The Karnatik Showman!

elavasam
elavasam
Aug 26, 2017 · 3 min read

It is no secret I love listening to T.M.Krishna. But it is just not his singing I listen to but his lecdems (irrespective of whether I understand the technicalities talked about or not) and his interviews too. This is because TMK presents his views so well - he is quite the showman.

I earn my bread pitching our products to my prospective customers and I find each of his presentations to be a lesson in how to interact with the audience. His secret, I believe, is to gauge the audience very quickly and keep the conversation at a level that appeals to them. His examples and anecdotes are the ones that the audience can relate to, as well.

It is a treat to see him interact with children. If possible, he will get off the stage and mingle with them and ask them questions to keep the program interactive and interesting to them. And the kids respond to his format every single time because they feel included and the topic is not made to be something beyond their grasp. And none of his patented, fearsome look of irritation will ever surface, when he is with kids. It is an interesting reverse metamorphosis, where he becomes a kid himself.

He is passionate. Whether it is Sangeetha Sampradhaya Pradharshini or the plight of Ennore Creek, he takes an educated stand because of the research he does on the topic. Another aspect of his talks is his conviction. He truly believes in what he says and that honesty comes out very clearly. Because of this, even if I don’t agree with his views, I tend to listen to him when he talks. And boy, can he talk!

You call me Showman? Really? (PC Hariharan Sankaran)

But it takes the right interviewer to get his thoughts flowing and cover a variety of topics. A recent interview by Ananya Vajpeyi is one such. It is clear she has worked on the questions she needs to ask because the conversation moves from his singing to his political views to his mountain climbing to his inner search for discovering himself to Dikshitar’s Nottuswara Sahityams to his friendships with author Perumal Murugan and ‘co conspirator’ RK Shriramkumar. A thorough preparation only could nudge Krishna into these topics so smoothly.

This is not a short interview. It lasts a shade under two hours. As Ananya says at the beginning, “The problem is not to get TMK to start talking…” and she has done an admirable job to cover all the various topics that she had intended to cover. Kudos to her to get the best out of Krishna.

PC — Ananya Vajpeyi

The interview has provided lots of insights into Krishna, the artist. How he connects a lonely palm tree standing upright to the reclining posture of Lord Vishnu or the thinking behind the choice of ragas for the Poramboke song or connecting Khamboji to empathy shows the labor that goes into those beautiful songs that we get to hear on stage and how inspiration comes from a variety of sources.

Though this is a conversation that lasts around two hours, it is a very engaging one. As a bonus there are a couple of songs that Krishna has sung during this session. With no accompaniments, they present a different texture and dimension from how we get to hear them otherwise.

I enjoyed the conversation. Hope you do too.

Sermon from the Top! (PC Hariharan Sankaran)

The video of the interview is available on youtube

For those who prefer to listen to as a podcast, I have the audio version available on Soundcloud

Thank you Ananya for the audio file and permission to share it. And Hariharan Sankaran for the photographs.

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