Kaisi Paheli..returns

There you go. You didn’t have to wait so long, did you? In continuation to the previous post, the details of the Avadhana I saw follows.

The Avadhani here, Ganesh was posed 8 challenges by the Prucchakas through 3 rounds, where he solved the challenges sparingly in each round. The 8 Prucchakas handled one form or type of challenge. They were:
1. Sankhyabadhana
            A 5X5 grid was given to the Avadhani and he had to fill it up with any numbers [non-repeating] so that the total on each horizontal, vertical and diagonal had to be the 225 [In this session]. The Avadhani was told about this in the beginning and he hardly mused about it for 2 min before jumping on the other challenges. Throughout the session, the Prucchaka, kept interrupting the Avadhani and asked him for a particular number in the grid. For eg: He suddenly asked the Avadhani “what number has to come in 3^rd row 2^nd column?”
            The Avadhani told a number and that was filled in that position. At the end of the session, he completed the grid almost correctly. There were a few mistakes in between, which he instantly corrected.

2. NishEdaakshara
            Here, the designated Prucchaka asked the Avadhani to describe “Vasanta Ruthu” in a 4 line Sanskrit poem. Of course, this is impromptu. :-) But there should be a catch isn’t it?? Well, the catch was that the Prucchaka bars the Avadhani from using a particular letter in the beginning. In this case it was “va”. So the Avadhani said he will use the letter “Shree” at the start. The Prucchaka then said he cannot use “ma” as the second letter. The Avadhani used “sa”. This goes on for all the four lines [one or two words at a time before being interrupted by another Prucchaka!] Phew..and note that it should also be correct to the metric given by the Prucchaka.
            Difficult isn’t it??

3. Samasyapoorna
            The Prucchaka here should give a puzzle to the Avadhani and asks him to solve it in a particular metric. The Avadhani has to give the answer in poetic format adhering to the constraints. The puzzle posed this time was “Bhimarjunau hanthau harirjagaanah”. The Avadhani gave a beautiful composition [impromptu and not told continuously of course…but I guess you would have got the hang of it by now!!!] of how the two mighty [Bhim] Arjuna trees were shattered by Krishna as an infant and freed the two sons of Kubera from a curse. I just loved this.

4. Datthapadha
            Here, the assigned Prucchaka gives 4 words to the Avadhani and asks him to come up with a 4 line poem with Virodhaabasa [Each line should be an oxymoron]
In this case, the words were “gesha, nesha, hesha and Nesha. The Avadhani described Lord Shiva using these in the words Nagesha, Dinesha, Mahesha and GaNesha.

To give an example of an oxymoron he used, in the line with the word Dinesha: “Though his head is shining like Dinesha [Sun] he adores the Moon on his head”.

5. Chitrabandha
            In this challenge, the Prucchaka asks the Avadhani to depict the message from Sita to Rama through Hanuman. And the catch is he should create the poem in Bashaantaraabhaasa i.e. The four lines of the poem should be in different languages. BUT if the words are split or joined together at diff positions, they become Sanskrit wordss.

Didn’t get it?? :-( This is difficult to explain. Well, here’s another go at it with the poem he created.
            The four lines were in Kannada, Telugu, Tamil and Hindi respectively. The last line was “Manlo Kab NaaHi tha” If they are split, rejoined at diff positions then you get the Sanskrit line being “Man lok abna hitha” or something similar. [Not very sure about the exact Sanskrit line cause we didn’t note it down.] But you get the point right? [Please tell me you did!!! :-) ]

6. Aashukavitha
            I think this was the easiest compared to the others. The Prucchaka has to give a topic to the Avadhani and he has to compose a short poem on it [4 lines, impromptu, metric constraints remaining the same]. In the program there were 2 Prucchakas – One gave topic for Kannada poem and the other for Telugu. The topics were Mauna [Silence], Lone tree on the top of a mountain.etc.

