GNB Recollections

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 21 Jun 2010, 20:23

Fantastic dear gienbee!
We are lucky to have you among us. Your nephew Rajasekhar used to be with us but now he is apparently very busy. We would all love to hear from you about the life and music of the Great GNB (the Prince of CM) and your personal recollections. Do post them at our Vaggeyakara section so that all can comment and participate in the discussions. Tell us something about your background too! Are you a musician yourself?

gienbee · Post by **gienbee** » 22 Jun 2010, 10:21

cmlover wrote:Fantastic dear gienbee!
We are lucky to have you among us. Your nephew Rajasekhar used to be with us but now he is apparently very busy. We would all love to hear from you about the life and music of the Great GNB (the Prince of CM) and your personal recollections. Do post them at our Vaggeyakara section so that all can comment and participate in the discussions. Tell us something about your background too! Are you a musician yourself?

Thanks, Sri CMLOVER.
I shall be definitely delighted to share with you whatever I know about my brother. Rajasekar is very busy after his daughter's marriage and a mishap in our family in the first week of June.
Reg myself, I am not a musician. But having grown up in the musical environment, I developed interest in music right from my 6th or 7th year. I distinctly remember Alathur (Junior) visiting my brother frequently when my father was alive in 1940 or 1941 and they used to teach kirtanas to each other. He was very close to my brother. One song I learnt, when he was teaching my brother is Chandrasekara when I was just 7 years old and I also learnt it. My knowledge is kelvignanam and I have not learnt scientific music at all.
I am a Cost Accountant, having worked in Enfield for 18 years from 1963 to 1981when I was Chief Accountant/Chief Cost Accountant. From 1981 to 1992, I was in S & S Power where I retired as General Manager (Mangement Accounts). After retirement, I was Advisor to MD in the same company for 7 more years. Hence from 1963 to 1992, I had little time to listen to music much..Official preoccupation kept my away from participating in musical activities.
However from 1955 when I passed my B.A., till 1964, when my brother left for Trivandrum, I was his PA managing everything including finance etc. During this period, I remember, many eminent musicians, instrumentalists visiting our house in San Thome. Most frequent visitors include Calcutta Sri Krishnamurthi, (almost) daily), Dr Ramanathan, Ramnad Krishnan, Lalgudi, Palghat Rahu ,Ayyalore Krishnan etc etc.
I do not want to bore you with such trivialities. However, I shall certainly share my thoughts as and when occasion arises.
Thank you,
G.N. Balakrishnan

rajeshnat · Post by **rajeshnat** » 22 Jun 2010, 11:10

Warm Welcome GNB Jr
You can share all about your illustrious brother "GNB" . I am especially fond of him as a vaggeyakkara , almost every krithi of his was well rounded both musically and lyrically (atleast those in thamizh that I understand) . You can share about his disciples and how they learnt ranging from SKR , MLV, Trichur rAmachandran etal with GNB.

On a side note , I have heard thru grapevine that his best of recordings did not get released at all for many reasons some can be stated , some cannot be . Possibly few pointers there would immensely help all of us

mohan · Post by **mohan** » 22 Jun 2010, 12:05

Welcome Sri Balakrishnan. Please don't think you are mentioning trivialities discussing his meeting with other eminent vidwans - they are all fascinating for us! Great to know that Sri GNB used to learn krithis from Alathur Bros and vice-versa.

gienbee · Post by **gienbee** » 22 Jun 2010, 13:15

rajeshnat wrote:Warm Welcome GNB Jr
You can share all about your illustrious brother "GNB" . I am especially fond of him as a vaggeyakkara , almost every krithi of his was well rounded both musically and lyrically (atleast those in thamizh that I understand) . You can share about his disciples and how they learnt ranging from SKR , MLV, Trichur rAmachandran etal with GNB.

On a side note , I have heard thru grapevine that his best of recordings did not get released at all for many reasons some can be stated , some cannot be . Possibly few pointers there would immensely help all of us

Dear Sri rajehnat and mohan,
Thanks for your warm welcome. The trivialities referred to by me are reg details about myself as requested by cmlover. I will be extremely happy to share with you, what all I know.

Reg his best recordings, I wish to state, the recordings which we are doing the rounds and are available are all after 1952 or 1953, after his first heart-attack. As you may know, there are no recordings of his music prior to 1950 and40s are supposed to be the most glorious period of his music. Even the recordings we now have, many of them are thanks to Mr Venkatakrishna Iyer, father of Mr Someswara Babu, a disciple of my brother. For many of the concerts, he will come in his car and take my brother for the concert and drop him back. Unfortunately, most of these recordings have been lost due to Babu not taking care to preserve them carefully. We cannot blame him also as, he was busy accompanying my brother and after my brother's demise, he shifted to Bombay to teach music. Ih his busy schedule there, he could not take sufficient care. We however thank him and his father for what we have to-day. As far as O know, there is no other reason.
Reg his disciples, SKR was an intellectual, who used to argue with my brother with reg to several things and only after my brother clarified them to his satisfaction, he will leave it. If I remember correct, he started learning from brother from 1948-1950, while we were in T. nagar. He was brilliant and my brother used to ask for his (he used to discuss with alldisciples )views after each concert. He used to discuss freely with them. He used to advise his disciples to listen to the music of all the stalwarts like Ariyakudi, Chembai, Musiri, Semmangudi, Alathur Madurai Mani Iyer etc.. and imbibe what is best in each of them. He was extremely happy that SKR followed this advise to the spirit and evolved his own style, without deviating from the bani set by my brother, while he was himself alive to see it happen.
Reg MLV, she joined him as disciple a bit later, if I remember correct. She was an exemplary student. She used to listen to my brother singing a kriti once and she will memorize it . I know that when my brother sang RTP of Latangi, Natabhairavi etc, she used to sing them in her next concert. She had such a photographic memory. My brother also has learnt a few Purandaradasa kritis from her as he never felt shy to learn music from any source.
Reg TVR, he joined my brother in 1960 or 1961 and continued his training under him in Trivandrum, until my brother passed away in May, 1965. He is very sincere in his devotion to his Guru and to this day, he carries the tradition as his torch-bearer with utmost devotion.
I will be sharing my thoughts as and whensuch requests as received from ardent rasikas like you. Thanks.

Pratyaksham Bala · Post by **Pratyaksham Bala** » 22 Jun 2010, 13:23

Thank you very much for all the information. It is nice of you to share so many interesting facets of GNB.

Thanks also to the rasikas.org, but for which we would not be having this opportunity.

cienu · Post by **cienu** » 22 Jun 2010, 13:43

Thanks for sharing your memories. It was fascinating reading them.
A request to the moderators to archive these jottings in the Vidwans or Vaggeyakaras section.

rajeshnat · Post by **rajeshnat** » 22 Jun 2010, 13:49

GNB Jr
I have posted your last post in the GNB thread http://rasikas.org/forums/viewtopic.php? ... ca#p164466
We all can continue discussing there about GNB .

