The King is Back. Long live the King!
Despite me being very sick, was up till the early hours on monday night to watch Roger Federer give a classic exhibition in taking Andy Murray apart. The saying 'Form is temporary, but Class is permanent' holds good when it comes to Roger.
I have been watching Tennis for more than a quarter of a century. I have seen the brilliant Borg, the genius McEnroe, the sanguine Edberg, the hardworking Wilander, the dour Lendl, the flamboyant Becker, the ruthless Sampras, the two avatars of Agassi, the workmanlike Jim Courier, the aesthetically fantastic Miloslov Mecir (it is a pity injury cut short his career), the immensely talented Henri Leconte and the tenacious Nadal. But, none comes close to Roger Federer. Such a complete player, so pleasing to watch, superb shot selection and all the talent in the world condensed in one tennis player. It is a pleasure to watch Roger Federer and we dont know how lucky we are to be born in his lifetime. We need players like him to rekindle our interest in sports. Players who have a profound influence on the audience and makes them wish that they go out and play the sport immediately. In recent times, there were a few. Sachin, Schumaker, Michael Jordan, Bobby Fisher, Maradona and above all Roger Federer. It is good for the game, that he has got over the blimp and is back winning Grand Slams.
Waking up with bleary eyes yesterday, the first news that hit me was the death of the Violin Maestro Kunnakudi Vaidyanathan. Though, I have strong reservations about his style, I have always admired him as a maverick, who tried to buck the conservative carnatic music system. He was quite innoative, and largely responsible for dragging a whole bunch of young rasikas to the music hall. His different treatment of various krithis and the speed of bowing made him an instant hit with the younger generation. Added to this, his innovations like film song based kutcheri and more importantly, his using Valayapatti on Thavil (not done before and thavil is so loud that it is ideal only for nadaswaram) was a classic act.
I have heard Kunnakudi many times and everytime I have come away with the feeling that I have gone through a cacophony of sound rather than the melodious feel one expects. But once, mind you only once, I have heard him play Violin without his 'kasarthu' or antics. And it showed how talented was he while playing traditionally.
Ariyakkudi was the pioneer in product innovation by introducing the Kutchery style as it is followed today. Following that, one has to give Kunnakudi the credit for being the next great innovator. His focus on popularising the music through keeping it attractive to the modern audience was subsequently taken up by U Srinivas, Kadri, Ganesh/Kumaresh etc. Maybe, just maybe Kunnakudi was couple of decades ahead of the times. That makes him a visionary.
It is said that once when his father was in death bed, Kunnakudi played the 'Bhairavi' Raaga (Bhairavi is considered to be Jeeva Raaga) and his father espcaped death to live for a few years. When the heart attack came yesterday, maybe he didnt have the time to take his violin and play the Bhairavi for himself.
You dared to be different and I salute you for that. Hope you have adapted well to the needs of the netherworld. Your music will linger. R.I.P
