JOIN USCoastal Karnataka girls power sax revolution
Women saxophone players from the Karnataka coast are going places. They are playing Indian classical music and also popular genres, and taking live and social media audiences by storm.
Pooja Devadiga from Udupi plays an eclectic mix of styles. “When I was eight, I started training with my grandfather Sundar Sherigar in Alevoor, Udupi,” says Pooja, now doing an MBA in Mumbai. She learnt Carnatic music from him, and then started picking up other melodies.
“Over the 13 years I have been playing, I have included a bit of swing and Bollywood. Going forward, I want to play jazz and more intricate genres,” a beaming Pooja told Showtime.
She is thrilled that people recognise her as someone who has stormed a male bastion. “People say they are proud to see a female saxophonist, and their words truly motivate me to do better," says Pooja.
Lavanya and Subbalaxmi come from a family of musicians. Their grandfather Rajappa was a court musician in Mysuru, and their father M R Sainath is an accomplished percussionist working for All India Radio.
The sisters, both students of the legendary Kadri Gopalnath, are now considered top-rung saxophonists. Their journey wasn’t easy. The family was struggling financially, and Subbulakshmi and Lavanya took their time to arrive.
A health problem threatened to put paid to Lavanya’s dreams, but she fought it bravely, and now plays alongside top instrumentalists such as Ronu Mujumdar (flute), Vishwa Mohan Bhatt (Mohan veena), Purbayan Chatterjee (sitar).
She has also played for A R Rahman compositions for the film Shivaji. She leads a girl band called Queens, plays sessions recordings for some film music composers, and now shuttles between Bengaluru, Mumbai and Chennai for giving concerts.
Meghana Saligrama has 1.23 lakh followers on her Facebook page. She plays at weddings and for other occasions, and posts videos of popular Kannada songs on social media. Her posts get huge traction and thousands of appreciative comments.
Young Deeksha also comes from the classical school of saxophone. She has over 5,000 concerts to her credit in just 17 years of career as a saxophonist.
She has retained the classical genre of music as her mainstay. Ananda Bhairavi, Hansadwani, Kalyani, Kannada and the Kritis of Tyagaraja are her favourites and speciality. Her rendition of Vatapiganapati in Hansadwani is an all-time favourite in the cultural milieu of classical saxophone music.
But how did the narrow patch of land between the Western Ghats and the Arabian Sea give birth to this revolution?
“The credit must go to the Devadiga community. They are endowed with traditional and exclusive rights to play wind instruments at the temples and for ritualistic theatre events,” says Sundar Sherigar, who teaches many girls at his house in Alevoor in Udupi.
In recent years, younger people in the community have taken up whitecollar jobs and play the saxophone as a hobby, he says.
At the same time, many teachers from the Devadiga community are responsible for training youngsters from all communities.
Sundar Sherigar has been teaching for about 50 years. “I have trained many students, but in the last two decades, I have been getting girl students.”
In the beginning, he was apprehensive they might not be up to the rigours of the instrument. “But within a week of taking my first girl student, I found she was able to use her lungs as efficiently as boys, and even grown men!” he recalls.
To his delight, he found many families coming forward to encourage their daughters to take up the art, despite the uncertain career prospects.
Girls from across the region are now learning the saxophone, an instrument invented by an American called Adolphe Sax in 1846.
Teachers in Kundapura, Udupi, Katpady, Mulki and Mangaluru see many girls, say saxophone teachers Raghu Sherigar and Sathish Poojary.