Strike a chord

Strike a chord

A Panchavadyam maestro in Kerala is teaching percussion skills globally, even inside prisons.

The inmates of Kerala’s three Central prisons at Thiruvananthapuram, Viyoor and Kannur are passionately honing their musical skills these days. These skills are not ordinary but the prowess to play timila, maddalam and iudakka which along with ilathalam and kompu are the constituents of Panchavadyam, the age-old temple art form in the State. Church and temple festivals are not complete without Panchavadyam, besides caparisoned elephants who raise their trunks and sway their ears in synchronisation with the rhythm of the drums. Prakashan Pazhambalacode (53), a leading Panchavadyam exponent who is the disciple of legendary Pallavoor Appu Marar, is making waves across the globe by imparting online training to hundreds of percussion students. Prakashan, who was trained in the conventional gurukula style of learning, is not sure of moulding legendary artists through online classes but he has opened new vistas for Panchavadyam’s popularity. Prakashan taught the art of percussion playing to convicts of crimes ranging from murder to burglary to cheating. These prisoners now don’t find time to brood over the past or plot to execute illegal activities. Their schedule is hectic with percussion training and daily chores in prison, according to Prakashan, who has transformed many hardcore criminals into percussion artists of repute. “He has done a great job and I fully endorse it,” says Alexander Jacob, former director general of prisons, Kerala.

Thiruvanchur Radhakrishnan, former Home Minister during whose reign Prakashan launched the percussion therapy, waxes eloquent about the maestro. Overjoyed by what Prakashan has achieved, Justice VR Krishna Iyer, a former Supreme Court judge, wrote: “Prakash goes to prisons and prisoners, mesmerised by his chenda (drum), become rhythmic artists. They no longer remain criminals but turn into excellent chenda players. People become criminals when their mind is idle and their soul has no place for art. But once life’s melody hits them, its rhythmic grandeur changes vicious minds into creative artists of exquisite talent.” This more than sums up the kind of work Prakashan has done for the convicts and for the society. He makes the idakka sing. As soon as the convicts finish their chores, they come together to spruce up their rhythmic skills and sounds like tha… dhi.. thom.. pierce the surroundings rather than the curses and abuses of yore!