வீணை என் மனதிற்கு மிகவும் நெருங்கிய வாத்யம். இது என் அம்மா, பாட்டி மற்றும் தாய்நாட்டின் கலாச்சாரத்தை நினைவுபடுத்துவதோடுகூட என்னை சமூகத்துடனும் இணைக்கிறது. வீணை இசைக்கும்போழுது என் மனத்தில் ௐரு சாந்தி நிலவுகிறது. சிட்னியில் உள்ள வீணைகலைஞர்கள் பற்றி  எழுதுவதின் மூலம் ஆஸ்திரேலியாவின் வீணை பாரம்பரியத்தின் ஒரு பகுதியை இந்த தொடரில் அறிமுகப்படுத்துகிரறன்.

The veena is a dear instrument to me. It holds cultural memory of my mother, grandmother and homelands; it links me to community, and of course, is the source of intense artistic joy. This series of writings presents part of the fabric of the tradition of veena in Australia by introducing readers to the stories of veena artists in Sydney.

Mahita Iyer is an up-and-coming veena artist from Melbourne. Mahita’s father and uncle, and teachers - Ramnath Iyer and Gopinath Iyer - have been leading the veena movement in Melbourne and Australia for many years. Our families are woven together through the sharing of veenas, hosting of concerts, and through the loose bonds of the Carnatic music community that is now crossing generations and states. Mahita’s work brought her to Sydney a few years ago. This interview is a celebration of her addition to Sydney’s small but growing pool of veena talent.

Tell us a bit about yourself

I am a second-generation Australian Indian – born and brought up in Melbourne, Victoria. I now live, work, and play on the unceded lands of the Darug and Gundungarra peoples in the Blue Mountains, NSW. Carnatic music and the veena have been a part of my life since before I was born – my father Ramnath Iyer and uncle Gopinath Iyer are vainikas – and as a child my play space was often on the floors of theatres, concert halls and backstage. The soundtrack to much of my life has been a constant stream of melodies and music from my father and uncle’s students, their practice sessions and an ever-changing set of recordings, CDs and now livestreams of concerts.

Why the veena?

In some ways the veena felt inevitable to me, learning, and playing with my father as I do. As a child and teenager, I learnt many forms of Indian classical art including dance, Carnatic vocal music, and Hindustani vocal music. Veena is the one that has stuck through the years and the one that I keep coming back to – although I find that my knowledge of vocal music and considerably basic understanding of Bharatanatyam has helped my veena journey.

There is nothing quite like the sound that the veena creates – it has a beautiful timbre that resonates through the player and the listener, even when all that is being done is tuning the strings. I also enjoy the technical challenge of playing and executing phrases and melodies from mind to reality. The veena is an ancient art form and one that is worth preserving and continuing. It is an ongoing link for me to my culture and heritage and I take pride in my musicianship.

Mahita Iyer with her Veena. Image sourced from the artist.

Share a particularly momentous occasion/story/conversation/performance in your journey as a vainika – why was it an important moment, how did it impact/transform you?

Many of my most memorable encounters with the veena involve my and my father’s guru the late Sri Trivandrum R Venkatraman. Veena thatha (as he used to let me call him) was the one who initiated me into the art of veena at the age of seven and over the years I was lucky enough to learn from him on a number of occasions both in Melbourne and Chennai.

My fondest memories with him are sitting on the floor of his apartment in Adyar on my summer holidays. In the background were the sounds and smells of Chennai streets and Patti and his grandchildren playing in the living room behind us. He was a hard taskmaster and would make me play until I replicated what he had showed me perfectly four or five times – I used to practice in terror of his temper in class the next day if I had forgotten what he had taught me. After all that though I like to think he had a soft spot for me – certainly, I am incredibly grateful to have been able to spend so much time with him and to learn from a vidwan of his calibre.

What challenge, struggle or failure have you faced in your music practice?

In the last few years, the biggest challenge to my music practice has been the physical distance that moving to Sydney has put between me and my gurus (my father and uncle). We’ve all gotten particularly good at zoom and online teaching sessions but there is no substitute for lessons in person.

One of the first things my dad asks me when I visit home now is when I am going to sit down with him for class. There is a comfort, reassurance and safety that comes with sitting in the same music room that I learnt all my early lessons in, in playing the veena in my pyjamas with Appa opposite me. In some ways now practicing at home in Sydney feels like a link to home but it can be difficult to find time and motivation to practice when juggling all of my other commitments and without the fun of playing with another person. Two veenas sound better than one.

What is one of your favourite pieces of non-Carnatic music and why do you like it?

I have a very wide and varied music taste, which makes it difficult to pick one piece in particular. I love neo-soul music – big vocals and beautiful melodies. Recently an obsession has been with the Pakistani-Australian artist Zan whose pop music is so beautifully melodic and incorporates elements of old school Bollywood and R&B. Their music transports you as all good music should do.

How do you think about your music in relation to living and playing on Aboriginal lands?

Music is grounded in place – playing the veena for me is a connection to my South Indian culture and to my family’s history in Tamil Nadu. For an individual of the South Asian diaspora, when I am playing the Veena is one of the few times that the validity of my “Indian-ness” is not questioned. My parents migrated here in the late 80s – they have been welcomed on this stolen land and built their home and community here.

Australia and India have a shared colonial history – both Indians and Indigenous Australians have faced violence, attempted genocide, and cultural destruction at the hands of British forces. As migrants who have continued to practice our culture, we can understand the importance and vitalness of that connection to culture, community and land. I am incredibly privileged to be able to learn and play the veena and continue that art form here as my link to my cultural home. With that in mind I stand in solidarity with all First Nations people and their right to continuing cultural practices and sovereignty on this stolen land.

How do you think of the veena being an active link to your past and future?

I feel incredibly privileged to be able to learn and play the veena and to continue that art form and practice as a link to my culture and heritage. Playing and performing is a tribute to my gurus and those that came before me as much as it is an expression of my own journey. I am also passionate about continuing the rich legacy of the veena lineage that I belong to through teaching and performing.

Here is a YouTube link of Mahita performing as part of the Melbourne Veena Festival 2022.

For the Veena Series on SAARI Collective, Indu wrote a preface and spoke to four veena artists from Sydney. Read the preface from the link below and the four profiles are linked at the bottom of the preface.

The Veena: Wayfinding New Homes on Ancient Lands

Indu Balachandran is a Lifelong Atlantic Fellow, musician (veena) and cultural producer, and a senior executive and board director in the social-purpose sector. You can connect with Indu on LinkedIn.