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Vaishnava jana to tene kahiye, jo pir parayi jane re (only they are religious – who understand the sufferings of others)", sung by MS Subbulakshmi, made Mahatma Gandhi all in tears. And in 1953, when she chanted bhakti melodies in a concert chaired by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru in aid of a charity in New Delhi, he quipped, "Though accustomed to public speaking, I find it not too easy to address on this occasion. Subbulakshmi’s music has a moving quality. Who am I, a mere prime minister before a queen of music".
The list of her admirers is simply not restricted to the likes of Mahatma or Nehru, Lord Harewood or the UN General Assembly, but also the devotees at tiny village temples, tea shop audiences and rural households in the country as well. Though her renderings were within the confines of the highly grammatical tenets of carnatic music, she was able to sweep away even the laymen by the sincerity and the diversity of her emotions and the air of bhakti that she breathed into her songs. Such was the Nightingale of Indian classical music who enthralled her audience across the world for over seven decades with her soul stirring and crystal clear voice. It quite often used to take the listeners to the celestial world while increasing their urge to hear it more and more. But at a time when Music Festivals are at their peak in the mild winter of Chennai, the world of music was shattered with the news of her demise due to pneumonia on December 11, 2004, at the age of 88, creating a huge void in the domain of classical music. People from all walks of life gathered at her residence to pay homage to the doyen of music who rendered a divine appeal to so many songs.
MS Subbulakshmi had inherited the musical legacy, as her mother Ms Shanmugavadivu was an acclaimed veena player and grandmother Akkammal a violinist. Though it was frugal existence for them, the family that stayed by the famous Meenakshi temple was very rich in music. The finesse of her musical traits were fine-tuned by such a galaxy of maestros of that time such as Semmangudi Sitarama Iyer, Madurai Srinivasa Iyengar, Aryakudi Ramanuja Iyengar and Mayavaram VV Krishna Iyer. All of them had been full of praise for her simplicity, ability and enthusiasm to learn with an unparalleled respect for her gurus and elders.
At the tender age of ten, when her peers would roll up a piece of paper imitating as if singing over a microphone, MS Subbulakshmi, could cut her first disc with her mother on her side, for a leading gramaphone company of that time. In 1932 after acquiring fame at her hometown Madurai, where she mesmerized the listeners with her flawless renderings of musical pieces, her mother brought her to Madras (Chennai). At 17, she performed at the Mecca of Carnatic music festivals, the Music Academy, Chennai. The waxing and waning of the waves of her voice, in sync with the sense of the lyrics was so picture perfect that in 1968 the Music Academy, Chennai presented its coveted title ‘Sangeeta Kalanidhi’. Subbulakshmi was also one of the first musicians to introduce carnatic vocal music to western world. Her concerts became instant successes in the west.
Her devotion to music led her to win many awards. To name a few - Ramon Magasaysay award in 1974, Spirit of Freedom award in 1988, the Indira Gandhi award for national integration in 1990and the highest civilian honour of India, the Bharat Ratna in 1998. She also bagged several other awards along the way like the " Isai Vani", "Padma Bhushan", "Padma Vibushan" and many others.
MS Subbulakshmi’s husband Kalki Sadasivam always supported her. In fact, he was instrumental in shaping her post-marriage career. Such is her devotion to her husband that after his demise, she stopped stage performances. Shri Sadasivam, a Gandhian and an ardent follower of Rajaji, was the founder of Kalki Tamil magazine along with his friend Shri Krishnamurthy. To mobilize funds for the launch of the magazine, the couple had organized concerts. And they have held similar concerts for public causes many times over. Her philanthropy is far reaching that an array of social service and cultural organizations including Mahatma Gandhi’s Kasturbha Memorial Fund, Ramakrishan Math, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Sankara Nethralaya, Subrahmanya Bharati Memorial were greatly benefited. Even the royalty income from her gramaphone recordings was given for the benefit of the society. A women of multifarious talents, she excelled in the celluloid world as well and the film ‘Meera’ took her to greater heights. Yet music and philanthrophy were close to her heart always.
M.S. Subbulakshmi is no more. Her passing away is the end of an era. None can fill up the void created by her demise. Yet, the songs she immortalized would always reverberate in the ears of both the elite as well as the laymen for long.
*AIO, PIB, Chennai
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