The swirl of Kanchipuram silk, diamonds, a prominent red bindi and vibhuti, vocalist M.S. Subbulakshmi (MS) was a strong presence. When she sang she evoked a medley of emotions. Her voice lightened heavy hearts. People sat as if in a trance, while some broke down into tears. Her music was effortless, strongly classical, rooted in technical mastery perfected by constant training. MS’ voice opens the day for many as it rings out from temples and homes across the globe.
Her music, as The Hindu wrote in its editorial (December 14, 2004), was “an uncompromising fealty to the south Indian classical tradition combined with a creative willingness to adapt and change to keep up with new times; an expanded, all-India domain; a progressive reaching out to other traditions, especially the Hindustani classical genre, without ever lapsing into eclecticism; unsurpassed bhava, or feeling, in the great bhakti mode, resulting in a singular ‘capacity to lose herself in her music’; ‘perfect alignment of sruti, complete command of laya, clarity of diction, faultless pronunciation in every language, immaculate execution;’ a lifelong habit of meticulous practice and hard work; sincerity and humility that is humbling; ‘a voice that is heard once in a millennium’; and when everything else is said, a transcendental beauty that transports and elevates.”
The first musician to be awarded the Bharat Ratna, the first woman recipient of the Sangitha Kalanidhi title, MS was the first to popularise Carnatic music in North India and at prestigious venues abroad.
Mahatma Gandhi insisted that MS sing his favourite bhajan. Jawaharlal Nehru called her the Queen of Song, while Sarojini Naidu relinquished her title of Nightingale of India to MS after watching her act and sing in the film Meera .
September 16 is the 100th birth anniversary of MS. The magic of her music still captivates. Only a handful of musicians from Kerala had the honour of accompanying MS in her concerts. They include Palakkad Kunjumani, Palakkad Hariharan, Chalakudy N.S. Narayanaswamy, Mavelikara Krishnankutty Nair, V.V. Ravi and Thrissur Narendran. But there were four others, T.K. Murthy, V.V. Subrahmanyam, Guruvayur Dorai and K.V. Prasad, who spent long years of their careers accompanying her. These four instrumentalists recount their experiences, the magic of an MS concert and more.
T.K. Murthy
I must have been hardly 15 or 16 years old when I first played for MS Amma. She was there at my guru’s (Thanjavur Vaidyanatha Iyer) residence for lunch. During lunch my guru pointed to me and asked MS whether she knew who I was. She said no. He asked her whether she had heard of this young boy named Murthy who plays mridangam. She said, “yes we have been hearing a lot about him.”
The same evening there was a kutcheri at my guru’s place and I played for MS Amma for the first time. That was the start of a journey that continued for 40 years. If you ask me what made MS a legend I would say it was her dedication and perfection. She knew the meaning of every word in the songs she sung and practised each one I don’t know how many times before presenting it on stage. Personally, she was an elder sister to me who used to fondly call me ‘Chittu.’ There’s one concert that I can never forget. The auditorium in Madurai was close to the railway track. The turnout was so huge that the crowd even flowed over to the railway tracks. For the first time, I saw a train stop for a kutcheri!
V.V. Subrahmanyam
I must have accompanied MS Amma for nearly 12 years, say from 1963 to 1975. The first time I played for her was at a farmhouse that belonged to businessman V.D. Swamy, father of actor Aravind Swamy. The kutcheri was arranged through the good efforts of my mentors like Semmangudi Sir, T.N. Krishnan Sir and K. Soundararajan, secretary of Madras Music Academy. In the audience were all the stalwarts including Musiri. I consider myself fortunate to get such an opportunity. What can I say about MS Amma when the whole world is celebrating her centenary? I cannot remember anyone getting this sort of respect and affection. Celebrations are taking place right now, right from Tokyo to the United States. Personally, I have always felt that she was an embodiment of Indian womanhood. She was a perfect model of how a woman should be. There will be no one like her.
K.V. Prasad
I had just joined All India Radio, Chennai, when I was asked to meet MS Amma at her residence. I was asked to play solo and then Amma sang asking me to accompany her. It was an unbelievable experience. The first time I was on stage with MS Amma was in 1984 for a wedding concert at Dharma Prakash, Chennai. Since then, for 15 years, I was part of her concert team, accompanying her till the last concert.
Travelling with Amma was an experience. I was stunned by her humility and her care for others. Amma used to prepare meticulously for a concert. She was very professional. The list used to be prepared a day ahead and she would rehearse along with Radha Akka [Radha Viswanathan, her daughter]. Sadasivam Mama [ her husband] maintained a list of the songs Amma performed and he made the choices. A great deal of planning went into each concert.
Before getting on to the stage Amma used to sing for 30 minutes in the green room with two tanpuras. She maintained her sruti never changing it for any concert. Accompanying her was a joyful experience, both musically and spiritually.
The association extended beyond the stage. For me Amma was a mentor, a close family member. She was there for all important family functions, beginning with my marriage. A moment I consider most precious in my life was when Amma sang. There was pin-drop silence in the noisy wedding hall the moment she began singing. She was gracious enough to sing three songs that included the memorable ‘Sita kalyana…’
The biggest honour will be when I play at the United Nations General Assembly on October 2, for a concert to mark the 50th year of Amma’s UN concert and her centenary will be celebrated. I will be accompanying Sudha Raghunath, along with R.K. Sriram Kumar and Anirudh Athreya.
Guruyavur Dorai
My first concert with MS was in 1970 at Triplicane, Chennai, under the auspices of Kanchi Kamakoti Mutt. It was a divine, pleasant concert that moved me. I accompanied her till 1990. I have accompanied so many musicians but MS is the only one I have seen who could elevate and transport the audience to a different world. I have been witness to such experiences. One example of such a concert was at Pittsburgh, the United States. It was at the Sree Venkateswara Temple and MS sang ‘Srinivasa Thiruvenkata...’ in Hamsanandi. I could feel that she was going into a different mode altogether. There were around 2,000 people in the audience, most of them had tears in their eyes, they were all on their feet, silent, in rapt devotion. Only MS had that power to make people realise the connect between music and devotion.
