Anecdotes about Musicians—24
24.M.Chandrasekharan
Shri.Chandrasekharan is an eminent classical violinist from Chennai. He was initiated into the violin by his mother, Charubala Mohan. She found that her darling child had lost his sight while yet a baby. And soon, she lost her husband too. Fortunately her musical training as a student of Sangita Kalanidhi T.K.Jayarama Ayyar and the musical aptitude of the child indicated the direction in which she should mould the future of her son . And she did it with satisfying results.She has been not only a mere mother, but Guru and God. The young boy turned out to be a prodigy and began performing publicly in 1949, at the age of eleven.
**********************************************
" My Mother learnt Braille first and then taught me. Now I can read and write any Indian language in Braille. I know typewriting too. Here I have to mention about the bold decision taken by my parents and maternal grandparents at my young age. My eye-sight was affected when I was four months old. After that, when as a child I was dull-looking and the doctors suggested removal of the right eye as it could affect the brain, my parents thought it was better for me to live without the eye than with an affected brain and agreed for removal of the eye. I lost vision in the left eye also. And my mother, without forcing anything on me, made me stand on my own legs."
*****************************
He learnt music under his mother and later under Mannargudi Sambasiva Bhagavathar and Kumbakonam Viswanathan; Jayammal taught him padams, . Chandrasekharan soon became an accomplished violinist and a vocalist and made his debut in 1949 at the most befitting venue of Thyagaraja Vidwat Samajam.
*********************************
Chandrasekaran has provided Violin accompaniment to stalwarts In recognition of his contributions to the field of music, the Government of India honoured him with the prestigious Sangeet Natak Academy Award . The Government of Tamil Nadu honoured him with the Kalaimamani Award.The Music Academy, Chennai, conferred on him the title Sangeetha Kalanidhi. He is the first recipient of the M.S. Subbulakshmi Award instituted by The Hindu.
*********************************
M.Chandrasekharan is an excellent accompanist eagerly sought after by vocalists as his play blends with theirs like a flower and its fragrance and flows in rich unison. He gives solos with his daughter and has won laurels. The year 1999 marked the golden jubilee of his service to music. At the age of 13, he won the first prize in a violin competition conducted by the Music Academy, Madras. Chandrasekaran has taught many youngsters and continues to do so. He has about 30 accomplished students, some of them leading artists in their own right, such as his own daughter Bharathi, Kanyakumari, S. D. Sridhar and Madurai Balasubramaniam.
****************************************
When Chandrasekaran is an accompanist, he openly appreciates the main artist's performance. He absorbs everything that is sung and when he plays gives the essence in perhaps a quarter of the time, according to Umayalpuram Sivaraman, who has played with Chandrasekaran for about 40 years now. Sivaraman adds that this violin maestro knows the value of sahitya, its bakthi and bhava and can bring all nuances and beauty in his violin and make the rasika visualize the raga devata dancing in front of him. He is an expert in the laya aspects too. He has an inner eye, as it were, through which he can see any intricacy in tala and play accordingly.
***********************************
Chandrasekharan recalls with pride how T.N.Rajarathinam Pillai performed for his wedding and blessed him . Chandrasekharan played along with Dwaram Venkataswami Naidu and accompanied M. D. Ramanathan at the residence of late President Dr. S. Radhakrishnan.
******************************
Chandrasekaran founded the Charubala Mohan Trust which organises concerts for good artists who are not able to get adequate opportunities. The Trust confers titles on talented artists. "Veena Nadamani'' and "Sangeetha Visarada'' .These were conferred on Ravindran and A. S. Panchapakesan last year, and this year on the occasion of his golden jubilee "Violin Nadamani'' would be conferred on Kandadevi Alagiriswami.
*****************************
He was a visiting faculty at the Palghat Music College.Chandrasekaran has also composed varnams and kritis in different languages.
****************************************
Chandrasekaran's odyssey is of sheer grit and determination in the face of overwhelming odds.
No comments:
Post a Comment