By Narasimhan Vijayaraghavan
RaGa-Ranjani-Gayathri sisters perform at the Music Academy. One can see throngs in the wee hours of Andal’s Margazhi day,
On Christmas Day, year after year, RaGa-Ranjani-Gayathri sisters perform at the Music Academy. One can see throngs in the wee hours of Andal’s Margazhi day, at 03.45 am (yes ungodly hour, you may assume) at the daily ticket counter. And even the mini-hall comes into play, for a live Video on display. This year in 2023, was no different.
Talking of mini halls, it was RaDi- Ramya-Divya sisters, disciples of RaGa, at Narada Gana Sabha today. They went ahead of their gurus, in timeline. Talent has a knack of rearing its head, shoulders and throat. In Carnatic music, it is a pity that such talents remain ‘Hidden Potential’ (in the words of Wharton Professor – Organisational Psychologist’s new book) for too long. Why?
Carnatic music platforms are tough to get to. So many sabhas you may say. Yet, competition is crowded and unless you are well ‘networked’, you may have to perform in your bathrooms or obliging local temples where you are ‘famous’.
One was comforted to see a ‘decent’ turn out, a bit beyond family/friends. Typically, experience suggests, for every one rasika coming in, three plus leave the hall. That is tradition. Today, it was one on one. Good. End of concerts boasts more in the audience, as a mix between the leftovers of the current and the next concert. This too is tradition, you see.
When word gets around, halls may get filled in? The rasikas know that a Dec,25 slot in NGS is a prized slot. So, those that peeped in after a piping hot coffee, stayed put to enjoy,the new kids on the block.
Well, how was I there? Law got me in. When lawyer- sisters sing, it is news. Lawyers are rarely talented in anything. Law is mostly last resort. Even in law, as my favourite Justice Antonin Scalia wrote in ‘Talking Law’. Many lawyers ‘perform’ in court, as Justice Krishna Iyer once said. Remember, lawyers are in ‘practice’, all the time. It is more than the gladwellian 10,000 hours. Musicians have to do ‘Sadhagam’. A higher echelon of ‘practice’. And today, at NGS mini hall, RaDi demonstrated that in practice.
Law and music, on the surface, seem like disparate disciplines. One wields the gavel of logic and precedent, while the other dances on the wings of emotion and melody. Yet, in the vibrant tapestry of Indian society, lawyers and musicians share a profound connection, playing out their roles in a symphony as complex and layered as the raga itself. RaDi made it sweet and simple ie. Janaranchagam.
Like the meticulous notes of a veena artiste (Ramya is one too) lawyers meticulously dissect cases, weaving arguments with the intricate precision of a Carnatic violinist (Divya is one too). They become instruments of justice, their voices rising and falling like the mirudangam or a ghatam or a kanjira or a morsing, building crescendos of persuasion before settling into the satisfying resolution of a verdict. In music, you do not perform to win or lose. For a client. But for yourself. Of course, the Rasika.
The courtroom drama, with its heated exchanges and impassioned pleas, mirrors the electrifying energy of a successful concert. Lawyers channel their inner maestros, commanding attention with their booming voices and sharp retorts. Their cross-examinations become duels of wit, each question a carefully placed note, probing for weaknesses and eliciting reactions like a skilled musician drawing out hidden tones from their instrument or vocal chords. Rarely, Courts would like lawyers to argue more. Always less. Today, NGS mini hall may have wanted RaDi to sing more. For, RaDi were on song!
RaDi essayed the alapanas and swaraprastharams with aplomb, revealing years’ of practice, beyond their ages . Their choice of kirthanais were spot on like sharp, focused submissions of attorneys, to appeal to an indifferent court. And their musical phrases resonated beautifully.
Sanjit Narayanan on the Violin and B N Kasindh on the Mirudangam, gave able support. And the obliging rasikas generously applauded.
The lawyer’s burden, however, carries a discordant note. The weight of responsibility, the pressure of deadlines, and the constant emotional drain can take their toll. The courtroom, once a stage for brilliance, can become a cage of stress, the melody replaced by the grinding dissonance of mental fatigue.
RaDi were not burdened by the occasion. They were on song.They felt belonged on this stage. Welcome to the cut-throat competition of courtroom practice, sorry Carnatic music performance on stage!
(Author is practicing advocate in the Madras High Court)