I wish to introduce my present teacher Madam D.V.Kanaka Durga. I have learned all the basic exrcises from her. She is said to be one of the first Diploma Holders of Govt Music School, Vijayawada while Sri M. Bala Murali Krishna was working as Principal of the school. She was the regular artist of All India Radio, Vijayawada for two decades. I have been listening to her sweet voice even from my child hood in lalitha sangeetham programmes along with her co-singer Vinjamuru Lakshmi of Vijayawada. She was the main singer of Kuchpudi Vempati China Satyam Music Troup and she toured all the countries for about 29 times in the last 20 years. I have the luck of listening her voice in original from 4 feet of close distance. Her voice still brings me to the nostalgia of my child hood. Some Russian artist Reshma of Russia had used recorded cassette in her performance and posted in you tube. One may click this path and listen to my master's voice ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgFhTPNk-_Q ). She is now going to retire from service in May 2009. He retirement function will be held in the first week of July at the school.Let us wish her a happy retired life? For I donot see a retirement to Artists. I hope she will go on singing for her favorites.

My first lesson in music

I am now at 52. I have started learning Carnatic Classical Music very lately during the last year in the local Govt Music School at Rajahmundry, Andhra Pradesh. I have been experiencing for the first time in my life the most ancient and traditional way of teaching of a subject.

The teachers are very learned, prolific in delivering the tunes and articulative in rendering creative melodies. They are very strict in maintaining the ancient text in rendering. They are equally affectionate towards their students whose age varies from me 52 to younger souls of seven years.The students learn all the skills from the master by closely moving with the master, assisting them, observing the masters body language just like in yogic path. Here every body is aware of the notion that that the sounds/swaras they render are beeza manthras of respective dities. So nobody spells the swaras carelessly or to fancy. I have been listening to the music ever since my child as every body do it but also read some theory about the significance of each tone in all its subtlity. It is a known fact that for a particular tone some tones are harmonious and others are contrast and still others are neutral. In my first class it self I asked my teacher, Sri N.Ch.Buchayacharyulu that how does he arrange the contrast tones and bring them a harmonious and soothing effect after rendering. My question was how contrast notes get blended and give harmonious output. The discriptive answer he gave me is a great opening for me in the field of art of all kinds. He discribed: We have a dish in India famous with the name Payasam ( made with Rice - 1 cup Thick milk - 10 cups Sugar - 1 cup Cardamom powder - little Cashewnuts - 1 tbls thinly sliced Ghee - for frying). In Samia Payasam Rice is replaced with Samia. All the ingrediants are sweet in tast and hormonious to each other. But we also add dried grapes or dried kismis to it which is of contrast lemony tast. The grapes have both the citrus and sweet tasts in it as such the Payasam allowes the contrast tast of grape. When the musical notes having both contrast and hormonious quality are added to a harmonious set of notes the harmonious tail gets joined to the main theme and the contrast tail is also cunningly joins the entire theme giving a subtle stimulation. Care shall be taken while rendering them in a very subtle manner so that they go blended in the whole composition. This is the reason how we wave our heads to great masters performances.

Thanks to my master for giving me the secret of rendering tones in my first class itself. I have more to share about the music and my masters and their music.