Veena exponent Jayanthi Kumaresh wins over young listeners with her new live show

The Hindu

21-05-2025

What if a raga could unravel like a bedtime story, or a ragam tanam pallavi echo with laughter. Can humour find space between a veena phrase and a ghatam beat? And what happens when a centuries-old art form decides to look a child in the eye and say, 'Come, listen'?
In Cup 'o Carnatic, veena exponent Jayanthi Kumaresh dares to imagine just that. A world where Carnatic music is not only performed, but lived, spoken, questioned, and made delightfully human. Here, tradition doesn't stand still; it walks hand-in-hand with imagination, reaching out to the next generation with a gentle, knowing smile.
In Jayanthi Kumaresh's hands, the veena becomes a seamless blend of music, theatre, storytelling, and visual poetry. On stage at Narada Gana Sabha recently, she is not merely a performer, but a narrator, a teacher, and a companion to the audience. Through her conversation with someone special, she bridges the gulf between the ancient and the new, the known and the curious.
The roots of this production lie in a deeply personal moment, when Vidhya, a disciple of Jayanthi and a mother of two, found herself struggling to convey the depth and joy of Carnatic music to her young children. In search of a medium that could bridge tradition and comprehension, she approached her guru with an idea: could the core concepts of Carnatic music be shared in a way that was both engaging and age-appropriate? This seed of a question blossomed into a digital series on YouTube, Cup 'o Carnatic, which has been running for over seven years. These bite-sized episodes, rich in music and conversation, found resonance with parents, educators, and students alike.
Inspired by this sustained digital engagement, the idea to bring Cup 'o Carnatic to the stage took shape, not merely as a live extension, but as a transformative experience. The live stage version made its debut in Bengaluru and then travelled to Chennai.. With its unique blend of animation, narration, and live performance, the show dares to collapse the boundaries between the performer and the audience, between digital and live, between tradition and experiment.
Keerthi Kumar's graphics and lighting design elevate the experience . Upasana Govindarajan's hand-drawn illustrations, woven into the visuals, frames the narrative like a living storybook, The musical support is equally thoughtful. Giridhar Udupa on the ghatam and Pramath Kiran on the morsing and the tabla provide a responsive and understated rhythmic layer.
During a post-performance conversation, Jayanthi said, 'We tested every joke on our students. If it made them laugh, we knew it had to be included.' The show is rich with gentle humour, the kind that eases the listener in, especially the young.
The production took close to a year to conceptualise and refine. 'We wanted to do it right. To reach out to the next generation rasikas, we have to opt for formats they would love,' says Jayanthi, who plans to take the show across the globe.