MSS CENTENARY Celebrations-Aishwarya Concert

[Ramasubramanian M.K]

Recap of Aishwarya Srinivasan's concert @ the Hindu temple,Flushing,New York.

MSS centenary celebrations were held at the Hindu temple,Flushing New York yesterday(May 15,2016).The function started with an invocation by our Temple priest .This was followed by a brief intro of the artistes by the Emcee Abirami Lokeswaran-a young medical student and a devotee of the temple. The intro was crisp and concise.

Aishwarya was accompanied by Sandhya Anand on the Violin and by Kallidaikurichi Sivakumar on the Mridangam and Samyuktha Sreeram on the Ghatam(13-year-old and another "star" discovery @ the Cleveland Aradhana!!). Our fellow forumite Ravi Shankar was present and we got to meet face-to-face for the first time. Apart from the concert itself this made the evening memorable!!
As I am not good at itemizing the songs I will briefly ramble in my usual way hopefully touching upon what struck me!! I make no apologies for being objective!!!
Aishwarya sang her heart out is the best way to put it in perspective. After a concert @ Minneapolis on Saturday they took an early morning flt(@7 A.M) arriving @ JFK @11 A.M. and without any rest went to the temple for darshan of Maha Vallabha Ganapati and mike-testing etc for the concert @4;30). The concert lasted 2 and a half hours and was followed by a 20-minute Video of MSAmma's life "culled" from various video clippings
\The concert list itself was a collection of listeners' requests of MSAmma's favorites so that Aishwarya had very little choice of her own!! Suffice it to say for one evening concert all of us in the audience acted like Sadasivama Mama "dictating" to Aishwarya WHAT she should sing!! Aishwarya herself the "game trooper" she is obliged us ll!!
Starting with the invocation(nama Pranavarthaya),followed by the Hamsadhwani krithi on Lord Ganesa,Sriman Narayana,Brocheva,Vachaspati(Paratpara)kandu Kandu(malayalam),A bengali song,Meera Bhajan(Mai Hari ).The main piece was Sankarabharanam(Sarojadala Netri). All the main ragas --alapanas were rendered crisply and with fervor reminiscent of MSAMMA. In fact throughout the concert I was very much impressed with how she had captured MSAMMA's piety and devotion in the way she rendered them. For somebody so young who had never had a chance to hear her Great Grandmother "live" in concerts,Aishwarya did more than justice to her Great Grandmother's legacy. Kudos to her Grandmother Radha for her untiring efforts to inculcate the spirit of rendering .
The voice--especially in the higher octaves was sweet and unstrained,the balance between the raga alapana,the krithi and neraval/swaram was pleasing without overdoing any aspect.
Aboveall,her demeanour in carrying herself was truly reminiscent of MSAMMA. Neither overawed by MSAMMA's shadow nor 'puffed-up" by a sense of entitlement to the legacy,she was every inch herself with poise and charm.
Ofcourse our Cienu sitting next to me was watchful throughout!!! Sandhya Anand on the violin was supportive and not flashy.Sivakumar on the mridangam as usual did his part in gently nudging the concert with soft strokes and sollukattus.he ably steered the young Samyuktha on the Ghatam who rose to the occasion and acquitted herself creditably. The 13-year old has a bright future.The instrument Ghatam used to be referred to as SANGATAMANA VADHYAM(a pun on the Tamil word Sangadam meaning difficulty!!! Samyuktha's poise and unassuming demeanor revealed no SANGADAM!!!!!

The concert was rounded off with Maitreem Bhajatha(ofcourse Kurai Onrum Illai had been sung earlier in the concert) .

