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Golden jubilee for this rasika
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Record This is the 52nd Season Parimala Srinivasan is attending at the Music Academy. V. BALASUBRAMANIAN
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Photo: V.Ganesan
Life member: Parimala Srinivasan, a regular at the Music Academy for the past 50 years.
For Parimala Srinivasan of Mylapore, music has been a way of life and she has almost grown up with The Music Academy. She has been attending the season concerts at the Academy without a break since 1956. This will be the 52nd December season for 74-y
ear old Parimala Srinivasan, daughter of the famous Alapuzhai Parthasarathy Iyengar (Pappa). It is not difficult to spot the impeccably dressed senior citizen with vermilion on her forehead, animatedly discussing raga delineations, pallavi, etc. She takes a nostalgic trip.
“My first season was when Nagaswara vidwan Tiruveezhimizhalai Subramania Pillai was conferred Sangita Kalanidi title. I used my father’s Life Member card to attend the concerts, at the behest of GNB. It was Chowdiah in ’57 followed by GNB in ’58 who were the recipients. I never missed the experts committee sessions which were quite interesting. Great stalwarts such as T.L.Venkatrama Iyer, Mudicondan, Prof. Sambamoorthy, R.K.Venkatrama Sastri, GNB and Semmangudi participated in the proceedings and made it very absorbing.
Unforgettable images
To me Academy triggers images of the excitement, preceding a GNB concert. The momentum would build up several days ahead. Well dressed men and women running around for a good seat, the invariable houseful board and the highest collection among the senior male vidwans for the season and senior vidwans such as Madurai Mani Iyer, Alathur Subbudu and MS attending his concerts are still vivid.”
She continues: “The 1964 season concert saw GNB sing a brilliant Kalyani and a spirited Dharini. Palghat Raghu, this year’s Sangita Kalanidhi, was on the mridangam then. It was like a swan song. When a critic asked for the Arahonam and Avarohanam of Chenchukhambodi, GNB, keeping his health condition in mind said that from then on it would be only avarohanam. As fate would have it, he passed away, never to sing again at the Academy.”
She said that GNB had stood by the Academy during controversies and used to say, “Men may come and may go but that The Academy should go on for ever.”
Alathur Subbudu was the Sangita Kalanidhi for 1964 and his ‘Santhamulekha’ was well appreciated by the rasikas.
Parimala Srinivasan recaptures some of the fleeting images from the past like the Simhanandana Pallavi of Mudicondan in the company of young Lalgudi and Umayalpuram, Palghat Mani Iyer playing for a relatively new singer, Srirangam Iyengar and the fiery S. Balachandar playing a marathon session of 45 ragas in the pandal of the Academy.
As she is hurriedly getting ready to leave for the Academy’s afternoon concert Parimala Srinivasan concludes “In spite of vigorous arguments in the experts committee meetings on technical points, vidwans of yore showed great sense of camaraderie once the same was over. The warmth with which they interacted with each other thereafter is a lesson for youngsters. Today when I look back, I have a sense of satisfaction that the old glory is being recaptured by this dispensation.”
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Friday Review
Bangalore
Chennai and Tamil Nadu
Delhi
Hyderabad
Thiruvananthapuram
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