GNB Recollections

[krvramani]

Dear ginbee sir!
Your recollections of your illustrious brother are quite interesting. In this context, I want to get from you about any conversations, appreciations, comments etc. regarding another great genius, Madurai Mani Iyer, contemporary of GNB? Surely, there must be lot of interesting anecdotes connecting these two stalwarts.
I am a fan of both of them. Thanks in advance.

[mankuthimma]

Rasika should be made to forget all his worries--PMI finishes this by saying "Avan Dhan unmayana vidwan

MKR
Your Posts make me forget all my worries ...

[Rasika911]

Great recollections. A pleasure to read!
Can we please continue.

I'd like to request forum member Ramasubramanian M.K to start a similar thread on Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer when he has the chance.

[gienbee]

Dear ginbee sir!
Your recollections of your illustrious brother are quite interesting. In this context, I want to get from you about any conversations, appreciations, comments etc. regarding another great genius, Madurai Mani Iyer, contemporary of GNB? Surely, there must be lot of interesting anecdotes connecting these two stalwarts.
I am a fan of both of them. Thanks in advance.

Dear Sir, Sorry for the long delay in replying to your postings. My brother and MMI were great friends, so also Alathur (Younger). My brother has visited him a number of times when MMI was residing near Mylapore Telephone in Luz Church Rd. They had mutual admiration for each other and used to attend each other's concerts quite frequently. There is only one anecdote which I can recollect. Either in RR Sabha Mylapore or in Calcutta Sabha, my brother was singing in early 1950s. During the concert, there was a request from one amongst the audience for my brother to sing the Thukkada "Chintai Arinduvadi". The request was from no less a person than MMI. There was also another article published in Anandha Vikatan, titled " Ivargal Santhithal" featuring MMI and my brother. This is an imaginative conversation between the two musicians if they met each other..

[mannari]

Dear sirs/madams, when such personality like GNB still creates awe and inspirations amongst music lovers be it for birkas' or for the sheer speed or for his 'brain and brawn' combined appearance, I strongly feel that very little has been done to talent transfer for later generations in his own family. Call it fate or irony,or degeneration or ignorance, one of his great grandsons residing in Bangalore was requesting for GNB's audio cassette which was in possession with a well known musician , while he should have possessed at least the copies of the compositions or notes written personally by the great man if not originals itself !!

[mohan]

Mannari - GNB's own children did not take the music field. He had a large family and I presume many grandchildren so it is not plausable that all grandchildren possess original manuscripts of their grandfather.

Nonetheless his son's (such as Sri Doraiswamy and Sri Bhuvaneswaran) and grandchildren (eg Mahesh) have taken pains to publish his compositions, recordings, etc. Last year (GNB Centenerary year) saw the release of publications on GNB and a DVD about his life and music.

[mannari]

Dear Mohan, you are right. Of course any individual has right to live in the manner which is best in his or her opinion . I correct the statement made earlier. It is not great grandson of GNB but it is his SON !! i was referring to ! I just want to share the already proven irony that prodigy's or legend's immediate decedents do not reach the expected standard or even show the interest in the field of that genius.

[gb_rajasekar]

Dear Sri Mannari,
Please note the corrections. I am GNB's son Rajasekar you are referring to. I do not have profess to have any knowledge of music. FYI i was intereseted in music but our father did not encourage any of us to learn music and we just learnt sarali varisai. Secondly i would like to keep you informed that I am very much interested in music and have done many postings specially on my father in the very same forum under my user name gb_rajasekar which I am unable to use now for reasons unknown. We have to collect tapes from others that we do not have as during my father's lifetime, very few had tape recorders and we had to ask for copies from those collectors only. My eldest brother Shri Duraiswamy was a very good singer and had great gnanam. My uncle who posts here also is very knowledgeable on music.

[Enna_Solven]

Dear Mohan, you are right. Of course any individual has right to live in the manner which is best in his or her opinion . I correct the statement made earlier. It is not great grandson of GNB but it is his SON !! i was referring to ! I just want to share the already proven irony that prodigy's or legend's immediate decedents do not reach the expected standard or even show the interest in the field of that genius.

GNB's son and GNB's brother have posted extensively in this forum. If you had taken the time to read them you would have understood the circumstances and not made these 'wise' pronouncements.

[Pratyaksham Bala]

gb_raja1953:
I admire your restraint.

