Smt.Charubala Mohan birth centenary celebrations

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violinlover
Posts: 46
Joined: 11 Jul 2007, 11:51

Smt.Charubala Mohan birth centenary celebrations

Post by violinlover »

Namaste all!!

We are celebrating Smt. Charubala Mohan's centenary birthday on November 21 and 22,2015 at Srinivasa Sastri Hall, Luz..

A few words about this great lady


The mid 20th century saw the rise of several violinists with prodigious talent and dedicated parents which led them to set an unprecedented standard as both soloists and accompanists. These parents, with their strict discipline and profound knowledge of music, helped their children to not only become legends in their own lifetime but also contribute their own distinctive styles(baanis) to the art of violin playing.Smt. Charubala Mohan, the mother of Sangita Kalanidhi, violin maestro Dr. M.Chandrasekaran, naturally belongs to this elite group.

Smt. Charubala Mohan was born on November 21, 1915 (Karthigai Deepam in the Tamil calendar) to Smt. Parvathammal and Sri. Sundaram Iyer as the second of four children in the family.Deeply interested in music right from a tender age, she started learning violin under Umayalpuram Venkatrama Iyer. Later she received advanced training under Sangita Kalanidhi Sri. T.K. Jayarama Iyer, who was the chief producer in AIR, Delhi.

She got married to Sri.Mohan at a very young age and the family shifted to Kolkata. The couple were deeply religious and their second son, Sri. M. Chandrasekaran, was born after offering pada puja to the 68th pontiff of Sri Kanchi mutt, H.H.Sri Sri Chandrasekarendra Saraswati. The family shifted to Kanpur on account of Sri.Mohan’s job as a manager in J.K. cotton mills. As fate would have it, tragedy struck the family with Sri.M.Chandrasekaran losing his eyesight at a very young age of 2 and in his seventh year, Sri. Mohan passed away.

But Smt. Charubala Mohan was not bogged down by these calamities. Strong-willed that she was, she single-handedly handled the situation with a clear mind and a stout heart. She brought her two sons to Chennai. After living with her sister’s family for a few months, she bought a bungalow on C.P.Ramaswamy road in Alwarpet and shifted there. She made her sons study well and also started teaching violin to Sri. M. Chandrasekaran. She also arranged for a master to come home and teach them slokas and the Bhagavad Gita et al. On the invitation of her sister, she went to London and there, she came to know of the Braille system. Immediately, though very tough to learn, she learnt Braille and taught it to her son. She also learnt theory of music and both she and Sri.M. Chandrasekaran passed the music higher examination directly in 1950. She also made Sri.M.Chandrasekaran learn type-writing. She also arranged for Bharathi Braille classes for him which enabled him to read and write any Indian language thereby moulding him to not only be a great musician but also well educated.

Sri. M. Chandrasekaran proved to be a prodigy and gave his first concert on March 5,1949 at Sri Thyagaraja Sangeetha Vidwath Samajam, Mylapore at the age of 11. But the strict yet loving disciplinarian was not satisfied. She wanted her son to be an all round musician. She enrolled him under Brahmasri Mannargudi Sambasiva Bhagavathar, Vidwan Kumbakonam Vishwanatha Iyer( one of the Kumbakonam brothers) Vidyala Narasimhulu Naidu for pallavis, and under Smt. T. Jayammal for learning padams, javalis, and other rare compositions. She however remained his only guru in violin.

Smt. Charubala Mohan was a very soft person and rarely scolded her sons. Sri. M. Chandrasekaran recalls,” I remember my mother give me a gentle tap with the bow on my thigh when I was about 9. I was playing well but the bow would slip. So I got a gentle tap for that” That was the only remonstrance ever and that was enough for him to get the bowing right. However, the grit and determination that she had saw both her sons being very successful in their respective field, Sri.M.Natarajan was the southern regional sales manager in Gestetner, a cyclostat company and Sri.M.Chandrasekaran went on to become one of the living legends of Carnatic Music.

Sri. M. Chandrasekaran reminisces,” My mother was a very shy person. She would not ask anybody for opportunities or favours. Even while attending concerts, she would sit at the back only. She firmly believed that for my music, opportunities would come automatically. And by God’s grace and her blessings, it did. Even as a guru, she was never imposing and gave me ample freedom. This helped me to appreciate all form of music without any restriction.” This significantly contributed to his unique playing style. In fact, she herself was a wonderful violinist, but never sought opportunities. Sri.M.Chandrasekaran has played duet concerts with her. He remembers a record where Smt.Charubala Mohan has accompanied flautist Smt.N.Kesi, for Columbia records, where she played a 15 second Manirangu alapana so well. Unfortunately, no records of this great vidushi’s music could be found. Besides all this, she was a great foreseer and made arrangements so meticulously that Sri.M.Chandrasekaran could live independently for the rest of his life.

In an era where women were not allowed that much freedom, here was a lady, who, though widowed at an early age, braved all odds with help from her brother-in-law and ensured the success of her sons. Smt. Charubala Mohan passed away on September 12, 1958 at a young age of 42 after a brief illness. Nevertheless, her greatness is kept alive through Sri.M.Chandrasekaran, who has formed a trust in her name in 1998 and ever since, it has been functioning very successfully till date with help from his children, disciples and well wishers.

This great lady’s birth centenary is going to be celebrated on November 21 and November 22 at Srinivasa Sastri hall. As a fitting tribute, her grandson Sri.C. Murali will present a flute concert on 21st November and on 22nd November, her grand daughter-in-law Smt.Chitra Mohan Kumar will present a Hindustani Vocal concert followed by a violin duet concert by Smt. G.Bharathi( Smt. Charubala Mohan’s granddaughter) and Coimbatore Ms. S. Usha.

Please try and make it on both days..

MC mama devotee
violinlover

rajeshnat
Posts: 9907
Joined: 03 Feb 2010, 08:04

Re: Smt.Charubala Mohan birth centenary celebrations

Post by rajeshnat »

Violinist R Raghul(violin lover)
I just hear once a year where smt charubala mohan name just gets mentioned with almost no other details. Your post reminds me of an essay in school where Helen Keller is taught by Anne Sullivan. Thank you for your nice write up on mc mama and smt charubala mohan - certainly inspiring accomplishment by your beloved guru and great will power by your guru's guru.

thanjavooran
Posts: 2972
Joined: 03 Feb 2010, 04:44

Re: Smt.Charubala Mohan birth centenary celebrations

Post by thanjavooran »

Thanx for sharing information about the noble lady. No doubt S K Shri M C , the torch bearer maintaining tradition till now . Wishing the function a grand success.
Thanjavooran
20 11 2015

arasi
Posts: 16774
Joined: 22 Jun 2006, 09:30

Re: Smt.Charubala Mohan birth centenary celebrations

Post by arasi »

Inspiring story of a woman's determination, that too in those early years, to nurture her children in the way she did with music and learning.

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