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Communicating through music: V.K. Sasidharan.

V. K. Sasidharan is not just another singer. A sort of wandering minstrel, VKS, as he is popularly known, uses poems and songs to entertain and educate. This is, for him, a social endeavour.

Right from his childhood, VKS had a passion for singing. His father was a Carnatic music buff who sang and acted in some of the musical plays in his village. For six years VKS learned classical music from Paramudas, who later assisted music directors in films. But the man who really honed his composing skills was the late P. K. Sivadas. “I met Sivan during my Union Christian College, Aluva days. We got together for the first time in college where we made a shadow play based on Vayalar Rama Varma’s ‘Ramananente Savakudiram.’ Later we worked as a team, Sivan-Sasi, for Desabhimani Theatres, Attingal, in many of their plays.”

Then came the opportunity, to work in a film. Adoor Gopalakrishnan was making his first film, ‘Kamuki,’ based on a story by C. N. Sreekantan Nair. “We were to do the music. The lyrics were by Ettumannur Somadasan. Five songs, sung by Yesudas, S. Janaki and C. O. Anto were recorded. But for various reasons the film did not take off. Later, the film came out with a new director, a new title. The songs were retained.”

VKS completed his engineering degree and joined Sree Narayana Polytechnic College where he taught for more than three decades. “ It was when I was an engineering student that I met Aravindan and Dr. S. P. Ramesh, two people who influenced me. It was they who developed what little I had imbibed of Hindustani music. In fact, it was Ramesh who thrust the responsibility of setting to tune and singing Edassery’s ‘Poothapattu,’ on me. It remains one of my favourite works to date.”

The association with Sastra Sahitya Parishad was the turning point in VKS’ career. It was here that the singer-composer really bloomed. “It was through the ‘Kalajatha,’ organised by the Parishad, that I first learned how to sing before crowds. It was the Parishad experience that gave a new dimension to my life, to the selection of poems, tunes and even my style of rendering. Simplicity, which I have always regarded as my stamp, was the result of this experience. I realised that art and music were for the masses. It was only when an artiste communicates with them does their work acquire a true beauty.”

It was during this time that VKS composed over 12 songs for the play ‘Amma,’ based on Brecht’s famous work. The play produced by Chorus, a drama group, was a unique experience. VKS travelled the length and breadth of the state, visiting schools, colleges and communicating with them through his favourite medium. This is what he does even now after having retired from service and also from the activities of the Parishad.

VKS has brought out a number of albums, most of them on his own. Among them ‘Poothapattu,’ Tagore’s ‘Geetanjali,’ based on the Malayalam translation by G. Sankara Kurup, ‘Maduram Malayalam,’ and ‘Syamageethangal,’ poems by various poets set to tune by VKS, and now the latest ‘Mukkutipoovinte Akasham,’ a lovely collection of songs for children.

“There are many projects I have in mind. I would like to bring out another set of ‘Geetanjali’ poems, a collection of love songs that I have tuned and sung at many venues in the past, poems by some of Malayalam’s great poets, and the songs that I did for ‘Amma.’ I want more and more people to listen to my songs,” rounds off VKS.

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