Ramasubramanian M.K · Post by **Ramasubramanian M.K** » 22 Jun 2010, 22:22

Welcome GNB Jr. I am the son of the late K.S.Mahadevan(Music Critic)--I remember meeting you in my brother's place in R.A.Puram when my father was alive--My late father as you may be aware was a life-long friend of your illustrious brother. In my father's book "Musings on Music and Musicians" released in 2003 @ my father's 90th birthday celebrations in Dec,I had contributed an article of GNSir--in my formative years he helped me appreciate not only his music bUt also others' music--One advice he gave me about listening etiquete-"When I sing Sarasasamadhana do not think of how Semmangudi or Madurai Mani Iyer would"-- and also a gentle admonition as to how Rasikas should empower themselves with knowledge to be able to appreciate what the artist is offering---NAN KODUTTHAL MATTUM PODADHU ONAKKU EDUTHUKKA THERIYANAM(IT IS NOT ENOUGH IF I FEED YOU, YOU MUST BE ABLE TO ABSORB IT AND APPRECIATE IT.
In 1964 May three weeks after my marriage I had come to Trichy to visit my uncle--myself and my wife attended GNSir's concert @ Alathur Subbier's daughter's wedding--an outstanding concert--in my excitement to introduce my wife, at the end of the concert and wanting to show my appreciation for his performance, I blurted out ecstatically :" Mama Innikku romba abarama padinel" to which to retorted within a flash second, "Nan Ennikkum Padara Madiridan Innikkum Padinen , Un Gnanam vena Improve Ahirukku Ennavo"(I sang the way I sing in every concert-perhaps your gnanam may have improved!!)

During his Bombay concerts normally he used to stay with one of your uncles the late K.S.N. Sharma in matunga--not far from our flat-once we hosted him in our flat which gave me a chance to ask him about my doubts about the propriety of singing Alapana of 4 note ragas--popularised by Balamurali Krishna. He will patiently explain how 5 notes are minimum to provide some heft to the Raga alapana and explained how Mohanam and Hamsadhwani(just with one note difference) could still lend themselves to elaborate and distinct alapana and went on to stress the fact that the notes by themselves do not carry as much importance as what notes precede them and what notes follow them.

He used to disparagingly call himself that GNB stands for Good for Nothing Bhagavathar!!
A great sense of humor and ready wit--he could seamlessy segue from Thyagaraja to Shakespeare-- listening to conversations(with me being merely a "fly-in-the-wall") was very informative and entertaining.

I want to know if he ever encouraged any of you or your family members to take to the profession and if not why not?

Also why he changed houses frequently--I myself can recall atleast three different residences in Mylapore itself and also frequent change of cars-- car joke he used to narrate--once he had put up his car for sale-apparently it was an old car and had lots of rattles,dents etc-one of the prospective buyers who was as alien to Music as Aurangazeb and as such did not know much about the "Seller" of the car --after test driving the car the prospective buyer was disappointed with the car and complained to GNSir that what kind of a car you have maintained to which GNSir patiently asks WHY? What is wrong with the car--the buyer says Ella parts um romba Shattham podarade- GNSir: Yar sonna Horn amukki Parungo sathame varade".

A great Man and you are truly blessed to be his sibling--he was such a pillar to your whole family and never once I have heard him sigh about his onerous responsibilities which he discharged unstintingly and unselfishly.

Look forward to your postings re; GNSir's relationships to his accompaniments spanning two generations--the Papa-Chowdiah-Rajamanikkam and the Lalgudi-Krishnan-MSG amomgst the Violinists and the Palghat mani Iyer-Palani-Murugabhoopathy and Palghat Raghu-Sivaraman Ramabhadran amongst the Mridangists.

Nick H · Post by **Nick H** » 22 Jun 2010, 23:51

Such gems should not be lost in the introductions thread... I hope the mods will move your post to the GNB thread. I shall be asking my wife for some interpretor help: it is obvious from the post, especially the fragment that you did translate, that I don't want to miss understanding the exchanges!

Ramasubramanian M.K · Post by **Ramasubramanian M.K** » 23 Jun 2010, 01:42

Nick; Thanks for your comments.I tried to post it under GNB in Vidwans and Vidushis but could not find it. maybe I missed it. You are right--these anecotes belong in the Vidwans/Vidushi thread. For your benefit I am translating the "Car" Joke(sorry I should have translated into English) here it is:
The Buyer: After the test drive
Buyer: In what condition have you maintained and how dare you try to sell it off?
GNB: Why what is wrong with the car?
Buyer: (By now very irritated and agitated); All the parts of the car are making noises!!
GNB: Who said so? Try the horn--there won't be any sound!!

Another spontaneous GNB joke

Scene: A performance in bangalore or Chennai- His voice was not cooperative and as a result the sruthi infractions were much more than normal.
End of the concert a sycophant approaches him and tries to 'smooth" the infractions with a remark saying perhaps the hot weather and the Hall conditions were not ideal for his voice.
GNB: No No that is not the case. I gave the tambura to the sishya for strumming but he "kept" the sruthi to himself without giving it to me!!!

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 23 Jun 2010, 02:11

Let us use this new thread to continue GNB recollections as related by Sri Balakrishnan (GNB Jr) as well as MKR's comments...

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 23 Jun 2010, 02:19

Thanks gienbee sir (or shallwe call Balakrishnan or GNB Jr (your choice)) and welcome back MKR sir..
We now have a ReTTai Naayanam for our delight...

Ramasubramanian M.K · Post by **Ramasubramanian M.K** » 23 Jun 2010, 07:24

CMLover Thanks. For your diligent efforts to 'consolidate" these posts, here are a couple of GNB stories:

1. GNB was having a heated argument with his best friend in Mylapore--BABU Sir(aka Advocate C.K.Venkatanarasimhan of Pilathope, Mylapore)--the argument was in the Music Academy corridors.

Just in the middle of the heated exchange,in walks the Great Ariyakudi--sensing something amiss(between two close friends arguing in public his curiosity got the better of his discretion and from behind GNB says

ARI: Enna argument between the two of you.
GNB(not noticing it was ARIYAKUDI speaking) without turning his head says "Neengal Suma Irum Ganum---Engalukkulle Ayiram(1000) Irukkum.
ARI: Adukkenna--500 500 aha panguvachikkalame!!!

To cap it he says Inda Ariyakudi Ramanujanum ARIYAKUDIYA Vishayangal Irukkalam Allava.

Anecdote abt GN Sir(as told to me by TRS).
GNSir had gone to Vijayawada for a concert--the Andhra Host wishing to impress GN Sir with "spicy" Andhra cuisine serves a well-appointed Gourmet meal. After the meal the following exchange took place:

Host: Tamil Nadu Sappattukkum Andhra sapattukkum Enna Vidyasam?

GNSir: Oru Sappattile Nakkile Tanni Varum Innoru sappatile Kannile Tanni Varum(Note: he did not say which is which--the diplomat that he was!!!!
Forumites it was a delight to be a "Fly-in-the-wall" when he was in the room--the ready wit,the Hitham in his speech,tremendous respect for the audience,smart,pithy observations about fellow musicians(not hurtful but stinging enough!!).

On audiences and artistes' obligations towards them:(from a 3-way conversation between GNB/PMI and
LALGUDI(as told by Lalgudi Sir) during a train(long) train journey(Bombay or Delhi):

GNB: How to please the "unpleasable audience--

PMI You will never be able to achieve 100 % because, (a) it depends on the state of your voice,the acoustics,the weather etc on that particular day(b) The expectation from the audience for the next concert would be significantly higher because the previous 100% concert becomes the new benchmark and leads to escalating expectations impossible to meet.So you try your best and let the chips fall wherever they may

Lalgudi: How can you say that--the audience come from great distances inconveniencing themselves and the family,leaving behind all their worries/cares of the World expecting a great concert from us and how can we disappoint them by limiting ourselves or by not feeling remorseful when we fail to deliver our best

GNB; On second thought I agree with PMI--we would never be able to meet audience rising expectations(not their fault ofcourse it is natural human tendency to want more!!.) We should simply do what we can and trust the judgement of the audience

Comment: Note that in his formative years Lalgudi played his heart out be it the Alapana or the Swarams
partly eager to establish himself in the minds of the rasikas and partly driven by his high-soaring imagination!! PMI true to his word would be economical in his playing once in a while letting "loose" a powerful Korvai or Mohara. GNB for his part would be inspired by the mood and receptivity of the audience--some of his best concerts have been for Kalyana Kutcheris for his friends childrens' marriages.
marriages in kallidaikurichi @ friends' places will last easily over 6 hours starting in the night after 9 P.M. and going into the wee hours of the morning.
All of these artistes set very high store for their Abhimanis(sycophants) and their performances reflected that respect without condescension).

