Do Stalin And Veeramani Know The Music Academy They're Supporting Now Was Against Singing In Tamil?

Whoever is advising Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin in the recent controversy surrounding the awarding of the Sangita Kalanidhi award to T M Krishna by the Music Academy surely has no sense of history.

First of all, it is an issue that is within the fraternity of Carnatic musicians. It is, at core, a matter involving difference of opinions and ideas, and not of any financial impropriety or any other type of legal misdemeanour.

The man at the thick of it all, Krishna himself, has not opened his mouth till the moment of writing on the whole shenanigans. So, for a state Chief Minister to plunge into the volley of exchanges involving a private institution is a case of misplaced priorities.

And if Stalin, or for that matter Dravidar Kazhagam (DK) chief K Veeramani who has also weighed in on the subject, had known adequately about the Music Academy's chequered past, they would have actually chosen to stay out of this.

For, the Music Academy had once campaigned vehemently against the singing of Tamil songs in Carnatic music concerts. And the man who spearheaded this anti-Tamil song movement was one of the founders of the academy and the granduncle of Krishna, T T Krishnmachari.

And the person who lent the Tamil Isai movement a lot of impetus and credibility was none other than M S Subbulakshmi. As irony would have it, the venerable icon was savaged by a personal attack piece (masquerading as an intellectual assessment of her music) by Krishna — it has become one of the bones of contention.

It has been raised by top singers Ranjani and Gayatri in their protest against the academy conferring the award on Krishna. 

So as of now, as you have it, there is the collective history of the Music Academy, Krishna, his grand uncle, and an unwillingness to sing Tamil songs on the one side. Then there is the story of M S Subbulakshmi and others who went out on a limb to platform Tamil songs battling against the intransigence of the then mandarins of the Music Academy. 

Guess for whom the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and his followers have chosen to throw their weight behind? You can afford yourself a few chuckles here.

MS and the Madras Academy: She gave more than she ever got

There are two strands to the Krishna issue. One is, why Krishna, who prides himself on taking historical account of things, seemed obsequious in accepting the academy's honour. As we have repeatedly written, the academy at its core represents everything that Krishna has projected himself to be against in the Carnatic music world. That is the fundamental problem. 

But the issue has also brought, almost unwittingly, into focus the very many problematic utterances of E V Ramaswamy, who called for a genocide against an entire community. Krishna had chosen to use him as a muse for a soi-disant Carnatic concert.   

A lot is being discussed in the context of Krishna's article on MS. Of course, Krishna is entitled to dissect MS' career and personal life in the way he wants to. But allow us to point out that the narrative of that article was extremely unkind to the great lady.

A few parting lines on her genius do not dilute what the piece essentially was — a hatchet job on arguably India's most loved musical voice. 

Krishna, right at the start, makes his hand clear. He shows which way the narrative is headed with a twisted opinion.

"The early MS sang in the idiom of her inheritance, to popular acclaim. The later MS sang in the syntax of a spiritual revisionism, to popular worship. It was an extraordinary transition from what was great to what became grand." As Krishna would have it, MS's bhakti-soaked singing was spiritual revisionism. 

After being mostly uncharitable to her, Krishna towards the end declares: "Her life and history is open to many interpretations. Since she herself said so little about it, we can only grapple with third-person narratives..." But he wrote a several thousands-worded piece based on just that.

Anyway, it is Krishna's prerogative how he chooses to parse a legend's life and times. As much as his are mere opinions, ours can also be only that. 

But the Music Academy could have been more careful considering the fact what MS actually means to the very institution. Without the fear of any contradiction, it can be said that no musician living or dead has done as much for the academy as MS did. She gave more to the academy than she ever got in return. But all through her life, MS' munificence was beyond compare.

MS’ grace allowed her to see past academy’s ban

Just consider this. The now famous auditorium of the Music Academy could be constructed because stalwarts like MS sang gratis so that the institution could get the finances for the building.

For many years, MS never accepted any money from the academy. Further, when it needed more funds for the building she willingly did many charity concerts to help shore up money. 

When the auditorium finally stood tall, it was appropriately marked by a MS concert at the end of which the chief guest former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru dropped that now famous line, "Who am I, a mere Prime Minister, to say anything about a queen, a queen of songs?"

MS did all this even when the very same academy led by T T Krishnamachari banned her for five years, 1942 to 1947, for choosing to take up the cause of Tamil songs in Carnatic concerts.

That MS, her husband Sadasivam, his friend Kalki Krishnamoorthy all threw in their lot behind the Tamil music movement showed that they were not parochial or hidebound in their views. That Brahmins like them are against Tamil is the view continuously perpetuated (and artists like Krishna help spread such a canard). But the truth is far from that.

After rival sabhas started flourishing, Music Academy was forced to lift its ban on MS. On 28 December 1947, she walked back into the academy premises for her concert in which she  chose to sing many Tamil songs. That is how you make your intellectual points without compromising on dignity or grace.

After that, MS sang in the academy regularly till 1977. After this, she decided her concerts would be only for the aid of charity. She again sang in the academy only when funds were needed to be raised for its mini-hall. And whenever she was invited to speak at the academy during functions, the great lady never once brought to the discussion the help she rendered to the institution. She was nobility personified.

For long, MS' concert on Christmas Day was the biggest draw in Music Academy. In that sense, 25 December at the academy was associated with her. 

No wonder, Ranjani-Gayatri whose concert was marked for 25 December 2024, have chosen to stay away this year.

Their timing, as befitting the top singers they are, was bang on. There is an implicit tribute to the MS in it. 

PS: This piece has benefitted, greatly, from the large swathe of historical information that historian V Sriram, who is now one of the secretaries of the academy, has posted on his blog. He has been a sincere and honest chronicler of the cultural history of Madras.