One lifetime is never enough...

The Legend of Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer

   
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I first fell in love at the age of eight! I was bowled over at first sight in the holy precincts of Trivandrum's Navaratri Mandapam, on that most auspicious of occasions, the festival of the Goddess. For the next twenty three years it's a tempestuous affair that I have had... an enduring, solid partnership, redoubtable and reliable. A constant presence in my life through times thick and thin, through the highs and lows, in sickness and in health, in success and in failure... he was always there by my side with his subliminal Music, my beloved Semmangudi thatha! Today I receive the gloomy tidings of his passing, but that is nary a reason for the affair to end. Sure, I shudder at the thought of not being able to savour that energetic stage presence anymore, but Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer meant much more than just a balding, bespectacled, avuncular visage.

He symbolizes permanence and class and his singularly remarkable musical accomplishments remind us ever so often of how much more one has to do before laying claim to even a fraction of his greatness. He lifts us from moods of despondency with brisk rounds of racy kalpanaswarams with the same felicity with which he soothes frazzled nerves by singing a serene Anandabhairavi. In a large collection of his concert recordings, one might discern a set pattern and seeming repetition of kritis, but each rendition of the same kriti is different, bringing out subtle raga nuances and turns of phrase. Then there are those monumental RTPs, the thanams brimming with trademark fluency, in ragas ranging from Keeravani to Kedaragowla and everything in between. He never fails to move you with bhava-laden slokams, the best example being the Navarasa Ragamalika. I close my eyes and think back to the countless times I have melted into a peaceful reverie, aided by the opening notes of "Deva Deva..." in Mayamalavagowla and suddenly I feel orphaned. I feel so small and lost, even ashamed that I should be attempting to write these inadequate words about a man who is beyond such lame descriptions and hagiography...

He has been deified as a legend and vilified as a schemer, but aren't those mere labels, stuck by humans upon other humans?  The sublime music alone is enough to transcend all such mortal predilections. I have met him face-to-face in a non-concert setting on just one unforgettable "once-in-a-lifetime" occasion, a few months back when I accompanied Sowmya to visit thatha at his Mylapore residence. He was physically weak, his voice was a low whisper, but what struck me was his mental alertness, his awareness and sharp observations on the world around him. The hands with long, slender fingers laboriously wrote an autograph for me - a piece of paper that I will treasure the rest of my life - while he was pontificating about today's music world. I was amazed at his ability to remember faces, events and anecdotes from the annals of history. It was obvious that he keenly observed the progress of today's younger musicians and he had words of encouragement and healthy criticism... hallmarks of a soul who cared!

Today, as I join Sowmya, Shashikiran and the rest of the Carnatica team in bidding farewell to thatha's  mortal remains, I am humbled by the thought that one lifetime is never enough to appreciate such divinity! Allow me to borrow Shelley's immortal phrase, "Hail to thee, blithe spirit...!"

Ramanathan N. Iyer

(Editor, Carnatica)

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Copyright: Srishti's Carnatica Private Limited

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