Kathakalakshepam and the Art of Instructional Design

I've always liked kathakalakshepams--or sangeetha upanyasams--over concerts. I've been fascinated by how the vidwan gets the audience attention, and keeps them in rapt attention with a story the audience already knows, and what's more, there's no interactivity!

Went to Visaka Hari's upanyasam at the Ayodhya Mandapam y'day. It's part of the RmNavami celebrations, and any musician who's anyone has a concert there. It's free, so don't miss it if you happen to be in the area. The schedule follows.

Anyway, Visaka Hari's upanyasam was about Vibheeshanan's Surrender to Rama, and would you know it, standing-on-the-road room only!



It was fascinating, and our instructional designers could have learnt a thing or two from her about holding audience interest!

She had three things going for her big time, I thought.

1. Voice: OMG--what a voice--it makes you sit up and take notice. When she sang, it wasn't the sweetest voice, but she put her volume and pitch to good use. I guess for IDs, it's: Use strong voices, and also make sure the message is strong.

2. Connecting with the audience: She knew they knew the story, and spoke to the audience as if she were only reiterating the fact, not telling them anything new. She explained concepts with little everyday examples.
IDs, maybe we can ensure that we talk at the level of the intended learner--not much higher, nor lower.

3. Song selection: What the judges on these reality shows keep harping on--she knew when to sing what song. When interest was waning (around dinner time), she sang a popular song. When time was running short, she teased the audience with just two lines of a song.
Perhaps IDs can remember pacing the storyboard-- keeping it click, click, click, at equal time intervals could get boring. Vary the speed a bit; keep a complex topic next to a simple one; throw in some interactivity, and some static screens. Basically, as any bartender or DJ will tell you: Mix it up!

What I missed, though:

1. Being a topic that's literally burning right now, more allusions to the present day war in Sri Lanka would have lent a clever touch. It seemed like the upanyasam was happening in a vacuum-- anchoring it in reality would have been nice.
IDs: Remember to ALWAYS tell the learner HOW the lesson will help THEM.

2. She tried to infuse some humour, but it didn't feel seamless.
IDs: I guess jokes that play on words are out!

That's enough lessons about lessons!

I missed the entire Ramayana upanyasam by the Ramayana specialist--S. Gopalakrishna Sastrigal--perhaps next year!

Anyway, an evening well-spent, and if you have the time and the inclination, here's the rest of the schedule:

Buses that reach Ayodhya Mandapam: 11H, 11G, 12G, 49A

16.4.2009:
5 p.m.: Srividya Ramnath (vocal), Aanaiyaampatti G. Venkatasubramanian (violin), Bangalore R. Ramnath (mridangam), Nergunam S. Shankar (ganjira)

7 p.m.: Sikkil Gurucharan (vocal), Vittal Ramamurthy (violin), Umalyalpuram K. Sivaraman (mridangam), E.M. Subramaniam (ghatam)

17.4.2009
5 p.m.: Dr. Radha Bhaskar (vocal), Melakkaveri Thyagarajan (violin), Mudra Bhaskar (mridangam), H. Sivaramakrishnan (ghatam)

7 p.m.: PApanasam Ashok Ramani (vocal), V.V. Ravi (violin), Thanjavur Ramadas (mridangam), Anirudh Athreya (ganjira)

18.4.2009:

5 p.m.: Subha Ganesan (vocal), Trivandrum S.R. Rajasri (violin), B. Sivaraman (mridangam)

7 p.m.: Priya Sisters (vocal), M.A. Krishnasami (violin), Neyveli Skanda Subramanian (mridangam), B.S. Purushottaman (ganjira)

19.4.2009:

8:30 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.: Rithvikraja and party - vocal
10:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.: Rajini Hariharan and party- vocal
11:30 a.m. to 1.00 p.m.: G. Abhilash and party--vocal
1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.: V. Srividhya and party--vocal
2:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.: Bangalore Rajarajeswari sisters, J. Charumathi, J. Sivasankari and party-- vocal

5 p.m.: R. Surayaprakash (vocal), M.R. Gopinath (violin), Kallidaikurichi Sivakumaar (mridangam)

7 p.m.: Malladi Brothers (vocal), S. Varadarajan (violin), K.V. Prasad (mridangam), Vaikom Gopalakrishnan (ghatam)

20.4.2009

5 p.m.: Violin Ensemble by Carva Rajasekar and Disciples, L. Radhakrishnan (violin), N. Sundar (tabla)

7 p.m. Abhishek Raghuram (vocal), M.R. Gopinath (violin), T.K. Murthy and B. Sivaraman (mridangam), V. Suresh (ghatam)

21.4.2009:

4:45 p.m. (note the changed time) P.B. Ranghachari (vocal), R. Rahul (violin), P.B.V.Krishnamachari (mridangam)

7:30 p.m.:
Sri Hanumath prabhavam. Harikatha by Kalyanapuram Veeraraghavan and party

26.4.2009:
11:30 a.m.: Annadanam