M.J.Srinivasa Iyengar - the Veena artiste and my aunt

Music does not run in the family, but it touched two ladies, my paternal aunts. The younger one, Gowramma, that lived with us all her life pursued her passion with dedication to the extent of becoming a tutor.  The elder one did not, after her marriage in 1941.  

There was a Mridanga at home.  

But this is a web-grabbed image.

The mridanga lay idle in a corner, like a corner-stool.  It had a hole in the leather near the black patch.  I still do not know who used to play it.  But I used to 'beat' it just to hear its sound for fun.  Subba, a poor man who used to come and help grind the spices in our kitchen had noticed this.  Since it was not in use, he asked it.  We gladly gave it to him.

There was a Harmonium, made in France, which my grandfather had bought for his eldest daughter [the elder paternal aunt] when she was young.  

This was in the attic in a nice box, a beautiful home to cockroaches!  Its 'blow-cloth' had been damaged by silver fish and the roaches.  It had beautiful original French brass reeds inside.  I gave away this instrument to a good friend whose daughter is rising in the vocal music world.  I took some pictures of it before giving.

I grew up watching, listening and fiddling the three Veenas at home and admiring the painting by Ravi Varma of Goddess Saraswathi with the Veena.

The melodious notes produced by the Veena is said to be closest to human voice and hence it is considered divine.

Gowramma was into music since her young days.  She had taken 'Music' at Christ the King Convent in her teens.  

This is like a small booklet.

This is a page from a bound book notes.  One date in it says1'948'.  She was 13 then. This is the handwriting of the music teacher who taught at the school.

Report card

Two of the three Veenas  were given by Chitra, a 'step-relative'. Since she did not play it anymore, she had given it to my aunt for use.  The remaining one was said to be made for the elder aunt.  It was later taken away by her descendants after Gowramma's death. You will see the third and smaller Veena later. 

Gowramma was learning Veena under the tutelage of the renown Vidwan, Sri M.J.Srinivasa Iyengar. 

This photo was taken in 1971 in our garden. 

What prompted this post was a news item in our local paper (Star of Mysore, May 26, 2012) reporting about the celebration of his 87th birthday, by his pupils.  

What his pupils performed was also reported in the paper. It was a very unique way indeed.

I wonder how they can make a mistake with Mrs. Padma's initials?  She is 'A.S.Padma'.

It is observed that dedicated musicians live a long life.  Music itself is a health therapy as the boffins are discovering in recent times.  No wonder they keep an active lifestyle and keep themselves occupied, emitting positive vibrations all around.

I remember MJS since the mid 1960s.  He used to come home and teach my aunt for about an hour.  It was in the room adjacent to the hall.  Two straw mats were spread on the floor on the day he was supposed to come - on alternate days.  He was given a certain monthly fee for his noble service.  He would arrive on his bicycle, usually after 7 pm on his way back to his house from the market place or somewhere as our house was on his way to his Jayanagar home.  His arrival was announced "Maeshtru bandidaaray". Maeshtru=Teacher.  He was always costumed in a white collarless-full sleeved, cuffless long shirt and a full white loincloth [panchay]. Sometimes a 'valli' adorned the neck.

The instruments were kept safely in the room, one in a large box and one above it, covered with cloth.  Only two were in regular use. After he came, they were taken out and kept on the mats. They would sit facing each other.  The string tensions were checked for shruti before they started lessons, may be after a silent prayer.

I sometimes went to the room, when I heard my favourite 'keerthanas' being taught.  They attracted me.  I would lean my back against the pile of rolled up beds and listen for a short while and then run away for play.  I think they both played one old lesson and one new in each class.  Sometimes, they repeated the old one many times until MJS felt satisfied with the perfection she attained.  I observed he was a perfectionist.  He would repeat and show many times till she perfected.  He would also sing in his typically deep voice and demonstrate the tune [raaga].   After the new lesson, he would write in the book for her practice like this:

They are MJS's notes from 1979. There are many volumes bound together, serially.  Probably he was teaching from 1962, going by the handwriting and dates written in earlier notes.

