Maharajapuram Santhanam

MY GURU
Maharajapuram Santhanam
Dr. R. Ganesh
I
was learning Carnatic music
while studying in the IX Standard
at the Kalyanasundaram Hr. Sec.
School in Tanjavur. One day when I
went to visit my friend Giri, I heard
melodious music which went straight
to my heart. The voice had a magnetic
quality and it lingered even after I
returned home. The next day Giri’s
mother played the music again for
me – it was Muthuswami Dikshitar’s
Nandagopala in Yamunakalyani sung
by Maharajapuram Santhanam. From
that moment he became my idol.
My father had this habit of presenting
gifts to me and my sisters for securing
high marks in the school exams.
While my sisters liked ornaments, I
opted for cassettes of Maharajapuram
Santhanam and was thrilled to receive
AVM’s new release. Playing his music
countless times, I started collecting
more and more of his recordings
and became addicted to his masterly
renditions. In school I sang his songs
at every opportunity and won many
prizes. By this time I was determined
to become his disciple. My father
M. Radhakrishnan, an ardent rasika
of Carnatic music, told me it was a
Utopian dream to want to learn from
such a famous personality. However,
he made it a point to take me
to Santhanam Sir’s concerts in
Chennai and Tiruvaiyaru. He
introduced me and conveyed my
desire to the maestro. Meanwhile,
in 1986, I was offered a seat in the
Namakkal Veterinary College, but
I pestered my influential uncle M.
Chidambaram to get me a seat in
Chennai at the Madras Veterinary
College, which he did. I shifted
base to Chennai from Tanjavur,
and stayed in a relative’s house.
Soon after coming to Chennai, my
father escorted me to Santhanam
54 l SRUTI September 2013
he offered to teach me and asked me
to go back the next day. I could not
believe my ears! I felt I was on top of
the world.
S. SANKARANARAYANA
Sir’s house on Sivagnanam Road,
T. Nagar. As Sir was to sing at
Krishna Gana Sabha that evening and
was resting his voice, I had to return
home with his blessings. We tried to
fix more appointments, but in vain.
My father lost hope and returned to
Tanjavur. Then on a Sunday I barged
into the house of Santhanam Sir and
found him in the hall with friends and
family members. He recognised me
and asked me to sing. I sang Narayana
ninna followed by Upacharamulanu
in Bhairavi – songs I had learnt from
his cassettes. After listening to me
Ganesh with his guru
The next day I went to Sir’s house
with fruits and tamboolam for my
first class. He taught me the Ata tala
varnam Vanajakshi in Kalyani and
asked me to attend daily classes. As
the days passed I could see he was
happy with my progress, but he had
the knack of always pushing my
target a little beyond my reach. On
some days he asked me to stay in his
house. Within a month I realised that
his home was filled with music – his
sons and daughter would be singing
upstairs and my guru on the ground
floor. I watched and tried to imbibe
as much as I could apart from what
I learnt in class. It was almost like
a gurukulam for six years. He was a
strict teacher and kept me on my toes.
While teaching a composition he
explained its meaning, and provided
insights into its context and musical
nuances. He advised me to listen to
the music of great vidwans, and attend
lecdems. He felt that in order to do
justice to the manodharma aspects
of a raga, a musician must know at
least ten kritis in it to understand its
swaroopa.
After sometime he chose me to
provide him vocal support. I was
thrilled though apprehensive. On
9th August 1987, at Sri Krishna
Gana Sabha, I ascended the
concert platform as his vocal
accompanist. He tested me on
the stage by allowing me to sing
some of the difficult sangatis in
songs like Dayavillaya dayalo in
Kharaharapriya and Ninnanodi in
Todi. It was a milestone in my life
– not only was I learning from
him, but was sitting behind him and
singing with him.
Soon I had the good fortune of
singing with him on many prestigious
platforms like the Music Academy,
Narada Gana Sabha, Krishna Gana
Sabha, and Tamil Isai Sangam
in Chennai, as well as in famous
venues outside Tamil Nadu like the
Bangalore Gayana Samaja, the Siri
Fort Auditorium in Delhi, and the
Shanmukhananda Sabha in Mumbai.
