Nirvana

I start afresh today, after two long years. My mridangam is completely out of sync and needs to be tuned as it has remain unused for a long time. I have a complete set of lessons in the four thaalams - Aadi, Rupakam, Misram and Kandam.

I will record my progress over the next few weeks, maybe I will post a few lessons too for beginners. Good mridangam resources on the web include Forumhub and RohanRhythm.

Time to master my dhin, chaapu and Arachaapu!

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I am a Mridangist - or so I would like to imagine. I have been learning Mridangam, a south indian percussion instrument as an avocation for a sum total of eight years. I was introduced to Carnatic music at a very young age - I recall sitting in the living room and watching the proceedings while my mom taught the veena to several students. My sis would also practise on the veena and test her vocal skills.

Around 1987, I vividly remember my mother concluding that I should pursue Mridangam at the end of a discussion with our neighbor one evening. So Mridangam it was and I along with couple of other friends in the vicinity enrolled for classes under Shri. TAS Mani.

We would board the local bus to Malleswaram in the evening and the lessons would extend for about an hour as the Guru would move about between different rooms teaching as many students as he could handle in that session. There was a russian by the name of Tunji Beier (which we thought was a really funny name who was under the tutelage of TAS Mani. Inquisitive, I googled his name today and came up with this link- http://www.tunji.org/percussion/percussion_mridangam.html

Anyways, a year passed by and we were making no progress as we went about the proceedings perfunctorily without evincing any interest in the lessons. Not satisfied, my mom decided to make changes and we enrolled under Shri. Arjunan who would arrive home on Sunday mornings at 6 am(!) and Wednesday evenings.

We were under his guidance for over six years learning to play at a snail's pace. I remember the earlier years when I would wake up late and run with the mridangam on my shoulders to my friend's place still sleepy and unkempt. I would be as late as half an hour and my friends would be totally amused to see me groggy and barely awake. I believe during the later years I made considerable improvement as I learnt to appreciate the nuances and composed my own lessons.Alas, studies took a higher priority as I graduated to tenth grade and I discontinued the lessons.

About two years ago, I was bitten by the carnatic bug and listening to Vikku, TVG, Palghat Mani Iyer play the percussion, I googled for mridangam tutors around the tristate area. I enrolled for classes in NJ under Shri. Shivakumar M. and I enjoyed playing the mridangam under him and would practise fastidiously with great interest. The lessons were run through quite fast and in a year I made great progress. I had to commute about 70 miles twice during a week and I eagerly looked forward to the classes. I have begun to appreciate carnatic music more than I ever did in the early stages. I discontinued the classes about a year ago hoping to take it up sometime in the coming year.That's my tryst with mridangam - hopefully not the final one!

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