On a musical beat

Ghatam exponent Sukkanya Ramgopal and her all-women instrumental ensemble, Sthree Thaal Tharang, performs in the city on January 31

January 30, 2015 05:22 pm | Updated 05:22 pm IST - Thiruvananthapuram

Sukkanya Ramgopal Photo: R.Ragu

Sukkanya Ramgopal Photo: R.Ragu

When the odds are stacked against you, you can either resign yourself to your fate or fight back. Sukkanya Ramgopal opted to beat the odds. She broke into a male bastion and emerged as one of the leading ghatam players in the country. It is the same confidence that saw her launch an all-women ensemble, Sthree Thaal Tharang, in 1995, which has conquered many stages in India and abroad.

MetroPlus caught up with Bangalore-based Sukkanya who talked about her journey with the ghatam, the hurdles she had to overcome and where she stands today.

“I wouldn’t say that things have changed altogether now. There was a time when top musicians weren’t ready to have a woman ghatam player as an accompanist. I have experienced that many times in my career. Even now there are many musicians who discriminate on the basis of gender. But I should thank all those people because probably it was that rejection that acted as a catalyst and motivated me to work hard and earn my instrument the place it deserves,” says Sukkanya, a disciple of acclaimed ghatam maestro Vikku Vinayakaram.

Sukkanya started playing the ghatam when she was 12 and is the only Top A grade woman ghatam artiste of AIR. More than anything else, she dreamt of the ghatam occupying centre stage in a concert. Something that she achieved through her Ghata Tharang concerts in which she plays on six ghatams and later the Sthree Thaal Tharang.

“At a Carnatic music concert, the vocalist has pride of place, followed by the violin, mridangam, ganjira and ghatam artistes in that order. We percussionists are usually sidelined and I always wanted to do something about it. The idea of Ghata Tharang came from my classes from Vikku sir. He used to have ‘Ghatamala’ sessions when he would give each of us students a ghatam, each with a different pitch. We didn’t play any particular raga, but would play in turns to produce different sounds, ultimately culminating in a grand finale. Having done that, I wondered if I could try it with ragas. And the idea finally materialised at a seminar in Bangalore where I played with five ghatams. Later I made it six, and tried it with upapakkavadya, konnakkol, drums, veena, flute and other instruments,” says Sukkanya.

Sthree Thaal Tharang

The thought stemmed from her desire to give more exposure to women accompanists who don’t get enough opportunities. “They have had similar experiences as mine,” she says. So she formed a team with women musicians whom she met at various concerts and through acquaintances. “Initially we didn’t have a mridangam. We added a mridangam player in 2000. I am so proud that today each of them are getting opportunities to play at reputed sabhas and concerts,” says Sukkanya. The group has brought out four albums, Rainbow, Shiva Shakti Swayambho, Layamrutham and Pulsation .

In addition to Sukkanya (Ghata Tharang, ghatam and konnakol), the ensemble has J. Yogavandana (veena), Soumya Ramachandran (violin), Ranjini Venkatesh (mridangam) and Bhagyalakshmi M. Krishna (morsing). Their recital is structured like a Carnatic concert where compositions are played on the veena and violin and others accompany. In the Ghata Tharang sessions, which plays compositions created by Sukkanya, she occupies centre stage and the others accompany.

The event is at SSJDB Mandapam, Sastha Nagar, Karamana, on January 31 at 6.30 p.m. It is organised by Sree Neelakanta Sivan Sangeetha Sabha Trust as part of Thai Poosam Mahotsavam .

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.