What amazed me was the creativeness of the Avadhani and the similes he used. They were very beautiful and made the topic so Aakarshaniya. :-)

7. KavithaVaachana
            In simple terms this was “Reference to context”. The Prucchaka recited a shloka and the Avadhani had to guess the work, the author, the chapter and verse [Yes!!!] and the context of the shloka. The shlokas given to him were ranging from Kalidasa’s Meghadhoota to Banabhaatta’s Kaadambari. He guessed them right and for 1 or 2 shlokas he even sang along with the Prucchaka! This was a very nice round since we drew analogy to the way we guess the movie and the context when we listen to a dialogue or a song :-)

8.Aprasthitha Prasanga
            This was the most interesting form and the Prucchaka for this is called AprasthithaPrasangi. His sole aim is to interrupt the Avadhani at any point of time, while completing a line of some poem, or when he is thinking what number should go into that particular house in the grid, or when he is trying to tell the letters he is using in the NishEdAkshara challenge. The Prucchaka tried his level best to divert the Avadhani’s attention and this sure gets irritating sometimes. Not for the Avadhani..but us, the audience!! :-)
            The AprasthithaPrasangi this time was asking questions ranging from common topics or about the Avadhani himself to quotes from certain Sanskrit words and his opinion on it. The audience was also encouraged to give questions which the Prucchaka would ask. After answering each question, you would have just thought that the Avadhani would have forgotten something, but no!!! He would start off again the next instant.

            PHEW!!!

All in all, a total confusing, yet thought-provoking, marvelous time for the audience. Enjoyed every minute of it totally!!! :-)

This is just a humble, yet long, attempt to explain this art-form. By the way, not sure if I have given the exact meaning of things here. So apologies in advance for any subtle or glaring mistakes.

To think I would have missed this because of the throw ball match fatigue!!! :-) Thanks Kartha for persuading me to come. Thanks to him and Sunil, for the notes they took of this program.

Kaisi Paheli...

The IISC Samskrita Sangha held an Avadhana session by Shataavadhani Dr.R.Ganesh on Sunday the 25th. Hmmm..I sure am attending a lot of his programs now-a-days. :-)

What struck me most, after watching this, was the absolute brilliance and the ability of the human mind. The saying “Nothing is impossible” seems so true!

Avadhana in simple terms means concentration. It is an art followed from ancient times. Languages used were mostly Sanskrit, Kannada and Telugu. It mostly dealt with testing the power of concentration and knowledge a person possesses. An Avadhani [ who performs an Avadhana] is challenged by a set of 8 people [normally] known as Prucchakas. These Prucchakas are well-versed in Sanskrit literature and pose questions to the Avadhani. The answers should be given by the Avadhani in the format of a poem, in any of the languages [Sanskrit, Kannada and Telugu] as chosen by the Prucchaka. The poem has to adhere to the grammar and the Chandhas [metric], either assumed by the Avadhani or as told by the Prucchaka. This would of course mean that the Avadhani has to be well-versed in Literature [in all the three languages, but mostly in Sanskrit] and grammar of the same.

The Prucchakas pose challenges to the Avadhani in different subjects and forms and the best part is that this does not happen one after the other. It is simultaneous!!! The Avadhani does not complete a particular question and then go to the next. He tells one line of the poem which is an answer to a given question and then starts formulating the answer to the next question. This goes on in a round-robin fashion for 3-4 rounds at the end of which he solves all the challenges. And he does all this without referring to literary and grammar books. Without a pen and paper, even. All of this is solved in his mind!

The Avadhani has to remember the questions posed to him and the lines he has completed so far with the constraints placed on him.

More info on this ancient art form can be found here.

Ok…now back to the program I witnessed. Some long post this is going to be! Wait..I'll write about it in the next post. Happy waiting!!

BaLegaara Chennaiah...

BaLegaara chennaiah baagilige bandhihenu
oLage baralappaNeye doreye
naviloora maneyindha nudiyondha thandhihenu
baLeya thoDisuvudhilla nimage..


Raayaru bandharu maavana manege raatriyaagithhu
huNNime harasidha baanina naDuve chandira bandhitthu
tumbidha chandira bandhitthu..


Deepavu ninnade gaLiyu ninnade
aaradirali beLaku…
kaDalu ninnade haDagu ninnade
muLugadirali baduku..

Ninna premada pariya..OndiruLu kanasinali…sirigereya neerinali...Shaanuboghara MagaLu...and a lot more.

Familiar songs? Yes. Lovely songs in fact.

And remember the poet??? Or rather what happened to him???
That’s exactly what was depicted in the play “Mysooru Mallige” by the theatre group “Kalagangotri”.

We forget these great contributors to literature over time. The poet still doesn’t care about
his finances until old age creeps up on him and his wife is taken ill. His sons and daughters neglect him and he even vents his frustrations through some of his poems. The whole State embraces his poetry as their own, but fails to support him when he needed it the most.

