Music Academy 2018 – Saketharaman

I attended Dr Saketha Raman,FRCM Rejuvenation Clinic yesterday.It was a 2.5 hour clinic. At age,73,I went in feeling like 93,and came out feeling like 53.The clinic was in a place called Music Academy.I cudn’t figure out why.When I sat down,I found about 1500 patients packed in the Hall.On my right was a taciturn Mama,83. The Mami,63,on my left though was a fountain of info.She said Saketha Raman is a Dr of Music.That explained the M in FRCM! Seeing I am a novice in music,Mami decided to brief me on all music stuff along the way.Very helpful.

The very first medicine the Dr gave was invigorating.Mami called it Arabi,and added that the patent to the song is held by Shyama Sastri.Heady stuff and I became 71.In no time next,Mami became a bundle of excitement: Enna oru PantuvarAli,ah ha! And,when the Dr began the krithi…sundara-tara dEhaM vand(E)haM rAmaM,she said,Thaygaraja,and even I was as affected. Then,at one point,he went on and on at the line..rAg(A)di saMhAraM rAghavaM udAraM and my eyes turned moist for no reason.Mami told me this is called Niraval,the acme of manOdarma medicine.I nodded sagely.Again when Mami said what followed was a medicine called Swarakalpana. All I know is that at the end of this PantuvarAli medicine,I had become younger by another 5 years.

Now the good Dr sort of shifted gears,and I felt smooth,soft and comforted all over.Mami smiled and said that’s the effect of Neelambari when properly administered. God knows it was heart melting,maybe medicine for arterial blocks? Before the song,there was what Mami called a viruTTam,moving stuff again. Dr caressed the phrase Jaya sangeetha rasikE,and even I cud relate to sangeetham by now. Ponnaiah Pillai,Mami whispered as if in a trance,when the medicine unfolded…Amba NeelambarI…The Dr made it brief but straight from the heart and,in the process,my heart healed too.I looked at my ageO meter,which now showed 63!

Hereabouts,Dr Saketha Raman shot a meaningful glance at all the patients,as if to say some big medicine is on the way,and so it was! Mami said Kamboji three times,and the alapana enveloped me in calm strength. What followed, marakatavalleem manasA smarAmi made me feel even stronger. Dikshithar medicine is always like that,Mami said.What followed now was literally a whirlwind in place of Sswarakalpana,and it shook me up like nothing before.Don’t know why,but Mami almost shouted Madurai Mani Iyer,when the Dr went something like ga ma pa ma ga,if I am right,again and again! I don’t know who is MMI,but all I know is that,when all this came to an end to a thunderous ovation,I had become 58.

Final medicine to top it all came now. Mami said this is known as RTP,then added Dr may administer a dwi-raga RTP,showing two raised fingers for an ignoramus like me. And so it proved! I loved the first raga,and for the first time Mama,83,whispered hesitantly: Hindolam. Mami gave him a withering look: No,it’s Varamu! Can’t u FEEL the chatusrithi dhaivatam? I dont know about all that,but I melted,and melted even more at the second raga,sAvEri,which Mami said,came after a “bEdham”! Not content,the Dr went back and forth between Varamu and sAvEri in rapid succession,almost at will
This is rejuvenation,i told myself.with my ageO meter showing a mere 53 when I left the young Dr’s clinic.

Remember,Dr Saketha Raman operated with a great team.There was a lady Doctor closely shadowing him at every stage of the treatment with her violin. Her name is Akkarai Subhalakshmi,and she played a great part in all the medicines,esp PantuvarAli,Neelambari,Kamboji and the RTP. At once quick,clear nd mellifluous,her dispensing skills could well be a high bench mark for all young violin Drs today.
And,the two physio therapists,Anantha R Krishnan,with mrudangam and Anirudh Athreya with ganjira combined to whack,tap and pat us all into shape whenever the Dr wanted them to come in.Their solo therapy,thani,as Mami called it,extended to 22 minutes.