Re: Extending avadhAnam to other Indian languages

D. Sreenivasa Rao (dsr@VNET.IBM.COM)
Thu, 12 Sep 96 18:04:02 -0500 

:>
:>After having a long chat with Kumar, I have a question.
:>What do you think of extending avadhanam to Hindi? It seems, our avadhAni
:>knows Hindi also well. I feel karnATaka sangeetam and koochipooDi need
:>not be the only art forms we export beyond Andhra. If a person
:>like nAga phani Sarma is capable of performing in hindi, we should
:>consider a performance with a mixed format hindi/telugu/sanskrit.

  Evidently, attracting Hindi audience was one of the motives of the
  Hyderabad dviSatAvadhAnaM tape that was on sale during the NY event.
  The initial portion of the tape was the avadhAni's performance
  interrupted by commentary in Hindi.

  I am not sure how well the avadhAni is a master of the hindi language
  and its myriad dialects. A general Hindi prichchaka need not limit
  himself or herself to what we know as "textbook hindi" of modern
  times. Would it be easy for the avadhAni to master words from
  Kabir's or Tulasidas' times, as well as those in various regions,
  to help him choose the most appropriate word in a given poem/pUraNa?

  This is not to say, of course, that a small part of the avadhAnam
  cannot be done in hindi, and advertised so that perhaps other
  (non-telugu) avadhAnis can receive training in say Sarma gAri
  saraswati pITham, pick up on the process and popularize it outside
  Andhra.

  It seems it will need quite a bit of focussed and concerted effort
  to export this art form. FOr languages other than Telugu that may
  or may not have the richness of poetic forms that telugu does, I think
  it will take a lot of consensus-building effort to identify what
  the acceptable styles are. For example, despite my Central School
  education (meaning: no telugu, only hindi), I am unable to think
  of a poem (forget if it is free-style, dohA or caupayi) that I can
  frame around the words "dollar, collar, cooler, peeler". It may mean
  that the whole porcess of avadhAnaM, like dattapadis or nishiddhAksharis
  etc may need redefining.... Sounds like a big effort to me.

:>
:>By any count, New York performance was spectacular. He is willing to
:>come down next year and perform in the NJ/NYK area and elsewhere.
:>

  I can't wait to see him do that again.....

:>Ramana
:>

--sreenivas--          dsr@vnet.ibm.com