Pratyaksham Bala · Post by **Pratyaksham Bala** » 23 Jun 2010, 08:50

Ramasubramanian M.K wrote: GNB: How to please the "unpleasable audience --
PMI: You will never be able to achieve 100% because, (a) it depends on the state of your voice, the acoustics, the weather etc on that particular day ... ...

Are there incidents where GNB was agitated and had to comment on the acoustics?

gienbee · Post by **gienbee** » 23 Jun 2010, 13:18

cmlover wrote:Thanks gienbee sir (or shallwe call Balakrishnan or GNB Jr (your choice)) and welcome back MKR sir..
We now have a ReTTai Naayanam for our delight...

Dear All, Thank you all from the bottom of my heart for the comments on my recollections. As yo u know, it may be difficult for me to narrate any new anecdote, 45 years after his death, and at my advanced age, when memory also starts failing. I shall however try to recollect whatever I can and share them with you. I need your patience and crave your indulgence.
Reg addressing me as GNB Jr etc, I would prefer to be called gienbee (small letters commensurate with my stature) or as Balakrishnan, as I feel, it will be an insult and sacrilege to the revered memory of my brother to be called as GNB Jr. , when I consider myself as "POOVODU SERNDHA NARUM MANAKKUM, type, having been born as his brother , which is just an accident. We, myself , my sisters and his children and other close relations consider it as a great poorva janma punyam to have been born as his relation.
I shall try to get back to you shortly. Thanks.

thenpaanan · Post by **thenpaanan** » 23 Jun 2010, 17:43

Ramasubramanian M.K wrote: ....
Comment: Note that in his formative years Lalgudi played his heart out be it the Alapana or the Swarams
partly eager to establish himself in the minds of the rasikas and partly driven by his high-soaring imagination!! PMI true to his word would be economical in his playing once in a while letting "loose" a powerful Korvai or Mohara. GNB for his part would be inspired by the mood and receptivity of the audience--some of his best concerts have been for Kalyana Kutcheris for his friends childrens' marriages.
marriages in kallidaikurichi @ friends' places will last easily over 6 hours starting in the night after 9 P.M. and going into the wee hours of the morning.
All of these artistes set very high store for their Abhimanis(sycophants) and their performances reflected that respect without condescension).

Thanks very much for your comments and memories -- even when they are in a lighter vein they are uplifting and inspiring.

Music may be a unique art and profession where it is possible to sing/play your heart out on any occasion as you feel even if the world deems the occasion small and unimportant. This may be because music is ephemera of the moment. It only leaves memories, nothing tangible to compare with or get angry about later (for competing sabhas or friends' children marriages). Unlike a sculpture or a painting, there is no basis to compare musical performances and this gives the music artist and the music professional remarkable freedom to follow his/her muse. Thoughts?

-Then Paanan

Ramasubramanian M.K · Post by **Ramasubramanian M.K** » 23 Jun 2010, 18:50

Thenpannan: Could not have said it better!! yes the music is ephemeral and each artiste has to be given full discretion and freedom to experiment--although my postings mostly refer to Vidwans/Vidushis of yesteryears(reflecting my own listening/and interactions with them)I have the highest regard for performers of any age -Music is evolving and will continue to evolve- I am sure the Sanjays/TMS/Unni amongst the males and Sudha/Sowmya/Jayashri/Nithyashree/Ranjani gayathri amongst the female vocalists--all have very clear notions about their music and views on the trends and have strong convictions that they are carrying the torch ably serving the advancement of Music. Sometimes I wish they were more vocal and communicative in intimate forums if not in Public forums(like the previous generation of musicians were that helped me in my growing years not only to understand their music but also their motivations and impulses behind their creativity) for us to get an idea of their thinking. However I understand their reticence---Especially with the proliferation of multiple media and instant dissemination, that has the danger of misrepresentation and misquoting .Often the damage from such distortions cannot be easily contained-.

My point is that I do not want my chronicling and glorifying the past to be interpreted as downplaying or belittling the present .But at the same time I cannot but say --PMI/Mali/TNR/MSS are Non pareil!!!!
So much for fairness and objectivity!!!!!!!

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 23 Jun 2010, 20:10

Fine gems of thought!
Great music can come only from Great Souls. Their lives and sayings are a beacon for the future generations. Their trials and tribulations are guideposts for all of us to handle the vicissitudes of our own lives effectively and with grace. We may have recordings of the music of some of our past masters. But the recordings of their Lives is only in the minds of a few coeval elders. We should get those recordings before they fade due to the ravages of time.

gienbee sir
Do please share your childhood memories of GNB though there was a huge age gap. Was your father indeed an authoritarian? In spite of his high educational accomplishment was GNB a rebel to have opted for a musical career? Why did he 'not' want his children to follow his brilliant music career? Though he dabbled in the movies what made him quit when he was adored by the public? Let me not ask too much at one time...

Dear MKR
Hold on to your promised SSI saga when you are seriously recalling GNB related episodes as we move back in our Time Machine, if you please...

gienbee · Post by **gienbee** » 23 Jun 2010, 21:11

cmlover wrote:Fine gems of thought!
Great music can come only from Great Souls. Their lives and sayings are a beacon for the future generations. Their trials and tribulations are guideposts for all of us to handle the vicissitudes of our own lives effectively and with grace. We may have recordings of the music of some of our past masters. But the recordings of their Lives is only in the minds of a few coeval elders. We should get those recordings before they fade due to the ravages of time.

gienbee sir
Do please share your childhood memories of GNB though there was a huge age gap. Was your father indeed an authoritarian? In spite of his high educational accomplishment was GNB a rebel to have opted for a musical career? Why did he 'not' want his children to follow his brilliant music career? Though he dabbled in the movies what made him quit when he was adored by the public? Let me not ask too much at one time...

Dear MKR
Hold on to your promised SSI saga when you are seriously recalling GNB related episodes as we move back in our Time Machine, if you please...

