The Right Mindset for Music: Carnatic Singer Mytreyi Shastry on the Discipline and Rhythm of Music and Life
By: Naisha Roy
Today’s dreamer, Mytreyi Shastry, has performed over 100 concerts throughout her lifetime, growing as both a Carnatic singer and a teacher. Having learned from renowned gurus and emerging from a family history of Carnatic music, she gave up her law career to form her own academy. Hailing from Tamil Nadu, her Ganamrutha Academy in Cary, North Carolina helps children earn recognition for their performances. Shastry spoke with Women Who Win on the discipline and mindset shifts required to be successful in such a structured musical career.
1. Carnatic music runs in your blood --- your father was a disciple of "Sangeetha Kalanidhi" Late Sri D. K. Jayaraman. Did you feel a natural inclination to pursue it because of your family, and what did your father teach you about the music that you couldn't have learned anywhere else?
Growing up in a household where Ganesha Pancharathnam, Bhaja Govindam and Sri Vishnu Sahasranamam were a part of the morning sounds, music was almost a given. Singing along with those audio tapes made me feel that my day started right and will go on great too. My family took me to numerous vocal music concerts every December, such as the Margazhi Music festival in Chennai. Avid listening and simultaneous learning of the art inculcated a very deep bond between me and carnatic vocal music. Although my father formally learnt carnatic vocal music from Sri D K Jayaraman, he didn’t take up professional stage performing. I’m proud to have fulfilled that dream for him, along with pursuing legal studies academically, which he was also into.
2. You are a disciple of Padma Bhushan, Sangeetha Kala Acharya, Kalaimamani Sri P.S. Narayanaswami and Kalaimamani Dr Rukmini Ramani. How did having such esteemed teachers impact your learning and passion for Carnatic music?
It is nothing but the absolute grace of the divine that I had the fortune of learning from doyens in the field of Carnatic music. Each Guru had their own style, principles and expectations. To understand each of them took a good amount of time especially given my very young age I started learning from them. Practice was a part of daily life. No day would pass on without touching my tambura/ Shruti box. Rain or shine, there was practice everyday. To this day, the voices of my Gurus resonate in my head with whatever decision I take in my life. They are my inner voice, my guiding force.
Late Sri PSN was a repository of Trinity compositions, Maharaja Swathi Thirunal’s compositions and Ramalinga Adigalar’s Thiruvarutpas. Dr Rukmini Ramani was the daughter of the legendary composer Brahmasri Papanasam Sivan. I also had the fortune of learning under Wesleyan University Emeritus Prof. Late Dr S A K Durga who taught me voice techniques and also a number of Padams, Jaavalis, Thillanas, Abhangs, Thumris etc. Learning from each of my Gurus made me realize how vast, dense, diverse, complex and wonderful our carnatic music ecosystem was. It would sometimes feel so overwhelming to handle something of that magnitude and how carefully they are passed on to you from your Gurus. To understand, grasp and execute each of the compositions on stage required skills which I wouldn’t have acquired and mastered if I were not trained by my esteemed Gurus and if I didn’t dedicate enough time working on them.
3. Carnatic music requires a lot of discipline and patience. Was it difficult for you to gain these skills, and how did you work to achieve them?
Indeed. It requires a lateral view of things rather than an aerial view. The 7 swarams (notes) and the 12 swarasthanams (positions) in various permutations and combinations create a Raga. This along with the rhythm factor makes a song. It takes extreme practice and discipline to train in this art right from the time you begin with the basic lessons because there are several senses at work, all at once. Focus, the main ingredient in this dish is often the most underrated. In those days when I started learning my basic lessons, there was no YouTube or even a handy recording device or a smartphone. What was learnt in class had to be recollected at home, practiced and brought to class, all perfected. My Gurus always insisted on this- Don’t practice until you get it right. Practice until you won’t go wrong. Working on all aspects the Guru advises and just trusting their word is the way to go. Like every other art form, there is tremendous toil required to learn this art as well.
When I see the parents of my students asking, “when will my child be able to perform on stage?” I smile back saying “It's only in your child’s hands.” Some things remain the same and some remain dynamic. So it requires persistent efforts to interpret the chemistry and logic behind it to handle it right. I participated in hundreds of music competitions during my student days which instilled good competitive spirit, earnestness to learn more, discipline of regular practice and also helped build a huge repertoire. It was not just fun, but also a responsibility to do well in the competitions because the judges usually knew who my Gurus were and I had to do well to never spoil their reputation through my work. I encourage my students to take part in competitions to this day and it keeps them enthused throughout the year. To improve, you need to compete and when you compete, you improve. It’s a vicious circle.
4. What makes Carnatic music so special to you, especially compared to all the other kinds of classical Indian music?
The environment I grew up in was a big factor in getting me curious about Carnatic music. I could not think of any other genre of music that kept me so tied up and engrossed. The sheer plethora of ragas, languages, taalams (rhythm patterns), sahityam (lyrical beauty) was something that had me all bound up. The amount of subtlety I noticed in Carnatic music was something I could never see in another style of music. A Carnatic music concert is a feast to the ears while keeping you wondering about the amount of math and psychology that goes into performing it. There would be a lot of things that go into planning the concert and there would be so many spontaneous, unplanned things happening on stage too. It is such a joy to witness them live and I had the privilege of listening to so many such live performances in every city I lived in. Though I love listening to all genres of music, Carnatic music was the one that motivated me to learn and perform too. I’m a huge fan of Maroon 5, Rihanna, Pt Ravi Shankar and many more.
5. What was your favorite performance you've ever given, and what makes that story so special to you?
There are so many to mention, and it's definitely hard to pick just one. All my concerts during the time I lived in India are special to me, especially those during my college days. December Music festival is a very busy time for carnatic musicians in Chennai. It’s also known as the Marghazhi music season in Chennai. I used to have my semester exams in the mornings at my University and get home hurriedly thereafter to change into traditional attire and start off to perform a concert somewhere the same afternoon. It was the time when tension and excitement were both at their peak. It used to be scary and exciting at the same time. I had to prepare for the semester exams with the same seriousness, if not more. During one of my concerts at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan in the December Music festival, my Guru Late Sri PSN sir came to listen in and I was pleasantly shocked by his unannounced appearance. After a quick jittery moment, I came back to the concert mode in my head and my Guru heartily blessed and congratulated me after the concert and said, “You had prepared very well. I thoroughly enjoyed every item on your song list today.” I’d deem that as my life’s biggest achievement.