Living Legend.. Kalaimamani Ranganayaki Jayaraman

My interview with Kalaimamani Ranganayaki Jayaraman Director Saraswathi Gana Nilayam Triplicane Chennai.

1. How would you associate the growth of SGN along with your growth...?

Started by my guru Smt.K.Lalitha in 1939, SGN has been my life and soul. My growth was marked by the growth of the instiitution. My teacher who also happens to be my aunt imbibed in me a sense of art, she made it a point that i not only excelled in dance but also made me learn Veena, Violin and Vocal music, she also trained me in Nattuvangam and inspired me to do Hari Katha. Therefore SGN and Lalitha sister have been the driving source for all my success and prosperity and i owe it all to them.

     2. As the First Student of SGN, you would have enjoyed a different phase , can u tell us about your learning experiences, arangetram and so on..

 Remembering those days make me feel rejuvenated, I started learning Bharathanatyam under my Athai[aunt] Smt. K.Lalitha at the age of 5 and staged my Arangetram when i was 11years old, Athai was an ardent fan of Rukmini Devi and was very specific that she must preside over my arangetram. Rukmini amma also readily accepted and graced the occasion, one of the best moments in my life was when Rukmini amma made me sit on her lap. We have come through a lot of hurdles and have also successfully inspired many dancers to take up dance as a serious profession.

     3.During the days of  solo kutcheris, how did Saraswathi Gana NIlayam, find its way of group choreographies and group arangetrams...

 “Dance should not be the privilege of only the affluent. It should reach all those who have a passion for it," I hit upon the idea of involving three or four dancers, to cut down the expenditure for the parents. Also the group concept beautifully lends itself to legends and mythological stories, more number of dancers, it becomes easy for the audience to relate to each character with absolute distinctions. I also hold a strong appeal to sabhas and dance schools that they should come forward to bring out the talent in economically backward people, who have the ability but do not have financial support. Lalitha Prabhavam, which was penned by my Guru was one of the master piece ballet which made heads turn towards our group productions, from then on we took up full fledged efforts to bring about dance ballets and group productions, which raised the standards of both the institute and the dancers, giving them special identities.

     4. SGN is known for its folk dances, can you tell us about that..

My guru is considered a pioneer in reviving and propogating our traditional art forms such as Kollattam, kummi, Pinnal Kollatam. During those days people would instantly associate our dance class with these art forms, Mr. K.Subrahmanyam , always made sure that we performed for all his programs. I specifically remember, Pinnal Kollattam was everybody's favourite, and the hall used be in thunderous applause when Pinnal kollatam is performed.

     5. A good teacher's treasure are her students can you tell us about your senior disciples who are into this field..

Yes , that is Absolutely true, my students are my gems, a teacher student relationship is always give and take... the students crave for the knowledge that the teacher holds and the teacher craves to find students with utmost  potential and expects their excellent performance. there is no Materialism involved, my students are always with me even today, though they are all well settled in their own ways, Binesh Mahadevan, my senior disciple who is the Director of Akshaya Arts at Koyambedu, is always a call away, he is more like a right hand to me, similarly Padmini Krishnamurthy who now resides at Muscat ,Padmalakshmee Suresh are all such wonderful students that I have got. Revathy, we call her Asha, she is a busy artist but when ever I need her, she reaches me. Most of my students are all well settled and it gives me immense happiness to see them all like this.

B.K.Puram BlockBusters

Dedicated to my Bestie and her sissie... the BLOCKBUSTERS OF B.K.PURAM, Yamini & Damini. I would have never come across this place if they did not shift back to their Native soil.
Lushy green fields, sugarcane, paddy, groundnuts was all that I could see. The first sight of this place left me awestruck, 84kms from Chennai, is this land of serenity and bliss 'Balakrishnapuram'. 

Walking through the fields, one could experience the smell of burnt sugarcane,wet soil and a weird fragrance, all of which smelled fresh and pleasing. One feels like Humpty-Dumpty , by the time he/she reaches Balakrishnapuram on a rickety bus to Tirutani to R.K.Pet after which you have undergo the most adventurous Share auto ride. Unlike Chennai, the Share autos are smaller in size yet try to fit in more number of people.

The village lies on the Andhra-Tamilnadu border and the people are in a confused state when it comes to speaking Tamil or Telugu, both the language sounded the same when they talk. In a land of Fake smiles and sarcastic looks, I found real happiness and love in their eyes, they welcome any stranger into their village with due respect and make them feel really comfortable, " 'Athithi devo bhava', we strongly believe in this phrase, and treat all the people equally without any discrimination, says Sunitha Sekar the village heads wife.

"Farming is our profession and we are ardent farmers by birth, Any child who is born here is very attached to this soil, wherever they go, however successful they get, this soil brings them back here", Raghava Raju.

Every story about a farming village usually turns out to be tragic, but B.K.Puram is different, the people make the village look really positive as they try to overcome all the hurdles all by themselves without expecting much some leader to come and reform the place. The Villagers make your eyes Pop-Out not just with their unity and prosperity but also with the luxurious cars that they own, it is a land of BMW's, Audi's and SUV's.Farming at its peak, even after domestic use and freebies , they are still left with surplus to trade and make abundant profits. The families here are simple and down-to-earth but are all billionaires. Earlier generation of Farmers, play with the soil and yield the benefit, whereas the current generation is at a much faster pace, they trade these excess produce to other states and make huge profits. Most of these people are settled in Bangalore as it helps them carrying out the business at a large scale, but they all make it a point to come back to their village with their extended family for every Sankranthi, when they have joyous celebration of the Harvest.

B.K.Puram also has significant roads. The village roads are concrete and was laid by the villagers themselves. Transportation is made easy as they have good roads i;e less damaged ones, connecting neighbouring villages and towns.

After all the positives aspects of B.K.Puram, here are a few things which tries hard to pull down its serenity. These people have to undergo a great deal of pressure in protecting their lands and their produce from natural disasters as well as man-made. The village is surrounded by small hills which have rich habitation of wild boars, goose, rabbits, foxes etc; these animals tend to come into the farming lands and eat up the crops, similarly people from the neighbouring villages also turn out to be a wild in their behaviour, these people burn up the farms at B.K.Puram, once they find that they are making a good margin.

When this is the state for crops, the condition of the lands there seem to be worse. Have you ever wondered why Indian cinemas always have a villain in it, no matter however positive the story-line is. This village to has one such person, 'The Tahsildhar', who occupies everybody's land and claims it to be his, making fake documents and agreements. He has tormented the villagers for several years taking away their properties, but off-recent his activities have subsided as the village head Mr.G.R.Sekar is back from Chennai. Sekar Raju's Father had owned almost 3/4th of the village, he was a generous man and did not believe in the Zameendari system of Land lordship and therefore donated pieces of lands to the villagers. He was their Hero and now Sekar Raju has taken up his dad's position, says the villagers unanimously.

the womenfolk of the village also have a remarkable complaint to put forth. These villagers are misguided and are made to waste their money and spoil their health by getting into Alcoholism. Almost 80% of the men drink and are now suffering from chronic liver diseases such as Jaundice and so on. The village not only has two outlets of Tasmac, but they also get supply of Arrack from villages nearby. "Alcoholism has destroyed so many families and I Am trying to bring back all the lost Gandhian values once again to the village", says Sekar Raju.

 Keeping all these issues aside, the village seems to be happy , just that the villagers have to take a step forward to make it a much more better place, which sets an example for all the other villages