The play starts off with baLegaara Chennaiah visiting the house of the poet after a few generations have passed. He meets their grand-daughter and her little daughter [the kid enacting this part is very good], who are blissfully unaware of the poet’s life. The baLegaara then narrates the whole story starting from the first time the poet sees Sita, his wife-to-be and then their life. Their initial happy days, their day-to-day “mis”adventures, their growing struggle to make ends meet, their helplessness to support their daughter and parting with their sons.

The first 1 hr is filled with comedy, romance and the way they have shown the poet’s deep concentration on nothing except poetry is humorous. The last 30 min is very depressing, I must say. Esp, the poet’s talk with his son and the later discussion with his wife is heart-wrenching! You can easily draw an analogy to the current state of the so-called-modernism where people neglect their parents, when they need it the most. Do we really need this kind of modernism? The poet aptly tells his son who doesn’t like to be called the poet’s-son. “What have I given you? Just education right?” In a later stage, the poet asks his wife how she would like to criticize his poetry. She says “Initially you wrote happily, then with frustration, then with anger. But never once you wrote contentedly”. The play ends with the baLegaara telling the kid to spread the fragrance of mysore mallige through generations.

The actors have all done a wonderful job. The baLegaara steals the show with his antics and witty dialogues. One thing to note is the remarkable use of the poet’s songs in various situations throughout the play. It is very apt and flows seamlessly. The singers were also very good.

A very nice play with a very good message. I watched it at RangaShankara on Saturday. Not sure about when and where the next performance will be.

By the way, if you still wondering who the poet is..it is K.S.Narsimhaswamy.

Aisa Desh Hain Mera....

There was a talk on “Bharateeya samskruthi and festivals” at Ragi Gudda. It was a 1.30 hrs talk everyday for a week,scheduled just before Ugadi by Shataavadhani Dr.R.Ganesh.

Initially I wasn't that interested. But since it was something I had never ventured into, I thought I'll check it out. My colleagues were very much interested. I tagged along.

The talk was very good. It not only covered the main festivals celebrated in India, but also its significance. Not the religious, but the scientific and social significance. For eg: The need for a particular leaf/flower on festivals ensures the preservation of that species of flora. Isn't that a good enough reason to celebrate that festival? Caring for the environment in simple, yet effective ways. The orator also spoke about the interaction between family members/relatives during festivals which is not that common anymore because of dwindling familial values. Festivals give a reason for the family to unite at least for a day. I feel, even though you are not religiously inclined, festivals actually can be celebrated for these causes.

He explained each festival and its significance. I could attend only for 3 days during which he talked about Ugadi, Buddha Jayanti, Narsimha Jayanti [He gave a superb analogy about Narsimha avatara and our enlightenment, but I don't think I can do justice to it with my explanation], Shankara jayanti and a few others.

He talked about how the food in the festivals are actually more than tradition. They are significant/suitable for that season. For eg: The HesarabeLe Kosambari [a kind of dal, cucumber mixture] and Panaka [Lime juice] given during RamNavami have the "Sheeta" [cold] attribute which is helpful for us since this festival is at the start of summer. In plain terms it helps beat the heat! :-) It’s also not mandatory to do this just on one day. You can follow this throughout summer. He also spoke about how the various delicacies represent a particular type [Sheeta, Pittha etc] and how they together are beneficial to us. Most of this is common knowledge but still it doesn't cease to amaze me as to how our ancestors were so knowledgeable. We should definitely be proud of it.

The talk was in Kannada [some parts I could not decipher because of the pure kannada words he was using] and mostly Sanskrit terminologies. But going along with someone a little well-versed in this would help. [Thanks Sudks!] And thanks Kartha for introducing me to this.

All in all, the talk was very enlightening and I think it would be good if youngsters attend such talks. It removes the cloud of misinformation or rather ignorance and help us in understanding and spreading our rich culture, tradition. And also to find out that it is actually meaningful and not just rituals. [yeah..I agree some are just passed on with no definite meaning, but most of them still are meaningful. We are just unaware of it]

I didn't attend the entire series of talk, due to unavoidable reasons. But given an opportunity, we all should attend such talks. Yes, it might be too Hinduism centric for a few (I felt that way), but then you can always ignore the criticism/sarcasm and just absorb the good points.