This was followed by a 20 minute Video highlighting MSAMMA's life with rare footage of Sadasiva Mama describing his marriage at Thiruneermalai on a grand budget of Rs.150,MSAMMA's advice to youngsters,her garland making ,kola etc. I am constrained by modesty to say that the Video was put together by my wife Nirmala(Honesty is preferable to modesty!!!)--an assembly of collages of still pictures highlighting MSAMMA's visit in 1977 when she gave a concert at the Queens College to help raise funds for the Flushing temple(this was the reason we chose the temple for her celebrations),besides other highlights of MSAMMA's awards/ achievements.
Suffice it to say had Steven Spielberg had been around viewing the Video he would have had legitimate concerns about his future in the Movie Industry for the crisp editing!!! I am shocked and bemused by my own "OBJECTIVITY"!!


Our Friend forumite VKV was of tremendous help in steering us thro the 'shoals" of concert arrangements and logistics. VKV always shows his fealty to MSAMMA's legacy tangibly. This event was no exception!!

Altogether a nice evening to remember!!!!

Ravi(Shankar) may add his own perspective to the event!!!! Ravi,your ball!!!!

[arasi]

MKR,
Aishwarya's tour of NA this time gets completed at the historic temple (being the very first one built here). At the city where her great grandmother with her grandmother gave the historic UN concert.

Having seen Aishwarya grow from strength to strength at several of her concerts during the past years, this truly was a miss for me.

MKR and Nirmala,
How well you both did, making this a very special occasion! A lovely review at that! The heart speaks.

Can't wait until Ravi brings us his review...

A long and tiresome trip for Aishwarya and family (especially her father). Of course, the grandmother, the other grandparents, family and friends are waiting to hear about it all, once you recover from your jet lag and fatigue, Aishwarya

[rshankar]

Vocal: Kumari S. Aishwarya
Violin: Smt. Sandhya Anand
Mrudangam: Kalladikuruchi Sri Sivakumar
Ghatam: Kumari Samyukta Sriram
Location: Auditorium of the mahA vallabha gaNapati dEvasthAnam, Flushing, NY

Disclaimer - This is not a review - I am too biased and not as informed as the other reviewers - but a sort of reverie that I have finally woken up from - it was a concert that had so many wonderful things for me, it is surprising that I have indeed woken up..but in case I mess up, you know why! And I did make a list (of sorts)...

Prior to the concert, I had the wonderful opportunity to meet with Cienu and Ramesh Mama (Sri MKR for us on the forum) - and to say that it was almost as good as the concert would not be an understatement. And despite Ramesh Mama's words, the pleasure and privilege were all mine.

At 4:32 PM the curtains went up to reveal a serene looking Aishwarya sitting between Smt. Anand on her left, and Kumari Samyukta and Sri Sivakumar on her right, and the proceedings started very promptly with the recitations of mangaLa pAttu (auspicious verses) by the temple priest, and a brief introduction of the centenary celebrations and the artists.

The List:
Om namah praNavArthAya - invocation to Lord dakshiNAmUrti
kalai niRai gaNapati - hamsadhvani - Adi - vaLLalAr
SrIman nArAyaNa - bhauLi - Adi - annamayyA
parAtparA paramESvarA - vAcaspati - Adi - Papanasam Sivan (A, N, S)
brOcEvArevarurA - khamAs - Adi - Vasudevachar (O, N)
sarOjadaLa nEtri - SankarAbharaNam - Adi - Shyama Sastri (A, N, S, T)
dhonO dhonyo pushpo bhoro - D. Roy
kanDu kanDu - pUntanan
Verses from Adi Sankara's annapUrNAshTakam followed by dAsana mADiko yenna
tU dayAl dIn hO - Tulsi Das
mein hari caranan kI dAsI
viruttam - ceDiyAya valvinaigal - follwed by SrInivAsa tiruvEMkaTamuDaiyAn
kuRai onRum illai
maitreem bhajata
(Artists were honored)
pavamAna sutuDu - mangaLam