Dear Cmlover, kindly call me as gienbee.
There is a huge difference in age between myself and my brother (25 years). His eldest son Doraiswami was elder to me by one year. It is said that my mother used to be shy that both the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law were pregnant at the same time.
My father was not at all authoritarian. In fact, my brother was the apple of his eyes, as he was the only male child followed by five daughters and I was born after 25 years. My father actually passed away in 1941, when I was just 7 years old. He did not encourage his son to take music as a profession, as being himself one of the founder members of Parthasarathy Swamy Sabha and also a member in the Experts Committee of Music Academy and also a faculty member in the university of Madras in music, he knew the trials and tribulations of that profession. He wanted him either to be a lawyer or a beauracrat in Govt service. Both my parents were well versed in CM and encouraged him in every way to develop his music. Yet he had his misgivings about his taking it as a profession. This was overcome by persuasive advice of people like Ariyakudi, Rt Ho'ble Sastry, Tiger, Sarabha Sastry, Palladam Sajeeva Rao, Madurai Subramania Iyer (Brother's guru- of Thyagaraja lineage). , Karur Chinnaswamy. , the last four being co-tenants or neighbors.
Reg your next question on his children not taking up music as profession, I wish to state that though myself and Doraiswamy used to sing quite well with good voice, (actually certified by no less a person than MLV herself), he used to oppose the very thought. He said that the professionals in this field very very jealous. Even if we take it as a profession and still succeed, others will say that progeny's rise is due to the popularity of himself. If however, we fail miserably, they will comment that in spite of being the son or brother of such an famous musician, we could not succeed. He also never believed in sponsoring anyone or recommend any of us either for admission in college or in securing a good job. He never curried favor from anybody till his death.
Reg his film career, he acted in 5 films, the third being Sakunthalai, the fourth Rukmangadha and the last one Udayanan Vasavadatta, in which he paired with Vasundara Devi, mother of Vijayanthimala. Excepting for Sakunthalai and the earlier films where he acted as Narada and has sung more than 9 or 10 songs in each, the rest were not successful. But by the time he acted in the third film, he was quite famous and much sought after,. In fact, we never used to see him for days together (15 0r 20 days) as we were busy with our scholastic activities and he being preoccupied with either performances or shooting. There used to be not less than 15 to 20 concerts in a month on an average in the 40s..
I think, I have answered all your questions, some of which may not be of interest to all the rasikas, who relish his music.
Thanks.

gienbee · Post by **gienbee** » 23 Jun 2010, 21:27

My brothers sense of humour is very subtle and enjoyable. I will be sharing some of them with you, one at a time.
He went for a performance in Chettinad. The hosts recceiving him at the station enquired as to where he wanted to stay. The flavour of the humour will be lost, if it is tranlated in English. Hence, pardon my rendering it in Tinglish.
Host: Engay Sir, saha (Jagai) vandirukeenga. (Saha in tamil means die)
My brother replied him and in an aside to TR Balu (taking care not to be over-heard by the host) in his characterstic style commented: Ungathu kanathilaythan. (Only in the well of your house)

cienu · Post by **cienu** » 23 Jun 2010, 22:51

gienbee wrote:My brother replied him and in an aside to TR Balu (taking care not to be over-heard by the host) in his characterstic style commented: Ungathu kanathilaythan. (Only in the well of your house)

Fantastic

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 24 Jun 2010, 02:04

...reminds me of the medical joke of the overbearing British Doctor asking the meek patient
Did you get admitted to this hospital to die (today)

Nick can tell us which part of England the doctor was from

Dear gienbee
Don't feel defensive about narrating details you know. Both musical and nonmusical will be relished by our membership..
Have heard that GNB was into the esoterics (Sri Vidya worship etc.,) .. Can you add some details?

smala · Post by **smala** » 24 Jun 2010, 04:22

GNB was slim as rails, the heart-attack news is hard to take. So much for the obesity theory.

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 24 Jun 2010, 04:56

Fascinating!
Thanks Ramasubramanian for your endless repository of such interesting anecdotes. Can't have enough of them

Balakrishnan,
We feel privileged indeed, now that you have joined us here at Rasikas. Do share your memories about your brother with us. 'Ung' koTTa (to ask:: and then??), there are scores of us, CML urging you on all behalf of all of us!

CML,
'onestly, Nick would saiy the idea of any Brit accent is all in the moinds of non-Brits! Cockney (thanks to Pymalion--My Fair Lady), upper class 'speak' and perhaps the Scots 'R'olling their 'R's are the most familiar 'accents' others think about!

Ramasubramanian M.K · Post by **Ramasubramanian M.K** » 24 Jun 2010, 08:58

Gienbee: Thoroughly enjoying your posts-keep them coming!!
You have mentioned the Movie Udayanan or Vasavadatthai--that reminds me of two songs in that movie he has sung--one in Panthuvarali--SEnthiruvanayal Vasavadatthai,Thihattadha Tenmozhiyal Vasavadatthai--the Pantuvarali one of his favorite ragas--the accent on the suddha dhaivata(actually it could be termed Eka Sruthi Dhaivatham) would be so majestic.

The other song is in keeranavali--Anandam En Solven--Paramanandam En Solven.

I am desperately trying to locate if any of these two films is available or atleast some of the song recordings from this movie.
By any chance are these available in your family archives?

Re; his Devi Upasakam,once I have attended the puja with my father in the Mid-Fifties when he was living in Kutcheri Road(near the Police Station).In those days there was a belief that the Niyamam and Nishtai (rigor) that the worship demanded was tough for musicians who travel a lot and may not have the facilities to perform it austerely wherever they were staying. And if it is not performed in the strict codified manner it will bring more harm than good. But GN Sir genuinely believed that he had the Devi Kadaksham. He narrated an episode-- when one of his compositions was being taught to one of his disciples(TRBalu or SK I am not sure),one of them raised some doubts about a particular prayogam and questioned whether it was appropriate,GNSir was ambivalent but urged the sishyas to research it further.When the sishya(s) came back to report to him that the prayogam was legitimate ,GNSir commented that the song itself is on Devi and inspired by Devi("I am just the instrument") so How could Devi be wrong in the grammar of the song--I can visualise him in the puja room that day-the navarthna Malai and the Rudraksha malai dangling--the posture was erect-no slouch--although he did have a very slight almost imperceptible "ponch".

Watching him dress up for a concert was a treat to the eyes. The pottu neatly embedded in a thin paste of "punugu" but perfectly aligned--no smudge or smear in the forehead despite the hot temps especially during Summers--the veshti -Panchakatcham neatly draped--while he walked he had a slight stoop which he attributed to a hip injury from a fall from a horse during one of the film shootings!!! I used to watch in awe his majestic personality--he used to claim such elegant dress preparation is essential to impress the audience("Velicham Podanumda"). before the concert besides the usual hot water flask,he will carry several betel leaves with a thin pat of butter inside(which invariably will almost melt in the hot weather(no A/C in those days in Bombay--this was meant to smoothen the vocal chords.Whenever friends gather around and tease him about his good looks and attractiveness and the large female audience that used to attend his concerts one of the friends would comment "naturally-- "Palappazhattukku(Jackfruit) Eee(fly) Piduchu Vidanuma(One need not try to entice flies towards a jackfruit

He was a wonderful raconteur and can "pun" on any subject spontaneously given an opening. An apocryphal story he used to tell was about a brand new sishya who had just been entrusted to him by the boy's father. GNsir had a concert that day and without even ascertaining whether the boy was familiar with sishya duties(one of them being strumming the thambura) he asks the sishya to carry the thambura and as soon as he was about to sit on the dais he asks the sishya "Thambura Poduda" promptly the sishya drops the Thambura literally interpreting the command!! ofcourse a little hyperbole on this story cannot be discounted!!

Another story he used to tell was about a none-too-talented sishya--after the rigorous coaching the sishya approaches him thanks him and politely asks him what kind of Guru Dakshinai he could offer to the Master!! GNSir is reported to have replied "nee enga padinalum,Yaroda sishyan enru mattum sollidade!!!i
Adhuve enakku peria guru dakshinai"(wherever you sing if somebody asks who is your teacher please do not mention my name!!).

TNR was reported to be fascinated by GNSir's music and I believe once complimented him on his Thodi and how he reproduced TNR's style impeccably.

