Deserving personalities to whom SK was not awarded & reasons

[varsha]

History ???
Find some other word for stuff that is penned here .
The very ink with which history is written is merely fluid prejudice.
Mark Twain

[cmlover]

Keep the Academia discussions in a separate thread

RaviSri
You keep us riveted with your narrations. Even the language you quote sounds authentic!
I hope you would continue beyond 1991 though you personally were not there! Pl share
other anecdotes too that yo are aware of. SSI's behaviour is nothing unusual since he was
like any other "panchaanga prAmaNan", as were most of the senior artistes of that time.
Same could be said of many harikatha exponents too! The more one takes or sings the Lord's name
the lower he sinks behaviourally! Many of us ordinary Rasikas are Saints compared to them!

How come NaLapAAkam was never considered for SK since he immensely satisfied many of
those immense bellies

[Rsachi]

Varsha,
Whose prejudice here?

[varsha]

Whose prejudice here?

I am tempted to take a leaf from Maurice Chevaliers book ( from his lovely song in the movie Can Can )
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qo4OyhSglmA
and reply
Your prejudice is your prejudice and
My prejudice is mine

[vasanthakokilam]

Sordid tale of immaturity ... academicians and artists all behave like two year olds that grab or hold on tight or fall to the floor and kick about in a tantrum.

May be they took the advice 'Don't lose your child like qualities' too literally

Speaking in general,

There are necessary losses in many aspects of our lives and one such thing to lose is the cherished illusion that these great artists are necessarily saints/great people. That process is painful indeed. If a rasika comes out of that fairly unscathed, that is a net gain for the rasika. But many people probably feel let down and wished they never knew about these sordid inside the beltway stuff since it has the potential to mess up the enjoyment of their music.

On that unfortunate 1st January 1991 episode, I sense that B. Rajam Iyer gets the bad rap from RaviSri on a couple of different anecdotes here. It is hard to tell if B. Rajam Iyer was being petty and harping on a minor issue disproportionately, but to me the reaction of the first row audience to his remarks seems to be an order of magnitude more immature and unsavory. I can also see why the speaker should have kept to the usual and customary remarks of all praise and leave any 'review' to the newspapers since he was not invited to offer his review. It is quite sad DKJ got caught in the middle of all this.

[annamalai]

Agreed. B. Rajam Iyer got a bad rap from this incident. It is natural most musicians like the spot light to be on them only. I must have listened to the Panchalinga krithis tape a 100 times; what a rendition by DKJ and students - esp. the Bhairavi and Ananda Natana Prakasam.

BTW, I have heard several other tense moments - when Musiri was asked to felicitate GNB after a concert; some of the folks were very nervous and on the edge of the seat, what Musiri was going to say - sometimes, the best words can be - nice performance; sarvey janah sukhino bhavantu and then leave. But the additional words are the dangerous ones, on the slippery slope

B. Rajam Iyer and Prof. SR wrote the tamil translation of Sampradaya Pradarshini and he probably felt that he should get the award just for that work. I love Rajam's Iyer's rendition of Jambupathe (one of the best, I think) . Rajam Iyer is supposed to know many rare Dikshitar krithis. Rajam Iyer taught Madurai Mani Iyer (Rajam Iyer much younger than Mani Iyer) - Navagraha krithis - which Madurai Mani Iyer sang in many concerts. I have heard that Rajam Iyer's version of Sree Kamalambikayah Param (Bhairavi - navavarnam) is superb and Prof. SR would request him to sing in concerts (BR had mentioned this in a lecdem). Any of that rendition on web ?

I wish B. Rajam Iyer had taught more students and the Dikshitar krithi tradition/legacy is passed on to the next generation ? I did listen to B. Krishnamurthy (brother of Rajam Iyer) teaching Ahiri Navavarnam to students - what a superb rendition.

[cmlover]

The fact is that everybody (including the trinity) are humans with human foibles. We get shocked when some documented facts
come to light. There may be thousands of undocumented facts. We may appreciate their music and be grateful. There is no need to deify them. Many superstitious stories of the older personages which belong to this category. The element of bhakti is deep rooted in CM. The bhakti rightly belongs to God and not just to the one who sang or wrote about it! There is nothing magical about CM compared to any other genre of music. Let us enjoy it and contribute to others enjoyment of the same by developing their potential. Finally let us not fail to reward handsomely the ones with talent.

