36 l SRUTI July 2015

REMEMBERING

July is the birthday of Sangita Kalanidhi D.K. Jayaraman

Similarly, a tala is the physical manifestation of the layam inside you. That is why it is called “brahma layam” or “mano layam”. DKJ was one of the rare artists with an extraordinary “brahma layam”. Many senior mridanga vidwans acknowledged this aspect and were at total ease when playing the tani avartanams with complex nadais

while accompanying DKJ. Other stalwarts who had this quality include Flute Mali, S. Balachander, K.V. Narayanaswamy, M.D. Ramanathan, and Lalgudi Jayaraman, to name a few.

The music world knows that both DKJ and DKP were experts in singing ragam-tanam-pallavi, especially nadai pallavis. This was imbibed from their association with the stalwart Kanchipuram Naina Pillai.

The genius of DKJ was the way he set tunes to the lyrics of compositions. One just had to give him a simple lyric to which he would set a tune and bring it to life with his rendition. I recall vidwan Lalgudi Jayaraman mentioning this once. He said, “When DKJ sang one of my tillanas, I could not believe that it was my own composition, as DKJ’s gnana-balam made it sound extraordinary.”

DKJ and his music were held in high esteem by his fellow musicians who accompanied him during his concerts. These included Lalgudi Jayaraman,

D.K. JAYARAMANThe multi-faceted musician Manoj Siva

29(DKJ) – an extraordinary musician who was not only my brother Vijay Siva’s guru but also our family’s guru.

The musician

DKJ’s music was deeply rooted in sampradaya, rich in Carnatic flavour. Bhava was his forte. His style of singing simple, pure and chaste, appealed to the connoisseur and the common man. His raga alapana, niraval and kalpanaswaram were pleasantly precise and crisp. They captured the full essence of the raga and his emotive style of singing kritis was a sheer delight to rasikas.

His control over layam was amazing. Layam is not just tala or mathematics but a force which can be only felt and not seen. The perfect example is that of the planets revolving around the sun, governed by a divine force that cannot be seen but directs their movements.

SAMUDRI ARCHIVES

D.K. Jayaraman with daughter Sukanya and Balaji Shankar (vocal support), K.K. Ravi (violin) and Manoj Siva (mridangam)

37 l SRUTI July 2015

M.S. Gopalakrishnan, V.V. Subrahmanyam, Umayalpuram K. Sivarman, Palghat Raghu, and Karaikudi Mani.

His was a vast repertoire of compositions ranging from the music trinity to contemporary composers. A major contribution of his to Carnatic music was in popularising and propagating many compositions of the Trinity especially Muthuswami Dikshitar. He also popularised the compositions of contemporary composers like Papanasam Sivan, Muthiah Bhagavatar, Spencer Venugopal and Tanjavur Sankara Iyer.

I have listened to his rendition of Saundararajam asraye several times, and every time I am touched by his soulful rendition. Similarly, every time I listen to his Manadirkugandadu my eyes become moist.

His emphasis on perfection was exemplary. His son J. Vaidyanathan narrates that before presenting a new kriti on stage, DKJ would practise it for a minimum of fifty times – a trend followed by many great musicians of his generation and earlier. Such was their dedication to their art.

D.K. Jayaraman was D.K. Pattammal’s brother and her prime disciple, but he imbibed several musical elements from other stalwarts including T. Brinda, Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer, and Madurai Mani Iyer. He spoke highly of Rajaratnam Pillai and had great respect for the music of his senior colleague Ramnad Krishnan and his contemporaries T.M. Thyagarajan and K.V. Narayanaswamy.

He had a special liking for T. Brinda’s music. Once, when he presented a programme of Kamalamba Navavarana kritis with his disciples at Narada Gana Sabha, Brinda was in the audience. After the programme, DKJ rushed to greet her, literally standing on the edge of the dais. People around him

were afraid that he would fall down. He repeatedly told her that he was overjoyed that she had come to his performance. Such was his regard for Brindamma.

Another musician he held in high esteem was Palghat Mani Iyer. Vijay Siva recalls that on many occasions DKJ’s eyes became moist when he spoke about Mani Iyer, as the stalwart was instrumental in encouraging DKJ to give solo performances.

The teacherMy guru Palghat Raghu used to say that DKJ was a teacher par excellence who could make even a stone sing. He had an uncanny method of understanding each student’s potential and taught him or her accordingly, so as to raise the student’s prowess to a high standard. His teaching extended beyond just music and he was concerned about his students’ well-being. All his students loved and respected him as he was egoless. They enjoyed his company and engaged in discussions about subjects other than music too.

I had the opportunity to learn vocal music from him in 1990. I learnt a few kritis but unfortunately, he died in January 1991. During my classes, I enjoyed the way he used to teach and bring out sangatis, which I couldn’t get right. I remember one thing he told me when teaching,

“Soften your voice when you sing in the higher octave”.

DKJ was very proud and fond of his students. For a concert of Vijay Siva at the Music Academy, J. Vaidyanathan played the mridangam. DKJ was sitting in the front row beside my father and I. Trichy Swaminatha Iyer, a very senior vidwan, came up to DKJ and said, “Jayaraman, I hear that Vaidhyanathan is your son. DKJ

quickly replied, “The boy who is singing is my student.” What more proof do we need for the love he had for his students!

The manDKJ was a very simple, practical, and down-to-earth person of great courage and had a good sense of humour. He was a cricket buff and loved to discuss the sport.

I have had the fortune of accompany-ing him in a few concerts. One which holds a special place in my heart is the concert in which I accompanied him on the occasion of Narayana Teertha Day at Sastri Hall in 1989. I was seventeen then. The other accompanists were T.S. Veeraraghavan (violin) and V. Suresh (ghatam). R.K. Shriramkumar provided vocal support. DKJ encouraged me a lot during the concert held in the august presence of stalwarts like M.S. Subbulakshmi, M. Balamurali-krishna, and Lalgudi Jayaraman in the audience. I remember two memorable remarks he made during the concert. Looking at MS, he said here was an avatara of Saraswati Devi. He also compared Shriram-kumar’s relationship with him as Swami Vivekananda’s to Ramakrishna Paramahamsa.

He regarded his sister D.K. Pattammal as his guru, guide, philosopher, andguide, philosopher, andphilosopher, and friend till his last brtill his last breath.

(The author is a mridangist and a blogger http://nmanojsiva.blogspot.in)

D.K. Jayaraman with D.K. Pattammal