Samakkulam K Balasubramanian (gobilalitha) has departed

smala · Post by **smala** » 06 Jan 2014, 08:23

This was posted on his FB page today by his eldest grandson, Rohit Niranjan. He was very active, constantly posting beautiful songs on his page. May the Lord bless.

Rohin · Post by **Rohin** » 06 Jan 2014, 08:29

Dear rasikas,

It is with great sadness that I wish to inform you all of the passing of our dear uncle Shri Samakkulam Krishnamoorthy Balasubramanian (a.k.a. gobilalitha on rasikas.org) at the age of 82 at 2:30am IST this morning. A native of Salem, Tamil Nadu, he resided in Bangalore was an ardent forum member who contributed over 2000 posts over the last few years, he was almost a grandfather figure to us, being our maternal grandfather's nephew -- he was a great supporter of ours, attending many of our concerts, including our recent concert in Bangalore IISc just last week (thereby giving us an opportunity to take his blessings and see him one last time), and had immense knowledge in Carnatic and Hindustani music, as well as impeccable taste in semi-classical Tamil and Hindi film music, frequently posting interesting stories and tidbits from his travels and life experiences. Balu uncle had an unmatched zest for life, a stately presence, a great sense of humour and camaraderie, befriending people from all over the world, and had a prolific online presence on Facebook, Rasikas.org, and on numerous other social networks. He is survived by his wife Smt. Lalitha, son Mohan, and daughters Nandini and Bhuvana (aka Swati Venkataraman, an excellent classical/semi-classical singer).

The musical fraternity along with his family, friends, and all forumites, will surely mourn this great loss. May the departed soul rest in peace.

Rohin and Ashwin (Toronto Brothers)

vasanthakokilam · Post by **vasanthakokilam** » 06 Jan 2014, 08:29

Very sad to hear the news. He was quite active till recently on FB getting people introduced to great old time semi-classical film songs.. We have very fond memories of his interactions with us on and off the forum including the get-togethers he organized in Singapore.

Condolences to his family and friends.

VK RAMAN · Post by **VK RAMAN** » 06 Jan 2014, 08:35

We will miss him. RIP

sridhar_ranga · Post by **sridhar_ranga** » 06 Jan 2014, 08:50

Very sad news. Condolences to Shri Gobilalitha's family.

arunk · Post by **arunk** » 06 Jan 2014, 09:05

Sad to hear the news. Heartfelt condolences to the family.

I remember meeting him several years ago (when the rasikas.org "meet up" was small and I guess more informal) - this I think was at narada gana sabha.

Arun

venkatakailasam · Post by **venkatakailasam** » 06 Jan 2014, 09:13

I feel shattered..He is from my place..Salem..Residing very near our house at Maravaneri.

Classmate of my cousin and studied at Little Flower School at Salem..

contacts bloomed through Rasikas and FB..
A few days back he promised to send me the Ashtapathi rendered by his wife..

How sad and shocking to lose a friend like him..

RIP..

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 06 Jan 2014, 09:21

Me heartfelt condolences to mAmi and Mohan and Swathi. He was a wonderful man, very simple, very genuine, and innocent. And he did not wear his knowledge like a weapon that many others do. Balu mAmA RIP! We are disconsolate.

mahavishnu · Post by **mahavishnu** » 06 Jan 2014, 09:44

My most sincere condolences.
I just met Mohan a few days ago at a kutcheri. Prayers and thoughts with the family at this difficult time.

Ashwin/Rohin: Thank you for posting this detailed obituary. He will be missed by this forum and many others all over the world.

priyaram78 · Post by **priyaram78** » 06 Jan 2014, 09:50

sad news. I met uncle and family in bangalore many years back. just two weeks back chatted with him on facebook, while in chennai. his posts will be missed here. may his soul rest in peace.

Pratyaksham Bala · Post by **Pratyaksham Bala** » 06 Jan 2014, 09:52

Heartfelt condolences.

espras · Post by **espras** » 06 Jan 2014, 10:01

Saddened by the news of Balu Mama’s passing away.

Last met him in Cienu’s residence during Rasika’s meet.

A quiet person with quite a sense of humour. He used to say that his trademark and weapon was his walking stick and that he could be mean with it!

Readers will recall that it was Balu mama who started the popular “Hilarity in Katcheris” thread in Rasikas.

Our prayers with him.

