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Photo courtesy: ‘Kala Niketan’ Balu.

VINTAGE STUFF: S. Balachander, accompanied by Vellore Ramabhadran on the mridangam and Tirupparkadal Veeraraghavan, on the violin. A letter SB wrote to Kala Niketan Balu.

And my association with S. Balachander is something I cherish. His talent was multi-faceted — he could play many instruments and acted in and directed films.

But he preferred to be known as an artist and his first love was the veena, which he worshipped. And he expected the audience to reciprocate his feelings, so much so that even a slight disturbance annoyed him. He would stop playing and resume only if pin-drop silence prevailed.

Once a sabha, advertising his programme, had said, “Veena concert by cine-fame Balachander.” SB cancelled the performance, protesting the filmi link, which he thought was unwarranted there.

Kala Niketan had organised a send-off when he left for the U.S. on a concert tour and he was warmly felicitated by Justice A.S.P.Ayyar, director K. Subramaniam, S.V.Sahasranamam and Naradar Srinivasa Rao among others. Invited to preside over a play, ‘Vazhi Naduvil’ staged by V.S.Raghavan’s INA troupe, he lauded the theme and spoke highly of the performance boosting the morale of the members.

His status as a great artiste did not prevent him from maintaining friendship with less gifted people and therein lay his charm. He always made it a point to acknowledge greetings whenever he came across acquaintances. Reproduced here is a letter, marked by his characteristic signature, he wrote to this author.

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