The world is gearing up to celebrate the birth centenary of the greatest doyenne of Carnatic music, Bharat Ratna Smt. M.S. Subbulakshmi, on 16th September, 2016. As a renowned writer had said, “It would be no exaggeration to say that her music is heard at some part of this world every second. In India, from Rameswaram in the southernmost tip of the country to Badrinath nestled in the Himalayas to Tirumala the sacred temple, her divine voice resonates and the deities within these sacred temples hear her voice everyday. Subbulakshmi had great charisma with an amazing stage presence. She was indeed a musical genius. Her mellifluous music never faded away in the seventy years that she had been singing publicly. Her greatness of music often lay in the words that were set to music.
Many songs, kritis, bhajans and even abhangs and patriotic songs became synonymous with Subbulakshmi like Bhavayami Raguraram, Sri Rangapura Vihara, Bhaja Govindam, Kanaka Saila, Kurai Onrum Illai, Hari Tuma Haro and many more songs had unique an exclusive stamp and melody of Subbulakshmi. The most popular rendition of her to this day remains the ever immortalised “Venkatesha Suprabhatham”.
One of her landmark concerts was held in 1966 in the UN Assembly Hall where her invocation for Universal peace and brotherhood (Maithreem Bhajatha by the Paramacharya of Kanchi), evoked international praise. And even to this day, it is globally popular. Once, after getting totally involved and mesmerized by Subbulakshmi’s singing, the Maha Periyava (Senior pontiff of Kanchi Mutt) concluded by saying, “I have no hunger now. I have already had enough food. I can go to bed and have a nice sleep!”. Former Prime Minister of India Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru after a concert of Subbulakshmi emotionally said, “ She is the Queen of music….and who am I in front of her?!”
True fans of M.S. Subbulakshmi may know that she loved ginger coffee, French perfume, jasmine flowers and the colour blue. They may also know that she never ate ice cream and that her favourite rage was Shankarabharanam. But did they know that the first song the legendary Tamil singer ever sang in public was in Marathi? Few know that Subbulakshmi also sang “Ishrat-e-qatrah”, a complex Ghalib ghazal.
It is worth mentioning today, that thanks to various modes of communications, her many masterpieces like Suprabhatham, Maithreem Bhajatha, Kurai Onrum Illai etc are well circulated and repeatedly shared through “Whatsapp” and other media and her fans listen to them almost everyday while undertaking a journey. Even north Indians, Maharashtrians and many people from other communities too make it a point to begin the day by playing and listening to the ever popular “Venkatesha Suprabhatham”, in the morning daily. Same is the case with her other rendition of Hanuman Chalisa which is nationally popular even today. She was the first musician to be awarded the nation’s highest civilian award, The Bharat Ratna. Even today, just her name, “MSS Amma”, is just enough to inspire generations of musicians and she will continue to live in the hearts of millions forever.
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