S. Prasanna.

pattamaa · Post by **pattamaa** » 06 Jan 2014, 10:03

Condolences, hope he had peaceful end

PUNARVASU · Post by **PUNARVASU** » 06 Jan 2014, 10:05

Very sad to hear this. Though I have not met him, I have fond memories of his posts here as well as in FB, which formed a meeting place for us, so to say. So much interested in music, classical, semi classical and light and he used to post many classical based songs in FB, discussing the raga etc. we will miss him terribly. Heartfelt condolences to Mami, his daughters and Kamalamba, his son. RIP, dear GBL , sir.

rajeshnat · Post by **rajeshnat** » 06 Jan 2014, 10:40

How sad to hear this news? I cannot forget his walking stick which he bought it for few of the concerts that I attended . I remember all his love with the forum in particular and he had all nice things to tell about all of us . His love for music was far far higher than passing any judgement on the personality of any musician . He came to me in kalarasana or vanimahal and talked with me in person. His id was his love for his place gobichettipalayam and his better half lalita

Condolences to Smt Lalita, Kamalamba (Dr Mohan) and his extended family.

srikant1987 · Post by **srikant1987** » 06 Jan 2014, 10:40

Condolences to his near and dear.

His posts on Facebook often included old Hindi songs I love fondly, but had almost forgotten about. How soothing it used to be to revisit them!

Lakshman · Post by **Lakshman** » 06 Jan 2014, 10:54

Very sorry and saddened to hear about the passing of Gobilalitha. My sincere condolences to the family and friends. I spent some time with him a few years ago. We will all miss him and his presence on rasikas.org

cienu · Post by **cienu** » 06 Jan 2014, 11:04

Very sad to hear this news. GBL was an important member of Rasikas. Apart from the Hilarity thread in the Kutcheri & Reviews segment, Sri GBL was in a way indirectly responsible for the creation of the Lounge section in Rasikas.Org. He visited our home twice in connection with the Rasikas meet. Though not very active in Rasikas of late Mama was very active in Facebook in a page which he created for Hindustani Classical Music. Everyday a new Raga would be posted by him and discussed threadbare with interesting cinema clippings pertaining to the Raga in discussion. He was a great fan of Naushad and Asha Bhonsle. GBL will be badly missed by all members of this forum. My heartfelt condolences to Mami , his son and two daughters and other family members.

semmu86 · Post by **semmu86** » 06 Jan 2014, 11:19

Very Sad news. Condolences to the family.

vs_manjunath · Post by **vs_manjunath** » 06 Jan 2014, 11:25

Extremely sorry to hear this sad news. Have met him in B'lore rasikas meetings on three occassions.One which Kulkarni had organised in HSR layout and subsequently in Cienu's house.
Heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family.
May his soul rest in peace.

smala · Post by **smala** » 06 Jan 2014, 11:53

Just two days ago, on Jan 3rd, SKB mama expressed sadness on the passing on of Lakshmi Shankar, wishing her peace in after-life and shared this beautiful bhajan, Nata Nagara in Raag Kiravani by her.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vkGEhKUYr8#t=68

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 06 Jan 2014, 12:26

How sad!
One of the very first members of Rasikas.org that I got acquainted with! GBL was geniality itself, and his love for music in every genre was limitless.

I was hoping to meet him and his lovely wife at Ravikiran's place. Was going to call him and ask how he was.

Since my season ended quickly, I missed meeting Mohan too.

My heart goes out to Lalitha and her children.

We have lost a precious forumite.

Nick H · Post by **Nick H** » 06 Jan 2014, 13:46

How very, very sad for us all. What a loss.

girish_a · Post by **girish_a** » 06 Jan 2014, 13:54

Felt really sad to hear this. May his soul rest in peace.

srkris · Post by **srkris** » 06 Jan 2014, 14:04

He was a very active participant, and he is sure to be deeply missed by all.

Condolences to the family.

CRama · Post by **CRama** » 06 Jan 2014, 14:17

Eventhough I have not met him, Many times, I have been touched by the warmth in his posts. Condolences to his family members.

thanjavooran · Post by **thanjavooran** » 06 Jan 2014, 14:58

Very sad news. Condolences to Shri Gobilalitha's family.
Thanjavooran
06 01 2014

braindrain · Post by **braindrain** » 06 Jan 2014, 15:13

Very Sad news. The last time I met him was while chauffeuring him to the Bangalore Rasikas Meet. Such a lovely family. Wonderful person. May his soul rest in peace ...

gardabha_gana · Post by **gardabha_gana** » 06 Jan 2014, 16:02

Very sad. I remember meeting him at Cienu's house - for the rasikas meet couple of years back. My deep condolences to his family.

