Meet Our GEMS: Sudha Raja

Giving Voice

by Meera Srikant

Dr. Sudha Raja, Principal and Director of Suswara School Of Music, has been training children in Carnatic Vocal, Keyboard and Choral Music, for the past 25 years. A doctorate in Indian Music from the Madras University, she received a State Government Scholarship to pursue the research. She has been Conductor & Trainer of SARGAM - a Children’s Choir and SARGAM - a Female Choir. She is Principal Faculty of Rhapsody-Education Through Music, which has its presence in 65 schools in two states and handles 95,000 children everyday through all strata of society - since May 2012. She has been Conductor, Instructor and Member of The Madras Youth Choir, formed  by  late, M.B. Srinivasan, since 1979, and continues to be a member. She shares her views on gender violence and her reasons for being part of the Prajnya Campaign.

Why is this issue important to you?

Gender-violence is, according to me, cowardice, and women being the stronger of the two in all ways, should not succumb to it.

What is it you feel most strongly about?

I feel strongly about physical assault, maligning the fairer sex, be it with acid, cigarette stubs, or strong/sharp instruments. Where are the nails that God has given us? Should they not be grown and used to scratch and inflict the same wound and pain to the opposite sex, when one is being abused!

Tell us about your activity and what you hope to do with it

Music in all its myriad hues and forms is a great healer. Someone who is with Music, or is learning it, cannot think in a cruel and sadistic way, is my strong belief. Music teaches one to empathize, visualize and share emotions and also communicates one’s inner-most thoughts to others. That is why when one hears a song or attends a concert, some of it touches a chord in the heart. When one receives or communicates such musical and emotional vibes, it is impossible to think of hurting another Human Being physically or mentally. 

I strongly believe that through teaching music in all its forms, be it Carnatic, Bhajans, or Choral, it is possible to create a community of citizens, who give importance to core values in society. Indirectly, it creates positive vibrations, and fosters friendship and empathy towards fellow beings. I am also trying to involve all my students, be it children, adults, or parents, to donate some time every week towards this end, by volunteering to teach Music to the marginalized and the under-privileged children, as these kind of offences are rampant in their living spaces.

For my part, through My Choral Music Group-SARGAM, I train nearly 300-400 children from all strata of society, and I consciously do not charge them for these classes, as it is the least I can do. 

I am also associated with VIDYA VANAM, a school for tribal children, run by tribals, in Anaikkatti, near Coimbatore. I have been regularly training these first generation learners for the past eight years, and even now go there for two days every month. I am also directly associated with training and setting up the curriculum in 16 Chennai Corporation schools, and the NGO Agastya International in Kuppam, which reaches out to 600 villages, in 13 states of India.

I strongly feel that WE SHOULD BE THE DIFFERENCE WE WANT TO SEE.

Three things you would suggest to keep these individual actions going

Firstly, I think Prajnya's initiative this year was better than earlier because each of us took ownership of our campaign and the onus was on us to project your vision in our space and chosen field of activity. This model could succeed in the long run too, as there are numerous unsung heroes in our society, who would be more than happy to be associated with you too, in your glorious journey.

Secondly, I am sure that the awareness about gender violence and equality is more today than it was five years ago, and people are more vociferous about their views and taking it forward. This IS a good sign, as more people will rally forces to build this movement.

Last but not the least, I think each of us personally too need to stretch our boundaries, and also explore other venues and newer options or means to take this forward and spread the news that we are there for the victims and will not let the wrong-doers go scot-free. I also think that we should rally forces, and submit a petition to add a legislation/law to penalize the accused, in order to discourage this crime in future.

Singing Praises: A Celebration of Women Defenders of Human Rights

“This will be our reply to violence: To make music more intensely, more beautifully, more devotedly than ever before.”  - Leonard Bernstein 

Today, on Day 5 of the campaign, on what happens to be Women Defenders of Human Rights Day, we were treated to a wonderful musical celebration by the Sargam Children's Choir as well as groups from the Chennai Schools in Mylapore and Nungambakkam, led by Dr.Sudha Raja.  

The evening began with a presentation by Dr.Swarna Rajagopalan on women defenders and looked at notable personalities across generations such as Tarabai Shinde, Dr.Muthulakshmi Reddy, Kamla Bhasin, Ruth Manorama, Mary Roy and Dayamani Birla. Equally, the presentation also payed homage to the countless nameless, faceless women who fight for justice and freedom everyday with little or no recognition but enormous impact. 

The children from the Sargam Choir and the Chennai Schools sang a wide variety of songs to celebrate the courage and fortitude of all these women and the many more yet to come. From Paarukulle Nalla Naadu to Ekla Chalo to Odi Vilayadu Paapa, it was truly a spirited performance.

Voices for Equality

 Here are a few clips from our Musical Celebration of Women Defenders of Human Rights:

The Sargam Children's Choir with a spirited rendition of Mangala Loke:

The Sargam Children's Choir with a rousing performance of Dimiki:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QiBzsLZyOYY

AIKYA: The 2010 Campaign Concert, November 26, 2010

(LONG post alert. No apology!)

