M.S.......My Favourite Singer

My all time favourite singer is M.S.Subbulakshmi.My childhood was entirely clouded with music,art and spirituality( Infact quite a lot of my youth is, too!!).Those were the days when studies could afford to take a backseat .My weekends were typical South Indian weekends,with dosa for breakfast and temple.It started with Sri Venkateswara Suprabhatam,which,I am pleased to say,All India Radio faithfully played( and continues to) every Sunday morning.Till class 5,I only knew M.S as the lady who sang the Suprabhatam, Bhaja Govindam and Vishnu Sahasranamam.The latter two later joined in thanks to the perseverance of my Gurus,who insisted I learn both and also to the cassette company,which released the cassette in this order.Thanks to them,M.S entered my life,to print a lasting impact on me and change my life forever.

The first ‘song’ I actually heard M.S sing was the famous Annamayya keertana “Srimann Narayana”.This was when I was eleven,and this song practically took in to a trance,where everything was blissful.I started listening to more of M.S,thanks to the five cassette set my parents bought me for …well I don’t remember the occasion.I just remember how excited I was,and from that day onwards,M.S’s “ Srimann Narayana’ would play everyday at six o clock sharp,and then continue with other songs like “Dolayam”,” Ksheerabdi Kanyakaku” and” Deva Devam Bhaje”.The first cassette enthralled me so much that I spent most of my time listening to it,while the other four lay,neatly packed in the box.I could barely understand the songs,even though they were in my mother tongue,but the music,and most importantly,M.S’s voice.There was something magical about that voice,which made all other voices seem weak,although I didn’t know what it was then.I was still too young(or too stupid) to understand the true meaning of Bhakti.As the years flew by,I slowly got diverted from M.S’s songs,but never let go of the Suprabhatam.It had become sort of mandatory for me to atleast listen to her voice in the morning.Over the suprabhatam,I would get dressed,sneak in my five minutes of prayer,eat my breakfast and rush into the auto for school.

After the passage of time,I got more preoccupied into schoolwork and other stuff,and totally drifted away from M.S.The cassette,after years of repeated playing,probably got chaffed with me,and one day the tape snapped into two,rendering me without M.S’s suprabhatam for quite some time.The same suprabhatam,albeit sung by some other singer,was played .It was the suprabhatam,mom said,that was important,not the singer.But for me,the singer was equally,or actually more important.For the first thing when you hear is the voice,then the song and its meaning starts to sink in.But I let this new singer sing her suprabhatam,and thus M.S was totally out of my system,except for a rare appearance at a function or two,that too in the background,very faintly.

Four years proceeded in quite the same manner,only in a different city.I grew from a boisterous eleven year old to a bashful 15 year old,and had reached the crucial tenth grade.One day,while exploring through the cassette shelf for a cassette,my eyes fell upon a cardboard box,which evidently contained the cassettes.Mind you,I was bashful as well as inquisitive,so i instantly opened the box to find the remaining four cassettes neatly placed.Instinctively,I picked the third cassette and played it.The house was quiet,and M.S.’s voice rang with Ganesha Pancharatnam,as clear as a bell,again sending me into a trance.But the thing that delighted me the most was Hanuman Chalisa,sang in such a way that I could never forget it again.I religiously read Hanuman chalisa everyday,in the same tune as M.S,with the cassette playing side by side.That was the happiest year of my life,till I heard of M.S’s death in December,which shocked me for quite some time.

Again,I don’t know what happened in the next two years.M.S. cut off totally from me again,or rather I cut off from her.Those two years were the most miserable years of my life.After my 12^th grade exams,I was sent away for coaching classes to my cousin's home.I grew quite miserable there and took to accessing the net more than studying,which clearly reflected in my results.While surfing on the net,I suddenly had this irresistible urge to do a Google search on M.S.And from then I entered a world where music was everything,especially Carnatic classical.I learnt that as a singer,it was not the quality of my voice that mattered the most,it was the bhaav or the feeling.For there were probably many singers who had a better voice than M.S ( I don’t believe it,but still.....),but no one could bring that bhaav like her.She could assume the part of Meera as easily as that of Annamayya,and both the songs would come out in excellent shape.Her Tamil songs were as enthralling as her Telugu songs,and I am hooked on to them too.

Now M.S is a part of my life.Instead of whiling away my time in the bus listening to nonsensical songs over the radio or gossip from brainless people,I listen to M.S.Even if it means repeating them.They bring a sense of calmness and refresh the mind.Whatever my mood is,the songs manage to soothe me,and I am not sorry for being the only person in the bus getting down with a fresh face and clear mind.

Although every song of M.S’s is as unique as the other,I do have my favourites.One being “ Jagadhodharana”.But the songs which I really love are “ Kurai Onrum Illai” and “ More Toh Giridhar Gopala”.Both are a classic example of pure devotion,though written in different languauges and different centuries.” Kurai Onrum Illai”is a composition of Rajaji,and it is praising Lord Venkateswara of Tirupati.The thing which makes this song unique is that,unlike other songs in which the poet expresses his dissatisfaction,the poet thanks God for what all He has bestowed upon him and expresses his satisfaction and desires nothing more than to serve Him for the rest of his life.As mentioned before,I couldn’t quite understand the song,but the music was enough for me to get the lyrics and meaning.As they say,” Where there’s a will,there’s a way”

As for “ More Toh…”,it is enough for me to say it is a Meera bhajan.That itself tells that it must be fully drenched in bhakti.As many of us know,Meera’s devotion for Lord Krishna was immense,and bordered on love.In this bhajan,Meera says that Krishna is everything for her,and that she has no one in the world to call her own,except Him.The best part of the song are the lines” Asuvan jal seench seenc,prem bel boi/Daasi Meera prabhu lagan lagi,honi ho so hoi”which translates into “ By watering it with my tears,I grew a creeper of love/this was to happen to the slave Meera,so be it”.The way in which M.S sings carelessly “ honi ko so hoi” is remarkable.For a minute I wonder if M.S is actually Meera…

There’s another little known song called Entamaatramuna,which is an Annamayya song.Few know about Annamayya,and the remaining who know him are either from Andhra or are M.S fans,or both.The poet bring to the universal fact that God is one,even though He is worshipped by the Vaishnavites as Lord Vishnu and by Shaivites as Lord Shiva.He infact questions God about this fact.

Even my entire lifetime is not enough for me to elucidate on each of M.S’s krithis.Listening to her songs is not merely listening,it is an experience.An experience that must be experienced by everyone who loves music,and believes in God.

M.S has entered my life once again,and I hope she stays on forever this time.