Rsachi · Post by **Rsachi** » 06 Jan 2014, 16:17

I am very sad. That wonderful trip to Rasikas meet at Cienu's was doubly memorable for getting to know Sri Gobilalitha and his wonderful musical better half. He told me she was a great musician and teacher too. She told me to hear the Shivashakti raga of GNB.

Just this morning I was bragging how I had made so many wonderful friends on Rasikas.Org

My condolences with thoughts of how precious a gift every moment in life is....

uday_shankar · Post by **uday_shankar** » 06 Jan 2014, 16:29

Heartfelt condolences. His benign and humorous presence will be greatly missed in this forum.

kamalamba · Post by **kamalamba** » 06 Jan 2014, 19:00

Dear all
I meant to post this sad news as soon as I found time. But I am touched to see many members post already about Appa. Special thanks to Rohin for his kind words.
My post follows.
Kamalamba (Mohan)

Gobilalitha (S.K. Balasubramanian), my father and an extraordinarily compassionate human being, has left us forever (4 October 1931 – 6 January 2014).

It is with great sadness that I convey this news to rasikas.org, who over the years, have become extended family for “Appa”.

Music of all kinds, especially the innovative ones, be it from OP Nayyar and Asha Bhosale or Balamuralikrishna or TNS or a then novice Vijay Prakash on Sa Re Ga Ma in the 90s or Alka Ajith a few years ago, were always appreciated by him with great intensity. Growing up in the 70s and 80s in Tambaram, we were fed “Sangeeth Sarita” for breakfast with his occasional crisp explanation of carnatic raga equivalent of a say, Sohini or Yaman. This would be almost immediately followed by a AIR Madras A concert and he enjoyed everyone of them and we would get further education on carnatic music. Dinners would coincide with FM concerts, which rounded off our day throughout which we were immersed in music effortlessly. In a way, my opinion at that time was that anything he applauded and appreciated DEFINED what was indeed good music, an opinion I have not changed to date.

After joining rasikas.org, he would seek out members wherever his travels took him to. Despite my living in Singapore, I found that he knew more music lovers in Singapore than I did. He nucleated a few rasikas.org meetings in Singapore, attended by among others, Janani, Bilahari, and others. He never missed rasikas.org meetings in cienu’s place in Bangalore and even took great pains to make sure he would attend them.

He and my mother (the real Gobilalitha; Lalitha from Gobichettipalayam) were delighted that R Suryaprakash gave a grand concert on the occasion of his Sadabhishekam in 2011. I am ever grateful to Suryaprakash for that concert organized in matter of days.

However, what was special about him, that rasikas.org members may not be aware of, is that he never had a bad thing to say about anyone nor have I seen anyone who has had anything even remotely bad to say about him. Extraordinary indeed.

His life was one to be celebrated. I thank all rasikas.org members for having been a wonderful extended family for him.

KAMALAMBA

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 06 Jan 2014, 19:37

Mohan,
Your post touches our hearts.

GBL, jubilant man, in spite of having health problems, a man possessing such good will and humor which spanned out to all corners of the world to reach rasikAs. As you say, one of the most agreeable kind of human being one can think of.

GBL, whom I was hoping to meet in Bengaluru...

I am going on about our loss, and in your celebration of your Dad, we can read your love for him and the depth of your feeling of loss.
Once again, our thoughts are with your family...

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 06 Jan 2014, 20:41

I am simply shocked.
He was a stalwart among the members of Rasikas.org.
I still cannot believe he is not among us.
Last few months we did not hear from him and I assumed he was otherwise occupied.
What happened? Kamalamba pl let us know.
He will always be remembered here. The Hilarity thread he started is a standing monument.
Heartfelt condolence to Lalitha (Mrs Gobilalitha).
MAY HIS SOUL REST IN PEACE!

S.NAGESWARAN · Post by **S.NAGESWARAN** » 06 Jan 2014, 20:59

Sri GBL always used to very enthusiastic.

He made it to point to attend our Rasikas meet at Cienu's home.
One of our member picked up GBL and R Sachi and attended the meet.

MAY HIS SOUL REST IN PEACE.

My heart felt condolences to his family.

S.NAGESWARAN.
06.01.2014.

Ramasubramanian M.K · Post by **Ramasubramanian M.K** » 06 Jan 2014, 21:28

Very Sad!! Although I had never met him,I enjoyed his posts--especially the Hilarity in Kutcheri's.Great contributor to our forum--a great loss to all of us.

