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Music Season
MY FESTIVAL
The sabhas are doing a great service
I hope this festival grows even bigger.
Come December its celebration time for rasikas when they conglomerate from all around the world in Chennai to get immersed in the ocean of Carnatic music. Vidwans too look forward to the year-end festival. About five decades ago there were only a few sabhas doing this. Today it is a mind boggling figure , both in terms of sabhas and kutcheris. I have been playing the mridangam as an accompanist since 1941. I have supported many stalwarts and have seen many generations. Music Academy has grown big in stature and playing there during the festival is a dream of every vidwan.
Palghat Mani Iyer while conferring the Sangeetha Choodamani award on me, at Sri Krishna Gana Sabha, said that he was very impressed with my Thol Patthu (meaning marriage with the leather) and also appreciated the way I used to play as a true accompaniment and the frugality I showed in laya patterns.
Ariyakkudi gave me the title Nada Bhadran during one of the festival concerts at Sai Gana Sabha, when I accompanied him in place of Mani Iyer who could not make it.
The concert I played for Madurai Mani Iyer, substituting for Palani Subramania Pillai at the Academy was relayed live by AIR.
Listeners believed that it was Pillaival playing and when they came to know the truth, it was accolades showering on me. This incident I still cherish.
In one of my trips to France accompanying Maharajapuram Santhanam for a festival concert there, I had to manage with a bhajan mridangam (that was really not in a fit condition) because of non-receipt of baggage.
The audience couldn’t believe the nadam that emanated from it. I have no reservations in playing for juniors.
The sabhas are doing a great service carrying music to every nook and corner of Chennai. I hope this festival grows even bigger.
(As told to V. BALASUBRAMANIAN)
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Music Season
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