This contest reinterprets mood and essence of ragams through saree

The contest was an opportunity for saree lovers and connoisseurs of music: both artistes and rasikas to use their imagination and re-interpret the mood and essence of a ragam through their saree. The contest featured five ragams — Desh, Kalyani, Neelambari, Atana and Kamas. Classical dancer Poornima Kaushik, who participated in the contest, tells DT Next. 

“I am a huge saree enthusiast and Carnatic music is an integral part of my life. What more can people like me ask for when they ask to interpret ragams through saree. I won the contest for ragam Kalyani. My mother’s name is Kalyani and that’s how I connected the story. Ragam Kalyani is always the ‘go-to’ ragam just like my ‘go-to’ person: my mother, Kalyani. Amma personifies the perfect mix of being both traditional and modern. She always dreamed more for me than I ever would, she taught me to put family first, she passed on her love for sarees (along with the sarees), Carnatic music and good food. She was instrumental in me becoming a dancer and taught me that the sky is the limit. I associate Kalyani, be it my mom or the ragam, with the colour blue. The contest rekindled my subconscious love for things.” 

Storyteller Janaki Sabesh didn’t participate in the contest but out of her interest in music and sarees, she shared her story with the team later. When quizzed about it, Janaki says with a smile, “We know Ragam Thaanam Pallavi but when Thaanam is substituted with saree it became an interesting exercise. I interpreted the ragam Kamas with one of my favourite sarees.

I first heard my husband Sabesh singing Santhana Gopala Krishnan in Kamas in the year 1990. We were just married and were visiting relatives in Mumbai. Every home we went, there was a request for Sabesh to sing this song. I fell in love with not only the ragam, but also the bhavam with which Sabesh sang. And of course, the man himself. Having been trained in Carnatic music myself, I was enraptured by the nidhaanam and sowkiyam of his singing. Every time Sabesh sings this song, athai mother-inlaw) recollects how he learned this song as a 5-year-old from his Late father and how their voices are very similar. Kamas, therefore, is the father-in-law I never met.

Kamas for me, will always be this song, because with it comes a host of emotions. Kamas, for me, is also white: pure, but with the ability to highlight gentle nuances. White, like kamas is for all seasons and all occasions. I am interpreting the essence of the ragam with a white saree that Sabesh got me from Kolkata. I’ve treasured this Bengal cotton saree for three decades now, along with the shakka pola bangles (shell and coral bangles that are worn by Bengali brides) that he got me. I’ve paired this with a silk kalamkari blouse which gives it a sense of freshness.” 

The second part of the contest will be held during the dance festival that starts on January 1. The contest was featured as part of the virtual event Yours Truly Margazhi that Aalaap is an ideation partner of, with The Federation of City Sabhas.