The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : An unforgettable experience

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Aug 26, 2007
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

An unforgettable experience

Staff Reporter

— Photo: K. Murali Kumar

Special occasion: Gowri Ramnarayan, grand niece of M.S. Subbulakshmi being felicitated by K.N. Shanth Kumar, former editor of Deccan Herald, during the lecture demonstration ‘The Shy Girl from Madurai,’ in Bangalore on Saturday.

Bangalore: “The Shy Girl from Madurai”, a lecture demonstration on one of the tallest figures of Carnatic music M.S. Subbulakshmi, drew huge crowds, and quite predictably.

The crowds had more reason: the speaker was Gowri Ramnarayan, grand niece of Subbulakshmi, who was accompanist to the doyenne for about 18 years.

It would surely be on a personal note. But what would it be? Would it be insights into the unknown facets of Subbulakshmi’s music, her persona, the life she lived, her contribution to the nationalist movement, or the Tamil Isai?

Or was she a greater Gandhian than her husband T. Sadashivam, who was a declared disciple of the Mahatma? Or would she speak of Subbulakshmi’s stoic-tacit intensity, an embodiment of the Bard’s “Ripeness is all”.

To put it figuratively, it was a smattering of everything and of nothing. Ms. Gowri Ramnarayan swelled with memories and so did the audience.

While for the speaker her own personal association and memories took precedence, the audience was at an advantage: there was so much untold in all Subbulakshmi’s music and her innumerable pictures.

So, even at the end of the talk, one remained where one found oneself before. Of course, now one had more stories of Subbulakshmi on hand. The talk, organised by Bangalore International Centre, was interspersed with clippings from Subbulakshmi’s outstanding music.

There was also an 11-minute documentary on Subbulakshmi by Avinash Pasricha.

The lecture relived many of the anecdotes that is part of Carnatic music folklore, while it had others that were from the private home space. For instance, the one that did make Subbulakshmi more human — who otherwise was constantly being deified — was her great trepidation before each concert.

This was made further complex by her strict husband, who would put down items for the day’s concert, including for how long it should be sung.

“How can I sing Shankarabharanam even today? My imagination is completely dried up for the raga…,” she would protest meekly, by which time Sadashivam would have breezed out of the room.“Everyone talks of Sadashivam being in total control, but the fact is that’s what she wanted,” Ms. Gowri Ramnarayan remarked.

To quote Ms. Gowri Ramnarayan from her article “Inner peace and timeless faith”: “What were you like in those days?” she had apparently asked Subbulakshmi.

“You can see it in the old pictures,” the maestro had replied. Wish perceptions were as physical, as tangible.

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