Editorial Music & Arts Carnatic Music Tarannum -From Ground Zero Humour Reflections History Profile Voice It Art of Living Prev Issue Next Issue

Vasumathi Badrinathan, is a noted Carnatic musician in Bombay. Initiated into music by her mother Padma Seshadri, she was groomed by T.R.Balamani. Besides music, Vasumathi is also a Bharata Natyam dancer. Kalaimamani T.K. Mahalingam Pillai of Shri Rajarajeshwari Bharata Natya Kala Mandir, has been her guru evolving her into one of the finest representatives of the Thanjavur bani . Music and dance have combined and complemented each other making Vasumathi’s artistic pursuits excellently fine and full.

Vasumathi has to her credit, the junior fellowship of music from the department of culture, Government of India and the Sur Mani title for music and Singara Mani title for dance from SurSingar Samsad. Currently engaged in research work in the Divya Prabandham (tamil poetry of the 5—9th century), and its relation to music. She has to her credit a tillana composition. Vasumathi's music is often broadcast over the All India Radio. She's an empanalled artiste of the ICCR (Indian Council of Cultural Relations). Vasumathi has not only been an exponent of art but also a writer of culture for the local and international press and has to her credit many talk shows and panel discussions. She has also travelled extensively abroad giving delightful performances.

Click on the image to enlarge it -- >

Recently she has released two albums,the first one being Tamil Padams which consist of padams used in the Carnatic repertoire. She chose the Tamil padams for her debut album as few padams form a part of a concert repertoire. Most of the old time classic padams in the album trace the ‘sringara rasa’ in its various hues, all wrought through from the mystery of love. The Tamil padams are those sung on Shiva in his mesmerising dancing form as Nataraja and on Lord Muruga’s bewitching beauty and charisma. The album however is brought to an end with a padam on Lord Krishna, the eternal lover, in the raga Kapi composed by her guru T.K. Mahalingam Pillai.

The second of the releases is Swara Dhwani, consisting of songs from the all time classics of Thyagaraja, Muthuswamy Dikshatar, Shyama Shastri,and Purandaradasa.

The album is a gamut of languages namely Malayalam Telugu, Sanskrit, Kannada and Hindiand concludes with vasumathi’s composition a tillana in Darbari Kannada.

Here are a few excerpts from vasumathi’s interview to SAWF.  

< -- Click on the image to enlarge it

Padmasini: Did u  take special training  to sing padams?

Vasumathi: No, I did not take any special training in padam singing. Alongside Carnatic music, I am a Bharata Natyam dancer as well, and this experience has given me a lot, as far as padams are concerned. I enjoy a repertoire of padams in tamil and telugu and dance allows me to approach these numbers with more understanding, feeling and depth. However, singing a padam, is also demanding, as the rhythm is generally slow, you have to have good control over sahitya and laya.

Padmasini: What is unique about the style of Brinda and Mukta who are famous for singing padams?  

Vasumathi: Brinda and Mukta popularised padam singing and became synonymous with this genre of composition. They maintained the slow chowka beauty of padams, projected and propagated them.

Padmasini: How is the patronage of carnatic music in cities like  bombay?  

Vasumathi: Bombay is a culturally happening city. There are a lot of South Indian sabhas, and good Carnatic music can be heard in this metropolis. One cannot however expect the frequency to be as high as in Madras, due to the cosmopolitan nature of the city. One can't forget either that this city has produced numerous teachers and performers of repute.

Padmasini: Have you any classical compositions to your credit?  

Vasumathi:Only one so far, a tillana in Darbari Kanada which features in my album Swara Dhwani.

Padmasini: What is the difference between the Padams and the Astapadis?  

Vasumathi: Ashtapadis are also love poems like most padams, elaborating on nayaka-nayaki bhava. While padams come from a gamut of composers belonging to different centuries, ashtapadis are a series of poems, written by one sole author Jayadeva. While ashtapadis focus on Radha-Krishna as the core and sole subject, padams deal with various gods of the hindu pantheon-Krishna, Muruga, Shiva/Nataraja.  

View and Post comment on this article