AIKYA is a Sanskrit word for harmony, for oneness, for coming together and for merging. When Sowmya and I were hunting for a single word that could bring together the three components of the 2010 Campaign, we stopped at AIKYA. It was perfect.

Backstory

Sowmya entered the Prajnya community last year with so much enthusiasm and warmth that when we started planning this year's campaign and decided to make a tradition of devoting the first Friday of the campaign to a music concert, we called her without a second thought for help. Two important considerations went into the way AIKYA was conceptualised. First, that we should involve more and more people and get them to think about the issue of gender violence. Second, that we would rather initiate a process than stage an event that people can enjoy and forget about.

At last year's concert, Prajnya had recognized the work of four Chennai organizations working for women’s rights. We remembered that one of them actually organized women’s unions and ran programmes for adolescent girls. We approached Renuka Bala at the Centre for Women’s Development and Research to see if we could train a small group from this large membership to perform at the concert. CWDR was very enthusiastic, taking no time to say yes.

Enthused, Sowmya approached her friend, Sudha Raja. Sudha Raja is one of Chennai’s best-regarded Carnatic music gurus, but as she puts it, if one of her eyes is Carnatic music, the other is a devotion to promoting choral music.

Anyone who has ever sung at a satsang or in a schoolbus en route an excursion or in the school or church choir can attest that singing together with other people is a truly uplifting experience. Hearing one’s voice raised in melody and harmony with others underscores the feeling that you are not alone. You step out of the satsang or the choir, revived and ready to continue your personal journey.

Sudha Raja trained with and sang in M.B. Srinivas’ Madras Youth Choir and then took over as conductor when the eminent musician passed away 22 years ago. In addition to MYC and the newly formed SaReGaa children’s choir, she also trains community organizations and schools across the state. Sudha defied Chennai’s seasonal rains to trek across the city thrice to conduct training sessions for CWDR members.

And what rains! We keep lamenting how inappropriate the global campaign dates are for Chennai programming. Exams and holidays, monsoon and the music season all mitigate against robust public participation in the campaign. And this last year, it has rained like the equatorial regional climate described by geography texts of my childhood. Every week has had a couple of monsoon-like days. And those were usually days that CWDR and Sudha scheduled training sessions! 

Anyway, we also asked Sudha if SaReGaa, the children’s choir she trains, could perform on the day. Founded in August 2010, the choir has over 50 children of ages 5-15 and they already have a full performance behind them. Sudha readily agreed.

The final component of the AIKYA programme was to be a Carnatic music kacheri. Chennai is the capital city of the Carnatic music world, and a gender violence awareness campaign that did not reach out to its afficionados was a job half-done. That was the rationale for including a kacheri last year, and it remained valid this year.

Vidya Kalyanaraman agreed enthusiastically to be part of the campaign and the campaign concert. This very young, rising musician trained with Padma Sandilyan and Suguna Varadhachari. Six years ago, she had already performed at Rashtrapati Bhavan. We were certainly lucky she was happy to sing for Prajnya programme!

That’s the backstory of how this very unusual evening of music was put together! Many phone calls, emails and auto-rides later, we were all at Srinivasa Sastri Hall, Mylapore, and it was show-time!

An evening of uplifting music

A word about Srinivasa Sastri Hall: I first heard of this venue when Sowmya mentioned it. Srinivasa Sastri Hall is located in the building of the South Indian National Association, which also houses the Ranade Library. Three things predisposed me favourably towards this venue. First, the magic word ‘Ranade.’ Those who have known me for a long time know this is special for two reasons. MG Ranade and I are both Elphinstonians. Moreover, I ran Elphi’s Ranade Society for History and Politics for two years. The second was just its historical antecedents. As a very new Chennai organization with a new-to-Chennai Managing Trustee (me), Prajnya is always happy to connect with positive and liberal elements of Chennai’s history. Finally, this was a venue where nationalist meetings took place and this was also a sought-after music venue in the old days. I only saw the hall on November 26, but already liked when I heard about it!

Back the evening itself, which actually began in the afternoon. Sudha Raja and the Snehidhi Singers—as we christened the CWDR group—met early for a dress rehearsal even as the Prajnya team and volunteers set up the hall. The Snehidhi Singers came dressed in maroon sarees and stood out everywhere! By 5 p.m., the first of the ‘podis’ (little ones, Tamils) began to arrive. Their arrival immediately made a festival out of the programme. Exuberant, energetic little presences filled the hall with positive vibrations. By 6 p.m., the hall was packed and the mood reminiscent of a musical gem from another world: Perpetual Motion!

This evening, for a change, Sowmya played MC! Taking an evening off from performing in the run-up to the Margazhi season, she introduced the programme and performers.

The programme began with the children singing. They had already become restless waiting for the clock to strike six. Even before the MC took the mike, Sudha and her colleague Rangashri had to herd them up to stage just to occupy them and use up some of their energy!

