Obituary - Sitalapati Tiru Balasubramanian
V. N. Muthukumar
Sitalapati Tiru Balasubramanian in Chennai, on October 11, 2004.
Rasikas in Chennai knew him primarily through his long association with
the MArgazhi Bhajan of Papanasam Sivan. From the late 70's to the mid
90's, Tiru Balasubramanian, along with Sivan's daughter Rukmini Ramani,
led the MArgazhi Bhajan on the MAda Streets of Mylai.
Tiru Balasubramanian was initiated into music by Tiruvarur
Balasubramania Iyer. He was the quintessential rasika and consequently
was largely self taught. Balu Mama, as he was fondly known, was arguably
one of the best exponents of the art of viruttam singing. During
MArgazhi, he was the top star on the "MAda veedhi" of Mylai. His
extraordinary lakshya gnAnam, a resonant voice, and a wonderful sense of
proportion invariably left the listener spellbound. His favorite ragas
included KAmbOdi, HarikAmbOdi, Mohanam, TOdi, KalyANi, Shanmukhapriya,
HEmavati, Saraswati and HindOLam. But if one were to associate Balu Mama
with a particular raga, it would be Kharaharapriya. He revelled in this
raga and on some days of the Margazhi Bhajan, would be forced to sing it
more than once, usually at the request of the rasika who turned up late.
Balu Mama had a large repertoire of Papanasam Sivan's kritis. Some
favorites were, GanapatiyE, ChendilAndavan, DayavillaiyA, Saraswati,
Appan, Un perumaiyai (Kharaharapriya), UmaiyOrbAganE (NAttai),
Saraswati (Saraswati), Ennai (HEmavati), KANakkaN, BhuvanapatE
(KAmbodi), KApAli (Mohanam), AandavanE, PArvati nayakanE
(Shanmukhapriya), Gnanasabhaiyil (SArangA),MalariNai tuNaiyE
(Ritigowlai), Visalakshi nAyakan, GAna rasamudan (BEgadA), TAyE,
ViswanAtham (Bhairavi), SadAsiva bhajanamE, TaNigai vaLar, TAmadam En,
KArtikeya, KadaikkaN nOkki (TOdi), KANa vENdAmO (Sriranjani), Nekkurugi
(AbhOgi), SundarEswaranE, KanindaruL (KalyANi), Enadu Manam, Kamala
pada malariNai (HarikAmbOdi), SOdanai (KApi)
Balu Mama was a Tamizh teacher (in the Ramakrishna Mission High School,
T. Nagar, Chennai) and loved the Tamizh language. He delighted in
pun-ditry and a small crowd used to gather around him during the
post-Bhajan sessions to listen to tales of music and musicians of a
bygone era, often interspersed with musical mimicry.
I was introduced to the music of Balu Mama by my father, himself a
rasika of Papanasam Sivan. I consider myself fortunate to have heard
both Balu Mama and his uncle Tiru Mani Iyer (a disciple of Papanasam
Sivan), and their music played a large role in shaping my musical
sensibilities. Like everyone else, I was drawn by Balu Mama's viruttam
singing. His skill in drawing the contours of a rAgA in the opening
phrase of the viruttam never ceased to amaze me. He could make us
oblivious to the noise in the streets of Mylai, and I have seen people
standing in the middle of North MAdA St, being moved to tears by the
sheer beauty of his music. His music also attracted many professional
musicians, and I know of instances when the visiting popular artiste
needed to be coaxed to sing, following one of Balu Mama's enchanting
renderings. He inspired several young artistes - Ashok Ramani, Sanjay
Subhramanyan, Neyveli Santhanagopalan, Sowmya, and Vijay Siva, to name a
few. The post Bhajan music/gossip sessions with Mama were equally
absorbing for me. Tales of music, the review of a concert he heard the
previous day, discussion of the day's program in the December music
festival, all this was done with wit and humor. It was instructive to
listen to a concert in his company, and the post-concert analysis was,
to me, often more musical than the concert itself.
When news of Balu Mama's demise reached me (by email), I was listening
to a recording of his - a viruttam (Meenakshi Amman Pillaitamizh) in
Kharaharapriya. I wish I could tell thim this. He would have said,
"Shabhash".