Style, thy name is Umayalpuram Sivaraman

Style and gracefulness are always synonymous with Dr Umayalpuram Sri K Sivaraman Sir’s artistry. Sometimes not completing a line and stopping in a Jeeva swaram/phrase, giving a sustain or adding a little improvisation always enhances the performance, leaving the listener amazed and awe struck.
Here comes a soft ‘dhin,than,gu dhin,than,gu’ crowned with “nam,kitathaka dhin,kitathaka thakatharikitathaka”, which is taken to more heights by employing the full palm. UKS Sir, the who’s who of Mridangam gives a different hue to that phrase, a feast to the ears and eyes.
That is followed by
dhin,tham,kitathaka thadhinna thaka
dhinna tham,kitathaka thadhinna thaka and just stops with last “ka” played with a firm accent on it, followed by a silence for the impact to float for a while and there comes a demonstration of ‘degrees of modulation’ in tharikitathaka / kitakitathaka the soft, medium and the powerful, that too with a hand movement resembling a striking lightening from the sky!
The Master executes the breeze and the thunder in such a way that even a newbie listener would feel it even when watched in mute!
Style, thy name is Umayalpuram Sivaraman /\
(A clip of kaNda gathi from a concert Sri UKS Sir recently accompanied Sri S.R.Mahadeva Sarma and Smt S.R.Rajasree with G. Guruprasanna on 23 March 2023 at Thiruvanantnapuram).