IF MUSIC BE THE FOOD OF LOVE...

An interface with Shri. Ramabhadran of SAFE

   
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Continuing our series on Sabhanayakas, Geetha Iyengar introduces Shri. Ramabhadran, founder of SAFE (Shanti Arts Foundation & Endowment) 

“I set the ball rolling and how long it rolls is in their (artistes') hands”, says Shri. Ramabhadran, as the Ramabhadrans and I take a trip down memory lane and view his many achievements in the fields of sports and music. An Instrumentation Engineer by profession, Ramabhadran retired as a senior scientist of the Atomic Energy Centre, Mumbai.

Science, Sports and Music - how did it all happen?

I was always passionate about sports and wherever I got a chance I tried to set up a centre for sports activities. Music has always been close to my heart. My children were into dance and music classes and I was also involved in their activities. Once the fever gets you, there is no looking back. Nothing can take me away from sports.

Tell us a bit about SAFE...

SAFE is an organization for the promotion of music and is in memory of my daughter Shanti. Shanti passed away at the age of 22 and as long as she lived, her life was a saga of service to the poor and needy in the slums and also to anything connected with music. She helped me to organize the Music Triangle at Mumbai and was with me when I organized programmes at Shanmukhananda Hall, Mumbai. She used to empathize with the slum children and I remember the Diwali before she passed away... she asked for fireworks and took great pleasure in inviting the children from the slums to watch and be thrilled by the display. SAFE was started by me with a corpus fund of Rs. 5 lakhs. Today it is worth 10 lakhs and it is also a public institution. With falling interest rates it is becoming very difficult to fork out 50% for charities as we have been doing till now. My wife and I are the Founder Trustees and among the trustees are Sudha Raghunathan and Nadopasana Srinivasan who is a great support because of his knowledge of administration. My eldest brother P. Thothadri was Executive trustee until he passed away and in his place I brought in my younger brother P. Rajagopalan, the founder of CMNA (Carnatic Musicians of North America) who came back to India after 46 years in the US, because of his love for Carnatic Music.

What was your involvement in Mumbai in the field of music?

Bharatiya Music and Arts Society in Matunga was the focus of my efforts and it came almost on par with the Shanmukhananda Society. My family and I were very deeply involved in arranging programmes and collecting funds. It had established itself very well. I had to leave for the US... A farewell was arranged by Bharatiya and Mulund societies as a recognition of my efforts. Sad to say that Bharatiya did not survive long for no reason at all.

Any special event that has stayed in your memory?

It was the first time in Mumbai that about 40 institutions gathered together with one common aim. I had to do a lot of spade work to get big names like Times of India, Cadbury’s and a host of othes to honour the late Dorairaja Iyer with the title of Natya Sastra Virpanam in 1974. The great Bhulabhai Desai presided and Sitara Devi spoke in Hindi. T. V. Ramanujam spoke in English and Cadbury’s Lakshmanan spoke in Tamil. Sulochana Rajendran, the well known writer and editor of Shanmukha, the magazine of Shanmukhananda Society wrote the preview and review and there was a Bharatanatyam program produced by Dorairaja Iyer. It was a momentous occasion and I don’t think there was a precedent in Mumbai. I am proud to say that I was recognised as a social worker in the Vile Parle area and with good contacts I was able to muster these people for the event. Dancer Revathi Ramachandran is one of the distinguished sishyas of this guru.

What are the activities of SAFE? 

We had a Talent Promotion event last year for youngsters. 30 young artistes were given medals and 5 were given musical instruments. The value of all the instruments was one lakh rupees. The Tambura, Mridangam, violin, etc. were all part of my personal collection. Every year we have an event that starts from December 11th. Three eminent musicians are honoured with Rs. 5000 each. T. Rukmini, Kanyakumari and Kedaranathan will be the recipients this year. In mid-November, seniors (all ladies) will be honoured. Next year it will be men who will be felicitated. Our December programme is dedicated to one of the past stalwarts of Carnatic music. This year it is dedicated to Madurai Mani Iyer. We are a small unit but are doing every bit to support music and charity. This way I am honouring the memory of my daughter. We have an endowment for blind people this year and we will give Rs. 5000 to an aspiring rasika to pursue higher studies. Feeding poor people is also done as a part of the SAFE programme.

While you were in the US, what were your activities?

I was associated with CMNA in New Jersey for 10 years though I was not on the committee. Almost all the musicians who came to the US stayed with me and I enjoyed every moment of it.

What about your interest in sports?

In Mumbai I started the Airport club at Mumbai and we cleared the land given by the government and set up a community centre where ladies could meet and play indoor games. Unfortunately a housing colony came up in a part of the allotted land after I went to the US. However it ran successfully and it makes me feel good my efforts were not in vain. In Chennai I set up the sports club and as part of the fund raiser we organized a programme by the Travancore sisters who were later very famous (Lalitha, Padmini and Ragini). We collected Rs. 10,000 and it was a sizeable amount those days. As luck would have it, it collapsed after a year.

In spite of all these reverses the spirit is still there. What makes you tick?

Being committed to a cause and being mentally and physically active is important. With all the children abroad, my wife and I make plans, reminisce and try to look ahead. There is a lot to be done and as the poet says miles to go before we sleep...

Geetha Iyengar

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