Anantha Naada

Anantha Naada- Eternity through music

At first glance, Anantha Naada written by Vid. R.K.Padmanabha gives an impression of a writer adhering to classical fiction. But as one delves further into this novel, it becomes clear that it carries with it a sense of awareness about the different facets of Carnatic classical music. It has shown enough promise to attract readers across all walks of life.

Ganakalabhushana Vid. R.K. Padmanabha, a recipient of the prestigious Rajyothsava award for his contributions towards classical music, illustrates through this novel that music is an artistic form of science, which carries with it a mountain of potential in making social changes, and most importantly spread positive thinking in people. True essence of music is derived only when it embraces a common man.

Keerthana and Anantha are siblings who are born into a traditional Brahmin family. Keerthana is a child prodigy who surrenders herself to music. A laid back Anantha backs his sis ter in her musical career, not knowing about his own talent. The story takes a twist when death traps Anantha’s family, leaving him orphaned. This life-changing event turns him into a nomad in search of a Carnatic music guru. Fighting against all odds, he lands in Tanjore, where he meets his teacher, guide and mentor Hayagreevachar. This marks the beginning of Guru-shishya tradition, where Anantha puts his soul into music, goes through rigorous learning, practice sessions and tests of tolerance. He is made to realise about the importance of humility in music. Music without modesty is like a lifeless tree set for a fall. After his teacher’s demise, he becomes the connoisseur of music and bears the responsibility of propagating, teaching and most importantly making social reformation possible through Carnatic music. He experiences another life-defining moment, when he visits Varanasi to attend a music conference attended by reverend musicians across India. He boldly shuns the egotistical attitude of a senior musician, Ali Khan on stage and demonstrates the different faces of Raag Yaman and it’s equivalent Raaga Kalyani. This event takes him to new heights in music circles and he comes out as ‘Anantha Shastri’. As the saying goes ‘Be faithful to your roots‘, Anantha Shastri heads back to his hometown and reaches out to his people. He starts a music school which followed the Gurukula system and trains students from various backgrounds under one roof, where only music was their religion. He exemplifies that social reformation is possible through music, by uplifting the life of a widow, Revathi, and letting her re-marry to another musician belonging to a backward caste, giving her a new lease of life. Anantha’s musical  journey continues, his search for divinity in music  increases with age. 

Anantha Naada is a novel rich with compelling details, strong emotions, ironies and implications. Anantha’s unpretentious fight towards making social reformation through music touches the reader deeply.

I believe the outcome of this amazing, priceless story is that music is a religion in itself. The biggest responsibility of any musician is to influence a common man’s mind, by bringing about positive changes in his thinking, than perform for the sake of entertainment. All social settings correspond to the present era. The writing style in this book is modern-day kannada.