During the Dec 2009 season at the MA GNB Day function(held@ the Mini hall on one of the mornings) lalgudi Sir gave a speech narrating his experiences with GNSir how supportive he was of lalgudi in he early years - an anecdote that he narrated.

It appears GNSir attended a function where he heard lalgudi Sir play for the first time--he was mighty impressed and at the end of the concert approached lalgudi,complimented him and enquired about lalgudi's availability to which lalgudi replied "Kannukku Ettina Dhooram Varai enakku kutcheri onnum illai(as far as I can see my calendar I have no engagement). GNB laughed and gave him a date and to secure the commitment wanted to give an advance but did not have enough money with him--he fished out a 10 rupee note(still lots of purchase power in those days!!) and inserted in lalgudi's pocket the ten rupee note almost apologising for the paltry sum as advance and he will make it up soon. lalgudi says that was one gesture that lalgudi cherishes for ever(in those days it was very common to take the young accompaniments and virtually pay them nothing getting away with the excuse that they are giving exposure and legitimacy to the young artiste. GNSir was a prince amongst musicians in that respect.
One of the forumites had questioned whether GNSir had at any time trouble with the mike arrangements,.acoustics. TO my knowledge he was not finicky at all with the mike arrangements.

smala · Post by **smala** » 24 Jun 2010, 10:34

Found this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5fLjUro ... re=related

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 24 Jun 2010, 10:47

s-p,
Good digging! We even get to see his brother Balakrishnan (gienbe) towards the end!

fduddy · Post by **fduddy** » 24 Jun 2010, 10:52

GNB was perhaps the only musician those days who distributed the concert proceeds equally amongst all the accompanists and himself recognizing that it is a team effort.

The book that has been released recently on Sri GNB contains almost all the incidents, humour etc that are narrated by Sri MKR and Sri. gienbee. It is a MUST READ BOOK and has lots of lovely pictures of the great Maestro.

fduddy · Post by **fduddy** » 24 Jun 2010, 13:25

Ramasubramanian M.K wrote:Gienbee: Thoroughly enjoying your posts-keep them coming!!
You have mentioned the Movie Udayanan or Vasavadatthai--that reminds me of two songs in that movie he has sung--one in Panthuvarali--SEnthiruvanayal Vasavadatthai,Thihattadha Tenmozhiyal Vasavadatthai--the Pantuvarali one of his favorite ragas--the accent on the suddha dhaivata(actually it could be termed Eka Sruthi Dhaivatham) would be so majestic.

The other song is in keeranavali--Anandam En Solven--Paramanandam En Solven.

I am desperately trying to locate if any of these two films is available or atleast some of the song recordings from this movie.

Sri MKR
Try searching in http://www.musicindiaonline.com for the songs that you have mentioned. I d/l some years ago the films based songs of MKT/GNB from there (not d/l, rec using total recorder sw streaming audio). Let me check if these feature in that for u.

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 24 Jun 2010, 23:11

Thanks s-p for getting us a glimpse of 'gienbee'.
Thanks MKR for the gems studded with pearls..
...any epiosdes on the contact between GNB and MS/TS ?

gienbee · Post by **gienbee** » 25 Jun 2010, 11:50

arasi wrote:Fascinating!
Thanks Ramasubramanian for your endless repository of such interesting anecdotes. Can't have enough of them

Balakrishnan,
We feel privileged indeed, now that you have joined us here at Rasikas. Do share your memories about your brother with us. 'Ung' koTTa (to ask:: and then??), there are scores of us, CML urging you on all behalf of all of us!

CML,
'onestly, Nick would saiy the idea of any Brit accent is all in the moinds of non-Brits! Cockney (thanks to Pymalion--My Fair Lady), upper class 'speak' and perhaps the Scots 'R'olling their 'R's are the most familiar 'accents' others think about!

Thanks Arasi for your comments. It is rather a pleasure to share my recollections with all the music lovers. MKR: Reg Udayanan and Rukmangada, there is another song in Rukmangada starting with the words GODAPATHII. We tried to locate some source, who will be having copies of the film as he has not given any recordings of the songs in these two movies. But unfortunately, we miserably failed.
CML: Reg contacts of my brother with MS/TS, I wish to state that after the film Sakunthalai, he did not have connection with them as he felt that, as promised, he was not given, enough songs to sing apart from 2 duets, a viruttam (with interuptions). I would refer you to the back issues of SRUTI Magazine a couple of years back ,where in commomeration of my brothers birth day, they brought out 2 issues exclusively on my brother, with lot of inputs from the great music critic Subbudu, where he has revealed everything of what happened. It will be a hot subject if I comment on them here in this forum and I wish to avoid it.
To end the recollections for the day, another anecdote (Humour) from my brother:
By brother normally would get barbers from Odeon or Subbaiah Saloon from Mount Road to get his hair dressing, to our house; Once, when the barber was doing his chore, he called me ( I was in the next room) to ask me to bring something. On seeing me the barber asked my brother:
Evanga NAMMA pillayangala (Is he OUR son to translate it literally. Actually, to show his affinity, he used the word Namma). He replied to him that I was his brother and then told me : "
"Nalla velai, I have not called your manni"
Thanks for your patience.

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 25 Jun 2010, 19:16

Lookswise I should say that GNB was good enough to be his own son

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 25 Jun 2010, 20:37

In his progressive thinking too (musically as well)--futuristic

Ramasubramanian M.K · Post by **Ramasubramanian M.K** » 27 Jun 2010, 09:38

Forumites; This post is about the Tamil Isai movement and GNSir.
At the height of the Tamil Isai movement in the forties-- a movement that was vigorously championed by late KALKI Mama--one Tamil Poet- Isaithamizhselvan Ilakkumana Pillai approached GNSir with a proposal that he would literally translate Thygaraja krithi in Tamil retaining the same diction and word porutham. GNSir was sceptical and wished to give the poet an opportuinity to demonstrate. The song that the poet picked was Saint T's Alagalla Lada Gagani(madyamavathi in rupakam talam).
The lines were Alagalalla lada gagani Aranmuni edu pongeno.

It describes Lord Rama's hairlocks swept by the breeze and partially covering the forehead and Vishwamitra enjoying the sight.

The Tamil translation(LITERAL)
SURUNDA "MAYIRHAL" AADIDAKKANDU

ARANMUNI ANANDAM KONDU.
GNSir demurrhed at the Tamil word for hairlock used in the translation suggested slight change to Kuzhal or kesam instead of Mayirhal. The poet was offended and said he would not make any changes,.

Try singing it --- the talam fits in nicely with the song!!!

Needles to add the matter did not proceed further!!!

Another anecdote(a refined one I might add in contrast to the above!!!).
GNSir himself once told my father that when GNSir popularised Mysore Vasudevachar's Brocheva in Kamas
and when the great composer heard it, he was all praise for GNSir for the rendering and commented I believe that he did not realise how great his own composition sounds when GNSir sings it!!!

While younger forumites are accustomed to hear many artistes doing sruthi bedam and griha bedam without any debate, when GNSir introduced it there was violent opposition to it and every criticism ranging from "shortening" of one's life to "debasement" of Carnatic Music traditions was laid --even by GNSir's father GVN(in 1930 he wrote in the MA Journal:
" A few of the present day musicians want to show off their skill by presenting intellectual feats in the raga alapana resorting to what is called Sruthi Beda. If an expert in music indulges for a few minutes in this kind of jugglery for the sake of introducing novelty,it will take root in the minds of the hearers who will mistake the husk for the grain".
.Later on GNSir himself in one of the articles writes:

In the krithi in the raga Bhairavam beginning with the words Mariyadagadayya while Saint T observes that
Rama had a reputation of favoring his own men in preference to strangers,the great composer deftly introduces "Graha Bedha in this portion of the music of the krithi. To indicate the differences between the followers and strangers, Thyagaraja has introduced thro an alien scale , seeming though--- in thorough contrast to the original one"
GNSir on innovation: in his SK address@ the MA:
All cultural progress has been due to pioneers of new ideas and expressions though at their own times they were called rebels.

