IITMAA’s Virtual Navaratri Series
For the second year in a row, the Chennai chapter of the IIT Madras Alumni Association (IITMAA) has organised an online Navaratri celebration with a program each of the nine evenings of the festival. The first day will showcase the star of the series in the headliner event – a Carnatic vocal concert by noted musician Amritha Murali, with her Guru, R.K. Shriramkumar on violin and K. Arun Prakash and N. Guruprasad on mridangam and ghatam respectively. Amritha’s student, Dhanush Anantharaman, a current 2nd year BTech Chem. Eng. student at IIT Madras (IITM), also presents a concert on a subsequent day in the series.
The announcement of this event appeared in The Hindu newspaper dated October 1, 2021.
Featuring mainly those with IITM affiliations, the line-up has instrumental and vocal programs representing a variety of bANi-s, a Carnatic quiz and lecture demonstration as well. Sujana Parupalli (a disciple of N.C.H. Krishnamacharyulu of Vijayawada and wife of faculty member Dr. Subramanya Sarma Vadlamani) presents a veena recital with her daughter Srividya. A student of Lalgudi Jayaraman, Vidya Subramanian, wife of Dr. K. Subramanian (BTech Mech. Class of 1995), will conduct a Carnatic quiz on Day 3. Dhanush sings on Day 4. Cincinnati based Dr. Kanniks Kannikeswaran, BTech Metallurgy Class of 1984, a student of Saraswathi Ammal and T.V. Gopalakrishnan, curates a presentation of some rare and some familiar compositions of Muthuswamy Dikshitar performed by an eclectic set of Hindustani dhrupad-trained singers and some from the Carnatic genre as well. The following evening is a vocal concert by San Francisco-based T.N. Arunagiri, MSc Chemistry Class of 1997, a student of Shertalai Renganatha Sharma. Day 7 features a Carnatic saxophone concert by Ragavan Manian, BTech EE Class of 1996, and a student of Mangalampalli Balamuralikrishna. On the eighth day, Monali presents a Hindustani/ Rabindrasangeet/ Bhajan concert. The 9th day features noted heritage enthusiast, conservationist and architectural researcher Madhusudhanan Kalaichelvan, who will present Bharatiyin Shakti, a lecture demonstration on Subramania Bharati’s compositions on Shakti. These will be musically illustrated by young vocalist Sunil Gargyan. A short live interaction with the artiste of the day will precede each program.
In pre-Corona days, IITM had a thriving Music Club that periodically presented programs of well-known artistes on campus. The current series saw its roots spring in late 2019 when IITMAA organised a small in-person lecture demonstration cum concert, in an external location, which was enthusiastically received. This led Shyamala Rajaram (BTech Civil Class of 1995), current Secretary of the global IITMAA, to envision a full-blown nine-day festival for Navaratri 2020. “It seemed quite an onerous task without any funds and with the unexpected complication of the lockdown” says Dr. Malati Raghunath (MSc Chemistry Class of 1999), President of the Chennai chapter of the IITMAA, who operationalised the events. “Shyamala, however, beautifully marshalled alumni to donate for an artistes’ fund which, along with modestly priced season ticket sales, enabled us to feature our alumnus Dr. S. Sowmya as the headliner last year, while giving a token honorarium to the other presenters as well,” she explains.
For tickets for the virtual event, visit https://iitmaa.org/events/4642
Related Links:
Amritha Murali, Amritha Murali – Quarantunes Podcast
R.K. Shriramkumar – Quarantunes Podcast
K. Arun Prakash – The Tunesmith, K. Arun Prakash – Quarantunes Podcast
N. Guruprasad – Quarantunes Podcast
Lalgudi Jayaraman – The Guru par excellence
