Celebrating the life & works of a music legend

Shailaja Khanna

For anyone keen on an in-depth insight about this unparalleled musician, ‘The Life and Art of MS Subbulakshmi’ is a must read. Keshav Desiraju traces her humble origins in Madurai to becoming one of the most celebrated and cosmopolitan musicians India has had. Knowledge about the system of Carnatic music, the composers, the history of the performance format, and lives of contemporary musicians are all presented, making this book an invaluable reference point.

Facts about MS Subbulakshmi that one may have forgotten are worth recalling; she received the Padma Bhushan in the year it was instituted (1954); incredibly, at the young age of 38. She was the first woman to be awarded the prestigious Sangita Kalanidhi award from the Madras Music Academy, the first musician to be awarded the Padma Vibhushan in 1975, as well as the Bharat Ratna in 1998. A phenomenal success in the four films she made, ending with the immortal ‘Meera’, yet MS Subbulakshmi reigns in hearts solely due to her music — Desiraju skillfully writes how this came to be. He is at pains to keep refuting, through meticulously collected data, the implication that MS Subbulakshmi owed her pre-eminent position in the world of classical music only to the careful projection of her glamorous persona and good public relations, as well as her inescapable association with spirituality. Her numerous recordings of devotional prayers are indeed synonymous with her name even today, waking up the faithful in as distant temples as Badrinath in Uttarakhand. However, as Desiraju reiterates, this was just one side of her musicality. In his words, “she was, first and foremost, a consummate artiste…”

There is also fascinating trivia — when she got the Bharat Ratna in 1998, Pt Ravi Shankar bent to touch her feet while congratulating her, and she said, prophetically as it turned out, “You next.” He did indeed receive the Bharat Ratna in 1999. In 1962, she purchased the house of Syama Sastri (one of the trinity composers, the other two being Tyagaraja and Muthuswami Dikshitar) for Rs8,000; in 1975, she bought Tyagaraja’s house, and gave them both to be preserved for posterity to the Tiruvarur Music Trinity Commemoration Sabha. The singer’s charity work, an essential component of her personality, is a recurring theme.

Laudably, unlike most modern biographies, there is no attempt to sensationalise gossip about her; but nor is there any attempt to whitewash elements of her life; this book is remarkably unbiased and objective. The focus rightly remains on her music.

Her financial distress towards the end of her life is tragic, but written with sensitivity and tact. Desiraju paints the picture of a dignified, humble person one cannot help but warm up to. His analysis of her music is shrewd, just and perceptive; the detailed review of her concert repertoire over the years will be of interest to devoted fans; for the lay reader, it tends perhaps to get tedious.

As this book has been written several years after Subbulakshmi’s death, and that too after various authoritative books on her, obviously, as justification, it needs to be comprehensive. That also makes it a somewhat ponderous read. The lack of new material is on expected lines; the 15 chapters include extensive material on the background and context of Subbulakshmi’s times, which somewhat tends to digress from the subject. That the book is well researched is irrefutable, but one misses the authentic perspective of the subject herself. This is, of course, inevitable when a person prefers to remain private; her diaries which could have been a valuable source are obviously not accessible. But then, isn’t this how a public figure should be judged? Delving into private details in order to get an insight into what led to the art will always remain a speculative endeavour.

In the nightingale’s own words, “It is not enough to be able to sing, one must feel deeply. Otherwise, one is merely singing a collection of words and clever musical phrases.” It is this that made her music immortal.