The performance:
Aishwarya was very serene throughout the concert, and like her great grandmother's tamburas, she had two electronic ones - one on either side (IIRC). Sruti from them was not a concept, but was clearly audible at all times. And if she was bothered by the close scrutiny of the people in the first row, including Cienu and Ramesh Mama among others, she hid it very well!
Several exceptional moments included stellar nerevals at 'ari ayanum kANA ariya jOti', 'sItA patE nA pai nIkabhimAnamu lEdA', and the way she sang 'nA badhakamella pOgoTTi, gaTTi ga nA ceyyi paTTi, viDuvaka' was just spot on. mEl kAla nereval at 'sAma gAna vinOdinIm' sent shivers down my spine. And finally, the plaintive cries of mIra for krishNa came eerily alive - 'sAnvariyA, mOhanIyA, nAgarIyA, mErO piyA'. I'm no expert, but to me Aishwarya's AlApanas and kalpana svarams were to the point and presented everything as they should be - nothing was overdone, and things were wound up when we were wanting more - a lesson she has learned very well from her grandmother, it seems.

Smt. Anand on the violin provided great support - and what an enviable lineage she has - in vocal music, violin, and the flute! I'm no Bilahari, so all you're going to get from me is that she sounded good all throughout - whether she played along with Aishwarya, or when she played by herself. The svara exchanges were very crisp.

Kalladikuruchi Sri Sivakumar was awesome - I'm no Mahavishnu, so all the technical details were lost on me, but, IMO he made his mrudangam sound exactly as it should have everywhere - soft, when needed, energetic, when called for, and a beautiful tani. It was also absolutely heartwarming to see how supportive of the youngest artist on stage, the 8th grader from Virginia, USA, Samyukta, he was, encouraging her and egging her on.

Samyukta Sriram - what can I say - she was great! These children who grow up in the USA flit so easily between cultures, are seemingly so much at ease in both cultures, and at times, don't even mind the weird triSanku svargam they sometimes are forced to inhabit. With all these pressures, if these children can imbibe our musical traditions, it is a big feat in itself. To be able to do it well enough on a stage with star performers, with no vestiges of stage fright apparent, and deliver a wonderful performance is more that just icing on the cake - it's the real deal - cake, icing, and all. It is heartening to know that the future of our music is safe in these hands - and what hands they were - solid sound from this little wisp of a girl. She played a beautiful tani with Sri Sivakumar.

Meeting Ramesh Mama was, as I said a wonderful opportunity for me, but what's even better is that Nirmala Mami promised me that she would get on him to write down all of his experiences.... So, just for that, the trip was worth it!!!

Ramesh Mama keeps saying that Cienu is channeling his illustrious grandfather. Now, I have never had the pleasure of meeting Sri Sadasivam, but I think Cienu is unique - despite the horrendous travel, and the horrible jet lag, he was so warm, solicitous, and charming, that I kept wondering how he does it - in his place, I'd want to curl up and shut the world out. Now, Aishwarya is one step better - she gets up on stage and gives a grand performance! But then, it's probably the resilience of youth!

The temple and the temple cafeteria need no reviews!!

An added bonus for me was to meet (after ~9 years) a young man who used to live in Indianapolis (and incidentally, helped arrange a lec-dem by SK, Smt. Vedavalli many years ago) - he and his family have moved to NJ, and his daughter is a student of Smt. Sandhya Anand.

And now, a final crib - I think that NYC is the only city in the world that charges tolls (and dare I say, a pretty hefty one at that) for the pleasure of marinating the driver in traffic. Along the lines of the cost of the suNDakkAi and cost of getting it delivered, I think I aged several decades driving through those winding tunnels! But, as they say, this time around, 'the juice was certainly worth the squeeze'.

[rshankar]

Arasi - Aishwarya has more commitments to fulfill before the tour is done. This was not the last stop.
And I did not realize that the video presentation was edited by Ramesh Mama - it was beautiful, and I was the not the only one furtively wiping tears at the end.

[kvchellappa]

Can the video presentation be shared?

[thanjavooran]

Shri Shankar,
Excellent review. Thanks for sharing your experience.
Good luck to Aishwarya.
With wishes,
Thanjavooran
17 05 2016

[arasi]

Ravi,
gAnap pazathaip pizivadil (in bringing the lyrical beauty of words in a song in your translations), you are a seasoned 'juicer', and how we know about it!

