He Had to Compete With Giants

John D. Rockefeller has been quoted as saying, “If you want to succeed, you should strike out on new paths rather than travel the old paths of accepted success”.

- Ghatam Suresh

Thetakudi Harihara Vinayakram, a phenomenal achiever in the field of percussion through the simple unassuming clay pot called the ghatam, an enthusiastic performer, entertainer who has defied age and fatigue, a great teacher proud to have given the world of music a generation of phenomenal performers, has practised what Rockefeller preached.

A devout hard worker, Vinayakram fought his way to recognition during the golden period of Carnatic music dominated by giant vocalists, instrumentalists and percussionists. He was young and inexperienced yet dazzling, and it was a desperate situation for him in which to establish his worth, while pitted against stalwart mridangam players like Palghat Mani Iyer, Palani Subramania Pillai, T.K. Murthy and Ramanathapuram C.S. Murugabhoopathy.

He had to convert the simple generous spirit of accommodation of an “insignificant” upapakkavadyam player into recognition followed by appreciation and perpetual endorsement. His score card was trending upwards rapidly. As popularity grew and big opportunities lined up, the next-gen mridangam players older and younger than him, were mercilessly posing challenges to outplay him. They were considering young Vinayakram a big threat to their rightfully established rapport with the audience. They resolved to expose the new star attraction on stage in every aspect of rhythm to prevent public attention on the robust boy with the clay pot but never succeeded. During big rounds of solos, Vinayakram would effortlessly throw volleys of solfa patterns unique to the ghatam in a timbre resembling temple bells with inherent natural amplification produced by seasoned fingers. He was sharply responding to their short-versed challenges with equally intricate rhythmic patterns—a rarity in those days.