Essence of refinement
K. S. Narayanan.
WHEN SOME people make their exit from the stage of Life, it is not only their family that loses an anchor, or the professional field a person of excellent merit, but the world becomes the poorer by a human being of character. To this category belonged K. S. Narayanan, who passed away at his Mylapore residence last month.
To all who knew him, be it his kith and kin or fellow musicians of the Carnatic world or his peer, subordinates and seniors who moved with him closely during his term in Government service, Narayanan meant someone special. He was a man with understanding and sympathy, a conversationalist with abundant wit, entirely innocent in its nature, an expert not only in demonstrating his deep sensitivity to the nuances of classical music (when he was at his flute) but also one capable of vividly describing his art in words. He was equally at home in English and Tamil, and had travelled the country widely as a musical ambassador. Above all what endeared him to most people was the total absence of petty rivalry or malice in word or action. He possessed a refinement of character that made him abhor malevolence. Narayanan's career in music was not characterised by a meteoric rise to fame, qualified by brilliant flashes of erudition or genius, or flamboyance and charisma. It resembled rather the gentle brook flowing by the countryside rippling merrily along projecting an air of unsullied abandon without the slightest concern for pleasing anybody, or for that matter, unconcern or discourtesy. He gave up the lawyer's collar and gown, the hallmarks of his family. His father G. R. Kalyanasundaram Iyer was an advocate and his mentor and revered brother K. Ganasa Iyer was a towering advocate of Thanjavur.
At the age of 15 he opted for music as his vocation. This was not surprising as his family too had music ingrained into it. In the words of the citation with which he was recently honoured by the Ramani Academy of Flute, ``the loss to the court Kacheri was the gain of the Sangita kutcheri." Destiny brought him under the tutelage of the legendary T. R. Mahalingam. One could identify Mali's flow in Narayanan's wind power converted to melody power with zero per cent loss! He achieved notable success as head of the music production team in AIR, Tiruchi, through his highly innovative serials on past maestros. Music lovers fondly recall their memories of those relays. Titles piled on him, even as he gained acclaim for his versatile and original contributions to classical and light music. He exuded dedication in any work he undertook.
In this vidwan one saw the true upasaka of Nada. Fusing the essence of nada into his character.
P. S. KRISHNAMURTI
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