Thanks for your lovely review Finally, you made it to a concert in quite a while, and it was Aishwarya's concert!

Ah, there are still more concerts? Sorry, I thought the NY one was the finale.

Ramesh and Nirmala worked together on the video, I think.

"Tunnel, tunnel!", my children used to cry excitedly many years ago, and now, your feelings will be theirs, no doubt. Then again, when we first came here, the Garden State boasted more tolls than we could cope with, I remember Now, FYI, they WERE chuNDaikkAip paNam then (Ramesh can verify--a quarter?

[rajeshnat]

MKR sir and Ravi
While MKR has an insider information of ms amma and he and his wife loves in and out - ms amma music. One can perhaps even extrapolate to say that MKR is son like to ms amma and shri sadasivam . Ravi is also very special though a full generation away from MKR sir has so much love to ms amma music. I recollect many years before when we met in academy when gowri ramnarayan released her ms amma book, ravi took the autograph of gowri and that was the day young aishwarya sang to most of rasikas friends in music academy. I atleast then was thinking here is one ravi who likes so much of ms amma to even get an autograph of the book- kind of rare rasika then.

While all that is history , but their love to ms amma music has come out well and it appears young aishwarya has indeed kept her concert neat and impeccable with a wide range of ms amma like selection . Can I also have a look at samyuktha sriram playing the ghatam please- many years before I came to know thru the forum that rajna swaminathan was playing mrudangam(I only knew bit later that there were other indian women who played mrudangam even before rajna- but I first heard only about rajna) , now samyuktha is playing even ghatam. North America is producing too much of rarities.

[arasi]

Rajesh,
Not forgetting vAdya vrinda leader, star ghaTam player Sukanya Ramgopal (also a vocalist). I have watched her play for twenty years, and Karnataka is proud of another lady who bears the name Ramgopal.

In recent times in India, are you thinking of Jayamangala on the mridangam (also a vocalist)? Among the old timers, one Kanakambujam stands out in memory. Young Bhagyalakshmi on the mukha shanka is another stand out.

[cienu]

I must thank Ramesh Mama for the wonderful write up of the program and also to Ravi for the “review” (disclaimers notwithstanding!) Thank you Arasi, Rajesh and Thanjavooran for your kind comments and wishes. Sri KVC – will check with Ramesh Mama on whether we can upload the video presentation and share with all.
When we arrived at Ramesh Mama and Nirmala Mami’s place, both Aishwarya and I were enveloped by an immense feeling of nostalgia when we were showed around the home, the place where my mother danced for “Malai Pozhudinlay” with my Grandmother and Ramesh Mama singing the song in the year 1977
There is indeed a lot of musical history in the home.!
We arrived at the temple around 2 hours early and had a divine darshan of the deity “Maha Vallabha Ganapathy”. Nirmala Mami showed us the exact spot were my Grandmother and mother had sat in the temple (it is seen in the pictures below!). The sound check was done and the concert began exactly on time. As Ramesh Mama had mentioned, the concert list was sent to us a few weeks earlier as per the request of various persons in the temple committee and fans of MSS.!
The acoustics were awesome. I must congratulate Smt Sandhya Anand, Kallidaikurichi Sri Sivakumar and the young Kumari Samyukta for their extraordinary support. I must also congratulate the entire management of The Hindu Temple – Flushing NY for the excellent conduct of the entire event including the video presentation which was sleek and well edited. (Not to forget the sumptuous dinner we had at the temple post the function!)
Behind the scenes both Ramesh Mama and I had been coordinating this event from almost 6 months back with Sri V K Viswanathan, including micro management of the finer details. The effort indeed had the desired result and the program was a tremendous success. The hall was full and the audience did not move from the seats once the concert began. We were also honoured to have Smt Shanta Krishnamurthy along with her daughter Smt Indra Nooyi and son Sri Narayan Krishnamurthy in the audience for the entire concert along with a lot of our close friends and family.
We certainly missed Arasi a lot, but we were delighted to see Ravi who had despite his various engagements managed to make it to the concert.