Once a rebel now a pioneer!!!!!

gbmahesh · Post by **gbmahesh** » 29 Jun 2010, 09:28

Ramasubramanian M.K wrote:Forumites; This post is about the Tamil Isai movement and GNSir.

Once a rebel now a pioneer!!!!!

GN Sir was the first one to sing in Tamil Isai Sangam & in other sabhas without any inhibhitions/reservations.

Another point related to Tamil Isai & GNB singing his own compositons:

It is a well known fact that GN Sir did not sing his compositions with the known exception of "paramakripa sagari in yadukulakambodhi" (which we have in one of the concert recordings). Interestingly Lalita Ram (Author of Isai Ulaga Ilavarasar and Editor of Gandharva Ganam) has found that GN Sir has sung his own composition Kavalai Ellam in Saraswathi in Tamil Isai Sangam in 1948.Concert listing also has the lyrics for the keerthanai.

Ramasubramanian M.K · Post by **Ramasubramanian M.K** » 29 Jun 2010, 23:10

Apropo gbmahesh's post re; GNB not singing his own krithis except in the rare occasions mentioned:

Semmangudi Mama is on record asking GNSir as to WHY he does not sing his own krithis because they are truly concert-worthy to which GNSir is purported to have replied,"If it has "legs" it would sustain itself" and if his disciples and others start to sing it and if they are well received by the masses they would last!! otherwise they would sink into rightful oblivion.That is why he did not have any special Muddirai for his songs.

As regards gbmahesh's comment about GNSir singing Tamil Compositions, I did not mean to imply in my note about the Isaithamil Selvan Ilakkumana Pillai incident that GNSir did not patronise Tamil songs. FAR FROM IT!!! That incident only shows his broad outlook in entertaining a Poet--not too well known in CM circles and giving him a patient hearing. Anybody who has read any account about GNSir's life would know that he did everything to push the frontiers of the Art and defied conventions and orthodoxy with great success!!

Lalgudi Sir said it best in one of his speeches during the centenary celibrations:

"GNSir brought Gauravam(majesticity) to Carnatic Music not merely thro the force of his personality but thro the force of his imagination and creativity as well!!".

sivachinta1965 · Post by **sivachinta1965** » 05 Jul 2010, 10:47

dear geeinbeeji

There is no information available on Sri Madurai Subramanya Iyer, GMB,s Guru. You mentioned that he is in " Thygaraja Sishya Paramapara".

Could you please provide some information on Sri Madurai Subramanya Iyer?

Sivaprasad

gienbee · Post by **gienbee** » 05 Jul 2010, 16:41

sivachinta1965 wrote:dear geeinbeeji

There is no information available on Sri Madurai Subramanya Iyer, GMB,s Guru. You mentioned that he is in " Thygaraja Sishya Paramapara".

Could you please provide some information on Sri Madurai Subramanya Iyer?

Sivaprasad

Madurai Si Subramania Iyer, was my brother's guru in late 20s and early 30s. He was a co-tenant with my father in Triplicane along with Karur Chinnaswamy Iyer and other musicologists. He was a great violinist and it is said that he belongs to Thyagaraja Sishya parampara. It was he along with Ramachandra Iyer (Midland Theatre), who persuaded my father to allow his son to deputise Musiri Sri Subramania Iyer at Kapaleeswarar Temple. Though he used to visit our house quite frequently in late 5os, I do not have much information about him. His son, Sri M.S. Sadasivam, himself a musicologist worked with me (Very much my senior) in JCCI&E, Madras ,till I resigned from there in 1963. Perhaps if any of our forumites know him, he will be able to throw more light on his father.

MaheshS · Post by **MaheshS** » 05 Jul 2010, 16:53

Raghu speaks about a concert with GN Sir

rajeshnat · Post by **rajeshnat** » 05 Jul 2010, 17:20

Gienbee sir,

Just few questions , you can take one at a time and perhaps dwelve little more .

1.It took me few years to acclimitise to carnatic music to start appreciating shri GNB's music. His alApanas are bit long when compared to many artists of his contemporaries . I was just curious as to how GNB was appreciated by the uninitiated rasikas of carnatic music then in 1940 to 1960's ?Did they find his music bit esoteric. How was his rasikas base in general in those days - was it like many families come together as a whole to hear his concert just like say maharajapuram santhAnam or was his concert having lot of antha kAlathu mAma's as rasikas and youngsters who have some knowledge about CM ??

2. I some how feel to an extent apart from musiri all the singers of GNB era like SSI, MVI , MMI have a style of singing krithis bit fast in general .To an extent the slow moving style became more prevelant with say from the era of MDR .What was GNB's opinion when say MDR (who must have been very young and upcoming then) was just starting ?

3. GNB's music and style is very much prototyped by manakkal rangarAjan. Has GNB praised manakkAl rangarAjan's music? Any recollections on GNB- manakkAl rangarAjan ?

4. GNB towards the end of his life did not like "madras politicking" that much. Infact I have heard thru this forum that before he left to trivandrum he said he did not want to come back to madras either living or dead back to madras. Is that true ? If you feel uncomfortable in answering this point , you can pass this question or perhaps answer it in a way that suits best to you sir.

Ramasubramanian M.K · Post by **Ramasubramanian M.K** » 09 Jul 2010, 01:43

Rajeshnat: re: your queries--my response from my own perspective(not much empirical evidence to offer to substantiate my views I might add!!!.
1. I grew up in an era when the giants(vocalists--the SSI/GNB/MMI et al on the Ascendant--Musiri/MVI/Chittoor on the decline-Chembai and Ari --much senior to the SSI crowd were still pulling crowds. TNR and Mali to me represented the quintessence of our traditional and yet innovative music. I enjoyed EACH and everyone of them because they were all unique in their own way and I never felt compelled to compare them. GNSir used to admonish some of us-"Whenever I sing Kapinarayani--Sarasasamadhana(which was popularised by GNB,MMI as well as SSI) do not try to imagine how MMI or SSI would sing,enjoy what I am offering and do not clutter your mind with unnecessary comparisons"). GNB's style appealed to me most because of the the way he handled ragas--analytical and yet breezy and never too long and boring. True our knowledge in those days was very poor compared to some of the younger forumites like you. The pace of the concert was brisk, no monotony.no overdoing of Alapana or Swarams under the pretext of Manodharma.Ofcourse amongst the elders of my generation there was clear demarcations--ARI fans would not accept anyother music, so were Chembai and others. SSI camp was different from GNB--this has led to much avoidable ill feelings amongst the sycophants(I will cover some of these GNB-SSI issues in the SSI saga I am working on!!).