[Rsachi]

CML, RaviSri, Varsha and others,
I wish someone, say rasikas.org, creates an alternative title, Sangeetha Kalamurti award and awards it to deserving vidwans/vidushis in January 2014 onwards, maybe with a mini festival, all done with online coverage. How about that?

Sachi R

[RaviSri]

History ??? Find some other word for stuff that is penned here .

varsha, I never claimed that what I am writing in this thread is history. Far from it. I would only call it anecdotes. Personally I have experienced many of them. And to all I must say this: The Music Academy has done a lot of good things for music and dance. And I have benefitted a lot from attending the season from 1974 to 1991. As for Semmangudi, when he felicitated Brinda on her getting SK in 1976, he said, "She is no ordinary musician. I myself have learnt a lot of songs from her". It was a revelation to me in those formative years when I was in my teens. It was this remark of Semmangudi that made me listen to Brinda and Mukta regularly and ultimately paved the way for my joining Mukthamma as her disciple and that transformed my life. I shall ever be grateful to Semmangudi for this and I have told him as much. And I am going to write about he positive things of the Academy and Semmangudi too.

Suffice it to say that the December music season would not have been so much fun had it not been for those episodes.

Many of us youngsters didn't have the money to attend the season. I know a bank employee who would take leave for the 15 days and at the end of the 3rd day start borrowing money from all and sundry to fund his tickets and his tiffin, meals etc. This money he would return to his creditors in 2 or 3 months time. Many were in that position. All for the love of music, all for the sake of learning something. The 300 days of the year, excluding the Sundays were, for people like me a big bore, what with the compulsion to earn a livelihood, and therefore to stand before the boss swallowing his abuses, or if a small businessman, stand with outstretched hands in front of a customer in expectation of payment of the dues he owed you and other such dirty things. We had only the season to savour, since people like us were not interested in the idiotic films or dramas. Remember there was no TV or Internet at that time. The delectable or indifferent music, the lecdems and those episodes, sublime or silly, were our staple food which sustained us throughout the year. I can never forget those times.

CM lover, a great, unforgettable episode later in the evening.

[RaviSri]

Most of the episodes I have written about have been published in the book, 'Four Score and More', a book on the history of the Music Academy, written by Sriram V and Malathi Rangaswami, though not as elaborately as I have written them.

[arasi]

Thank you for all the anecdotes and for more to come. I used the word history. Of course, not in the sense of 'should be etched in the history of music' or anything like that--but more in the sense of personal history, not anyone's personal history but that of notable men and women and the way they influence the arts and our own perception.

Gossip is gossip, and if that's all we see in them (or worse, seek in them), we have to be pitied. Let's see. Gossip thrives because it's titillating. Anecdotes like these on the other hand reveal the temperament of different artistes and also of the time period in which they took place.

[varsha]

varsha, I never claimed that what I am writing in this thread is history.

Fair enough . But your accounts do leave enough slots for unscrupluous readers to fit the handles of their warped tools ,into .

I notice a titillating edge to your anecdotes which are sure to raise guffaws and sniggers , here . and Mylapore circles .

No wonder folks find your account of

But the Academy in its wisdom brought a musicologist from Andhra called Rallapalli Anantakrishna Sharma. He himself did not expect the award. He was only 83 years old and he required only four people to lift him up onto the Academy stage. Subbudu wrote that the Cathedral cemetry and the Krishnamapettai burning ghat were nearby, so the Academy could catch old of some 200 year old pEy or pishAshu next year and honour THAT.

fascinating .
That final step to getting an aura of an authentic historian is a very delicate step . But a very necessary one .
If William Shirer could manage it with his Third Reich Stories ( one of the few rare cases where history was written in the immediate aftermath , right under our eyes or of some one known to us ) I cannot see why you cannot do it .
It takes some effort to move back and be disconnected . That is all I ask .
As for claps here , it does not take much time for the claps to increase in force . Enough to be hurtful.

[Sreeni Rajarao]

Rallapalli was originally from Andhra Pradesh, but he was very much a Mysore-an, having lived in Mysore and Bangalore from 1912 onward (starting when he was about 19 years of age). And, he was much more than a musicologist.
https://sites.google.com/site/rallapallisharma/Home.

