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| Cleveland Thyagaraja Aradhana 2003 - Mostly about Breakfast and Butter |
 I must share one of the most valuable lessons I learned at the festival this year. I caught up with Sri. T.K. Govinda Rao at breakfast in the hotel one morning. As I sat down he peered at my cornflakes through his gold-rimmed spectacles. Then, with a smile he said he wanted cereal without rice and had only seen the rice crispies. He bounded off to get some cornflakes from the side table.
He returns soon and I see the snow-white beard, white shirt and trousers, the blue and gold shawl draped on his shoulders and large diamonds in each ear. But what I notice is the warm smile in his eyes.
He sits down with toast and proceeds to dunk a pat of butter in his coffee. He gets it out with just enough time to soften the butter and now spreads it easily on his toast. Any of us who have struggled with cold lumps of butter on our toast should learn this ritual. I make a mental note to try this
myself.
I ask him to elaborate on his comments during Sanjay’s lec-dem regarding the importance of hridaya in Carnatic music. He warms to this immediately and begins to explain.
 In our music the raga bhava and the saahithya are very important” he says. Unfortunately we have focused for the past 30 - 40 years mainly on swarasthana and mathematics. Understanding the poetry and the meaning of the songs is essential. Today there is disproportionate emphasis on the intellectual aspect of music. The teaching methods have led us in this direction he says when I ask why he thinks this happened. There is a theory he adds, that logic and mathematics are the enemy of art.
How long can you listen to some one reciting, “one plus one is two - two plus one is three - and so on?” he asks with a big smile. “It becomes boring very quickly doesn’t it?” “The mental aspects must be kept in balance. Otherwise there will not be proper focus. Even sruthi will be affected if there is too much emphasis on the specific notes (swarasthanas). The words and meaning must take precedence. This is very different from Hindustani music. If you sing like this “Gooooooooo oooooo ooooo Vinda, how does it sound?”
Shankar Ramachandran
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