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Life of great achievements
SRIRAM VENKATKRISHNAN
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There came a time when, as Sir C.P.Ramaswami Iyer said, just saying his name would summarise the history of the tavil.
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The stalwarts: Needamangalam Meenakshisundaram Pillai.
The town of Needamangalam had been agog with excitement in the second week of February, 1949.
A wedding in the family of a prominent resident of the town, the man who had put it on the map, was taking place. Festivities lasted four days and culminated on the 12th.
The head of the family was of such a stature that all the prominent musicians had assembled and had vied with each other to perform. On the evening of the 12th was a concert in which Palani Subramania Pillai played the mridangam. The head of the family was moved. He got on to stage and said that after hearing Palani, he had no further desires in life.
It was late at night, when the master of the household retired to bed. As was his wont, his last act of the day was to bid his cows goodnight. A few hours later someone came to wake him up. An important guest was leaving in the early hours and wanted to meet him. On finding no response from the recumbent form they shook it. There was no response again. A doctor was summoned from Mannargudi, for there were none in Needamangalam. When he came, he confirmed what the assembled guests had feared. Needamangalam Meenakshisundaram Pillai, the foremost among tavil maestros was dead.
The Hindu published the news on February 14. Noting that a large gathering of musicians and music lovers, who had assembled there in connection with the wedding on Friday of his son, paid their last respects to the vidwan, the news item, under the heading, ‘Death of Well-Known Thavil Exponent,’ said that Sri Meenakshisundaram Pillai was the acknowledged master in the field.
Early tutelage
The news item may have been brief, but Pillai’s had been a life of great achievements. Born into a family of musicians, who specialised on the tavil, on September 3, 1894, to Deivanai Ammal and Subramaniam of Chavadi Agraharam, Pillai lost his mother when he was 27 days old. His aunt, Kamalammal, brought him up. When he was four, he was initiated into the art of tavil by his uncles, Govindan Pillai and Singaram Pillai.
Dakshinamurthy pillai.
By the age of nine he was providing accompaniment to the local nagaswaram player and when ten, he joined the troupe of Mannargudi Narayanaswami Pillai. The famed nagaswaram artist, Nagapattinam Venugopala Pillai, was on the lookout for a suitable tavil accompanist and impressed with young Meenakshi, took him under his wings in 1906. From then till 1917, Pillai trained under this maestro. When in 1917 the senior passed away, Pillai joined the troupe of Sembonarkovil Ramaswami Pillai. He never forgot Venugopala Pillai. So much so that if he ever had the occasion to walk on the street where Pillai had lived, he would remove his slippers. He would also press his forehead at Pillai’s doorstep before moving on, claiming that it was the house that had given him a future.
Over the years Pillai accompanied many nagaswaram artists, but it was his long association with the Tiruvizhimizhalai Brothers that stood out. They claimed that his was not a tavil, but the third nagaswaram and that he led while they merely accompanied him! Indeed, when there was a fall out between them and Pillai, they simply gave up playing some songs. The quarrel brought about an important change in the world of tavil. Pillai set himself up as an independent tavil artist. He was not associated with any troupe and was invited to perform together with nagaswaram artists in a new arrangement called Special Tavil. Needless to add, he was as much a draw if not more than the main nagaswaram player. There came a time when, as Sir C.P.Ramaswami Iyer said, just saying his name would summarise the history of the tavil.
Staunch Gandhian
Pillai was a staunch Gandhian and nationalist. So when India attained independence, he, at the instance of the Pandara Sannidhi of the Tiruvavaduturai Mutt, travelled with T.N.Rajarathinam Pillai to be present in Delhi on August 15, 1947. There he accompanied TNR, when at the instance of P. Subbaroyan, the maestro was asked to play the nagaswaram for half an hour before the country became independent. The nagaswara chakravarti and the abhinava nandikeswara together thus ushered in the country’s freedom.
Nataraja Sundaram Pillai.
When Gandhi was assassinated in 1948, Pillai observed mourning for three days, eschewing food during the period. Pillai’s own funeral procession on February 13 was a grand affair, with ironically the decorated float meant for his son’s wedding procession being used for his own last journey. The railways declared that all trains would halt at Needamangalam station that day, to ensure that people could pay their respects. It was a unique honour to a great percussionist.
(The author can be contacted at srirambts@gmail.com
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Friday Review
Bangalore
Chennai and Tamil Nadu
Delhi
Hyderabad
Thiruvananthapuram
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