[mukta]

Is it proper to ridicule the aged gentleman,SrI Anantakrishna Sharmagaru?

[cmlover]

Let us not attack the messenger for the message. Once we discover that the Emperor had no clothes we should not penalize the child who blurted it out! Every hardworking CM performer is strivng to get recognition which means SK for many. To discover that it is glass instead of a diamond will be painful! To discover that it may be rigged will shatter their faith on the system. Ultimately it is the Rasikas who should decide what excellence is in CM. Sachi is right about the power of our collective voice! The law of statistical averages is proof!

Let us not pick on RaviSri for speaking out the Truth. He is no less a Historian for speaking out in comparison with Sriram. Intolerance and Prejudice are the sworn enemy of True knowledge! But if you know the facts otherwise do point them out and set the records straight. But if you don't like them don't read them!

[Rsachi]

Prof. Rallapalli Sharma was regarded highly as a Sanskrit scholar and musician/musicologist. I have met him in Tirupati. His book, "Gaana Kale" is a classic.

[annamalai]

Is it proper to ridicule the aged gentleman,SrI Anantakrishna Sharmagaru?

The complaint should be directed to music critic subbudu. Subbudu is known caustic remarks and jabs . Subbudu thought those comments were funny.

Caustic remarks are the name of the game; like Glen McGrath sledging the opposition and getting under their skin. Even now there are folks throwing jabs - about starting a concert with Sowrashtram - Pavamana ((sree ganapathy is also in Sowrashtram !!) ; have thayir sadham first ..."

[devan]

Dear ravisridhar, iam happy you are remembering the good old days.those 15days were the oxygen needed to run the whole year.If i remember corectly, you are the one who requested DKJ to sing soundarajam in his sk concert.you are writeup about academy is very good.keep going.

[RaviSri]

Yes devan, I was the one who requested DKJ to sing soundararAjam. But only two or three people know this. How did you know?

Titillation? I have never written anything with a view to titillate. And I have no dreams of becoming a famous historian. Forget it. And whether claps or brickbats, they are the same to me, now, at this stage in my life.

I did not ridicule Ralapalli Garu. If the Academy wanted to honour him they could have done it at least 15 years before 1974, not when he was 83 years old and required people to support him. That was my point. I quoted Subbudu to draw attention to the freedom of expression that was to be had in those days in newspapers and magazines and also to the kind of language used by him.

In someone's view, the following post might be described as titillating. For such people, a very sober version of this can be read on page 49 of the Madras Music Academy Journal 1978.

[RaviSri]

My article in sangeetham.com in 2002.

The Emergency Riot

It was December 1977. There was a newfound enthusiasm after the dark days of Indira Gandhi’s Emergency. M. L. Vasanthakumari was selected to preside over that year’s conference of the Music Academy. Woman libbers among music lovers were enthusiastic as two women in a row were selected to be Sangita Kalanidhis; the doyen of the Veena Dhanammal tradition, T. Brinda in 1976 and now MLV. Fans of MLV were licking their chops, as she, their favourite musician, one of the very colourful of that breed, was to preside over the most prestigious event of Indian music. Fans of Canteen Krishnamurti were licking their lips, as on the very first day itself, the veteran cook had prepared kAshi halva, padir pENi and pannIr jAngiri. A hat trick so sweet that it bowled not three but three times three hundred rasikas.

Oohs and Aahs rent the crisp afternoon air at the Academy canteen on inauguration day as the sweet toothed gobbled one delicacy after the other. Only the applause was missing, though a few enterprising mAmAs slapped hard on Krishnamurti’s fragile back in appreciation. The gourmets looked forward to a season full of mouth-watering delicacies to go with the edifying lec-dems and the delectable art of the musicians. There was no disagreement when, between mouthfuls of padir pENi, a mAmi of no mean weight ventured her opinion that the year’s season would be special. Just how special it would turn out to be, none would have dreamt of then.

Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer who had entered his 70th year, had given a concert at the Tamil Isai Sangam festival. T. N. Krishnan was the violinist. Because of a cold the veteran’s voice was playing hide and seek with him, totally uncooperative. In contrast, TNK was in great form and was playing phrases soaked in melody. The crowd at Raja Annamalai Hall applauded TNK repeatedly, which annoyed Semmangudi, who at one point admonished the crowd saying, “violinisTukku kai thaTTinA mAtram pOrAdu, pADaravALukkum kai thaTTaNum (it is not enough that you applaud the violinist, you must applaud the vocalist too). Of course, the amused Chettiar dominated crowd obliged him.

The next morning Madras music lovers woke up to strong coffee and The Indian Express newspaper (Yeah, apart from The Hindu, Carnatic music rasikas bought the Indian Express too during the music season). A few tumblers were dropped, a few throats choked after the first sip as people rubbed their sleepy eyes in disbelief. For most music lovers, their coffee went cold as they read the tongue lashing, sorry, pen lashing by Subbudu the critic who went hammer and tongs at the concert in The Indian Express. He criticised Semmangudi for the ‘pathetic’ quality of his concert as he called it and ridiculed the veteran for his advice to the audience and said in effect that, ‘even the dreaded Emergency has come to an end but there seems to be no end to Semmangudi.’ This was hitting below the belt. Subbudu also advised Semmangudi that he would be doing the music world a great service if he stopped singing and retired forthwith.
By 8 A.M. all hell broke loose in Mylapore. Not even one copy of the Indian Express was available in the Mylapore area. The cognoscenti were outraged. How dare this stupid (a coincidental rhyming with the critic’s name) man who knew very little of music criticise our beloved mAmA? That too couched in indecent language! For years now the critic (self-appointed critic, some would cynically aver!) was unsparing in his diatribes against the veteran. He used the choicest epithets to make fun of and deride Semmangudi mAmA’s music. He should be taught a lesson.

No one knows what went on behind the scenes at the Academy. But it was decided that a meeting to condemn Subbudu should be conducted that very day itself. It was a double emergency as Semmangudi was slated to sing at the Music Academy that very evening.

The Academy managers and other worthies marched hither and thither on the stage even as Smt Vidya Shankar was demonstrating on Shyama Sastri kritis. Even at 9-30 A.M. very few people knew what was going on excepting that something exciting was going to happen. A few minutes later everyone knew.

The meeting started at 10 A.M. right after Vidya Shankar’s lecdem. How news travelled fast through the streets of South Madras is a mystery, especially in those days of no Internet or cell phones. The Music Academy hall overflowed. Furious vidwans and rasikas, some of whom had had a little too much to drink even at that early hour (no, not coffee) were rolling up their sleeves. M. L. Vasanthakumari in a deft, diplomatic move feigned illness and remained at home (she was advised by one of her friends to stay away). In her absence, Balamurali Krishna was called to preside over the meeting. Not in the least anticipating the diatribe that Semmangudi would launch against him the next year at the closed door Academy Experts committee meeting, heap abuse on him and call into question his ‘discovery’ of new rAgas, Balamurali agreed to don the mantle of ‘avai talaivar’. He mouthed something in his kochchai Tamil. If this was the ‘gati’ of ‘our senior’ ‘our beloved mAmA’, what about ‘humble’ vidvAns like ‘me’, he asked. There were delightful interventions from the audience too, some of them boisterous. The ever-frowning Dr Raghavan would rise from his seat, bureaucratic style, and signal to the intruders to sit down.

A few mAmAs, each important in his own way, also spoke. Each of them used the choicest words available in the Tamil language to abuse Subbudu. One of them said, ‘avan varaTTum inge. enna gati ArAn pAthuDalAm (Let him, meaning Subbudu, come here; we shall see the end of him). The mAmIs in their choicest silks and perfumes were no less furious. All of them would have together killed Subbudu had he appeared.

