M.S. Subbulakshmi
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Madurai Shanmukhavadivu Subbulakshmi, மதுரை ஷண்முகவடிவு சுப்புலக்ஷ்மீ (popularly known as M.S. or M.S.S.) (September 16, 1916 - December 11, 2004) was a renowned carnatic vocalist. She was born to a musical family, in the temple town of Madurai, situated in the state of Tamil Nadu in South India. M.S. started learning carnatic music from a very early age and cut her first disc at the age of 10. She then began her Carnatic classical music training under Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer and then Hindustani classical training under Pandit Narayan Rao Vyas.
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Singing career
At 17, the child prodigy made her debut at the Madras Music Academy. Since then, she performed countless musical forms in different languages such as Hindi, Bengali, Gujarati, Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu, Sanskrit and Kannada.
M.S. became famous as an film actress. Her most memorable role was Bhaktha Meera in Meera(1945). The movie had M.S. sing the famous Meera bhajans. Those renditions by M.S. continue to haunt listeners to this day. Following the success of the film she quit films and turned wholly to concert music.
Ms_subbulakshmi_meera.jpg
M.S. met Sadhashivam, a freedom fighter, and a faithful follower of Rajaji, in 1936 and in 1940, the two decided to marry. Their marriage (which spanned over 50 years) had been extremely fruitful to both of them. They had no children.
M.S. travelled to London, New York, Canada, the Far East, and other places as India's cultural ambassador. Her concerts at Carnegie Hall, New York; the UN General Assembly on UN day in 1966 (while U Thant was the Secretary General); the Royal Albert Hall, London in 1982; and at the Festival of India in Moscow in 1987 were significant landmarks in her career.
M.S. renders the human art of singing with a spiritual quality and divine grace that enthralls and transfixes listeners, and transports them into a different world, as though cast under a spell. As a first-time foreign listener put it, "M.S. does not sing. She makes divinity manifest."
Mahatma Gandhi was so charmed of her Meera bhajans that he requested her to sing the song Hari Tum haro Jan ki bheer (Lord, please dispel the fear in mankind). She regretfully declined as she had a cold that day. A prompt reply came back from the mahatma's side saying "I would gladly hear subbulakshmi speak it than hear it sung by others".
In the late 1950s, as she sang at the Ramakrishna Ashram in Delhi, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first prime minister, was among the audience. At the end of the recital he was so moved that he bowed, and said, "What am I, a mere prime minister before a queen of music."
Honours and awards
While Lata Mangeshkar called her Tapaswini (the Renunciate), Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan termed her Swaralakshmi (the goddess of musical notes), and Kishori Amonkar labeled her the ultimate eighth note or Aathuvaan Sur, which is above the seven notes basic to all music. Her many famous renditions of bhajans include the chanting of Bhaja Govindam, Vishnu sahasranama (1000 names of Vishnu) and the Venkateswara Suprabhatham (wakeup song of Lord Balaji).
Ms_subbulakshmi.jpg
She was widely honored, praised and awarded. Some of them more popular ones include Padma Bhushan in 1954, Sangeetha Kalanidhi in 1968 (literally, Treasure Chest of Music. She was the first woman recipient of the title), Ramon Magsaysay award in 1974, the Padma Vibhushan in 1975, the Kalidasa Samman in 1988, the Indira Gandhi Award for National Integration in 1990, and the Bharat Ratna in 1998. She was also honored as the court-singer of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams.
She was an ardent devotee of Kanchi Paramacharya and she rendered his composition Maithreem Bhajatha (O World! Cultivate peace) in her concert at the UN in 1966. She donated many of the royalties on several best sold records to many charity organizations.
With the death of her husband Sadhasivam in 1997, she stopped all her public performances. M.S. passed away on December 11, 2004 after a brief illness, due to complications relating to pneumonia and cardiac irregularities.
See also
External links
- Biography at the official site of Ramon Magsaysay award (http://www.rmaf.org.ph/Awardees/Biography/BiographySubbulakshmiMon.htm)
- M.S.Subbulakshmi - One Hundred Tamils of 20th Century (http://www.tamilnation.org/hundredtamils/mssubbulakshmi.htm)
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- Official fanclub of subbulakshmi (http://www.groups.yahoo.com/group/subbulakshmi)kn:ಎಮ್ ಎಸ್ ಸುಬ್ಬುಲಕ್ಷ್ಮಿ