Spotlight
Birth centenary celebrations of vidwan M.A. Narasimhachar

“Many musicians become
friendly with those in power, including politicians, and get favours done. In
the process, sincere scholars of music don’t get the salutations they deserve”,
MA Narasimhachar had said in an interview to a Kannada newspaper in 1986. This
sums up the person that he was. In a later interview, he admitted that he never
sought meetings with ministers and lacked marketing skill. He stayed a
low-profile and committed teacher till his death.
Early
career in Mysore
Tall, lanky with a red Nama right up his forehead, MA Narasimhachar (M.A.N, as he was fondly called), would cycle to students’ homes to tutor them. He was often referred to as Mysore Narasimhachari. Though he ran a popular music school, he continued to tutor some students in their homes.
“He would come late
afternoon and would continue my lessons till my mother served him hot coffee.
He loved coffee as much as music”, one of his students told me in jest.
He was a traditionalist
and insisted on basics being right in his disciples. After all, he learnt from
the likes of Tiger Varadachar.
M.A.N went to the
reputed music college under Annamalai University. One of the oldest in the
country, the Annamalai Music College was set up in 1929. Many stalwarts have
headed the department. M.A.N studied there right after his school and passed
out ready to take on the noble teaching profession. His gurus at the college included Tiger
Varadachar, Ponnaiah Pillai and T.K. Rangachar. That explains his emphasis on a
firm foundation in sruti and laya for his students.
When he returned to
Mysore after his graduation from Annamalai, he founded his music school,
Ganakala Mandira. A school that was started with three students paying Rs 3
each per month, grew quickly and had 40 students within a year. M.A.N became a
sought-after teacher in Mysore. Over the years, he has trained hundreds of
students. According to his son, M.A. Srikishan, with whom I had a very long
chat, even the likes of R.Vedavalli and Suma Sudhindra have learnt javalis and
tllanas from his father.
Respect
from peers and famous musicians of the time
M.A.N was a modest, honourable, and sincere teacher of music and that won him the respect and love of many
contemporary greats. In 1967, none other than Lalgudi Jayaraman played at a
benefit concert for Gana Kala Madira in Mysore. He did not charge for the
concert. “As a token of respect, my father gave him 1 Rs”, recalls Srikishan.
Later in the year, for
the silver jubilee celebration, Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer was honoured and he
followed it up with his vocal concert.
Throughout the period
of M.A.N’s life in Mysore, their spacious family house was a busy place. The
house resonated with music classes through the day. Guests were a constant
factor. That included most of the famous artists of that era: Ariyakkudi
Ramanujam Iyengar, Tiger Varadachar, Lalgudi Jayaraman, and GNB would all stay
at the house whenever they visited Mysore. It is said that, many times, there
would be impromptu concerts by them after dinner.
M.A.N made other
contributions to the furtherance of music in Mysore. He was the co-founder of Nadabrahma
Sangeetha Sabha in 1956. That Sabha is active even today and was the venue for
one of the concerts in the birth centenary celebrations of M.A.N this year.
MAN moved to Bangalore when he got a job at a well-known college. He became the head of the department of music and worked there till he retired. Gana Kala Mandira also moved to Bangalore. Though he never sought accolades, for his significant contribution to the world of Carnatic music in Karnataka, he was honoured with the prestigious Rajyotsava award by the Government of Karnataka in 1992. He was also conferred the Sangeet Natak Akademi award in 2003.
MA
Narasimhachar Foundation and the centenary celebrations
M.A. Srikishan set up
the foundation in 2001. “I come from a family with a rich heritage in music. I
tried learning the mridangam, but failed badly. I wanted to do at least
something small in the world of music. With that as motivation, I set up the
foundation”, says Srikishan.
It is the MA Narasimhachar
foundation that organised all the centenary concerts as a tribute to M.A.N this
year. “Music has given me immense happiness. I have never felt that I made a
wrong choice of career”, M.A.N had once said, in an interview with Deccan Herald.
It is most appropriate that his 100th birthday is celebrated through
the very thing that he loved, music.
The foundation has been
organising annual music festivals every year right from inception. Only year
missed out was during COVID. Music was M.A.N’s
life and it is through these concerts that the foundation continued to
celebrate him. In addition, the foundation also supports up to 10 students
every year by awarding scholarships.
The year 2024 is the 100th birth anniversary of M.A.N. As a mark of respect for his legacy, the foundation had arranged 13 concerts and co-sponsored many more during the year.
In July 2024,
there was a special day-long program featuring singers Spoorthi Rao,
Sooryagatri, Sai Vignesh and Rahul Vellal at Gayana Samaj in Bangalore. This
was a great success with the auditorium filled to capacity.
In August, there was a
vocal concert by the ebullient Aishwarya Vidya Raghunath under the auspices of
His Holiness Sri Yathiraja Jeeyar Swami.
Grand Finale
The culminating event was held at The Chowdiah Memorial hall on 15 November 2024. As a gesture of respect for the guru, the management of the hall decided not to charge for the event. The program was presided over by HH Sri Yathiraja Jeeyar and Madurai T.N. Sheshagopalan who described M.A.N as a Karmayogi. The Swamiji referred to M.A.N as a selfless teacher who shared his knowledge with whoever sought it from him. There was also a short video presentation of M.A.N’s life.
Vidushis Ranjani and
Gayatri were conferred a special award. In her acceptance speech, Gayathri
spoke mostly in Kannada, much to the delight of the packed hall. The
enthralling performance by Ranjani and Gayatri accompanied by Vittal Rangan on
the violin, Delhi Sairam on the mridangam and S Krishna on the ghatam followed.
The concert marked the culmination of a year-long
tribute to the life and legacy of the humble teacher. While death may have ended his physical journey, his enduring connection to music lives on through the efforts of the M.A.N Foundation and his son, Srikishan.
N.Krishnamurthy
(The
author is the co-founder of a technology company and writes on travel and
music)