In Rasikarum Rasikaiyum, the hero doesn’t exploit a girl’s admiration for his artwork.
Janakiraman’s father, Thyagaraja Sastry, was an completed Harikatha exponent. Throughout his years in Kumbakonam, Janakiraman had the chance to be taught music from Umayalpuram Swaminatha Iyer. The music instructor, Ranganna, portrayed in Mohamul, was impressed by Swaminatha Iyer.
Regardless of his robust musical grounding, Janakiraman selected to not pursue a profession in music. “Swaminatha Iyer handed away on the very day Janakiraman was to make his debut. When he went out to substantiate the information, he noticed the physique being taken for the funeral,” mentioned Kalyanaraman, writer of Janakiramam, a group of essays printed to mark the author’s beginning centenary.
The Kalachuvadu assortment incorporates ten tales. Whereas some are centred on music, others dwell on the expertise of listening to it. Readers acquainted with Janakiraman’s writings and musical sensibilities will simply recognise his impatience with any type of music aside from Carnatic classical traditions, in addition to with music criticism.
“This can’t be dismissed as Janakiraman’s private style alone. There are a lot of such folks in my circle. After I rendered a number of devotional songs from movies in my live shows, I encountered listeners who shared his views,” writes Sanjay Subrahmanyan within the preface.
Kottumelam, one of many tales within the assortment, displays this attitude. Whereas Janakiraman had extolled the greatness of the nagaswaram in Seithi, he appeared far much less tolerant when the nagaswaram and the thavil accompanied Poikal Kuthirai, a folks dance, in Kottumelam.
Sanjay Subrahmanyan notes that Janakiraman didn’t delve into the technical trivialities of music in his fiction. “It’s in regards to the expertise — simply the title of a raga, a line from a keerthana, a number of musical phrases scattered by way of the writing. When he describes the music he loved, the literary magnificence and aesthetic sensitivity provide the reader the whole expertise of listening,” he writes.
Though Janakiraman adored and celebrated ladies, the story Rasikarum Rasikaiyum doesn’t permit its hero, Markandam, a celebrated musician, to take advantage of a girl’s admiration for his artwork. She drives him away when he tells her that “she sings higher than Tyagaraja”.
Kuzhanthaimethai reveals the burdens carried by a toddler prodigy, who would moderately discuss sweets than her expertise for dance.
“Pashanga Ragam sharply critiques a music critic, who failed as a musician and bought his data solely from books. He stays oblivious to the struggling of his family. After his loss of life, his spouse marries his good friend, who had supported the family.”
Natesanna, broadly thought to be certainly one of Janakiraman’s most interesting tales, is sadly absent from the gathering.
Printed – December 30, 2025 12:24 am IST
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