A DATE WITH DEVAN

Charukesi, Gopulu, Mathi and Keshav

Every year on May 5, without fail the Devan Endowments celebrates Devan’s anniversary, with Charukesi the Managing Trustee at the helm. More about this here.

Devan was a leading humorist of the 1940s and 50s, and is still warmly remembered by readers and writers of Thamizh. His homespun humour and ready wit endeared him to generations of readers.

In the cool ambience of the air-conditioned Smt. Sivagami Pethachi auditorium, once again Charukesi honoured two members in the world of humour – cartoonists Keshav of The Hindu and Mathi of Dinamani. Legend Gopulu, illustrator and cartoonist par excellence, presented the awards.

Charukesi, told the audience after his welcome speech that the programme was to be a short one, to be followed by a short half hour play ‘Thozha’ by Eknath, presented by Kala Nilayam, and that everyone could go home in time for the current favourite serial on TV – Cho's 'Engey Brahamanan!'

That ‘Brevity is the soul of wit’ was proved that evening in the speeches that Gopulu, Keshav and Mathi made. It made me think that they are artists not only of the brush, but of the word, too.

Mathi spoke about the timelessness of Gopulu’s cartoons, which his nine year old son could enjoy even today.

Gopulu complimented Charukesi on his ability to don several avatars – writing humorous short stories, music reviews, and organising occasions like this. “He is a ‘theneey’”, said Gopulu. A most suitable epithet, for Charukesi is indeed as busy as a bee with his various activities.

Though we had to leave before the end of the play, I am sure those who did also got home before their favourite serial started.

Photograph: Courtesy R. Saravanan

A BOOK ON PROMISING YOUNG MUSICIANS

‘Youth Jugalbandhi’ – the title is a combination of an English and a Hindi word, but the book is in Thamizh. Authored by Charukesi, the book is a collection of interviews with twenty eight promising young stars on the Carnatic musical stage.

The book, published by Vikatan Publications with a foreword by Sudha Raghunathan, has been appropriately released during the ‘season’.

Each chapter is dedicated to one person, with details of education, musical and otherwise, spelt out clearly at the beginning. Highlights of each musician’s career have been included smoothly with other information, like their views on music, on their profession and career. Sikkil Gurucharan, for instance, says he has no interest in news or other matters, it is only music for him all the way. Mridangam player Delhi Sairam says that no way would he consider participating in the orchestra of a Bharata natyam dancer. Vasudha Ravi says her most unforgettable moment was when she met M. S. Subbulakshmi and sang for her.

Not only vocalists, but accompanists like violinists and mridangam or kanjira players are also included in this list. Some of them are children of musicians, like Subasree Ramachandran, daughter of Charumathi and Trichur Ramachandran, and T. N. S. Krishna, son of T. N. Seshagopalan, or come from families with musical background like Abhishek Raghuram, who is the grandson of Palghat Raghu.

What does strike the reader is that each of the young persons holds not less than a bachelor’s degree. In fact some of them, like Nisha Rajagopal are professional degree holders. Many of the musicians, like Kuldeep Pai, K. Gayathri and S. M. Vilasini , live in the Mylapore neighbourhood.

Charukesi is an established writer with many short stories and books to his name. He is also a connoisseur of music, as his nom de plume might indicate – being the name of a raagam – and he has contributed articles on music to publications like The Hindu and Sruti. His given name is Viswanathan.

How did he hit upon the idea of interviewing the youngsters? Charukesi says that it was the idea of the Managing Editor of Vikatan Publications – VSV, and that this is the first time that profiles of a bunch of young artistes were taken up for a book.

“It took me 28 days to interviews the 28 artistes, and the book was readied in another 28,” he says. “On the whole, it was a pleasant task, talking to the young crop of musicians, who have excellent academic records, too. All of them co-operated in the project enthusiastically.”

This was published in the daily edition of Kutcheribuzz on December 25.

REMEMBERING DEVAN WITH COOL AWARDS

Photo courtesy The Hindu

Another sizzling scorcher in the city yesterday, and I was only too happy to find refuge in the air-conditioned Smt. Sivagami Pethachi auditorium on the occasion of the Devan Endowments award ceremony. This programme is an annual one, organised by writer Charukesi, who is the Managing Trustee.

Any self-respecting Thamizh weekly reader knows who Devan is – the famed humorist, whose writings (in Ananda Vikatan, mainly) raised a laugh in the hearts and hearths of many. Though he died in 1957, his name has lived on....Many remember him for the character of Thuppariyum Sambu, who sort of bumbled his way into solving mysteries (a forerunner of Inspector Clousseau, maybe?). The face of Thuppariyum Sambu was immortalised by artist Gopulu, who drew him just as Devan had described him – with a sharp nose, a balding head, a weak chin, along with a generally vacant look. It was most touching to see Gopulu present on the occasion, and to hear him say to a friend how he and Devan were inseparable in those days. Kathadi Ramamurthi, who had played the character on stage, was also present.

Devan Endowments was formed about thirty years ago, and the trust has been honouring writers and artistes with medals from 1997. This year the Trust honoured two young dramatists – C. V. Chandramohan and S. Ananthkrishnan (Ananthu), who have been making waes with their offerings. R. Krishnaswami, secretary of Narada Gana Sabha, presented the medals, and talked about 'Stage Plays - Past and Present’. It was most interesting, for the speaker clearly knew what he was talking about. He traced the history of the Thamizh play from 1890, when Pammal Sammanda Mudaliar and V. V. Srinivasa Iyengar wrote plays and made them decent enough to be performed in public. Earlier plays, he said, used to be rather vulgar. Their sources included Shakespeare and Moliere. He outlined its growth of Thamizh drama through V. C. Gopalaratnam, - Krishnaswamy, who is a lawyer, said that he had also acted in plays presented by the Lawyers’ Association many years ago with him - Nawab Rajamanickam, to Y. G. Parthasarathy and his writer Pattu – who gave a clear definition to Thamizh drama - and others right up to the time of K. Balachandar and Cho, which he termed the golden period of Thamizh drama. He felt the current crop of dramatists should include some relevance and substance to their plays, and not just write one line stories for their one-liners.

This was followed by the presentation of ‘Natta Kal’ by Indira Parthasarathy. A short play, it sought to present the theme of finding one’s god in oneself . The story of Poosalar of Thiruninravoor, for whose sake Lord Siva decided to forego the grand kumbabhishekham planned by the king, was presented by K.S. Nagarajan’s Kalanilayam. When the Lord appears to the king to tell him he has to be present at the kumbabhishekham of another temple built by Poosalar, the king decides to go there. And is surprised to find that Poosalar is a poor Brahmin whose temple is in his heart.

This theme was foretold in the prayer song - an M.L.Vasanthakumari classic from the film ‘Thai Ullam’, as Charukesi pointed out - by Sikkil Gurucharan. Another reason I was glad I went - Gurucharan sang divinely, and looked good, too!

As we came away, I could not but help think - Mylapore is certainly the cultural hub of this city. So many sabhas, all situated in this area. Almost all the dramatists, actors, artistes, musicians and dancers, almost everyone has a base in the Mylapore area. Devan lived in Mylapore, and so do Gopulu, Kathadi Ramamurthi, Charukesi, Sikkil Gurucharan, and Cho and the late Sujata, the first two recipients of Devan Endowments….