2.Re; GNSir's view of Manakkal Rangarajan,although he was impressed with his Briga-laden Sareeram and the rapid-fire phrases, he used to joke in a lighter vein this style may give Briga sangeetham a bad name. Likewise the meandering chauka style of MDR could mislead people into thinking Tiger(MDR's guru) sang likewise.(ofcourse these were said in a lighter vein--if they had been made in today's media-hyped environment would spark a huge controversy!!).
3.re; his disenchantment with Madras--it is true that he was very much disappointed and some of his detractors and even close friends had made too much of the Bade Ghulam Ali Khan incident and GN Sir's none-too-kind reparte to the charges levelled at him were blown out of proportion(GNSIr made a veiled reference to musicians spending their time in useless activities like Cards playing(an infradig at SSI's playing in Kalki gardens!!, which SSI's sycophants pounced upon as "hitting below the belt"). In all these exchanges GNSir was disappointed that the media did not understand his positions and articulate them fairly
Some of his close friends also did not rise to the occasion and defend him. Coupled with some minor disagreements with PMI et al led to his feeling unappreciated. In retrospect the incidents were trivial and the reactions overstated.

It is a sad commentary that a learned man of his stature, always known for grace and dignity in his words--written or spoken-- and knowledgeable over a wide range of subjects, did not enjoy the kind of friendship and sycophants in high circles that SSI had. In my opinion this gnawed at his vitals. It must be stated that he was NOT EGOTISTICAL OR SELF-ABSORBED in the least.

It is one of those things that we can put down glibly as "Mukha Rasi"!!

Lastly regarding Kalapramanam, he was absolutely sold on the Madhymakalam and followed ARI's example--(this view he has defended in a couple of magazine articles of that era. For that reason he did not attempt any Padams or any chauka kala krithis(listen to his singing Eka Dantham in Bilahari--MD's composition--brisk pace which I doubt MD would have envisaged!!!)..

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 09 Jul 2010, 04:39

Ramesh,
Revealing and so well put! A brilliant performer, a gnAtA and a sensitive soul (as fine artistes tend to be). 'This knawed at his vitals', you say when he was disenchanted with fellow musicians and friends.
Inspite of many a flaw one may find in them, fine-tuned minds like theirs are like those of children who are vulnerable to undue criticism or mistreatment.
An old hindi film song says it well: dil hai nAzuk hai mERe--SiSe se dil TUTE na kahIN

Yes, from one of those poets who wrote film music.

CML of course can elaborate on this as a professional...

gbmahesh · Post by **gbmahesh** » 09 Jul 2010, 06:38

Ramasubramanian M.K wrote:
Lastly regarding Kalapramanam, he was absolutely sold on the Madhymakalam and followed ARI's example--(this view he has defended in a couple of magazine articles of that era. For that reason he did not attempt any Padams or any chauka kala krithis(listen to his singing Eka Dantham in Bilahari--MD's composition--brisk pace which I doubt MD would have envisaged!!!)..

Just to add to Shri Ramasubramanian's post on Kalapramanam - stunning examples are Ninnu Sevincha - Yadukulakambodhi and Brovavamma - Maanji.

I picked these two ragas mainly because of the popular belief that "if something has to be gamaka laden, then it has to be sung in slow speed". GN Sir has defied this belief and rendered these two songs in his own inmitable style.

Out of curiosity I was checking out on Smt Brinda's renditions of the above two songs (Thanks to Swathi to have released a few CDs of Smt Brinda) and compared with GNB's rendition and found that GNB's kalparamanam was slightly faster than Smt Brinda's. Not very fast as per the general perception.

I liked GNB's rendition eventhough it was not very fast in comparison, mainly due to its "viruviruppu" (in tamil) which is a function of his pronunciation, his way putting tala and limited number of sangathis i.e. not many sangathis were not built just because the gamakas gave the scope to do so.

Based on the above I tend to conclude that his Kalapramanam - Madhyamakala (faster end) was not universally applicable and it varied. GN Sir had the ability to understand his fans and he had the ability pick a kalapramanam which was quite appropriate to the kriti and suited his skills and capabilities.

gienbee · Post by **gienbee** » 10 Jul 2010, 11:43

rajeshnat wrote:Gienbee sir,

Just few questions , you can take one at a time and perhaps dwelve little more .

1.It took me few years to acclimitise to carnatic music to start appreciating shri GNB's music. His alApanas are bit long when compared to many artists of his contemporaries . I was just curious as to how GNB was appreciated by the uninitiated rasikas of carnatic music then in 1940 to 1960's ?Did they find his music bit esoteric. How was his rasikas base in general in those days - was it like many families come together as a whole to hear his concert just like say maharajapuram santhAnam or was his concert having lot of antha kAlathu mAma's as rasikas and youngsters who have some knowledge about CM ??

2. I some how feel to an extent apart from musiri all the singers of GNB era like SSI, MVI , MMI have a style of singing krithis bit fast in general .To an extent the slow moving style became more prevelant with say from the era of MDR .What was GNB's opinion when say MDR (who must have been very young and upcoming then) was just starting ?

3. GNB's music and style is very much prototyped by manakkal rangarAjan. Has GNB praised manakkAl rangarAjan's music? Any recollections on GNB- manakkAl rangarAjan ?

4. GNB towards the end of his life did not like "madras politicking" that much. Infact I have heard thru this forum that before he left to trivandrum he said he did not want to come back to madras either living or dead back to madras. Is that true ? If you feel uncomfortable in answering this point , you can pass this question or perhaps answer it in a way that suits best to you sir.

Dear Sri rajeshnat,
I find my reply to your point No. 1, does not find a place here. Kindly you can post the same on my behalf.
Reg. point 2. Sri MKR has beautifully elucidated his opinion, which I fully endorse. Only, I wish to add that my brother also used to say, that only the learned can appreciate the music of MDR and he was a Vidwan's musician. Kindly also remember, my brother was a student in the first batch of music lessons conducted by Tiger in Madras University. It has been chronicled that whenever Tiger was busy, he used to ask my brother to take the class. Reg Manakkal, I do not recollect any comments reg his music. Reg the last point, I wish to add that apart from what MKR has stated, he was thoroughly fed-up with the jealousy and unfair criticism of himself by others. Even small incidents were exaggerated like the episode of Bade Ghulam. In fact, you can refer to the 2 issues released by Sruthi magazine, almost exclusively dealing with the music of my brother, where the critic Subbudu has laid bare all the facts reg the episodes, regretting that he was unwittingly dragged into the controversy. I think, the issues were released on his 75th or 80th birthday, which may be 1985 or 1990. Further, MLV spoke at length about my brothers disenchantment with Madras in his 75th or 80 th birthday function held in mini hall of Music Academy. She actually wept describing the unfair criticism of some interested parties. I do not want to dwell any further, with this subject, as it is distasteful and may unnecessarily evoke avoidable further controversy on this subject.
MKR: Sorry, I have not dealt with certain points raised by you reg my brothers Devi Pooja etc., which I shall try to answer shortly.
Thanks

rajeshnat · Post by **rajeshnat** » 10 Jul 2010, 11:59

rajeshnat wrote:Gienbee sir,

Just few questions , you can take one at a time and perhaps dwelve little more .

1.It took me few years to acclimitise to carnatic music to start appreciating shri GNB's music. His alApanas are bit long when compared to many artists of his contemporaries . I was just curious as to how GNB was appreciated by the uninitiated rasikas of carnatic music then in 1940 to 1960's ?Did they find his music bit esoteric. How was his rasikas base in general in those days - was it like many families come together as a whole to hear his concert just like say maharajapuram santhAnam or was his concert having lot of antha kAlathu mAma's as rasikas and youngsters who have some knowledge about CM ??
Thanks

Gienbee answered to the above in a private email, I am pasting the same:

Dear Shri rajeshnat,
Thanks for your comments. I offer my comments as required, one at a time.

