Teaching music was his mission
GOWRI RAMNARAYAN
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Purist to the core, O.V.Subramaniyan maintains that whatever the patantharam, it has to be perfect.
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Photo: S.S. Kumar
IT RUNS IN THE FAMILY: (From left) O.S.Thiagarajan, O.S.Arun, O.V.Subramaniyan, O.S.Sunder and Padmavathi Natesan (standing).
Listening to him demonstrate his guru Ponniah Pillai's kalpanaswara pattern is to forget that the genial, bright-eyed, fine-looking man is 91 years old. Relaxing on the swing, the patriarch relives the past in anecdote after anecdote, song after song. Some are new even to his family gathered around him.
O.V.Subramaniyan had no heritage of classical music. Fearsome looking Salt Sub Inspector father Virasami Iyer ("He looked like a sardar,") was a football player, adept at discoursing on the Kamba Ramayanam and other literary works.
Little Subbu showed no interest in football or Tamil studies. In school he played the compulsory games and remained an average student, though good in Chemistry.
How did he learn to speak English so comfortably? "Old SSLC Amma, it is equivalent to present-day B.A. and M.A.," he retorts with satisfaction.
The boy listened avidly to gramophone records of stage matinee idols S.G.Kittappa and K.B.Sunderambal, even Subbaiya Bhagavatar. He hummed their viruttham "Vazhaiyadi Vazhai" all the time. He even developed a neighbourhood audience for them. Attending concerts by Maharajapuram Viswanatha Iyer and Ariyakkudi Ramanuja Iyengar at weddings and temple festivals in native Thanjavur made the boy walk eight miles to Tiruvaiyaru for more. His eldest uncle advised the father to get the boy properly trained in the art.
There is a gleam in OVS's eyes as he describes the wonderful years in the music department at the Annamalai University. The teachers were "lions in the field."
Awesome Sabesa Iyer talked inspiringly about his guru Mahavaidyanatha Iyer whose voice was three times greater than G.N.BalaSubramaniyan's. "How do I know? My guru told me, didn't he?" Tiger Varadachariar did not teach much. But he went on singing self forgetfully. "You could go on listening equally self forgetfully. His imagination was profound, commanding." "He followed the Ariyakkudi plan without Ariyakkudi's success. Fine vidwan. But no luck."
It is easy to detect OVS's penchant for Ponniah Pillai's music.
"Dikshitar's parampara!" he begins with ardour. "Pillai was proud of that lineage. I can see him in class — the boys on one side, girls on the other — teaching with absolute accuracy in swarasthanam, clarity in patanthara, weight in style. You couldn't fault a single aspect. Some days, all he had to do was to play a perfectly tuned tambura and become one with it. Then he would begin to sing. We were overwhelmed."
A laugh breaks the reverie. Pillai and Sabesa Iyer had endless arguments about ragalakshana. "Take Begada. One said the nishada should be raised by a microtone, the other insisted on lowering it by a fraction. That Kakali Nishada!" says he, and demonstrates the differences with gusto. It was tough for the students. The nishada, however pitched, lost them marks with one of the gurus.
In due course, "I wore a `gown' as I took my Sangita Bhushanam." OVS was engaged as a teacher in a one-room class by the Karnataka Shanmukhananda Sabha in Delhi. Cycling to the summer tuitions became too gruelling. He returned to Thanjavur where District Judge M.Anantanarayanan gave him two assistants to conduct classes for the Tyagabrahma Sangita Vidyalaya. Most of the students were girls who did not pursue music beyond a point. But vidwans like Papa Venkatramaiah lived in the town then and offered enriching company.
Delhi called again. This time, he was to spend 31 years teaching students. "I was strict. I didn't want any vidwan to find fault with my students. Teach any style, any patanthara. But it has to be perfect."
OVS did perform, at times with eminent accompanists like Lalgudi Jayaraman and T.K.Murthy. But teaching became his passion. His own children did not learn much directly from the father. However, with round-the-clock classes at home, how could they escape osmotic absorption? Festivals, particularly Vijayadasami, were occasions for grand celebrations with great music and had guru, children and disciples singing joyfully.
Despite his affinity for Ponniah Pillai's Dikshitar heritage, Tyagaraja reigns in OVS's heart. In Delhi, he was much sought-after for his pancharatna recitals. He began those presentations with a 10-kriti prelude on Tyagaraja himself! "Don't be prejudiced, hear every vidwan, and think about each. You can learn a lot that way." He adds, "Not everyone sang well in the past. Many were flat, plain, crude. Today there is a gain in polish, delicate modulations. Listen!" says he and demonstrates the difference with "Upacharamulanu."
Why is Ariyakkudi his favourite singer? "If he sang Khamas he took you into the world of Khamas. He could content you with a single raga. I give him 99 per cent."
His children have followed their own paths in music. O.S.Thiagarajan remains a purist, O.S.Sunder values bhajan singing, while O.S.Arun makes his own experiments including fusion. Daughter Padma Natesan runs a music school. "How can I not be proud of them?" he beams. "I didn't teach them much. It's all God's gift!" But sons and daughter are delighted to join the father in an old tillana, its raga patina intact across the zestful beats.
OVS stopped teaching when he turned 90. But his classes continue for lucky grand daughters Bhavani, Sudha, Vidya and Aparna.
(A fortnightly spotlight on music gurus, musicologists and representatives of different schools, who have enriched Carnatic music.)
`A role model for us all'
O.S.Thiagarajan:
My father's music has musical, rhythmical, emotional, spiritual and presentational values.
I was too scared and diffident to learn directly from him, but how could he have not shaped my style, taste and entire approach to the art he has practised with such commitment?
O.S.Sunder: Appa's music is thoroughly classical. But he had no objections to my opting for devotional music. He is a role model for us all. He has never made any compromises in his music for personal gain. To him music is `Ramabhakti Saamraajyam'.
O.S.Arun: I value Appa's classicism. He doesn't change a single note in the kritis, but teaches them exactly as he received them from his gurus. So, when we brothers and sister sing with him, we can synchronise effortlessly. I can't tell you what a thrilling experience it was to offer a special ICCR organised `Parivar Parampara' concert in New Delhi. Our tillana finale brought the house down!
- GR
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