Aliveni
Aliveni - the lady with long black tresses
Sometime in the 90s, I bought a set of CDs titled Gems of Carnatic. While I was familiar with several of them, there were many I had never heard before. Of them, one particular song composed by Swati Thirunal and sung by K V Narayanaswamy was my favorite - Aliveni. I would play it all the time.
Since then, I have heard many renditions and liked some and did not like many. To me the sahityam, where u break the words, where u add emphasis, and how you use raga and gamakams to convey the bhava is critical. For example many sing the famous Tygaraja's composition Bantureeti by breaking it at the worn place (bantureeti kolu -- viyavayya rama has no meaning, instead people who understand the sahityam will always sing bantureeti koluvu - iyavayya rama). Even after understanding the sahityam, the deeper essence must be embodied in the singer otherwise the rasa will not be created. That can only be achieved by years of rehearsing to get your notes right to be able to transcend the technicality and embody the spirit of the compositions in such a way that you take the audience into the same trance the original composer must have been while composing the song - create the rasa that every one is immersed in.
Ignoring sahityam and focussing only on bhava of the raga is like driving with a wheel missing. Very few like the late Dr. Balamuralikrishna and his accomplished and often not talked about sishya, who perhaps never got his due, Prince Rama Verma give sahityam the importance it deserves.
Aliveni is magically composed in the Kurinji raga and seems to hover over the notes like a restless bee. Aliveni here is in despair and in some level of restlessness and wondering why her beloved (Sree Padmanabhaswamy) has not come yet (endu ceyu?). The ‘komalangee’ talks of the humming bees, the fragrant flowers, the gentle breeze, the smell of sandal wood, but laments what use are all these if he doesn’t come. Just brilliant. This is akin to the state of a sadhvi who has attained much for chitta-shudhi but the divinity still doesn’t reveal itself - what the vaishnavas call as madanakhya mahabhava so beautiful expressed in the radha-krishna tradition.
The first version is by a young lady Arya Dhayal: https://youtu.be/7B6WLiwOrzw
(although she misses the anu pallavi, she does a commendable job!)
The second version is sung by Amrutha Venkatesh: https://youtu.be/l-
(phenomenal singer - perhaps a Rama Verma find who sings every year at the Swati Thirunal Festival that he organizes)
Here is a link to follow the meaning of the lyrics.
And if you have never heard the song, this video (Mahesh Raghavan of Indian Raga) is a great way to get warmed up on the song: https://youtu.be/
All 3 are relatively young people. Such a joy to see and listen to them.
Note: The accompanying art was created to mark the landmark decision (July 13, 2020) by the Supreme Court of India in favor of dharma when it upheld the rights of the Travancore royal family in the administration of the historic Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple in Kerala.
Sometime in the 90s, I bought a set of CDs titled Gems of Carnatic. While I was familiar with several of them, there were many I had never heard before. Of them, one particular song composed by Swati Thirunal and sung by K V Narayanaswamy was my favorite - Aliveni. I would play it all the time.
Since then, I have heard many renditions and liked some and did not like many. To me the sahityam, where u break the words, where u add emphasis, and how you use raga and gamakams to convey the bhava is critical. For example many sing the famous Tygaraja's composition Bantureeti by breaking it at the worn place (bantureeti kolu -- viyavayya rama has no meaning, instead people who understand the sahityam will always sing bantureeti koluvu - iyavayya rama). Even after understanding the sahityam, the deeper essence must be embodied in the singer otherwise the rasa will not be created. That can only be achieved by years of rehearsing to get your notes right to be able to transcend the technicality and embody the spirit of the compositions in such a way that you take the audience into the same trance the original composer must have been while composing the song - create the rasa that every one is immersed in.
Ignoring sahityam and focussing only on bhava of the raga is like driving with a wheel missing. Very few like the late Dr. Balamuralikrishna and his accomplished and often not talked about sishya, who perhaps never got his due, Prince Rama Verma give sahityam the importance it deserves.
Aliveni is magically composed in the Kurinji raga and seems to hover over the notes like a restless bee. Aliveni here is in despair and in some level of restlessness and wondering why her beloved (Sree Padmanabhaswamy) has not come yet (endu ceyu?). The ‘komalangee’ talks of the humming bees, the fragrant flowers, the gentle breeze, the smell of sandal wood, but laments what use are all these if he doesn’t come. Just brilliant. This is akin to the state of a sadhvi who has attained much for chitta-shudhi but the divinity still doesn’t reveal itself - what the vaishnavas call as madanakhya mahabhava so beautiful expressed in the radha-krishna tradition.
The first version is by a young lady Arya Dhayal: https://youtu.be/7B6WLiwOrzw
(although she misses the anu pallavi, she does a commendable job!)
The second version is sung by Amrutha Venkatesh: https://youtu.be/l-
(phenomenal singer - perhaps a Rama Verma find who sings every year at the Swati Thirunal Festival that he organizes)
Here is a link to follow the meaning of the lyrics.
And if you have never heard the song, this video (Mahesh Raghavan of Indian Raga) is a great way to get warmed up on the song: https://youtu.be/
All 3 are relatively young people. Such a joy to see and listen to them.
Note: The accompanying art was created to mark the landmark decision (July 13, 2020) by the Supreme Court of India in favor of dharma when it upheld the rights of the Travancore royal family in the administration of the historic Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple in Kerala.
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