Often he would teach me a song in
the morning where we were staying,
and I would be put to test on stage the
same evening. With the grace of God
and my guru’s blessings I succeeded.
I was the track singer for many of his
albums like HMV’s Govinda Ninna
Namave Chanda, AVM’s Saravana
Bhava, Dasara Padagalu, and
Bhajans of Swami Dayananda.
Santhanam Sir and his wife were very
affectionate. He was particular that I
should have my meals with him, and
made sure that I ate well. He used to
regularly write to me whenever he
went abroad. Though not too fond of
shopping he procured a wrist watch
for me from Dubai. It is still my prized
possession. He also made me his
track singer for many of his albums.
Besides, he also encouraged me to
edit his audio works, and prepare the
layout for inlay cards. One day around
9 pm he handed over a rough sketch
for eight new songs and directed me
to sing them at 8 am on the following
day at the AVM Studios to the
orchestration of vidwan L. Krishnan.
The recording ended at 10 pm and the
last song was an instant hit – it was
Bho Sambho!
In March 1992 when I completed
my Veterinary Medicine course and
secured registration from the council
that entitled me to prefix Dr. to my
name, he was overwhelmed with joy.
I was immediately invited to join
service but Sir wanted me to take up
music full-time. It was at his request
that S. Viswanathan of Enfield India
absorbed me in his new company with
the freedom to sing in concerts ‘on
duty’, with a handsome pay package.
When HMV decided to launch an
album of tillanas of vidwan Lalgudi
G. Jayaraman with orchestration
by the versatile M.S. Viswanathan,
Santhanam Sir asked me to learn
the tillanas and sing the track in the
recording. After the recording, he
remarked “I am proud of you” – a
compliment I cherish to this day. It was
later recorded in my guru’s voice. I
completed the editing and Santhanam
Sir fixed a date for its release – 24th
June 1992. This recording, a coming
together of two maestros – one singing
the compositions of the other – is yet
to see the light of day. It would be a
fitting tribute to both.
On the night of 22 June, Ramu (Sir’s
cousin), young disciple Baby Akila
and I left Chennai for Kumbakonam
where Santhanam Sir had already
arrived from Coimbatore with Mami.
He had a concert on 23 June at 4.30 pm
at Swami Dayananda Matriculation
School, Manjakkudy, with Nagai
Muralidharan and Trichy Harikumar
as accompanists. My father too had
come from Tanjavur to listen to
the concert where I was providing
vocal support. While proceeding to
the stage, Sir asked me out of the
blue: “Ganesa! Why don’t you start
Ganesh
presenting solo performances?” I was
dumbfounded and did not know how
to react. He probably had a plan and
during the concert he insisted that I
should render the Meera bhajan Main
to savariya as a solo – that was how
my arangetram came to pass!
After the concert we went to the
Uppiliappan temple. We were too
many to fit into one car, but in a rare
gesture he made me sit on his lap,
and it was the greatest moment of
my life. After calling on Dayananda
Saraswati Swami we proceeded to
Hotel Rayas from where all of us
were to leave by car the next morning.
At 10 pm while I was massaging
his legs, he suddenly told me that I
should not accompany them in the
car next morning but board the bus
for Chennai that night. Taken aback
I asked him if I had done something
wrong. He quelled my fears and
insisted that I leave immediately by
bus. Did he have a premonition? As
I was about to take my leave of him,
he asked me to prostrate before him
and blessed me. I left the hotel and
reached Chennai by bus at 6 am the
next day, but by then the colossus
– my guru – had been snatched away
by fate at Kooteripattu. The car they
were travelling in had met with a
tragic road accident.
If I am somebody today in the field
of music, it is because of my guru.
He was in fact more than a guru to
me. He was a mother, father, guru
and God – all in one. During the
time I lived in his house I learnt
not only to sing, but the art of
teaching, conversing, handling public
relations, and philanthropy – for
he had all these qualities. He was a
great human being. The years I spent
with him were a golden period in my
life. True to his name, Santhanam
Sir was a ‘maharaja of music’ with a
huge fan following, and none can
ever take his place.
(The author is a musician, nama
sankeertanam artist and veterinary doctor)
55 l SRUTI September 2013