Yesterday was a day of mourning for us, as we went by our routines with the initmate pang of bereavement uppermost in our minds.
"kurai ondrum illai, kanna" [I have no regrets, my dear krishna]-this sums up the essence of her colorful and inspirational life.
When M.S.Subbulakshmi lived and sang, she never paid a passing thought to her gender disadvantage in a conservative male-dominated society. There just was not even a whimper of protest as she climbed up to dizzying heights and achieved iconic status.
Yet, this was a lady who never made speeches about any need for 'female empowerment'; she is a point of reference that empowerment comes from within and is not to be expected to be 'given' by men.
A symbol of Indian womanhood in the UN assembly, she performed the song of universal love composed by the venerated saint of kanchi, sri paramacharya-"maitreem bhajata..".
Her onscreen performance of Meera, has made millions see her in their images of the mewar princess and bhakti saint. Grace personified, her song renditions over-powered the likes of Nehru, Gandhi and Rajagopalachari. She enthralled audiences; when she sang, she truely enjoyed it, her words came from her heart as well and her prayers were for everyone. This songbird was powerful. But she was exquisitely humble too.
M.S's selfless life is a slap in the face of our prevelent 'greed is good' way of life. she lived and died in houses that were not her own, the diamonds that so sparkled and yet couldnt match up to her vibrant notes were only for performances; whatever she made, she gave away to worthy causes.
I am no connoisseur of the divine carnatic music, infact, I am a very ordinary child of the 'cable TV' generation who's musical interests are predominantly western and range from retro rock n' roll to alternative and trance.
But, when I pray, I feel like my soul would sing out to god in the voice of M.S.
I have managed to learn half of 'Vishnu Sahasranamam' [1000 names of Lord Vishnu] under her indirect tutelage using her recording stored in my machine in mp3.
That voice, will live forever. M.S is immortal in my memories and prayers. She is the mixed with the essence of divinity.
Once my mourning period is over, she will, no doubt, go back to being my teacher and inspiration. Immortality means work forever.
Salutations to you, My great teacher
Ramya
