MADURAI SHANMUGAVADIVU

[arasi]

Published in the magazine KALKI in 1957 in a series of articles about Outstanding Women

VEENAI SHANMUGAVADIVU
by
KALKI

From ancient times, the veena and the flute have been deemed as fine musical instruments. The great TiruvaLLuvar thought so too. He exclaimed in one of his couplets: are there things more sweeter sounding than the flute and the vINA? Yes, the lisping sounds coming from the mouth of our babes...
Even an infant without a sweet voice would sound that way to its parents. What if the child were endowed with a voice sweeter than that of a veena by the grace of God? How much a mother would have reveled in it, listening to that lisping child's voice!
Such grace fell on Madurai SrImathi Shanmugavadivu ammal. A fortunate woman who could take pride in that she gave birth to a daughter who is well-known all over India, Srimathi M.S. Subbulakshmi.
*****

Shanmugavadivu came from a family which was known for its love for music and in being gifted with it. Her father
M.S. Swaminatham was not only keen on music but was well-versed in it. Her mother Akkamma was proficient in playing the violin. Their dear daughter was born in the year 1889 on the 17th in the month of Panguni.

The child was keen on music from a very young age and was eager to learn too. The parents wanted a good guru and found one in Karur Venkatarama Bhagavathar, a prominent vidvan. Since Shanmugavadivu's voice was not that appealing to get trained in vocal music, she started her lessons in playing the vINA. Perhaps her regret in not possessing a good singing voice was more than redressed while listening to the voice of her daughter--a result of all her nAdOpAsana.

Shanmugavadivu advanced rapidly in her learning. Even illustrious vidwans like Tirukkodikkaval Krishnaiyer, Maduravilagam Muthiah Bhagavathar and others had spoken highly of her mother Akkamma's playing the violin. When they heard Shanmugavadivu play, they exclaimed: like mother, the daughter! They blessed her and felt she would no doubt grow in her art.

[Pasupathy]

Thanks, Arasi .
Those interested can see a picture and read the article in Tamil at:
https://s-pasupathy.blogspot.com/2019/12/1408-209.html

[arasi]

Their words came true. At the age of fifteen, with the approval of her guru, she started giving veena concerts. She would play three to four hours without any accompanists. Rasikas would listen to her enraptured, not minding the long duration of her concerts at all.

Her debut performance was at a wedding in lawyer Somaiyajulu's residence. From then on, Shanmugavadivu started playing regularly at weddings and sabhas.

Soon, lawyer P.N. Subramaniam, a keen rasika became her life partner. With his encouragement, she often gave concerts in Tanjore, Trichy, Tirunelveli, Ramanthapuram, Chennai and other places.

Veena Subbanna and Seshanna, famed instrumentalists from Mysore listened to her often and admired her technique in playing, aliong with the sweet sounds of her veena.

Tirukkodikaval Krishnaiyer who had admired her playing even when she was a child, heard her play again. He wasn't content just in praising her. To prove her mettle as it were, he set some hard tests for her: playing in succession sammela rgAs like bhairavi, mukhari, nayaki, durbar, arabhi, devagandhari. Also ghana raga tanams, chowka kalam, madhyama kalam in pallavis. He was delighted that she came out with flying colors in the tests. He arranged for many concerts for her in the rasika-dense chola nadu in many venues.

It is well-known that her guru Tirukkodikkaval Krishnaiyer was an illustrious figure in the musical world in his times. He was a highly principled man who sought to maintain excellence in the art of carnatic music. That he was keen on recommending her to sabhas and patrons itself vouches for the excellence he found in her playing.

When Shanmugavadivu once was in Chennai, veenai Dhanammal heard her play and was thrilled to hear her. She blessed her saying: you too. like me would serve music and be mother to musical children. Her heart-felt wishes--how they have borne fruit!
In a conference of experts, Vijayanagaram vainika Venkataramana dasar praised the vidushi no end. Matchless vainikas, Karaikudi brothers have admired her playing.

Besides being a well-known musician, Shanmugvadivu also knew the grammar and nuances of music. Even seasoned musicians would ask her about the intricacies in music when they had any doubts.

[arasi]

She celebrated Tyagaraja Utsavam every year at her residence with zeal. Well-known musicians came to participate in it.

M S Subbulakshmi was born in this rich musical environment. Parents and friends endearingly called her 'kunju' (a fledgling). When she was still a toddler, her father P. S. Subramaniam passed away. Shanmugavadivu was steeped in sorrow. It somewhat consoled her to see her daughter's intense love for music. She was thrilled to hear such sweetness in her child's voice. She was filled with pride to see the girl flourish in her learning of music.

Before the child was ten, she started appearing on the stage with her mother, singing here and there. Those who heard them then, still cherish that experience.Was it the veena strings of the mother which were sweeter or the flood of music that came from the child, they wondered.

"tammin tam makkaL aRivuDaimai mAnilathu
mannuyirkellAm inidu"

From TiruvaLLuvar's TirukkuraL

Translation by V.V.S.Iyer(va ve su)
It's a joy to every man to find himself eclipsed by the intelligence of his children.
(every woman too, as in this instance!)

Only a few are fortunate enough to see their children do even better than themselves in the arts. Shanmugavadivu was confident her daughter would attain more fame and recognition than herself. So, when the gramaphone company wanted to record her voice, she took her daughter along.

Her tAnam playing and the padam Siva dIksha. were recorded and got to be very popular. The recording engineer, an Englishman, took along with him a copy of the tAnam and played it to many at home. He wrote in detail how her playing was appreciated by listeners abroad.