S.Aishwarya at the foyer of the Flushing Temple auditorium being welcomed by the Program Flier

A beautiful array of pictures of MSS just outside the entrance Including her historic Flushing Temple visit in 1977!



Pictures of MSS adorn the stage for the centenary year.

The concert of S.Aishwarya commences at the Flushing Temple.

Smt Nirmala Ramasubramaniam honouring S.Aishwarya just before the Mangalam.

Fans surround S.Aishwarya after the concert

Ravi and I after the concert

Smt Indra Nooyi with S.Aishwarya after the concert

[rshankar]

Cienu - the pic with Smt. Nooyi is awesome!! And as usual, your 'arrangements' were wonderful...

[cacm]

I was excited to see ALL THE REPORTS about the EXCELLENT CONCERT OF AISHWARYA. MS & RADHA WOULD HAVE BEEN HAPPY & PROUD AS ALL OF US FOR THE WAY IN WHICH NIRMALA & RAMESH (MKR) PRESENTED THE CONCERT AT THE TEMPLE practically built by MS......
Of course the MKR FAMILY has been deeply & intimately involved with the Sadasivams since the THIRTIES. HIS FATHER (T.S.Mahadevan)IS LEGENDARY as one of the MAJOR PROPAGATORS OF CARNATIC MUSIC IN TWENTIETH CENTURY & HIS MOTHER (Chinnani Mami)WAS THE CLOSEST FRIEND OF MS. I STRONGLY RECOMMEND ALL RASIKAS TO READ THE FANTASTIC BOOK MS& RADHA BY DR. GOWRI RAMNARAYANAN for the captivating details.
N& MKR have been the stalwarts in not only helping with organising concerts, their generous help to ALMOST ALL THE ARTISTS-M.S., LGJ, MALI, RAMANI, THE WOMEN TRINITY OF CARNATIC MUSIC TO MENTION A FEW- will PROMINENTLY APPEAR WHEN THE HISTORY OF CARNATIC MUSIC IS WRITTEN SOME TIME.
AMAZINGLY THE MS CONCERTS IN NYC AREA inculding the crowning UN & CARNEGIE HALL CONCERTS WILL LIVE FOR EVER IN THE ANNALS OF OUR CULTURE, MUSIC,&HISTORY.
I am glad & proud Aishwarya has shown in this tour that the M.S.-RADHA MUSICAL LEGACY IS IN SAFE HANDS. I request SHRINIVASAN & AISHWARYA to write accounts of their US TOUR in some detail after they recover from this hectic tour (matched only by LGJ-N.R.,SHEIKH CHINNAMOULANA'S '73 & TVS'S '71 TOURS)..... VKV

[Aditto]

This was followed by a 20 minute Video highlighting MSAMMA's life with rare footage of Sadasiva Mama describing his marriage at Thiruneermalai on a grand budget of Rs.150,MSAMMA's advice to youngsters,her garland making ,kola etc. I am constrained by modesty to say that the Video was put together by my wife Nirmala(Honesty is preferable to modesty!!!)--an assembly of collages of still pictures highlighting MSAMMA's visit in 1977 when she gave a concert at the Queens College to help raise funds for the Flushing temple(this was the reason we chose the temple for her celebrations),besides other highlights of MSAMMA's awards/ achievements.

Can you please share this video...

Cienu sir...Ramesh sir...please.. please

[Ramasubramanian M.K]

Dear All: Thanks for your encouraging comments. I must acknowledge VKV's initiative started 6 months ago even before the Cleveland Aradhana
began,Myself and Nirmala were initially hesitant because none of our friends who were with us during the 1977 tour are around here now and the newcomers who have seen only the Temple in its present "whole" had no idea as to how the temple came into being.Besides many of the people around had only knowledge about MSAMMA and her achievements thro the media.However VKV was confident (although had he been around in NY he would have probably made it even grander!!!) that this can be and should be done. Cienu of course agreed to include NY in the schedule although it involved some cross country flights back and forth!!!

