Climbing the chords . .#!1

When South India has been the cradle for Carnatic music, it looks indeed a herculean task to establish a Music Academy that propagates Hindustani colors of music to those who love it! And, Tansen Academy of Music has let its freak flag fly high, amidst all the odds. Driven by curiosity, I walked in for one weekend classes conducted by the academy, to know, what is happening.  I reached the class venue against the clock, that I generally do and you must obviously know ! :-)

About a score of music lovers, in their pursuit of learning Hindustani, were surrounding the source of music, who was ecstatically moving, with his eyes closed, a blessed throat thumping out divine notes and the whole class was in his finger tip control! The master, Shri Krishna Ballesh, the Founder of Tansen Academy of music, with Sur Mandal in his hand, was rendering "alu Bela Sajan Aayore..." meticulously and to me it was like a mini concert than a class. I understood I had to wait for the classes to get over and I never minded, for, I was given wages to have a candy!  Sajan Aayore was succeeded by "Avan Nahi re...". I kept on wondering , how the man, could make every one there present to follow his notes and sing, Individually for that matter! There was a swar sangathi, "SNSNSNDNMGMGGMGMNS" which crept in , purely by coincidence and imaginations of Krishna Ballesh ji, the students found it suffocating for the first time and just for the typically perfect guru, to mentor his students, He repeated, "Ready 1, 2, 3 and 4, SNSNSNDN... " The swars were chopped off into pieces and taught. And, in the blink of eye, the students followed it, perfectly fine! Once the classes were over for the day, I slowly approached Shri Krishna Ballesh, to know more about his musical journey and how he came in touch with Ustad Bismillah Khan and all that ! Krishna Ballesh was kind enough to have a nostalgia, dusting the memories of the past, slowly unfozzilizing them, to us...

Hailing from a village in interiors of Karnataka, in the village of M.K.Hubali, Pandit Sanna Bhrammannapa and his family had the privilege of propagating, living, dwelling, breathing or whatever – ‘ing’ of Hindustani music and Shehnai instrument. The five brothers in the Bhrammannapa family were classy shehnai players who were known to perform Jugalbandhi ( A duo concert ) ! Wah, so it proves, Shri Krishna Ballesh had the 'music gene' running down his family! What a precious Inheritance, you bet ! The royal inheritance of the music gene from Pt.Sanna Bhrammannappa later got bestowed to his son Ballesh.S who in his latter age, went all the rage, in South Indian music industry and was named Pandit Shehnai Ballesh, then on!

When S.Ballesh was a kid, he learnt hindustani vocals and Shehnai from his father and then moved on to his Dhodappa (Father's elder brother) Pandit Dhodda Bhramappa as well. Pt. S.Ballesh gelled along with Dr.D.P.Hirey Matt to get to know and master Khirana Gharanna style of singing Hindustani and the Guru - Sishya kinship lasted for decades and is still fresh across the generations to come. As times passed by, Pt. S.Ballesh happened to perform at Shri Balaiya Yogi Swami Mutt, for Makara sankranthi event. In those days, Makara Sankaranthi used to be celebrated and gala times happened all throughout the night! During one such festive nights, S.Ballesh had given an impressive performance that Pandit Kothanda Salunke Maharaj from Karsundi, Maharashtra took S.Ballesh as his student and they started giving new colors to the Patiala Kharanna! Pandit.Panchakshari Gawai - An extraordinary artist, who foresaw without eyes, the talents imbibed with S.Ballesh, was very instrumental and another guru who molded S.Ballesh to right shapes. In the Veereshwara Punyashram, the annual functions that last for three days, named as Punyathithi, had the pride of witnessing S.Ballesh 's performances, every year, on the third day, in the name of "divine Invocations". For the first time, S.Ballesh performed Raag "yaman Kalyan" which was widely appreciated and the foremost primary Shishya (Prathama Sishya) of Pt Gawai - Pt Putraj Gawai - who is a visually challenged man but can play utmost 13 instruments, came to the stage and honoured S.Ballesh upfront to him. This incident of honoring an artist during the festival was reported for the first time in the timeline of the Ashram. In addition to honoring him, Pt. Putraj had ordered S.Ballesh to perform every year from then on.

And when Ballesh is hosting the event, Ras Barse Utsav 2015, it is a tribute from student family, to all the gurus on earth! So fingers crossed for ! Okay, I understand your inquisitive query lingering in your heart and soul, “How can a person who had been dwelling in Karnataka could meet  Illayaraja MS.Vishwanathan, ,A.R.Rahman and all those stalwarts and brought Shehnai to South Indian music and Cine industry especially?” “How did S.Ballesh manage to break the paradox of Shehnai shows which were filled with  just sadness and brought in unalloyed forms of Shehnai ?”

Hold on for some more time to know how the chords climbed so high!

Lots of Love,

Riya