PROFILE
Musical heritage
|
The last surviving representative of her generation of the Dhanammal family, T. Mukta carries her lineage lightly, says KIRANAVALI VIDYASANKAR.
|
K. GAJENDRAN
Generous Teacher: T. Mukta.
THE first thing that strikes you when you meet her is the frail frame and the affability. T. Mukta, granddaughter of the redoubtable Vina Dhanammal and part of the famous yesteryear duo Brinda-Mukta, carries her musical heritage easily. Today, she is the last surviving representative of her generation of the Dhanammal family, which includes luminaries like her late sister T. Brinda, and cousins T. Balasaraswati and T. Viswanathan.
Thanjavur Mukta was the third of six children, born to Kamakshi (Vina Dhanammal's last daughter) in September 1914. Since then, her musical life was finely interwoven with that of her sister's. Both had their initial training under their mother. Kamakshi then took them to the maestro, Kanchipuram Nayana Pillai. "Although Dhanammal respected Nayana Pillai as a high-class musician, she sarcastically asked my mother if the music in the family wasn't enough for us! But my mother wanted us to sing kalpanaswarams and develop our creative side, so she stood firm", says Muktamma of her mother's decision.
Proving herself
They spent three to four years at Kanchipuram, learning Tyagaraja kritis and other compositions like the Tiruppugazh and Tevaram from Nayana Pillai in the traditional gurukula system. While Brinda was easily accepted, Mukta had to prove herself over time. Surprisingly, she is not bitter about it. "For some reason, my guru didn't believe in my abilities at that time. However, on my mother's insistence, he let me sit in during my sister's lessons and join her during her practise sessions. He also made it a point to teach me something on Vijayadashami day. Soon after we left Kanchipuram, we started giving full-fledged performances as a duo. A few months before his demise, he invited us to perform at the Tyagaraja Aradhana there. Afterwards he apologised to my mother for having underestimated me. Today, whatever little I know is only due to his blessings."
Back in her home, Mukta got further guidance from her gifted aunt, Lakshmiratnam. During this period, she learnt the treasures of her family — the works of master composers like Dikshitar, Syama Sastri, Subbaraya Sastri, Kshetragna, Patnam Subramanya Iyer and others. She recalls that Dhanammal herself taught them a few kritis and padams when in the mood. "Brinda had the voice and the brilliance to execute everything taught to her. She would practise seriously. Half the time I wouldn't sing because I was scared of her! But somehow, just by listening, I was able to perfectly blend with her," she says.
Indeed, the Brinda-Mukta duo was an unparalleled combination in Carnatic music, where each complemented the other perfectly and blended beautifully at the same time. The depth and range of Brinda's voice in the lower octaves, and Mukta's soft shadowing in the higher octaves lent the music a unique texture and quality.
Ease and grace
To one who has interacted with both, the contrast in personalities couldn't be more obvious. While Brindamma came across as the awe-inspiring perfectionist who stood for nothing but the best, Muktamma seems accessible and easy-going. These qualities also defined their own roles in their five-decade long partnership, where Brindamma took the lead and Muktamma happily followed.
In March 2002, I got to spend a couple of weeks with Muktamma in Cleveland, the U.S., where she was invited to sing and was also honoured for lifetime achievement in Carnatic music. The huge audience was swept off its feet by the youthfulness and vibrancy of 87-year-old Muktamma's performance. Her music flowed with ease and grace. Her rich tradition and vast experience came forth through masterpieces like "Vinapustaka" (Vegavahini), "Dakshinamurte" (Shankarabharanam), "Srikamalambike" (Todi) and "Rama Rama" (Bhairavi Padam).
I had already seen glimpses of her sense of humour and knew that she was very down-to-earth. But the Cleveland trip brought out other facets of Muktamma's personality. Most importantly, she was completely focussed on the concert and didn't seem to take her natural gift for granted. Her attitude towards the art and the great masters of the past was one of absolute reverence. She also had the exceptional ability to recall vividly small incidents in her life, and recount them without any exaggeration. What I personally found most endearing was that she took enormous pride in her sister's achievements without feeling insecure. In fact, Brindamma dominated the conversation on that trip! If it wasn't her extraordinary musical abilities or her simplicity, it was her fine culinary skills or her beautiful embroidery.
People have often wondered why Muktamma never sang raga alapana or kalpanaswaras when she performed with Brindamma. When I asked her, she replied, "When I was young, women usually sang only compositions. In my case, since I didn't receive formal training in the creative aspects, I didn't think it was right for me to sing them. But Brinda excelled in them. Even Dhanammal used to be impressed when she effortlessly sang unheard-of ragas like Latangi or Simhendramadhyamam." As a soloist, however, Muktamma did sing raga alapanas, true to the Dhanammal style — brief but conveying the essence of the ragas.
Sharing her treasures
Muktamma is considered a very generous and accessible teacher, and has been responsible for sharing the highly guarded treasures of her family freely with musicians and students. D.K. Pattammal is said to have learnt a few padams and javalis from her. Her other students who currently perform include R. Vedavalli, S. Sowmya, Nirmala Sundararajan, Subhashini Parthasarathy, Savitri Satyamurthy and dancer Alarmel Valli.
When I asked her about the awards she has received, she quipped, "Do you think the highly-respected Dhanammal was honoured with many awards? Our family has never believed in awards!" Nevertheless, she has been the recipient of some coveted honours like the Sangeet Natak Akademi award and Sangeeta Kala Acharya conferred by the Music Academy, Chennai.
A couple of months ago, she was conferred the first-ever Brindamukti award by a Coimbatore-based organisation. The title itself is a tribute to the duo.
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Magazine