To be very honest, most of us in the audience did not know whether to look at the darlings and gush or listen to them and gush. Whatever grown-up cares we brought to Srinivasa Sastri Hall were erased—if only temporarily—by the SaReGaa performance. The children sang:

1.                  Vaarungal Vaarungal

2.                  Shanti Geet

3.                  Raama Janaardhana

4.                  Kuttanaadu

5.                  Ye Waqt ki Aawaaz Hai

6.                  Maitrim Bhajata

Second on stage, the Snehidhi Singers sang joyously, and the ‘Tandanadana Tandanana’ of their Kummi Adi, is still ringing in my ears as I write this. Their performance had joy and dignity and resolve. We only managed a few training sessions, as I wrote earlier, but determination and practice had truly made them perfect. We were all moved but their dedication and discipline; so many of us take opportunities like this for granted.

Music is a gift—whether you are singing or playing an instrument or listening. The Snehidhi Singers, through their resolve and performance, showed that they recognized the value of this gift—perhaps more than many of us who have more opportunitues do. They sang:

1.      Kummi Adi

2.      Odi Vilayaadu

3.      Siru Siru Malarai

The words of the last song, similar to ‘Little drops of water… make the mighty ocean,’ were so appropriate for AIKYA, a programme that brought together girls (and a few boys) and women from different parts of Chennai, different life-stages and singing in different styles to say one simple thing: We will not allow the silence about gender violence to continue. We will talk. We will write. We will organize. We will sing. We will end that silence.

In the strong, sure single voice of Vidya Kalyanaraman, the buzz of the many voices merged—as if particles into essence. Vidya was accompanied by B.Ananthakrishnan on the violin and Kallidaikurichi Shivakumar on the mridangam. She chose to sing songs by women composers, some as well-known as Andal and Ambujam Krishna and others less well-known like Rukmini Raman. She even forsook the traditional Mangalam ending for a song about Hanuman, which was written by a woman.

Carnatic music afficionados attending the concert who were hearing Vidya for the first time were very impressed by her performance. I know I felt a great deal of stress and exhaustion wash away as I closed my eyes and listened to her sing. A few short years from now, not even that long, Prajnya can proudly say: “Oh, Vidya performed at the campaign concert in 2010! She’s an old friend of ours!”

Are you tired of my gushing? There’s only one solution, to come to our programmes so you don’t have to read about them. And if you really couldn’t make it and wish you had, we did record the proceedings and will post here when we figure out what we want to do with the recordings.

PS: Blogger won't let me post pictures in here. Will do so separately. 

Day 2: Aikya, an evening of music

Uma Vangal looks back at Aikya, an evening of music, on day two of our campaign

The women silently filed on to the stage and when they rendered kummiyadi penne gummiyadi … nammai piditha pisasugal poyina nanami kandom endru kummiyadi, it was not just a folk song that was being sung. These women, largely from the domestic workers association of CWDR formed the Snehidhi singers. They followed this up with siru siru malargal and odi vilayudu paapa, songs on women’s freedom penned by the immortal Tamil poet, Bharathi. And as they sang paadhagam seybavarai kandaal avar mugathil umizhndhu vidu paapa, the children in the audience got the message that gender violence was unacceptable

After all, just a little earlier, a host of voices lifted in gusto, as a group of 40 children ranging from 4 to 14 sang ‘santhi geet’, ‘yeh waqt ki awaaz’

and other songs on national integration, integrity and tolerance. When they ended the with maithrim bajatham the applause was deafening. The parents and other guests rewarded the two groups of performers a resounding round of applause

Both groups were trained in harmonic singing by Sudha Raja who has been singing in the Madras Youth Choir since her 9^th grade for over 30 years now. With tears welling up she says proudly “these women have been training for merely 2 weeks and juts 3 classes while the children have been training for just 12 classes. For me it is a touching moment as these women sang with their heart and soul” She adds that the children too have been taught to sing after understanding the import of the lyrics. “I am overwhelmed by their performance today” she says with pride amidst her tears.

Such were the moments that marked Aikya, an evening of music

organized by the Prajnya trust as part of its ongoing 16 day awareness campaign on gender violence. The musical evening was held at Srinivasa Sastri hall and began with S. Sowmya, well known carnatic musician and trustee, Prajnya, introducing Prajnya’s 3^rd edition of the campaign.

For the next 2 hours Vidya Kalyanaraman sang 8 songs composed by women - mangalam ganapathy, andal, rukmini ramani, padma veeraraghavan, ambujam krishna , neela ramamurthy, a meera bhajan and suguna purushotthaman.

For Vidya, it was a different experience from her usual concerts since this was the first time she worked on thematic selection of compositions. “ it has made me more sensitive to women as composers and musicians and how they get left out just as mush as other work by women across professions”

On what motivated her to organize 3 such different performances for the evening, Sowmya shared “It was true confluence of these musical genres and diverse groups of people we reached out to this evening. The domestic workers, the children and through them their parents and also carnatic artistic community and music aficionados have all been sensitized to the issues of gender violence. This will go along way on also making music and art a means of sensitizing people to such issues.”

If choral music proved therapeutic for the snehidhi singers, the evening proved to be a sensitive yet elevating experience for the audience, if the deafening applause was anything to go by