K Balakumar

Wrote a long-form piece on why it is in the fitness of things to award Sangita Kalanidhi to KJ Yesudas, and why he was the one who really took Carnatic music to new social spheres and not the likes of, ahem, TMK. (The award is usually announced in March) swarajyamag.com/culture/why-th…

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@naa_ganesan @SwarajyaMag Oh for sure. But they got added to the concert platform repertoire much later. And that is why they couldn't get to constitute the canon of classical music.

Tamilisai Trinity: thehindu.com/news/national/… Tamilisai Moovar of Sirkazhi: the pioneering trinity of Tamil kritis Muthuthandavar, Marimutha Pillai, and Arunachala Kavirayar made invaluable contributions to the evolution of Carnatic music and composed numerous kritis much before saint Tyagaraja and others. Their compositions are still widely researched @kbalakumar

In the 1985 Tamil classic 'Sindhu Bhairavi', the female lead challenges a Telugu kriti singer: "What's the point if the listener can't understand?" That scene accidentally reinforced a myth — that Carnatic music must choose a language. 🧵

@naa_ganesan @rr_pras @SwarajyaMag <Raja Annamalai Chettiar's contribution to Tamilisai movement is remarkable.> That is indeed a story, an elaborate one, for another day.

Good. True. Hope all of Purandaradasa's songs get recorded in a separate website by Kannadigas. Very interested to know about the Tiruttalams he sang all over S. India. You must have read TirucciRRampalam (Mayavaram) M. Arunachalam aiya's and musicologist VPK Sundaram's publications. I knew them both well through my relative, Sri. N. Mahalingam, Pollachi. Carnatic music is unique in the world as it incorporates both melody and time beats together. Interestingly, Karaikkal Ammai (5th c.) and Gnanasambandhar (7th c.) are shown with cymbals to keep Time in music. Raja Annamalai Chettiar's contribution to Tamilisai movement is remarkable. nganesan.blogspot.com/2014/01/bharat… @sarpame @ChithraMadhavan @Banukumar_R @oligoglot @cobbaltt @Saatvata @Anand_Venkatram @imayavarambar @KidambiGm @tsssubbu @monidipadey @tapeshyadav_usa @MumukshuSavitri @_RimaSarkar @naavalam @marthandavelan

@virperitus @SwarajyaMag Kannada the forest, Malyalam the breeze.

@SwarajyaMag @kbalakumar and kannada is what? @kbalakumar?

@veejaysai Not just vedic roots, we have to discuss Tamil pann music, which is equally a forerunner. As I repeatedly say, my starting point is where today's students start, and that is a Dasar legacy. His own influences may have been myriad.

@kbalakumar What is the problem in giving credit to countless others who came before Dasar and maybe even inspired his own thinking? That’s how continuity works! We go back to Sangeeta Sara of Sage Vidyaranya, Jayadeva, and even further for we know our music has vedic roots! ☺️

Sigh! I dunno whether you've read the piece or not. This was a simplistic take on how different languages (and through whom) made an impact on Carnatic music (ones that stay with us till today). Dunno how Annamacharya being earlier in historical timeline here is relevant at all.

@veejaysai Fair. But the ones that stand out for a mainstream entrant into Carnatic music today are primarily the ones codified by Dasar. I mention that in the piece. If I had taken the kind of perspective you suggest then I would have had to go for countless others, too.

@kbalakumar Well, because in his compositions, he has mentioned so many technical details about music and all that long before anyone else. Historical timelines are equally important to the narrative.

@naa_ganesan @rr_pras @SwarajyaMag I specifically avoided that road, as my (simplistic) narrative was basically how a Carnatic concert can be an amalgamation of many languages and still no one will look askance at it. And that is because the impact that different languages have left at different points of time.

BTW, the first Carnatic (< Karnataka) music kriti-s are in Tamil. On the recovery of Murukan icon (Utsavar) thrown into the sea by the Dutch. Carnatic music is called so because Vijayanagar empire was in Karnataka (< Karu NaaTu "black of high desham"), and of course, Purandaradasa belonged there. It is from karNa 'ear'. @kbalakumar

@cjaisree He seems like someone who has a chip on his shoulders.

@kbalakumar He’s not heard of coordination etc .. 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️

If your basic defence is that poor roads & infra are not within the ambit of MLA work, well, even if that is technically true, it is never going to find acceptance with common public. The Minister from Madurai has to step down from ivory tower to realise this fundamental truth.

@sunda_m @dagalti Not following that guy. But he is an insufferable one even in his blogging days. Under the guise of intellectual observations, that guy used to drop rank silly ones.

@kbalakumar @dagalti The minister is taking talking points from Puram. P has been tweeting about this principle ever since this issue was raised. Sir romba late pannitaar to use this.

இதுல என்ன ஒரு இதுன்னா, என்னமோ இப்பொதான் மதுரை அழுக்கா இருக்க மாதிரி எல்லாரும் பேசிக்கிறாங்க! #நான்எப்பவுமேதாடிதானே

Verily, for those of us growing up in the 70s, this was as sweet and improbable as the 2001 Kolkata victory. Chasing 400+ after having been skittled out for 228 in the first innings (and 1-0 down in the series), the eventual convincing win was no less miraculous.

@Docmanu5 @SwarajyaMag No dishonesty. The entire story talks in detail about how various South Indian languages have contributed to the glory of Carnatic music. In fact, it kicks off with Kannada.

@SwarajyaMag @kbalakumar Wow so much dishonesty in reporting where is Kannada ? With out Kannada there Karanata Sangeeta

Sanskrit the Mountain, Telugu the River, Tamil the Soil — Why Carnatic Music Never Belonged to One Language From Purandara Dasa's Kannada pedagogy to MS Subbulakshmi's Tamil rebellion, the South's classical tradition grew not by choosing one tongue but through a chorus of tongues, by making peace with each it touched. @kbalakumar swarajyamag.com/culture/sanskr…

@OnlineObelix Thanks a lot, Raj 🙏

They say Love has no Language. And more so the Love of Music. In this lucid and educative piece, my friend @kbalakumar tears down beliefs, explodes myths and clarifies that music is manna for the heart, not the mind. Thanks mate... this is timely. swarajyamag.com/culture/sanskr…

@dagalti இப்ப பப்லுவே கோதால இறங்கி திட்றாப்ல!

@kbalakumar Yes Btw people seem to be overstating his heft over corporation when it is kind of known that the other minister from Madurai is the one who has control over it Looks like he is being questioned so the fanbois can react à la பப்லுவ ஏன்பா திட்ற!

@Akshita_N a few questions that may have helped. 1. Which party controls the Madurai Corporation? 2. Aren't you throwing your own party councillors under the bus? 3. If each MLA says they need 10 years to study the problems how would Governance work? 4. Aren't the same coordination issues with the Madurai Corporation not going to continue in the next five years? 5. If insufficient funds are the reason for poor civic infrastructure who should have allocated more funds for this? Was it not the State Govt ?

@dravidasishu Which, of course, I do. (Btw, the point of the piece is *not* language is not important. Each language, especially in its developmental period, has contributed to it intrinsically. And that makes it all the more beautiful).

@kbalakumar And then of course, you can listen to any instrumental Carnatic music regardless of what language the compositions are

Wrote a long-form piece on how Carnatic music has been shaped by very many languages that touched it. It is a fascinating journey of happenstance.