End of an epoch...

The Goddess of Devotional music, MS Subbulakshmi passed away a couple of days back...

I could barely believe it when I read about it in the papers. Yeah, granted that she was not young any more and was reported to have been admitted to hospital. She had also stopped singing since her husband died. But then, it still was difficult to come to terms with her demise.

Having been brought up in a conservative South Indian family, MS was a part of my life from a very early age. You could find most South Indian Households reverberating with her "Kausalyaa Suprajaa Raama Poorva Sandhyaa Pravarthathe..." every morning. My initiation into Vishnu Sahasranamam was through a half - hour long gramophone record carrying her rendition of the same... I still remember feeling all restless and wondering when the recital would get over. But now, I can not have enough of it... Strange how things work.

However, even at a young age, her singing in the film "Meera" attracted me. Later, this attraction changed to fascination. I simply could not get enough of her songs! In fact, one of my first uses of Sharescan after coming to IIMA was to find out the availability of MS Songs on the LAN :-)). Her voice would seem so soothing and mellifluous. But what made me really pick her out of all others of her generation? Was it the Clear tone of her voice? Was it her impeccable fidelity? Was it her purity of Shruti? Was it her incredible attention to pronunciation? Or was it something more?

I found the answer one day while I was waiting outside a temple... I had heard the song "Dolayaam" (which is supposed to be sung when Lord Vishnu and His Consort are together on a swing) sung by a prominent Carnatic musician of our times some time back. Then I heard the same song sung by MS being played... The difference could not be starker... It was clear to me then that what was a direct conversation with God for MS remained a mere song for ordinary mortals...It was that Bhakti that really came through in her songs...

Her devotional songs had the ability to transcend the boundaries of the earthly world and take us to a different plane altogether. It was almost as if she could see the Deity she was singing about. That to me was the difference...

It also taught me a lesson on what is uniqueness and excellence all about. What made her stand out like a shining light among those illustrious exponents of the noble art of Music? It was her involvement in what she set out to do...She could do it better than anyone else because she put her entire Soul behind her effort. That to me is the key lesson her life holds for people, irrespective of country, religion caste and creed.

She also used to consider herself a student of Music till the very end...That gave her the humility that endeared her to all music lovers. Her contributions to charity were not to be sneered at either.

Thanks to all the technology we still get to hear those divine songs, but her demise leaves a void that cannot be filled. She was the Don Bradman of Carnatic Devotional music (or Kalidasa, for the more poetically inclined :-)). Others could always try to wrestle for the second spot, but the foremost place is hers and hers alone, in my mind at least.

May her Soul Rest in peace...
Her Lord has called her to His abode...

Logging off
Sitan