Newsgroups: soc.culture.indian Subject: Happy Birthday, MS! [Sep 16, 1990] Summary: Expires: Sender: Followup-To: Distribution: Organization: Stanford University Keywords: Today is the 74th birthday of that enchanting singer of Carnatic Music, M.S. Subbulakshmi. In a musical career spanning almost six decades, she left an irreversible impact on Carnatic Music in particular, and Indian cultural scene in general. It is difficult to be "objective" about MS's artistry or make a rational assessment of her impact. While appreciation of any art probably defies rationality, for MS's singing, it often boarders on "fandom." MS is one of those rare breed of musicians who seems to cross regional and linguistic boundaries in India with effortless ease, and touch the listener with her "bhava." I have come across people who had extremely little exposure to carnatic music, but are ardent admirers of MS Subbulaksmi. Whether she sings a Meera Bhajan, an Annamayya Kirthana, a Syama Sastry krithi, or the Kamakshi Suprabatam, an Ashtapadi or the Bhaja Govindam, she brings her own natural style to the rendering and in the process leaves her unmistakable stamp on that composition. She is known for her zest for expanding her musical horizons. The galaxy of her mentors reads like the who is who of the Indian classical music, and her ever expanding repertoire spans a multitude of composers and languages. She had single-handedly popularized several composers, not to mention specific compositions; her rendering of Tallapaka Annmacharya krithis in the Balaji Pancharatna Mala series lead to a serious renewal of interest in that great antediluvian composer who seems to have been even more prolific than all the Trinity combined; and her more recent "Sankara Sthuti" and "New Classicals" introduce some very contemporary composers. It is often said that the most palpable characteristic of MS's music is its "bhakthi bhava"--devotion. To single out one artist for this characterization, in a musical tradition based overwhelmingly on spirituality and devotion -- is no trivial matter! When she sings "loka janani, naa pai daya leda?" in Devi Brova Samayamide, it is no longer Syama Sastry imploring Kamakshi, but MS beseeching her own creator (which the listener has the fortune to witness). It often comes as a revelation that one may, as one grows old, reformulate ones notions of "asthitwa", swinging between the concrete theism of a personal god and skeptical agnosticism of secular humanism, and yet continue to find the conspicuous devotion in her singing an intensely uplifting experience. I have been told by my purist friends that MS is not as "creative" as some of the other maestros of carnatic music, and that she is often "over-rehearsed". That may be so (and on the rare occasions that you find the same raaga in two of her recordings, you do get the feeling of intense deja vu), but in her case that hardly matters to me. To me, MS's singing evokes a wholistic sense of time and place. Some of my sweetest reminiscences include passing through coastal Andhra villages on a home bound train in the wee hours of the dawn and catching the strains of Bhajagovindam or an Annamacharya Kirthana wafting from some wayside tea stall or a dilapidated temple. A sense of contentment, if only for a fleeting moment, as the journey continues. -rao [Sep 16, 1990] --------- "Maitreem bhajata akhila hridyethri aatmavadeva paraanapi pashyatha Yuddham thyajatha, Spardha thyajatha Thyajata paresha kramamakramanam Janani pruthivee kaamaduhaste Janako deva sakala dayalu Damyata datta dayadhwam janatha Shreyo bhooyat sakala janaanaam" -From a benediction written by Sri Paramacharya of Kanchi for M.S. Subbulakshmi's 1966 UN concert.