I do not remember how much fees he was given, but I clearly remember the manner in which he used to ask before due date. I can never forget his sheepish look.  He did this when about to leave and usually ready with his bicycle!  Sometimes he used to ask as soon as the lesson was over.  I can only make a wild guess [1970s] that it could be about fifty rupees which was not very high even going by his reputation and expertise. Those were still the 'good days' and he was in his late 40s and one can understand the needs of running his family at that stage. Musicians lived mostly on such income from teaching. 

I cannot recall when she stopped his tutions.  May be he left for Bangalore in the 1980s, I remember not, clearly. My aunt was also a veteran by then with a vast experience.  She became a tutor to young students since about 1970.  She was passing on the knowledge even till a fortnight before she died aged just 54, in 1989.  Her end was sudden and premature. The following picture is of a diary in which she recorded the fees collected from her pupils.  

The last entry is just 15 days before she breathed her last. Twenty five rupess/month was a very nominal fee considering that other teachers at the same time were collecting up to one hundred a month.  She was not after money.  Music and Veena were her passions and she pursued it to her heart's joy.  

There is no photograph of her with the Veena except for this one, when she gave a group performance at Rotary Club around 1980. Extreme left. Extreme right is Mrs. Lalitha Sitaram [Sitaraghava Vaidyashala].

After her demise, we had come to know that her close friend Vatsala had a tape containing the recording of her Veena.  She lived in Bangalore and we searched for her house and finally collected it, copied it and returned through a relative.  She too is no more now. So, this is the only recording I have of her.  In the tape, a dozen of her most and my favourite 'keerthanas' are played. She had recorded them with the new 'radio-cassette-player' for Vatsala.  It is so pleasing esp. to listen to 'Raghuvamsha Sudha', 'PraNamaamyaham' and 'Bhaavayaami Raghuraamam'.  One more was 'Marugelara', which is not in it.  May be one day soon, I will find a way to upload the music from that cassette tape and add it here.
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I am coming back to add this widget, thanks to my friend Krishna Rao who helped digitize the audio from the cassette: Now you can listen to five minutes of Bhaavayaami Raghuraamam.... played by Gowramma.
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I was fond of listening to Chittibabu's concerts and looked forward to the 'koel number' [kooOooo] and at its climax, he would show his creative skills and stunts. The classicists did not favour his style, but then he was unique! MJS and my aunt at times used to discuss the various styles of different artistes. 

Only recently, I came to know that MJS was a direct pupil of the renown Veena Venkatagiriyappa, who was a Royal Musician in the Mysore Palace.  It is such a pleasant feeling to know that my aunt was in that line through MJS.  MJS did, because music was his profession also.  But for some reason not known to me, never went to give concerts, like many of her contemporaries did.  Later, MJS moved to Bangalore and with that ended his visit to our house.  His services to music as a Veena player was by then well established.  He was already a top grade artiste with All India Radio.  He fully deserved all those prestigious awards he was later bestowed upon.  He now had a name of his own.

Here is an interview that is available on the web: http://www.bangalorebest.com/discoverbangalore/art_culture/veena.asp
In the interview MJS mentions that he played the Veena in the Mysore style!

Now, this is the third Veena.

My daughter is posing but not playing.  The smallness of the Veena can be observed here.  This picture was taken before we gave it away to another good friend.  We are happy to learn that it is being used regularly now.

This Veena is also said to be Chitra's.  It was probably made to order in small size to suit children.  It produces very melodious vibrations [naada].  I sometimes played one line of 'lambodara lakumikara' after 'sa-ri-ga-ma-pa-da-ni-sa'.  That is all I had learnt from watching.  Both MJS and my aunt wanted me to learn, but it never happened probably because Music did not run, as fast as Sport in the family.  Yet, I have 'an ear for music'.  After all, 'music is the language of the soul.  

Long live, MJS.