Heartfelt condolences to the family

erode14 · Post by **erode14** » 06 Jan 2014, 22:21

sad to hear. mAmA will live forever in our memories. i pray he never takes a rebirth and be in the feet of his ishta dheivam, eppavum.

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 07 Jan 2014, 00:00

Dear GBL
You have chosen to join our venerable member veeyens.
Some of us are on line to join you one of these days!
When ready we will have the Rasikas meet in Heaven.
Till then bless us all from your heavenly abode...
स्वस्तिरस्तु।
ऒं शांति शांति शांति: ॥

raghavt · Post by **raghavt** » 07 Jan 2014, 01:20

My Condolences.

Had the opportunity to meet and interact with Sri GBL on the occasions of both BLR Rasikas meets held in 2011 and 2013. I found him to be very gentle and a fatherly figure.

May He Rest In Peace.

~R.

bilahari · Post by **bilahari** » 07 Jan 2014, 02:32

I saw his grandson's posting on Facebook and was shocked given that just days ago he had put up links in tribute of the late Lakshmi Shankar. The Singapore rasikas including Kamalamba and Jananee are ever indebted to him for bringing us together multiple times, and I remember that first session so vividly as it was the first time I met fellow rasikas face-to-face. He was such a gentle-mannered man and so completely immersed in music of various genres. Through his many weekly Facebook posts I revisited old Tamil film music and was introduced to an array of HM, CM, and Hindi film songs. Oh, and the delightful children and youth in various singing competitions in India he plucked out from YouTube! He is an example of a truly liberal rasika who weighed music on its merit alone without any bias, and his spirit and open-mindedness have inspired me in no small measure.

aaaaabbbbb · Post by **aaaaabbbbb** » 07 Jan 2014, 04:42

Great loss to the forum.
Heartfelt condolences to his family.
May his soul rest in peace.

varsha · Post by **varsha** » 07 Jan 2014, 05:23

GBL .. You were simply adorable. You taught us how to keep smiling and be full of mirth .I shall cherish every single moment I spent with you . And will always keep drawing strength from it .
Life was about what one gave to the world . Not about what one got from it .
You taught me this very very important lesson . Thank you .

Rsachi · Post by **Rsachi** » 07 Jan 2014, 05:35

Amen.

venkatakailasam · Post by **venkatakailasam** » 07 Jan 2014, 07:26

Listen to the Ashtapathi rendered by Smt. Lalitha Balasubramaniam ..at...

http://www.rasikas.org/forums/viewtopic. ... 5&start=75

Gopi said he will provide the Ashtapathi..

He kept his word...

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 07 Jan 2014, 21:24

This is a thread of Tributes to our beloved GBL who is highly respected by all of us.
Please do not post any personal grouts or irrelevent materials here.
Those will be edited out or deleted.

Moderator

Suryaprakash · Post by **Suryaprakash** » 07 Jan 2014, 22:08

I am just composing myself from the terrible shock and writing this one. I will never again come across a person like Balu mama, immensely knowledgeable, yet witty and humble. I had always thought that one should learn from him how to be focussed and also not appear to take life too seriously, simultaneously.
I will greatly miss his quips on good melodious music, be it Carnatic or the golden oldie Hindi songs and his amazing sense of humour. I had the great honour of performing in Balu mama and Lalitha mami's Sathabhishekam where I composed and sang an RTP "Brahmaanda Swaroopa Maruthi - Bala Maruthi Jaya jaya" in maand which I thought described the man of great knowledge and experience with a youthful sense of wit. God be with Lalitha mami, my college-mate and close friend "Kamalamba" and his family through this time.

tkb · Post by **tkb** » 07 Jan 2014, 22:26

Our condolences and prayers.

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 08 Jan 2014, 00:56

अद्य धारा निराधारा निरालंबा रसिकजना।
पण्डिता खण्डितास्चैव "गॊपिललिता" दिवंगतॆ ॥

धारा = flow of new ideas

PUNARVASU · Post by **PUNARVASU** » 08 Jan 2014, 05:28

cml, nice one. Remembering Kalidasa's tribute to BhojarAjA.

PUNARVASU · Post by **PUNARVASU** » 08 Jan 2014, 06:23

I am quoting what Shri GBL wrote inFB on 25 Dec.,the second death anniversary of my father 'veeyens'.

'I am a great admirer of his lengthy, useful, humorous informative posts in rasikas.org'
He has now joined him, as CML says, to have a lovely, lively discussion on music and other topics of mutual interest.