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Bombay Jayashri Ramnath
By Sudha Jagannathan
Wealth, more wealth and still more wealth. That may be Adam
Smith's theory of wealth creation. Music, more music and still
more music. That is the philosophy that defines this classical
vocal musician. After receiving the "Kalki Award"
at Bharthya Vidya Bhavan in Chennai in 2002, she said she knew
nothing other than music.
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She breathes it. She lives by it.
And, life revolves around just the music. She is a Mom's girl
and a Mother's dream. More than anybody else, mother Seetha
Subramaniam is the one who shaped the musician in Bombay Jayashri.
Today, Seetha should be a happy mother. Jayashri is not just
among leading vocalists of the present time. She has also a
voice that has civilizing influence on the listener.
Jayashri, as a young girl, was always fond of cultural activities.
And, she never missed an opportunity to participate in such
activities. Never mind, it meant skipping classes. Though she
was going to college, her mind was always drawn to music. It
was naturally no surprise when she joined an orchestra group
"Rainbow" and got fully engaged with it. A vibrant
young girl, she was exposed to all forms of art. In one of her
interviews, Jayashri asserted that "youngsters who wished
to take music as their career need not go for commerce but,
on the contrary, can devote their full time for music.'' Drowned
fully into music, Jayashri dreams of an ideal situation where
over 20 acres of land is developed and dedicated only for imparting/learning
music.
Jayashri did her schooling and college in Mumbai. She is a commerce
graduate from Podar College, Mumbai. She took her early music
lessons under the guidance of T.R.Balamani of Mumbai. Jayashri
was exposed to all form of arts like veena, dance and music
since her childhood. Her mother Seetha was her guru, philosopher
and the guide. It was she who encouraged her to devote full
time to Carnatic music. At a tender age of three years, Jayashri
was able to render the varnams with ease while her mother was
teaching older students.
The year 1989 marked a watershed in her music life. That was
the year in which Jayashri shifted her base to Chennai at the
request of Shri.Lalgudi Jayaraman (Violin maestro). And after
this, the entire course of her life changed. She slowly and
steadily started to scale new peaks under Jayaraman's guidance.
Sooner than later, Jayashri has become one of the top artistes.
Music has taken her to countries like the U.S., Canada, Singapore,
Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand, the Middle East, the U.K.,
France, Germany, Switzerland, Finland, Sri Lanka, South Africa
and Botswana.
She has also composed music for Silappadhikaram, a dance drama
in the year 2004, produced by Cleveland’s Cultural Alliance.
Being Lalgudi Jayaraman’s disciple she has brought out
her prowess in scoring music for Silappadhikaram verses. Jayashri
was to a large extent responsible for its tremendous success.
Jayashri presents her concerts in an unique manner. She chooses
rare and vivadi ragas for exploration in select sabhas and enthralls
the audience with her spellbound music. Jayashri's approach
to music is steady and unhurried. There is a touch of divinity
in her rendition of music. The melody in her voice has the ability
to force one to be rooted to his/her chair while listening to
her concerts. What stands her out is the crystal clear clarity
in the way she pronounces the phrases in a Sahitya. This makes
her an absorbing vocalist. She has even made the Finnish and
French audiences - who may not understand the nuances of the
Carnatic classical music - stay riveted to their seats at her
concerts abroad.
Jayashri is also well known for her albums. She has a unique
style of presenting her albums. Each and every album is creative
and captivating. Vatsalyam, Brindavan, Listners Choice, Shyama,
Radha Madhavam,Chiselled Aesthetics, Classical Melodies, Dikshitar
Kritis, Atma, Carnatic Classical, Your Favourites, Shravanam,
Amritham and Anubhavam - the list is quite long and are like
pearls embedded in a garland . Jayashri has recently released
an album titled "Panchabhutams," comprising songs
composed by Muthuswamy Dikshitar. It is an effort well appreciated
for the combination of orchestration and rendition of pure Carnatic
music. Jayashri has won many an accolade like `Isai Peroli',
`Yuva Kala Bharathi' and “Kalaimamani” . She has
won the Film Fare award for the song "Vassegara".
Jayashri is very soft spoken. She is not demonstrative in spite
of having a command over the music. She pines to learn more.
She treasures even a small bit of information related to music
and knowledge. Jayashri is a book-reader and nature-loving personality.
She also made a mark as a writer by publishing her maiden book
titled “Voices Within” based on seven great musicians
from carnatic music. She co-authored this book with T.M.Krishna
and Mythili Chandrasekhar.
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