[Ramasubramanian M.K]

As one of GNSir's ardent fans(I was a slave to his style(musical and offstage),sense of humor,personal demeanor) I must put in my 10 cents. What GNSir went thro in the short life on his family front(having to take over the reigns of a large family at a very young age after his Father had died) and the trials he went thro in his career having to deal with the idiosynchrisies of Sabha secretaries,plus the envy of fellow musicians--all these factors made him 'dissuade" his children from pursuing music as a career(I am not speaking from any direct knowledge about his children on this issue but based on his exchanges with my father). Although GNSir knew how close my father was to Semmangudi,he was so magnanimous --at the height of the Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan controversy when GNSir was unfairly criticised for his paying obeisance to the Ustad(mostly by sycophants of Semmangudi perhaps tacitly encouraged by SSI!!) he never once lamented to my father about the issue.

To me it is still a surprise HOW a man of his wit and charm could not befriend people at high places and "capitalise" as many would have done in his shoes.
All these factors despite his love for the Art made him reluctant to encourage his progeny. For that matter for the same reasons Semmangudi Mama did not encourage any of his children to take to music either.
Point: Even if his children had wanted to take to music he would not have been in favor--as such to lament WHY his children did not pursue music betrays a lack of sensitivity and perspective.

[sivachinta1965]

dear Rasikas

Who are the other carnatic musicians seen with GNB?



Siva

[sivachinta1965]

dear Rasikas

GNB kritis display beautiful modification of commomnly used words elsewhere

Two examples

"MarAli " manda gamanE has been modified to "Marala dayitha" ( dayitha means female Marlam) manda..." ( in Paramukha... KAnada). This usage was mentioned even by Periya Swami.

and KOshAnatara Sthitha POshithE for PanchakOshAntara stithE ( in SamAna rahithE (?)).....

Any comment on the second one??

Siva

[krvramani]

Dear Sri gienbee!
It is an amazing journey yhrough the life GNB, the Great. Though I am an ardent fan of Madurai Mani Iyer, I have great affinity for GNB's beautiful music exhibited in his Bhrigas. At that period of time, both Madurai Mani Iyer and GNB were the two giants, suddenly having emerged in the Music world with very unique and independent style of music and captured and mesmerized the audience . No doubt, they have charted an extremely new paths, which were never tried by the other great and traditional vidwans.
Having said that, I would like to hear anecdotes which connect both those legends. Regards.
KRVRamani

[satyabalu]

* GNB's"Parithanamichite palimchuve-Bhilahari -PSI" created a great impact on us when we were children. when somebody used to elaborate "Bhilahari" we were quick to prompt "Rokkamichudakune"even when we had not known @ that time that was Bilahari .
*His stage presence was- fair in color,Vaira kadukkan shining(Daal attikkum) with brown stripped hanky for his snuff sneeze.
*There used to be a rumour afloat those days (as I have heard) his premature death was partially due to someone's professional jealousy.

[satyabalu]

*Once SSI recollected his interaction with GNB on his Remembrance Day @MA-When both of them were listening to Mali flute GNB was quoted as saying"This guy will make both of us jobless. atleast with my degree I might find an alternative avocation. what will you do(Neer enna pannuvir?)SSI had told GNB "veraenga! vayakattupakkam pogavendiyadan-I may have to go for agriculture".
*I also remember MLV mentioning "He will take each cutcheri very seriously even long after he had become famous & a few disciples like MLV have come to the forefront.

[kedharam]

Celebrating the Master’s birthday with his master piece

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9pWh8uA9wyA

[rshankar]

Kedharam, brilliant, indeed! Thank you very much. His was the best version of this song - my all time favorite. I am not sure if Smt. MLV sang this song. The only version that comes close IMO is Trichur Sri V. Ramachandran's. In a concert in Maryland, Sri TVR (to the accompaniment of Rajana's dad on the mRdangam, IIRC) performed a concert in tribute to his Guru, consisting of Sri GNB's compositions and other songs popularized by the latter. He sang this to illustrate the point that to tune any song, (I am paraphrasing what he said) one needs a fantastic grasp of the mood(s) expressed, the right rAga(s) that will bring out said mood(s) etc. In addition, he highlighted the fact that Sri GNB notated the kRti so well - for instance, 'minnoLiyE' sung in his inimitable style would actually conjure up a flash of lightning!