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Nagaswaram strains
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Mahaboob Subhani and Kaleeshabi, veteran nagaswaram players, perform all over the world. This couple narrates to K.Pradeep how they became a successful musical duo
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Photo: H. Vibhu
Wedded to music Nagaswaram artistes Kalaimamani Sheik Mahaboob Subhani and Kalaimamani Kaleeshabi Mahaboob have performed in several temples in Tamil Nadu
Mahaboob Subhani and Kaleeshabi had just been married. They had also taken the important decision to play the nagaswaram together from then on. This meant that both of them had to part ways with the senior members of their respective families with wh
om they were playing till then. It was quite an uncertain start.
“Even before our marriage, that is when our families had got together to discuss it, we decided to give this idea of nagaswaram duet a try. Incidentally, Kaleeshabi is my aunt’s daughter. The nagaswaram duo, Sethuraman and Ponnuswamy, arranged a concert in Dindigul. For two months we trained and then performed at the Vella Pillaiyar Temple. That was our first concert in Tamil Nadu. But nothing much happened after that,” recounts Mahaboob Subhani.
Twenty five years down the line this husband-wife duo has emerged as top ranked performers. They remain the true perpetrators of the famous Thanjavur ‘bani’ popularised by their guru Sheik Chinna Moulana Sahib.
“I think we were simply fortunate. There are so many gifted nagaswaram artistes in Andhra, especially in the west coastal belt, who have never achieved the fame that they deserve. The break for us came when we got the chance to study under our guru at Srirangam. And this opportunity was divinely ordained.”
Mahaboob Subhani and Kaleeshabi were asked by their then guru, K. Chandramouli to accompany him to Tiruvaiyaru for the Tyagaraja Ulsavam. They made up excuses as they did not have the money for the trip. But Chandramouli persisted and even paid for their trip. For the first four days they listened to all the maestros. On the last day, the clarinet exponent A.K.C. Natarajan, secretary of the festival committee, asked them if they could play for ten minutes.
The beginning
“We were thrilled, but were crestfallen as we had not taken our nagaswarams with us. To our surprise the great Sheik Chinna Moulana Sahib offered to lend his nagaswaram to us. Usually we don’t exchange the musical instrument even among ourselves. I played with the nagaswaram used by Chinna Moulana Sahib. It was such a wonderful feeling. I thought it had a divine ‘naadam.’ The next day we got a chance to play at a temple in Thanjavur,” remembers Kaleeshabi.
From then on, till Chinna Moulana Sahib’s death in 1999, Mahaboob Subhani and Kaleeshabi stayed with him. “The gurukulam training was for about 15 years. There was no fixed time for training and on days it could go on for hours at a stretch. What we are today is only because of the great guru’s generosity,” says Mahaboob Subhani.
The unique feature of the duo is certainly Kaleeshabi. She is perhaps the only woman nagaswaram player today who has attained this professional status. “Very few women take up this instrument. I was the only child of my parents and so my father, who also used to play the nagaswaram, decided to teach me. I began from a very early age and so did not find it very tough. Of course, it was strenuous for women, required robust health and lung power. I have two daughters but I never encouraged them to take up this instrument. Times have changed. I was fortunate to pursue my passion even after marriage. That may not happen today,” feels Kaleeshabi.
Did coming from a Muslim community stand in the way of their professional career? “ See, there are numerous Muslim families in Andhra that have had reputed nagaswaram artistes for generations. Some of them have migrated to Tamil Nadu. There are six nagaswaram families in Srirangam itself. We have never felt, except in rare cases, any sort of opposition from other communities. We have performed in so many temples in Tamil Nadu and Andhra. At the end of the concert we have been taken inside and given the ‘prasadam’. For us there is only one God. And He has no name, no religion,” explains Mahaboob Subhani.
Kaleeshabi did face some problems early on, especially with regard to her dressing. “I sorted this out. There were objections to my sporting a bindi and all that. It was basically from within the family itself. In the beginning I used to go for concerts without the bindi. Once, at a concert in Salem a woman gave me kumkum and asked me to put this on when I perform. I have being doing this ever since. When I am invited to play for a Muslim gathering I dress accordingly.”
Eighth generation
Mahaboob Subhani and Kaleeshabi belong to the eighth generation of a legendary family of nagaswaram players. Keeping that legacy alive will not be easy. This, at a time when the nagaswaram has only a marginal status as a concert hall instrument. “My son Firoz Babu, is doing his MCA final year. He has studied the nagaswaram and can play quite well. But whether he’ll continue the family tradition or not is entirely his choice. We do have our students who will certainly keep the flame burning,” rounds off Mahaboob Subhani.
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