramkumar are giving a lec-dem. They are showing us how Muttuswamy Dikshatar used mela ragas. The 150 or so attendees include rasikas and vidwans alike. Using compositions in ragas Roopavathi, Bhooshavathi and Vamshavathi (which correspond to Melas 12, 64 and 54) they demonstrate the various vakra prayogas used by the composer to enhance and embellish the raga bhava. 
Ravikiran is taking notes. Sanjay’s clear explanations, his informal style and the carefully thought out matter and examples gets him rapt attention from the audience. He and Sriramkumar handle the songs well and the kalpanaswarams following each kriti bring out all the essential variations described in the preamble to each song. 
The discussion that follows gets hijacked by Sri T.K.Govinda Rao. Ravikiran joins in. Sri. Govinda Rao points out that even Thyagaraja used vakra prayogas to emphasise raga bhava and to introduce dissonances to embellish his music. This can be seen in the Charukesi piece “Aadamodi” where the anupallavi “thodu needa neeve” is set as “pa da ni da ni sa”. The purpose is, says Sri Govinda Rao, to give importance to bhava. 
Anecdotes and songs follow in Rajaram Sir’s natural voice. In his conversational style, he leads us through a musical biography of the life of his grandfather and guru. As the time goes by unnoticed, he brings us to Vasudevachariar’s last day on this earth. We watch as the composer leaves his mortal body while his devoted pupil and grandson is singing for him at his bedside. 