Semmangudi came to the mike and he began by asking, ‘avan irukkAnA inge?’ (Is the fellow here?), as if Subbudu would be waiting in the auditorium to be spanked. He further thundered (in his nasal tone, of course), ‘enna nenachiNDu irukkAn avan, OhO, avvaLavu maTTamA pOyTTEnA? (What does he think? Oho, have I become so worthless?). Semmangudi said that he understood that Subbudu was indulging in music criticism because he had no other job (vElai veTTi illAda payal critic AyTTAn!). He therefore offered to give Subbudu a job in his paNNai (farm) in Semmangudi village, adding that Subbudu’s true calling was as a farm labourer, not as music critic. He could do all the mischief with the ‘ADu meikkaravans’ (goat herds) in the Semmangudi paNNai. Semmangudi did not spare The Indian Express either. Said the veteran who was even then being hailed as the Pitamaha of Carnatic music, ‘Indian Expressum vara vara Indunesan mAdiri AyiNDirukku (The Indian Express is also becoming like Indunesan). Indunesan was a yellow journal of the 1930s and 40s which published lurid details of the personal lives of film stars and other bigwigs of society. ‘idukkellAm namma Academy dAn oru muDivu kaTTaNum’ (The Academy should put an end to all this). Thus saying, the fuming grand old man of Carnatic music reluctantly went back to his seat.

Semmangudi and his disciple T.M. Thyagarajan competed with each other in inhaling snuff, and the shriller the abuse into the mike became, the more furious became the snuffing. The siShya for once got ahead of the guru in inhaling. Of course, both guru and siShya exhaled fire. The Indian Express was abused by others too. Some worthies pompously offered to talk to the great Ramnath Goenka (the publisher) himself. Did Goenka think that Semmangudi was Indira Gandhi to be attacked in this manner? A resolution was passed and the Express was threatened that if they didn’t publish this, they had better beware. And so the meeting ended by hailing the valuable contributions of Semmangudi to the cause of music as also the havoc criticism was causing to music. By a show of hands, the captive audience expressed its solidarity with the beleaguered Semmangudi. The Academy could really do nothing else. So, what began as a storm, ended in a whimper.
After the meeting a sizable portion of the crowd went to the canteen for bOnDas and coffee. Canteen Krishnamurti had a tough time managing the irate crowd, which not being able to thrash Subbudu then and there, abused the poor waiters for the delay in serving. In their anxiety to preserve the Pitamaha’s dignity, some of the respectable mAmAs and a few mAmIs too, walked past the counter without paying and had to be pulled up by Krishnamurti and made to cough up for what they had gobbled.

And for the rest of the season, Subbudu was nowhere to be found in the Mylapore area. It was rumoured that he had taken the first available flight back to Delhi. For sheer musico-political rioting this incident took the cake next only to the sound thrashing Subbudu got at Thanjavur railway station a few years before that. That day in December ’77 was a real treat.

[semmu86]

Fascinating..

[gardabha_gana]

RaviSri - your information is both illuminating and sad. Please continue your recollections.

[rshankar]

Seriously? From my (admittedly limited) experience in academic biology and academic medicine, a great proportion - possibly even a majority - of people in academia act like this. I find none of this surprising in the least.

LOL...sad, but true!! (I for one am a strong proponent of publishing the names of the peer-reviewers along with that of the authors for major journals like Science, Nature, NEJM, Lancet etc...)

[cmlover]

RaviSri
It is worth reading your pennings again and again! You capture the spirit of the times!
Do write on the SSI/BMK duel as well..
And then on the war of SB vs BMK ...

[eesha]

For most music lovers, their coffee went cold as they read the tongue lashing, sorry, pen lashing by Subbudu the critic who went hammer and tongs at the concert in The Indian Express.

The Indian Express review is here:

Subbudu also advised Semmangudi that he would be doing the music world a great service if he stopped singing and retired forthwith.

I can't find any reference to this effect in the above review. Perhaps it came in his tamil version of the review that used to appear in Dinamani ??

[cmlover]

I have heard that there used to be a sign at MA which read:
"Dogs and Subbudu not allowed"

[RaviSri]

Yes, it appeared in the Dinamani.

[semmu86]

Edited....

[joetamarack]

Ravi Sir, please continue to write your recollections. They are fascinating to read! As I read through some of your posts, one thing that intrigued me was how did BMK get the SK in 1979 under these circumstances. It would be great to hear your recollections from 1979.

Regards

[cmlover]

One of my biggest disappointments was the denial of SK to Manakkal. He was one of the best in the golden era and was more popular among the masses than even GNB. Unlike Kunnakkudi he refused to play politics and hence got consistently ignored. I would love to know what really transpired!

