She was MSS to connoisseurs of Carnatic music. But Madurai Shanmukhavadivu Subbulakshmi walked like a colossus all over the music world like an angel and immortalised each and every composition she rendered with that divine voice of hers.
Thirteen years after she took the final bow, memories of Subbulakshmi and her mellifluous renderings returned to enthral a gathering of music lovers as M Venkiah Naidu, Vice-President of the country, recounted memories about the great Indian singer in his characteristic style. Many among the audience left the venue wondering whether they had heard anything more emotional about the legendary singer than the epitaph delivered by Naidu on Tuesday, who set the tone for her year-long centenary celebration.
Though the organisers did not state it directly, the centenary of Subulakshmi inaugurated by Naidu marked the beginning of the Chennai Music and Dance Festival which concludes with the Pongal festival in January.
In spite of dengue fever casting a shadow over Chennai and surrounding districts and the political uncertainty hovering over Tamil Nadu due to the power struggle within the ruling AIADMK, the dance and music season commenced with
Naidu’s touching tributes to Subbulakshmi, whom he described as the Nightingale of India because of her voice.
“Dr Sarojini Naidu was the Nightingale of India by her verses, Dr MS Subbulakshmi was the Nightingale of India by her voice,” said the Vice-President, himself an ardent fan of classical Carnatic music and MSS.
Naidu said the uniqueness of Subbulakshmi was her power to unite people with distinct and different ideologies through her divine music. “Titans on the opposite sides of ideology, the likes of Jawaharlal Nehru and Rajaji, united and stood together when it came to appreciating the music that flowed in her mellifluous voice,” reiniscenced the vice president.
He reminded the audience how Mahatma Gandhi was spellbound when he listened to Subbulakshmi rendering Vaishnava Janato. “Knowing that she might not be able to sing a song he had requested, Mahatma Gandhi is supposed to have said, “I would rather hear her recite the lines than hear anyone else sing it”.
In words packed with emotion and admiration, Naidu described Subbulakshmi as a singer who gave music a divine dimension through her voice. “She had that glow, that divine glow, hailed by the great philosopher president Dr S Radhakrishnan as 'Brahma Tejas' found in the "God intoxicated faces" of great sages. She was a patriot. She sang throughput her career, that spanned about 7 decades, the patriotic, nationalist songs of Mahakavi Subramanya Bharathi very spiritedly,” said Naidu bringing back memories of the immortal renderings made by the great singer.