Belgian King’s Day in city gets a Carnatic touch

A recent gathering of diplomats, business personalities, musicians and state officials held in the city to mark the Belgian King’s Day on November 15 was a confluence of Belgian and south Indian cultures. The day, which has been celebrated as King’s Day each year in Belgium in honour of the King since 1866, witnessed its sixth edition in the city with the theme ‘Belgium goes Carnatic’.

Hosted by the Consulate General of Belgium in Chennai at Taj Coromandel, the evening saw Chennaiites getting a taste of Belgian chocolates, beer and waffles, while being treated to Carnatic renditions by singer and Veena exponent Prince Rama Varma from the royal family of  Travancore. But, for an audience that had many expats too, it was Varma’s explanatory stories breaking down each classical composition that helped overcome the language barriers. During his visit to the city, the renowned musician, who has been taking Carnatic music across the world, spoke to DT Next on how he thinks language can be used to bring people together, and on his discovery of Belgian singer Jacques Brel (1929-78), who led him to understand the meaning behind songs. “At every concert I do, I try to explain the meaning of what I’m going to sing. 

Large part of Carnatic compositions feature either Sanskrit or Telugu — which an average listener or even a singer would not know. It was during late 1980s that I started learning French and discovered singer Jacques Brel. It was for the first time in my life that I was moved by lyrics and not just music. Thanks to Brel, I began paying attention to the words in my own songs that I was singing by composers like Tyagaraja,” recalled the 51-year-old musician. Part of his concert for the evening,  he also included his musical inspiration, Brel’s a cappella pieces — one of which is called Le Plat Pays — which he performed as a tribute to Belgium.  Varma, who was born in Thiruvananthapuram, is a direct descendent of Maharaja Swathi Thirunal Rama Varma, the then King of Travancore, as well as artist Raja Ravi Varma. 

He admits to falling in love with music as a toddler. Under the tutelage of renowned musicians like Dr Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer and later Dr Mangalampalli Balamuralikrishna, Varma began his public performances during the 1990s. He evolved his own style of throwing light on the words in each of the

Carnatic compositions, with which he travelled across India and to several other countries, including the US, the UK, the Netherlands, Singapore, Malaysia and France.  “If I perform in Tamil Nadu, I don’t just sing Tamil Carnatic compositions, but also include some in Telugu by Tyagaraja and some in Kannada by (Kannada philosopher) Purandara Dasa. It is nice to use language to bring people together, rather than separate them by saying ‘You’re Tamil and I’m a Malayali’, etc.,” said Varma, recollecting learning Tamil as a result of arguments with auto drivers over fares during his visits to the city in 1970s to attend Carnatic concerts.

 “I’m trying to learn Telugu and Kannada now,” added Varma, admitting to being a fan of old Hindi songs from pre-Independence era, and the songs of Mozart and Beethoven.  The musician is also keen to bring to fore some less explored works of Tyagaraja, Bharathiyar and others. “There are so many ragas waiting to be discovered, highlighted and passed on to the next generation. Tyagaraja composed hundreds of songs, of which only about 30 are popular,” he asserted. Through his YouTube channel, Musiquebox, some of his renditions of the less heard compositions are being heard in other countries as well.