[erasika]

RaviSri Sir(s?),
It is very interesting, but at the same time very sad to read the anecdotes; to come to know the scenario that had prevailed.. It also triggered my thoughts as to who all would be the potential artistes (hailing from states other than our TN) who are likely to be awarded SK in future, for reasons similar to the above-mentioned ones. I donot intend to demean them, personally I have a lot of regard and respect for these artistes. Still going by the history, looks like…
Perhaps a new thread needs to be opened, to discuss…

Awaiting eagerly some more anecdotes…

[cacm]

One of my biggest disappointments was the denial of SK to Manakkal. He was one of the best in the golden era and was more popular among the masses than even GNB. Unlike Kunnakkudi he refused to play politics and hence got consistently ignored. I would love to know what really transpired!

As a fan of Manakkal I can state that he was NOT considered a musician of depth by most and was put down as a "Speed Merchant" etc at the time I grew up & was not included in the Golden Age etc till recently. As a matter of fact if you exclude the universally accepted greats none of the ones being mentioned now a days were considered top class at that time. I do not agree with this assessment but the name of the game in madras dominated carnatic music can be boiled down to mostly prejudice plus how to put down some one else. Thats why I find the discussions in this section rather amusing. I do not want to straighten out what I can only charitably classify as taking rumours as facts......VKV Its an interesting way to speculate etc but not related to facts in most instances as I grew up and listened to every leading artist of that period as well was privy to many of the subjects being discussed etc.

[cmlover]

VKV
I have also heard what you summarized. There was lot of prejudice against him among those who considered themselves the
custodians of CM. Manakkal also was very proud of his vidwat who would not let go self-dignity to get recognized. Also he lacked
lobby power! If only there were a one-on-one competition he would have defeated every one of his detractors in those days. On the other hand BMK though far junior knew how to play the game! Diplomacy is equally important to get recognized in addition to vidwat!

[sridhar_ranga]

Shri Manakkal Rangarajan about to leave the BVB mini hall after his son Sriram's vocal concert during the recent December season. It was probably Sriram's arangaetram as a vocalist, and the veteran was all encouragement sitting in the front row.

[cmlover]

Thx, Sriram is just behind him.
He has great potential but Rasikas have to get to know him..
Genetics is on his side...

[RaviSri]

joetamarack, Balamurali, it is believed canvassed for SK. I have written about 1979 onwards upto 1990 in Post No 29. After 1991, I don't know, since I did not attend any season after that and I was also not bothered to find out about the behind the scene happenings. I only know that Semmangudi gave up his domineering position, since he was getting old, and thereafter the committee decide on SKs. There may be some interesting anecdotes connected with the Academy and the season, which I shall post.

[MaamiAtHeart]

Ravisri sir, for the sake of readers who are recent followers of Carnatic music and who do not have a lot of insight into the history, could u please explain how SSI got to wield a position of so much influence?

[Rsachi]

Let me try:
1. SSI came from a famous musical family.
2. He was the disciple of MVI.
3. He was considered a star at a young age.
4. He had a VERY ambitious and scheming nature.
5. He got SK very early.
6. He was close to Travancore royal family.
7. He was the principal of Swathi Thirunal college and a director at AIR.
8. He popularised ST compositions many of which he tuned..Bhavayami eg.
9. He counted MSS as his disciple and Sadasivam as a close friend. He had MANY good disciples, also TNK, VR etc. etc.
10. He meant business 24x7.
11. He had a loooong innings, something like Gavaskar+Tendulkar.
12. His music had appeal to listeners for over 60 years.

[KNV1955]

Rsachi Add Achara Seelar (Very disciplined)/No habits (except the snuff in concerts only, not as habit)/must have chanted million Gayatri/excellent public speaker/had a great sense of humour...

[hnbhagavan]

Dear friends-

I have read this thread with great interest.I have posted under Vaggeyakaras ,Music Academy's treatment For Sri Lalgudi G Jayaraman who got very few chances
to perform Violin concerts in the years 1985 - 2008.Incidentally,I went thru the concert schedules of Academy.I do not want to repeat all over again.I request Sachi and friends
to read my posting under Vaggeyakaras.

[Rsachi]

Will do, thank you!

[Pasupathy]

I distinctly remember a review ( probably by Subbudu) in Indian Express one Music Season, where he praised Madurai Somu and Manakkal Rangarajan as " musicians among giants and giants among musicians". Unfortunately I never saved those reviews....

