Series on Musicians - I
Bharat Ratna Dr.M.S.Subbulakshmi

One of the greatest given to us by our god is our art and culture. I think i am fortunate enough to have got an oppurtunity to learn and understand the beauty of our classical music. Expressing it through an instrument is more beautiful. I have been learning veena for the past 7yrs and every day i still yearn to learn more and explore the beauty of our music. Our forefathers have a struggled to keep this traditional music alive and pass it on to the next generation. There are many musicians who have played an important role in this field. In the coming weeks I would like to express my views on them and their influence in my music. I might miss out some of the doyens in thisprocess, but I am trying figure only those whom I have been exposed till today. Let me start my first series with a musician who needs no introduction to all music lovers.
The nightingale of India, the Queen of Music...These are just few anecdotes that describe this artist. The former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru said "Who am I mere Prime Minister before this Queen of Music" after screening film meera where she had enacted the role of Meera. Now, i guess i need not mention her name. You must have recognised her by now...'Bharat Ratna M.S.Subbulakshmi'. I was barely a year and half when i first listened to her magic voice. I have been told by my grandparents that I used to have food only after listening to her cassette in which she has rendered 'Ganesha Pancharatnam'. I cannot figure out why this was so special to me then and even now. Each composition rendered by her sounds so different as compared to someone else's rendition. The fine tuning that she provides to each compostion is amazing. I think lot has been told about her life especially after her demise on 11th dec' 2004. One look at her charming face refreshes your mind. Looking at those beautiful dark eyes i feel as though she is talking to me. I have grown listening to her music. I think it would be difficult to find atleast one house hold in India where her renditon of Suprabatam is not played early in the morning.

As i started writing i was trying to analyse one of my favourite renditions by M.S.Subbulakshmi. Now it was really tough for me.Unfortunately I have never got an oppurtunity to listen to her concert. Probably I would regret it till the end of my life..Though i must have listened to more than 500 concerts. The best of all would have been hers if that list would have included hers. People who have met her say that she was one musician who was selfless. Now , one of her best rendition that has influenced me is Shankarabharanam. As she goes on to the higher octave she transcends us to a different world which can't be described but only felt. Let me relate to you an incident that proves that she was perfectionist. (this was told to me by my veena teacher Smt. Mangalam Muthuswamy). Once when MS amma was in Bangalore to give a concer my teacher was invited by her to join her for lunch.[how fortunate :-) ]. As always the topic of discussion was music. After having their lunch, amma said that she had to fine tune some krithi and that she had to go inside. Now, my teacher was surprised and told that a musician of your stature can go on to the stage and give a concert. Prompt came the reply "The goldsmith doesn't give you the ornament without polishing it. Ornamentation is required, though i might have rendered this 108 times. MEzgu podavendama (she said this in tamil)". Even a raga like pushpalathika, now what can you do with this raga, but when you listen to her rendition of Ikanaika you get the answer. Proportion is higly essential while rendering neraval and swarams and MS amma perfected this art. Never would you feel that she has done more than what was required. The way she used to built a krithi, from the pallavi to the charanam is worth mentioning. Every gamakam would be bang on target. Now it is difficult to explain it quantitatively. Probably if you listen to her rendering any raga alapana or a krithi you can understand it. Rendering a raga alapana is not only getting the raga right (structurally) but proceeding it in the right fashion. When amma rendered raga alapana you feel the whole presentation was so natural to her. One more important aspect that has influenced me is her diction. Ask her to sing in any language she would take pains to go and learn the right way to sing it. Her pronounciation was impeccable and probably the best.Her open throated and clean use of voice is like a guidance manual for every musician and student of music. I guess one of the striking quality of hers was the never ending attitude to learn. Probably, that's the reason why she used to say "I would always prefer to be a student than be a teacher". The most important differentiation between a good musician and a great musician is the skill of communication. I guess MS amma had mastered the art of gauging the pulse of the audience. Now, you may have all the technical knowledge but what's the use if you can't sync it with the audience. Everybody who went to her concert would feel one with her and her music. I think there are very few musicians who have this uncanny knack of understanding the audience. I guess if one starts talking about MS amma it would be a never ending and an enchanting experience. MS amma is still with us and would always be for centuries to come.