Shanmugavadivu made sure that her daughter's music was also recorded. Not yet ten, the child sang maragata vaDivum in ChenchuruTTi. The gramaphone company did this to please the mother. No one imagined that it would get to be a very popular plate! This song sung in six kaTTai Sruti was heard all over tamil nadu for a while.

After this, it became a mission for the mother to see to the grooming of her daughter, and soon MSS started giving solo performances. The mother would sit by her singing daughter on stage and forget herself in the sweetness of her voice. She would take pride in watching the listeners appreciating her child's music.

[arasi]

M.S. Subbulakshmi's name and fame are well established in the world of music. Shanmugavadivu has stopped giving performances. Her daughter's glory is hers now, she feels.

May carnatic music be granted many gifted musicians like this mother and daughter. Our prayers to Saraswathi who is seated on the white lotus to grant us that boon!
(Kalki is kind of hinting at Bharathi's veLLaith tAmaraip pUvil iruppAL, vINai seyyum oliyil iruppAL?)

*********

[RSR]

@arasi
Madam,
.

Superb translation.! I have been yearning for a gifted person like you to translate this lovely writeup from Kalki for so long , so that people who could not read Thamizh would get to know the true and glorious pedigree of Smt.MS 's mother. How am I to thank you enough and DrPas (@Pasupathy ) to have preserved such gems for posterity. ?.Even the site dedicated to Smt.MS does not have this much valuable information. You are doing great service to CM community. Best Regards as ever.

[arasi]

RSR,
You had asked me for it in the Maharajapuram Viswanatha Iyer thread
I brought a grain, as a sparrow in its beak, thanks to the granary that Dr. Pasupathy has garnered over the years tirelessly.
His Musical Morsels thread (Sangeetha SangathigaL from his blog) is inspiring, to say the least.

Thanks to you for your (rather lavish) appreciation Besides prattle and reviews, it has made me happy, sharing what I come across with other rasikAs. That's why I brought Yadugiri Ammal's memories about Bharathi and other translations here. Musical experience is enhanced by sharing with others what we have have gained.
Your input is stunning, and you are not alone in this on Rasikas.org. Thanks to all.

Rasikas.org has been my learning and sharing place for many years. I am glad to be back in the fold a little older, and if the Cleveland Aradhana gets streamed this year, I don't know if I have the energy to do a commentary on it with my other 'not so young' but energetic rasika friends this year. Hope the young ones get to do that. Meanwhile, I will, at my own pace try and bring in some more interesting morsels from Sangeetha SangathigaL...

[RSR]

REF-P-7
@arasi
Madam,

I brought a grain, as a sparrow in its beak, thanks to the granary that Dr. Pasupathy has garnered over the years tirelessly

.
This is 'poetic prose'!
-
I did read your 'oay Baarathiyaare' serial, in full . Those were the decades of great patriots like Aurbindo Ghosh-
Anushilan and Jugantha samithi, Surath Congress of 1907 to which both Baarathy and VOC were delegates, of the Extremist faction led by Lokamaanya. We had a great uprising in Tuuticorin and ThiruNelveli,
Suubramanya Siva, Neelakanta Brammachari ...Vanchinaathan and many more. Towering among them was the great scholar revolutionary VVS Iyer. and his wife Bhagyalakshmi.. .Without a lot of introductory information about them, the post-1970 diaspora may not really absorb the spirit of the book.
--
How does 1900 to 1920 compare with 2000 to 2020?
.
The narrative and your translation are very valuable, especially to the Y2K generation. I was only wondering, about MPT Acharya.
-
What happened to the plan to get it published in web?
Can Gutenberg org be utilized for self-publishing? If you permit, I would like to place it in a special website -free- with pages and photos and where available, music clips . for each chapter.
-

[arasi]

'kuruvi talayil panangAi!
I merely translated the child's awe for Bharathi bit and some more, but credit goes to all who carried on with Sri. Padmanabhan's book and other sources. I got caught up with life and couldn't continue to write. Details anyway are difficult for me, and also scholarly stuff!

I haven't checked. Is the translation still available somewhere? Rajesh took the pains to see to it that Yadugiri Ammal's book got re-published (100 copies). We all bought copies and I gave them to many to read. I may still have a few copies in India. My writings, however scanty (in tamizh and English) do not venture out, except here at Rasikas. org! Staying with the sparrow image, call me bird-brained

[RSR]

An uploader serpent......' , is sharing a lot of very rare vintage 78 RPM records in youtube channel.
serpent maigre
Very senior rasiakas in this forum may be able to identify the voice and veeNa of Smt.Shanmugavadivu , mother of Smt.MS.
Veena Shanmuga Vadivoo sings beautiful song with veena
https://youtu.be/v-9eiF36rm8
====================================
Shanmuga Vadivoo sings Thiruppugal [ Sindhu Bhiravi ]
https://youtu.be/DXj850TARcU
@Pasupathy , @arasi madam

[arasi]

These are precious. How succinctly they reveal where her Bharath Ratna daughter's intonation and phrasing came from! And the mother's, from the very vINA that she played. Of course, they were gifted with something even beyond that.

The vINA influence, let alone in their case, is seen even in lesser musicians. We listen to them singing in the way a vINA is played. My aunt had a powerful voice, but it was not sweet. She had the great fortune of learning to play the vINA from none other than Maha Vidwan Muthiah Bhagawathar. How her commanding voice would turn mellow when she would sing softly in sahAna "tEDi sORu nidam tinRu, pala chinnanjiru kadaigaL pEsi" in vINA-like soft notes to voice Bharathi's poetry!