Generally it is believed that Lalgudi , not being happy with TNK getting SK earlier, did not want to accept SK afterwards. he did not participate in MA for many years. It was T T Vasu who pacified him and brought him back to MA to introduce another Jayaraman as SK ....DKJ.

[cmlover]

RaviSri
Confirm whether MA was ready to award SK to SSI before MVI and he personally wanted them to award
it to his Guru before him....

Rsachi

He was a very good politician, well versed in Raja Tantra...
He wielded enormous power due to the Royal Patronage..
He knew to please the British without getting involved in the national politics
He exploited his students as a strict Guru, but was very kind to them and promoted them.

KNV
I have heard he has never missed a single day of Sandhyavandanam (even when he was sick....)

[Rsachi]

Sir, Sandhyavandanam, Sangeethavandanam etc. is supposed to confer nobility, and kindness, and seeing others' merit, I suppose? Or am I wrong, sir?

[cmlover]

Ravana used to perform sandhyavandanam every day. That never made him noble!
I have yet to hear whether CM ever made any one noble including the original composers
(whose original life story is not fully known)

[Rsachi]

But Ravana, a good composer, musician-veena player, instrument-maker, and Shiva Bhakta, Achara-sheela, and surely a Kalanidhi, got liberation (that too at the hands of Sri Rama)! I believe he also had a good sense of humour and passionate flights of imagination.
He also believed that ten heads are better than one. Does academy have ten members in its committee!?

[cmlover]

Incidentally can RaviSri/Others describe the process of selecting the SK?
Is there any Rasika's inputs at any stage?

[RaviSri]

Some worthies at the Academy wanted to honour Semmangudi with SK because he was very close with the royal family of Travancore. Also they needed MS on their side (after 3 years of boycotting her) and they thought that being her guru, SSI could be relied to prevail upon Sadasivam to agree to support the Academy. SSI was also close with many VIPs and this was seen as an advantage, for the Academy was planning to build its own auditorium and i needed funds and support.

SSI however thought that the music fraternity would not forgive him if he got his Kalanidhi before MVI. He told the Academy as much, but they were reluctant as they considered MVI to be a maverick and wayward who could not be trusted to fulfill his obligations as the president of a conference. However SSI was insistent and ultimately MVI got his SK in 1945. There was no Kalanidhi in 1946 as that year was observed as Thyagaraja's 100th anniversary. SSI became SK in 1947.

MVI should have been honoured in 1939 after Ariyakkudi itself followed by Chembai etc. But fact remains that MVI was not considered at all until SSI insisted.

No habits (except the snuff in concerts only, not as habit)

SSI's voice was never under his control right from the beginning. It was Rajaji who advised him to try snuff. After he took Rajaji's advice, SSI's voice came under his control. It is really surprising that Rajaji who hated people smoking or snuffing or drinking should offer this advice. Ultimately the advice proved beneficial to Semmangudi.

[RaviSri]

No formal process has been followed by the Academy in selecting SKs. Never. Apart from the clamouring for MLV and Balamurali amongst their rasikas which ultimately got both of them the award that too in subsequent years, I have not seen or heard of any instance where rasikas of music got to influence the awarding of SK.

The Academy does the opposite. When Subbudu openly wrote in favour of MLV in the Ananda Vikatan followed by rasikas support by way of letters to the editor in 1974, SSI and the Academy firmly rejected the demand. There was never a year in the 1970s (right from 1973 upto 1979) when Subbudu did not clamour for Seshagopalan getting the senior slot in the concert schedule. Because of Subbudu's insistence TNS was kept at the 3p.m. level for years, and I think it was only in 1981 that he got promoted to the senior slot, that too 8 p.m. He had to wait another couple of years before he could sing in the 5 p.m. slot. So much for rasikas and their influence. Rasikas are needed to fill up the coffers, after that they can go to hell, who cares?

[cmlover]

Tragic! What else can I say!
I am witnessing the combined input of artistes/fans/reporters/... in the oscar Academy selections
which is a global event (to be aired tomorrow). Though SK is regarded the coveted honour in CM,
it is miserable that the selection process is Cloudy and riddled with 'dirty" politics!
Time to think of alternatives!

We can brainstorm ideas at this Forum!
What is the signal honour in HM? And how do they select?
Somebody comment please...