A powerhouse of talent

It usually takes a person years to grasp one form of art in its entirety. But Dr Velugoti Bhaskara Saikrishna Yachendra, an eminent scholar and the heir of the Velugoti kingdom, Venkatagiri, has mastered the whole gamut of skills needed to concoct a musical performance. His show on Saturday, on the occasion of Hanuman Jayanti and as part of the Gudi Sambaralu festival at Skandagiri Temple here, marked his 399th performace.

Elaborating on the art which he has been pioneering since three decades, he says, “Avadhanam means a special literary presentation in Telugu and what I present is called Sangeeta Geya Dhara. In this form, I use a song, lyrics and music all together to form the Avadhanam. An Avadhani needs utmost concentration and a sequential presentation with strong memory and vocal skills.”

Dr Yachendra has travelled all over India to perform his mesmerising presentation, exhibiting his experience and knowledge in the three major artforms. “It was my love for Telugu that made me start Sangeeta Geya Dhara. Nowadays, no one is fond of their mother tongue. I wanted to bring the language to the forefront. In a general Sangeeta Geya Dhara performance, I take questions from the audience and answer them in a song format,” he shares. Interestingly, Dr Yachendra excels at coming up with lyrics impromptu on any given topic.

The duration of most of his performances is generally two hours. Reminiscing some of the interesting questions he has faced in the past, he says, “The questions revolve around anything and everything on earth, right from maoist-turned gangster Mohammed Nayeemuddin to cricket to Radha-Krishna. I get requests to sing on any given topic; sometimes it gets difficult as it’s not possible for me to know everything so I somehow try to break the words to get meaningful compositions out of them.”

Dr Yachendra is also ready to teach this artform to those who are interested as he wants to keep the art alive among the common man. “I don’t need any money to teach, only true passion for the language is enough,” he states.

Notably, the passionate artiste’s talent and range of interests isn’t limited to the arts; he is a researcher too. In the past, from 1985 to 1989, he served as a member of the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly.

Discussing his future plans, Dr Yachendra says, “At present, my only concentration is to bring together a grand 400th performance. I am yet to decide the place but most probably it will be in Chennai as I believe the audience there appreciate the artform more than anywhere else in India, more than my hometown.”