1. My brothers music is said to be manodharma music, where imagination and intellect had a very great role to play. This was perhaps the reason that,at the start of his career, there was lot of criticism. It is also true that this elaborate raga singing found the right chord amongst youngsters,especially, college students and people in their 30s and 40s. In the 1940s,he was the most sought after musician and I can vouchsafe that in many of his concerts in RR Sabha, Gokhale Hall, Egmore Dramatic Society, the halls will be overflowing and "Tickets sold out" board used to be displayed.. This has been corroborated in many articles earlier. The rasikas comprised both the learned and the laity, with youngsters and ladies being predominant. Many senior musicians also used to attend the concert. This was mutual, as my brother used to attend the concerts of his peers frequently, whenever he was in town. His advice to his disciples was to attend the concerts of all the stalwarts and imbibe what was best in them. The same trend continued till late 1950s, when owing to his health,he restricted the performances he gave. The rasikas used to throng his concerts till his death in May, 1965.

I shall deal with the other points,later.
I have also not clarified some of the points raised by Shri MKR.. I will try to answer his questions also at the earliest.

vs_manjunath · Post by **vs_manjunath** » 10 Jul 2010, 17:12

I think no one can dare to sing "vara rAga laya" in Chenchukambodhi with the kalapramanam of GNB sir. The ChiTTaswarams rendered is really breathtaking. Makes the listener SPELLBOUND.

MV · Post by MV » 14 Jul 2010, 13:38

Absolutely enjoying the stories here from gienbee sir and MKR sir. Pl keep it coming. I have been listening to a few GNB albums lately and this thread brings the man alive for me

cacm · Post by **cacm** » 15 Jul 2010, 00:33

[quote="cacm"][quote="Ramasubramanian M.K"]
It is a sad commentary that a learned man of his stature, always known for grace and dignity in his words--written or spoken-- and knowledgeable over a wide range of subjects, did not enjoy the kind of friendship and sycophants in high circles that SSI had. In my opinion this gnawed at his vitals. It must be stated that he was NOT EGOTISTICAL OR SELF-ABSORBED in the least.
WE should be thankful to Ramesh for his patience in enlightening us on VERY IMPORTANT FACETS of the Golden AGE.
EINSTEIN taught us how SPACE& TIME were created through his work-the Big Bang Theory being a direct result of his insight-. In an analogous fashion GNB in Carnatic Music innovated in his approach, Creativity & Style that will REMAIN FOR EVER as one of the MOST innovative creative things that happened to Carnatic music.
As he has expressed else where he took time out in the middle of his busy schedule to explain to a Physics Demonstrator from Presidency College earning Rs. 85/per monththat his conclusion that the age of the Trinity was the age of composers & his age was one of Interpretors. A VERY PROFOUND INSIGHT. How can any one call such a person egoistical or self absorbed? It defies Logic & one can only suspect jealousy or a cheap temptation to put some one down so they can gain trivial advantages. But Public opinion & judgement is usually correct & SETS THINGS RIGHT.....
In my VIEW gnb, mmi, mali, pmi& palani OCCURING SIMULTANEOUSLY is equivalent to the RAREST CONJUNCTION of GENIUS PLANETS!...
I am very lucky to have witnessed & enjoyed it......VKV

Ramasubramanian M.K · Post by **Ramasubramanian M.K** » 16 Jul 2010, 10:14

VKV: Oh!! for those halcyon days. While I have been following the other raging topic in these forums namely the TMK-Vijay Siva article I have been resisting jumping into the foray because of my own disillusionment with these musicians(both of them very close to my family and hence I do not want to elaborate my views). Suffice it to say my personal opinion is that they are completely out of order and to me it shows their utter disregard for listeners .( debate on legality,copyright etc detract from the essence of the issue namely rasikas do these supposedly "stealth" recordings not to benefit monetarily or to monopolise their collections ) Elsewhere in this forum in one of the topics I had mentioned an anecdote involving Ariyakudi and SSI ( I do not remember under what topic I had posted) I will briefly repeat here to illustrate how respectful a Giant like ARiyakudi(at the peak of his career) felt about Rasikas.(in contrast how disdainful some of the present day artistes are towards Rasikas!! especially rasikas of NA--am I being paranoid!!!

ARI as is well-known was very solicitous of people whom he met in his life and always made the visitor think that ARI remembers him and recognized him. . SSI once noticed this and after one such rasika left happily after meeting with ARI said to ARI that a great artiste of his stature ought not to stoop so low before every Rasika that comes to meet him(not that he advocated disrespecting the visitor) but to maintain the "reserve" that a musician of his stature ought to display and how that would set the correct tone for all the younger artistes to follow, to which ARI is reported to have said(as told by SSI to my late father) in Tamil "Cheenu, Nammakitte Irukkara vishayam(MUSIC) avanukku thevai illamal irukkalam,aanal avan kitte irukkira vishayam(money) namakku venum". THIS IS NOT TO BE MISINTERPRETED AS A CRASS MERCENARY,MERETRICIOUS REMARK ON THE PART OF ARI BUT A GENUINE REALIZATION FROM A GREAT ARTIST THAT ART ---- NO MATTER HOW DIVINE AND AESTHETIC-- CAN FLOURISH ONLY WITH THE RASIKAS SUPPORT.
PMI in one of his speeches refers to how important rasikas are in this manner(loosely translated from his Malyalam-accented Tamil!).
" A rasika has so many things to worry about in his daily life-family,career,money,education and marriage of his children etc etc-- amidst all these overwhelming concerns he pays to attend a music concert for 3/4 hours.An artiste's obligation towards that rasika should be to perform in such a manner that during those 3/4 hours the Rasika should be made to forget all his worries--PMI finishes this by saying "Avan Dhan unmayana vidwan

Another anecdote involving GNB in the late forties. My father had arranged in 1949 for Shanmukhananda Sabha(whose finances were low at that time) GNB--Rajamanikkam-PMI--PSP for the FIRST time in Bombay and the rates for individual artistes were agreed upon as per protocol(the Vocalist gets the highest,followed by the Violinist and then the Mridangist and then the Kanjira player). The collections were higher than expected and my father sought the advice of the Senior Man--Rajamanikkam Pillai(the man was true to his name-a gem amongst musicians) about a fair distribution who without hesitation simply said divide it equally amongst the four of us and when this was made known to the other three, THERE WAS NOT A SINGLE MURMUR OR WHIMPER OF PROTEST FROM ANY OF THEM.. What magnanimity!! I have not heard of a single instance --similar in magnanimity from any of the current artistes. MMI in one of his concerts where Rajamanikkam Pillai accompanied him compared Pillaival's playing to that of a shadow(following the vocalist) never an attempt to overshadow the vocalist no matter how junior the vocalist may be. They all had families, needs no doubt but they exhibited a Gauravam with respect to rasikas and material rewards that in retrospect(I was too young to appreciate the magnanimity at that time) in comparison to the antics of some of these present day artistes(forumites may pardon me if I am attempting to "tar" them all with the same brush,but my 40 years of "patronising" and "hosting" visiting artistes in NA (if you live in NY you cannot escape this!!) make me long for those stalwarts like ARI,GNB et al.

I hope to touch upon some of their(erstwhile stalwarts) attitudes towards remuneration,rasikas etc in my SSI saga which I am working on(apologies to CMLover et al for my "tease"--this has taken the longest "gestation' period --hope to launch it soon!!).

If younger forumites feel that I am overly laudatory of the past,my apologies--I do not mean to imply that they were all "Angels without wings" in their lives . But on the issue of respect for Rasikas and Institutions they were 'nonpareil'.