Musicians,events,anecdotes and tid-bits

[padmanabha]

_Bombay sisters C. Saroja and C. Lalitha who have mesmerized the audience all over the world presented an excellent concert in concert in connection with the Swati Nritha sangeetholsavam, organized by Swati Tirunal Sangeth Sabha.
Their greatest assets were crystal enunciation of the sahitya, and neraval which flows with impressive ease.

“Though we are called Bombay sisters, we belong to Thrissur. Our father Chidambaram a great connoisseur of music was working in Bombay. So the family settled there. He wanted us to become good musicians.” They said.

Mani popularly known as Chellamani (father of play back singer Hariharan) initiated them into music. On securing scholarship the sisters moved to Chennai. They joined the Madras central college of music. Musiri the legendary singer was the Principal. Impressed by the sisters he gave special attention them.
Only Lalitha had the scholarship. He gave special training to her and said that I could be pesent provided I should not sing. Including me in training would have gone against the Scholarship rules and regulations. I was deeply moved by the gesture” said Saroja.

Their debut performance was held in 1960. After the concert they were christened as Bombay sisters by a saint Maunaswamigal. “During Navarathri we performed at the Sai Baba Center at Mylapore. Our concert was scheduled prior to the great GNB’s performance. Suddenly he fell ill and as per his directives our concert was extended. It was a big success. His magnanimity provided a turning point in our career.” Said Lalitha.

Bhava sangeetham, and neraval are the two significant features of Musiri School of music. Each raga is an entity with its own characteristic aesthetic expresson. This uniqueness called bhava is the life of raga.
“When we sing, we give much importance to it. The under lying emotion of the sahitya can be brought only through bhava sangeetham” they say. The Bombay sisters’ rendition of Padmanabha Satakam for instance, substantiates this statement.
“Each one of us show our brilliance when we render elaborate alapana and kalpana swaram individually. It is music created on the spot, flows out spontaneously bringing out the vivid points of excellence. When we sing together there is no competition between us. The balance is struck naturally and we are comfortable” they explained.

These sisters have only few disciples. “We are busy performers. Secondly these days students have other diversions too. They give more importance to academic studies. Finding a mutually convenient time is difficult-they said.

Bombay sisters have umpteen numbers of cassettes and CDs to their credit. They expressed their sincere gratitude to their family members without which their career may not be as luminous as this.

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