A Night of Music and its Marma

On December 18th 2022, I got an opportunity to understand the different styles and appreciate the diverse nature of this artform: music. You must be thinking, 'How is someone mentioning 18th Dec 2022 and not talking about the FIFA World Cup?".

That is exactly the point.

I am a massive sports nut and an Argentina fan. I had been waiting to see them lift the World Cup for the last 32 years, ever since I started watching football back in 1990 as a 10-year-old kid. Each day this year since the beginning of the world-cup were spent with a mix of anxiety and jubilation. Until Argentina met France in the finals.

While looking for ways and excuses to distract myself on that Sunday(to avoid the anxiety of the finals) I got invited to a private concert by Chandana Bala Kalyan on vocals accompanied by Vinayak Netke on Tabla and Omkar Patil on the Harmonium. 

I had earlier reviewed both Chandana and Omkar on two separate instances so my expectations were set. I had interacted with both of them and was excited to meet them in person this time. I was also curious to meet and hear a new artist in Vinayak.

As I entered the lawn of the private bungalow where the concert was scheduled I heard the three artists rehearsing and setting their audio systems almost as if the concert had already begun. This perfection and the sheer dedication of the trio made me confident that I was in for a treat.

Chandana is a brilliant vocalist, and if you want to know what she is capable of, do listen to this masterpiece set in Puriya Dhanasree called 'The Great Escape' featuring Finix Ramdas and many other brilliant instrumentalists. The evening started and the concept amazed me, she calls it 'Marma'. It is about the realm of fantasy revolving around divinity and spirituality and how music helps interpret it. 



This concert was not for music lovers who come with a narrow view of music, believing that only Carnatic, Hindustani or a certain style of music was supreme.

Here is my review and descriptive analysis of what I heard. In the end, I will paint a picture of why this concept and concert were precisely what our community need today.

The concert set in a beautiful farmhouse, surrounded by nature and water set the tone for the concept that Marma is. She started with a Varnam 'Gopala pruthvi chandana' composed in Raag Shyam Kalyan. A varnam is a classical format to start a carnatic concert especially apt for the ongoing Margazhi season. The next song was a Namasankeerthanam or an invocation to the Lord, also called a Bhagwantwadiyacharane and although I was thinking it is probably set in Revathi Ragam, it could probably be in Raag Bhatiyar when I did some research later.

Now we started experiencing a transformation in the flow of the concert and new styles started getting introduced. It was magical to simply see Chandana sing in different languages and styles which demand so much of flexibility in imagination and execution. The beauty of the concert lay in the way Chandana gives a narrative description before every song. Next up was a song to celebrate the festival of Holi. A pure joyful song set in Raag Desh. There was exuberance and Omkar was incredibly up to the task on the Harmonium while Vinayak showed his dexterity on the Tabla. There were many moments when Chanadana would have to take a breather and the intensity never dropped one-bit thanks to Omkar and Vinayak.

Chandana then took out her Ukulele, a green one blending perfectly with the surrounding. I was curious to know what was in store next. She mesmerised by singing a beautiful Oriya verse in the Baul tradition which she later combined with an Ashtapathi called Nindati Chandana. The mild light musical style with a gentle humming sounded like a melodious number from the 1970s.

Then came a heartwarming and interesting story from Maharashtra, set probably in the temple town of Pandharpur. She talks about how in our culture God can be spoken to like a friend or even foe without any deterring fear. The original writing here translates to lord Panduranga entering a forest and being eaten by a ghost, the inner meaning of the song was mind-blowing. The amazing storytelling skills that she possesses actually makes Marma even more special. . This song was set in Mohana Ragam. Chandana sang in a free-spirited way devoid of restraints and she also got all her Marathi diction right, especially with two Maharashtrian musicians on either side.

Kannada was not forgotten in the mix of things as she sang a Kanakadasa song 'Nee Maya olago' set in Raag Gopriya. Apparently, it is also representative of the Western scale called Whole-tone. As a musical enthusiast, it was unimaginably difficult to comprehend, and I am certain it is an extremely complicated song to perform. The evening was getting better with such diverse creativity and novelty. The song and scale all the elements of Jazz which has incredible degrees of freedom for an artist to improvise and perform.

A Nirguni Stuti was sung like a Ram Leela and it had a wonderful story about how we feel dejected when a temple is shut thinking it is a sign from God. But Chandana through this had other ideas to convey. Along with the playful interceptions by Omkar it almost felt like the Villu-Pattu style heard in rural Tamil Nadu. Here the message is that it doesn't matter if the main door of a temple shuts off, God can be found inside our hearts.

Gammawala a Punjabi Heer written by Bulleh Shah in raag Charukeshi asking us to give up our ego and Ahankara and get closer to God. It was immediately followed by Kabir's Jheeni set in Maand.

The great Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan's beautiful song "Kinna Sona Tennu Rabb ne banaya" and although I assumed it was Shivaranjani Ragam, Chandana tells me it is basically in Karna Ranjani. As we approached the end she took us into another zone with aTelugu song called Nirguni Sadashiva Brahmalinga with some amazing philosophy asking what is inside what? I'll need a new post explaining just the concept itself but the eternal dilemma in whatever we do and think and intend was encapsulated in that work. It was set Raag Karaharapriya.

Finally a burst of energy came about in the bhajan 'Saavare Aijaiyo' which to my mind and understanding was in Raag Thilak Kamod or a mix of Khamaj and Bihag. The whole concert went on till 8.40PM and I never even realised that the finals of the World Cup had already begun. That is the power of music as it can make you oblivious of any other realms of reality.

I met with the artists and told them that whatever I have been trying to achieve as a music journalist was accomplished by Chandana, Omkar and Vinayak in under 2 hours. Music is beyond languages and no style or genre can claim superiority over another. The only way we can grow as human beings is if we keep our minds open and accept music outside of our comfort zones. My main aim as a music journalist is to throw light on India's musicians irrespective of what language they sing in, where they hail from or the genre they belong to. However, it is never easy to convince music lovers to listen to new styles of music. I hope through Chandana and her project 'Marma', music transcends all boundaries.