By Justice Prabha Sridevan (Retired) This is our famous Season, and I am thinking about a Mylapore Musical Gem. It was pure serendipity. Browsing through YouTube, I came across a thumbnail which said Eppo Varuvaro and showed Musiri’s face. So I entered it. His disciple, the respected teacher Smt Suguna Varadachari spoke. She said that her guru sang Eppo Varuvaro differently from how it is popularly sung and sang just a snatch of both versions, popular and Musiri . It was followed by Aishwarya Sankar singing the song fully in Musiri style. So now I wanted to hear the original. I called my friend Thyagu, Musiri’s grandson, “ Can you please send me a link of your Thatha singing Eppo Varuvaro ?” I have heard many say that they knew the Music Immortals right from cradle or that they have sat on their laps. Close Encounters of the Carnatic Kind. My families paternal and maternal were friends of M.S, but I don’t remember seeing her in proximity when I was young. But did have a close encounter when I was in school. My Chinna Thatha K. Chandrasekharam would pick his granddaughter Daya and me from school, and on a few occasions, I remember Musiri would be in the car or Mudikondan. Travelling in the same car is a close encounter. But I was then innocent of their stature . Once my father not to my knowledge very Carnatic prone, mentioned Tiruvadi charanam, and told me “Musiri paduvar.” The stress on paduvar indicated that he liked it. Talking of stress, I must get back to the link of ‘Eppo Varuvaro’. Thyagu sent it at once. It is a private recording, no accompaniments just the thambura and vocal support by Sri Govinda Rao. I was stunned. The song is by Gopalakrishna Bharati and speaks of the yearning of the devotee , for Chidambaranathan at Thillai, asking when will He come and relieve me of my distress. It is a popular song often heard on the music dais. This version was slightly different. Have you read A Murder Is Announced by Agatha Christie? The whole mystery hangs on where the stress was laid by the speaker, who says “But she was not there.” The speaker is murdered soon thereafter. Miss Marple wants to know if the stress was on ‘she’ or ‘was not’ or ‘there.’ That is how she solves it. Now what is the connection between Christie and Chidambaram? There is . We ascend from the mundane to the sublime. Musiri sings the words “Enthan Kali theera.” (To relieve me of karma burden), with the stress on ‘Kali’ (distress), not on Enthan (mine}. I felt that he was singing for all of us, asking Nataraja when He will come to relieve us all of our distress, not for himself alone. Then the pace and emotion he paints the song with is different too. It is slow and yearning. You can hear the devotee wanting to be one with the Almighty, until there are no Two. “When will He come?” “The distress is too much.” “I can’t bear to wait.”, all these are imbued in his rendering. Thiru Mangai Azhvar and Thiru Nammazhvar have Parakalanayika and Parankusanayika yearning to be one with the Blue One. Here Gopalakrishna Bharati in Musiri’s voice is doing the same, yearning to melt into the One with the Golden Feet. It brings tears.