We also wanted to make sure that the event does not prove burdensome financially for the Temple. However Lord Maha Vallabha Ganapathy the presiding deity at the Temple made sure that He had His due!!!!!

We will post the video soon( I am technologically severely handicapped!!!)!!

If there was one person who would have thoroughly disapproved of this celebration it would be Sadasivam Mama--IDELLAN ENNA ASHATTUTANAM!! myself and Nirmala would have been given a nice tongue-lashing for our temerity!!

But we enjoyed putting it together with the help of our friends and generous donors!! For what MSAMMA and MAMA have done to our family we need several births more to recompense them for their love and affection!

[arasi]

And the tongue-lashing (azha azha solluvAr tammar, sirikka sirikka solluvAr piRar) The near and dear ones may say harsh things, but they say it with love and care. Others who care not, can just flash a smile and go their own indifferent way.

I'm saying this, based on your accounts on your relationship with Sri.Sadasivam

An unforgettable day for those of you who were gathered there...

[kvchellappa]

It is immensely satisfying that I have lived at a time such that I could see the later part of MS amma's musical career and the early part of Aishwarya's. May she rightfully claim the hallowed place left behind by MS amma (Smt Radha is an integral part of her) in the hearts of rasikas that look for music with devotion and commitment. That is the biggest award one could wish her.

[Ramasubramanian M.K]

Aditto/KVC et al: Re; posting of the Video. There are certain copyright considerations because most of the footage was taken from a Doordarshan TV presentation. I do not know if they are valid and how to get around them. I am still making enquiries. However FORUMITES more knowledgeable than myself on these issues can advise me. Would very much appreciate!!

For my part,myself acting as an unauthorized representative /agent of my wife, would have no objection to the release of the Video!!!

I am the master of the House and I have my wife's permission to say so!!!!

[kvchellappa]

Thank you, sir. For what little I have seen in the video shared on MS (Sastri Hall), you and your wife form ideal dampathis. My namaskarams to both of you. It will be a great gift if the video can be shared without copyright issues.

[Vignesh Viswanathan]

MKR Sir, thank you for the post. This is a historic concert at the same place where MS Amma and Radha Amma had graced in 1977.
rshankar. It is wonderful to read your review. I can fully imagine the shiver down the spine you felt when Aishwarya did the Neraval at 'Sama Gana'. !
Cienu Mama. The picture with Indira Nooyi is fantastic. I am sure she must be have fascinated by Aishwarya's Sankarabaranam.

[Ramasubramanian M.K]

Some eavesdropping notes:
Sitting two seats away from Mrs.Shanta Krishnamurthy,I overheard her remarking to Indira Nooyi when Aishwarya just started the Sankarabharanam Alapana,that she is going to sing Sarojadala Netri much to Indira's surprise at her Mom's clairvoyance!! Ofcourse a consortium of listeners had included that piece which we conveyed to Cienu. Nobodyelse knew what the song list was going to be.
Mrs.Krishnamurthy is a Vainika belonging to the Karaikudi Sambasiva Iyer school and a life-long admirer and family friend of the MSAmma family.

The nostalgic pictures that we had displayed ,evoked an awe-inspiring response from the many people who had never seen or heard MSAmma sing.(these displays are in Cienu's post).

Looking at those pics for the umpteenth time myself and my wife could not but admire the graceful aging that MSAmma exhibited till her demise.

The 1977 visit itself and the events surrounding the tour have evoked such poignant memories(some of which we have alluded to in our presentation at the Cleveland Festival)that--judging from the responses and comments from the Forumites--I intend to write in the MSAMMA topic under Vidwans and Vidushis.
Poise and grace under adversity epitomized the lives of THE COUPLE!! The next time I visit India I intend to "coax" more stories from Cienu's Mother!!

Stay connected!!!