Mantri 'mahila' makes headline

A Dinamani write-up by N Jeeva says Geetha Viswanathan (C block) can cut a blouse to suit your taste, and purse. A 100-rupee blouse would make as much of fashion statement as the one billed Rs.3,000.(didn't know a blouse can make such a big hole in your pocket). Whether you pay Rs.100 or Rs.3,000 customer taste is what fashion designing is all about. Geetha  runs a community college in Adyar that initiates the interested in fashion designing.
The thing about Geetha's school is that it is students who choose their syllabus . If your interest is only in fashioning designer blouse, they run a crash course. If  salwaar-kameez is what you fancy, Geetha wouldn't inflict on you a course on Saari or bridalwear.
Turning on its head a well-worn cliche - 'behind every successful man, lurks a woman' - Geetha concedes her motivational factor was Kasi Viswanathan. She had an opportunity to travel with her husband to some interior parts of India. The experience, she says, facilitated her to acquire nuances of specialist crafts such as aari, Kasoti and Kutch embroidery.
Mr Viswanthan, advocate by training, is a concert musician who now devotes much of his time initiating Mantri children into the joys of music.

Singing lessons: poise matters

My wife and I invited ourselves to Kasi Viswanathan's music class for children (C-804), to get a feel of it. I have no credentials to rate him as music teacher, but we like his approach. Mr Viswanathan's class has students, 11 till now,in the 5-12 age-group, all girls. He is a stickler for form, pays attention to the way his girls sit, their poise, body language, and maintaining eye-contact with teacher.
Mr Viswanathan interrupted the class-singing, to correct the posture, limb movement, eye-contact of a student reflecting her lack of attention. We heard him telling his class lemon-on-the-head anecdote. Mr Viswanathan said he had heard this anecdote from his own guru,whose father was a Trivancore court vidhwan. At a concert in the presence of Maharaja the musician was challenged to give a two-hour concert, with a lemon balanced on his head.

I could appreciate Mr Viswanthan's focus on poise, right from the start,as I watched this lad's stage presence on TV the other day. Incidentally, a Carnatic music contest for juniors is telecast in Jaya TV daily, 5 p m nowadays. The poise and stage presence most of the child contestants display would put to shame some of our celebrity concert singers. I can't see the proverbial lemon staying on Aruna Sairam's head even for a moment (see this YouTube clip)
My Google search while working on this blog post led me to this write-up - 6 Tips for a better singing voice - in which Tip-2 suggests practice session in front of a mirror. Mr Viswanathan says his son, at his modeling school, uses the mirror technique in training models.
My suggestion :1)Teaching children class-room poise could be extended to their general conduct, such as the way they leave footwear at the front-door(in proper place and in a row), greet elders they meet, their guru, and take leave of them.A teacher is better placed than parents in initiating children in social skills.
2) I wish Mr Viswanathan would consider holding music class, once in alternate weeks (say, Friday) at a convenient corner at Mantri central park - on the tiled space near fountain,or the lawns in front of C Block. Seniors, and mothers out in the park in the evening would get a feel of how Mantri's children are doing.

Mantri music classes

In an earlier post we wrote about Our in-house concert musician', Mr Kasi Viswanathan. In response to requests from some Mantri parents he has agreed to hold music classes from Jan.23, considered an auspicious day.
To start with, Mr Viswanathan plans to hold classes at his residence (C-804),twice a week. Children above 5 years in age are welcome. Mr Viswanathan is a veteran of 500 plus concerts. His last concert, on New Year Day, was sponsored by a social club at a Home for the aged and destitute women in Chennai.
Those who wish to get a flavour of Kasi Viswanathan's music would do well to listen to 'Samarpan', a compilation of his songs packed into a CD for private circulation. You may borrow the CD from Mr Viswanathan (044-29856118,98941 48601).
His music lessons carry a fee - Rs.500 a month,for 8 classes, held twice a month. Which may well be very reasonable. But I don't know why I was under the impression that when Mr Viswanathan first referred to his desire to teach interested children, ir was his way of volunteer service to the Mantri residents community.

Our in-house concert musician

Among those who moved in at Mantri Synergy recently is Mr Kasi Viswanthan (C-804), a carnatic musician and veteran of over 500 concerts. Proficient in music Mr Viswanthan is a lawyer by profession.Law and music made strange chemistry,if at all,I thought. Not so, counters Mr Viswanathan who has struck a synergy between legal practice and his passion for music. His concert singing opened for him many doors that helped his career in law, particularly, in early stages in life. Mr Viswanathan, mentored by Kalakkad Narayana Iyer gave his first concert at the age of nine. Now, at 72, he is still up and singing .

Kasi Viswanathan has an hour long concert (3-4 p m) scheduled for New Year Day (tomorrow) at Vishranti Bhavan, a home for the aged and destitute women at Palavakkam on ECR. Music lovers at Mantri's are welcome, says Mr Viswanathan. He will be accompanied on violin by Hariharan, and on mridangam, by Kalakkad Sreenivasan.
I wish this time next year we organize Mr Viswanthan's concert at Mantri's, at which elderly and destitute inmates at the ashram can be our guests, for lunch and concert music at the clubhouse on New Year Day,2013.
Mantri apartment owners association can make this happen.Mr Viswanthan loaned me an audio disc containing a selection from his renderings. For a nit-wit in carnatic music, such as yours truly, my favorite numbers in the disc included Santhi Nilava Vendum and Parukkle Nalla Nadu. If Mantri residents association were to set up a video library at the clubhouse, Mr Viswanathan can be persuaded to gift this and some other discs as well.
There are residents who would like their children to learn music. Mr Viswanathan says he would be happy to teach. We could also do with volunteers who can initiate Mantri's children in Hindustani music, Tagore sangeet, bhajans and ghazal (my favourite).
Related posts:
Talking music on morning walk
For your attention, Mr T M Krishna
Concerts online: Sangeethapriya
A date with T N Krishnan