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CHAT CORNER

Neyveli Narayanan

Father hails from Mudicondan, a village near Kumbakonam. He was Mudicondan Venkatrama Iyer’s neighbour. Naturally music became part and parcel of the family. Having got a job with NLC, father shifted to Neyveli. I began learning the mridangam in 1975 when I was seven years old, from Neyveli Ganesa Pillai (a disciple of Kumbakonam Singaram Pillai, who belonged to Azhagar Nambia Pillai’s school of mridangam). I also learnt vocal for a brief period from Chembai Ananthan who had settled in Neyveli then.

The growth was steady and I started playing in Siruvar Solai programmes of AIR Tiruchi. When Upendran Sir was the Assistant Secretary at Tiruvaiyaru, I played for B. Kannan (veena) at the annual aradhanai. Impressed, he asked me to play for Arundathi Sarkar of Visakhapatnam. The recital was relayed by AIR. I began as an accompaniment at local concerts and bhajans, and also played at Sadhuram Swamigal’s Tiruppugazh mandram at Neyveli. Playing for Tiruppugazh sharpens your skills. Santhanagopalan and I gained a lot from interacting with vidwans who visited Neyveli for concerts. It was a golden period. Three of Palghat Mani Iyer’s mikeless concerts for the violin trio are deeply etched in my memory. By 1982, I was a B grade vidwan of AIR, Puducherry.

It was in 1984 that I moved to Chennai, and straightway joined Upendran Sir. I stayed in a room near his house and the gurukulavasam began. Simultaneously, I joined B.Com in New College. My tasks included several errands and most important of them was writing articles dictated by him. Upendran Sir was well-versed in several languages, Sanskrit in particular. He could recite slokas and quote the references to mridangam in them. He was good at astrology too and predicted that I would become a popular vidwan. Both he and his wife treated me like their son. In 1985 I got my B High Grade of AIR Puducherry.

On my father completing 25 years of service I was offered a job with NLC and so I had to reluctantly shift back to Neyveli. My guru too was not for it. But my parents had their own misgivings about about my pursuing a career in mridangam. But then I had excellent support from my manager at NLC, Mr. Venkateswaran, who goaded me into taking up music full time.

Upendran Sir sprang a surprise one fine day by landing at our house to find out whether I would come back to Madras permanently. He said I would be just one among thousands in NLC whereas in music I could be one in ten. I decided to follow my mentor. Looking back, I think Upendran Sir’s prophecy has come true. On his advice I started teaching mridangam and the earnings helped.

My first major concert was with him as double mridangam, in Thanjavur. Upon his recommendation, I started playing for Ganesh-Kumaresh and Mandolin Shrinivas. Upendran Sir was more than a guru for me. His premature passing away in 1991 was a major blow, not only for me, but, for the entire Carnatic music world. I miss him a lot.

The year 1992 was the first major turning point in my career when Madurai T.N.Seshagopalan, took me to the United States for his 22-concert tour. He later told me that this was his gift for my Guru Bhakti which he had been observing during my tenure with Upendran Sir, particularly during the time he was hospitalised. He took me to the U.S. again in 1984. I have toured with T.V.Sankaranarayanan, O.S.Thiagarajan, Bombay Jaishree and Malladi Bothers from then on. I am almost a regular in Sowmya’s concert both in India and abroad.

The disciplinarian that he is, Umayalpuram Sivaraman Sir asked me to take permission from Mrs Upendran prior to my joining him for honing my skills further. It has been a wholesome experience since then learning under him.

I do teach mridangam for students both in Chennai and elsewhere. Students staying abroad learn through the Internet or telephone. I polish up their playing when I visit them during my tours. Some of them have also completed the arangetram and will be playing at the Tyagaraja festival to be held at Cleveland.

I will be shortly completing my Masters in Rhthymology, thanks to Prof. Pramila Gurumurthy. It was her persuasion that made me and many other mridanga vidwans join this course. The knowledge gained is something unbelievable. We now have a very good exposure to Tamil literature and its relevance to music. I am also planning to go in for a research programme. My wife is a qualified music teacher from the Music Academy. She teaches music in a college and also for students at home.

No! Not at all. Mridangam has given me a special status. My guru’s words have come true. Just to cite an example: when we go to Tirumala after playing a concert during the Brahmotsavam, we are invited to have darshan of the Lord of the Seven Hills to our hearts’ content, which I cannot dream of otherwise. The treatment has been the same at all places.

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