Breathing life into light music

Breathing life into light music
Prakruthi, a group of music lovers, revives interest in bhava geethe at Cubbon Park’s famed Bandstand
GAYATRI NAIR


If you thought Bangalore rocked only to heavy metal, hang on! It also has a strong tradition of light music, Kannadigas call it ‘sugama sangeetha’.
The foundation of light music has turned out to be Cubbon Park’s Bandstand, a place many of us would have passed by without realising its contribution to city’s culture. For decades, the Bandstand has been synonymous with light music and bhava geethe: Doyens of music like P Kalinga Rao to Mysore Ananthaswamy to living legend C Ashwath, all of them have enthralled Bangaloreans for decades standing here.
Rao has been the undisputed monarch of light music in Kannada and the three decades of the midtwentieth century was the golden age of Kannada light music. The richness of Kannada folk (songs reverberated in the minds of the common folk)
was taken forward by Mysore Ananthaswamy who spread the beauty of poetic music to ordinary Bangaloreans. Mysore Ananthaswamy’s compositions of G P Rajaratnam’s ‘Ratnana Padagalu’ became so popular that one could not help but feel only his voice would suit those songs. The picturesque Cubbon Park added to the musical effect.
The live performances in Bandstand slowed down in the mid-70s and the early 80s when the television era started and the till then ‘swalpa’ heavy metal fans became ‘jaasti’. Subsequently, Bandstand performances were forgotten.
It is four years since the octagonal structure got another lease of life when Prakruthi, an organisation of music lovers, revived the live performances. The organisation went into top gear in April 2008 and since then there have been performances by well-known artists every Sunday evening.
“Last April, we started again by paying tribute to Dr Rajkumar. But we had to stop the shows because of rains and exams, but then again we continued from October. This Sunday will be our 21st week of performance and will feature singers Mangala and Ravi,” said M S Prasad. Prakruthi has tied up with Bangalore Mirror for the event.
Prasad and his partner Praveen D Rao, a composer and
performer, are founders of Prakruthi. According to Prasad, there is no better way to celebrate Bangalore than at the Bandstand. He also feels there is an urgent need to disseminate knowledge about Kannada literature to the present generation. “Kannada literature has been existing since fourth century but how many people even know about it? How many people know about light music and the various legends associated with it,” asked Prasad. Integration of the Kannada culture into the mainstream consciousness is the main aim of Prakruthi.
LOVE SONGS GALORE
On Sunday, 20 bhava geethes will be played. But don’t mistake them for the latest foot-tapping songs. They are old hits. “Songs like ‘Kanasu chelave geleya’, ‘anthinta hennu neenalla’ and ‘ninna preethi kannu theredu’, among others, will be played,” said Prasad.
Praveen said the event has been organised in such a way that there is no inconvenience to the people. “There is no entry fee. When we started, we had just 50 people as audience. Today we end up having more than a thousand. There is an interest out there and we want to capitalise on it,” he added.
4EVER BANGALOREAN
A hardcore Bangalorean, Praveen and his organisation is completely of, for and by the city. “There is a lot of negativity but the question is not how the city has become but what we can do for the city. We at Prakruthi give away 200 saplings provided to us by Mukthi Dama, another NGO, after every performance to those present at the show. The saplings are given free of cost. This will at least help a little bit in putting the greenery back in Bangalore,” said Praveen.
He said the entry is kept free so that people can come and watch singers like Sangeeta Katti and M D Pallavi sing songs of the fifties and before. Prakruthi will have its 25th week celebrations soon but it has something special for that week. “But that is going to be a surprise,” quipped Prasad.
The shows are held every Sunday between 5 pm and 7 pm. For details, contact Prasad on 9945368083.