Bengaluru Morning Raga: The sound of music under a Surathkal flyover

BENGALURU: On every first Sunday of the month, a small gathering assembles under Surathkal flyover on National Highway 66, unmindful of rain or shine. They are eager to attend the one-hour programme of ‘Udayaraga’ conducted by Mani Krishnaswami Academy. Last Sunday, the event, started in March 2018, completed one year.

The music concert evolved after the collective efforts of local citizens when they attempted to beautify the space under the flyover. Former principal of Govinda Das College Rajamohan started a local forum called ‘Nagarika Seva Samithi’ which roped in various local organisations including the Autorickshaw and van drivers association which cleaned the space under the flyover of trash, painted the pillars with local themes and turned it into a beautiful space with walking tracks and plants.

“When the beautified flyover space was inaugurated last March, there was a proposal to have some events which would ensure that the place remained clean and useful. So we came up with the idea of conducting Udayaraga in the first week of every month,” says Nityananda Rao, secretary of the academy.

Surathkal flyover runs from North to South, and it is one of the spots to witness the sunrise. So conducting a Udayaraga from 6 am to 7 am was more apt, he reasons. Before this programme was launched, there were no organized music concerts in Surathkal which is almost the tail end of Mangaluru City Corporation limits. “After we started the concert, I would say that more such organized concerts started happening and local talents were identified. In a way, it had a cascading effect in this locality,” Rao says.

Captain Ganesh Karnik, convener of Ramakrishna Mission’s Swachhta Abhiyan and president of Mani Krishnaswami Academy, says that the initiative achieved the purpose of preventing littering and keeping the place clean. “The programme slowly started attracting local people and many started attending regularly. It sort of became a movement as people came forward to sponsor one or the other thing for the event starting from breakfast after the concert to chairs for the event,”  he says.

“We have been hearing about this concert for a while and wanted to attend it. Finally, we have come and thoroughly enjoyed it. It is a bliss to hear a traditional music concert early in the morning,” exclaims an elderly couple, Udgeeth Rao and Usha.

So far, 40 young musicians, mostly from the locality, and farther places like Mysuru and Shivamogga have performed under the flyover. For them, it is a refreshing experience. “We usually perform in a sabha  but performing under a flyover is something unique, an experience we cherish,” says Vishwanath Mallya, a third year Ayurveda student from Mangaluru.

Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited, MD, M Venkatesh, who attended the concert on Sunday, told the gathering that it was a novel initiative and lauded the local people for sustaining it for a period of one year. “I sincerely pray that this will continue,”  he added.

THE ACADEMY
Mani Krishnaswami was born as Mani Perundevi in Tamil Nadu. The legend of Carnatic music, who won the Padma Shri, trained under renowned musicians of her time and studied at Kalakshetra in Chennai. She had admirers across the country, including in Mangaluru. After her demise in 2002, her admirers in Surathkal started a group which turned into an academy in 2004, mainly due to the efforts of Prarthana, a direct disciple of Mani and daughter of Nithyananda Rao. The academy conducts concerts in Mangaluru nurturing local talent and honouring them.

NO FORMALITIES
With a short duration of one hour, the Udayaraga held under the flyover does not stick to the usual formalities. The performance starts right away at 6 am, winding up at 7 am, followed by  breakfast. “It is not conducted in the traditional way.  We are glad that it has captured the interest of the local people,” says Nithyananda Rao.