Musicians,events,anecdotes and tid-bits

[padmanabha]

Advocate. T V Sankaranarayanan, a gold medalist from the Bar council enrolled his name and started practicing as a junior. A fortnight passed. His uncle called him aside and asked: Tell me when did you last sing? I know very well that you have not even hummed a bit. That is unpardonable. You better focus on classical music.”

Now he is Padmabhushan, Sangeetha kalanidhi T V Sankaranarayanan, the much sought vocalist today. He was in the city to perform at the Durga Devi Temple near Sreekanteswaram.

For the connoisseurs of music hearing TVS (as he is widely known), is like reliving the ages of Madurai Mani Iyer. TVS’ style is so close to that of his uncle cum mentor Madurai Mani Iyer that music lovers expect the Mani Iyer’s numbers from him.

Endowed with rich and vibrant voice, he keeps alive the glory of the family tradition. His grand father Madurai Ramaswami Iyer was a musicologist. His grand uncle Madurai Pushpavanam Iyer was a legend in his time. He was the contemporary of Puchchi Sreenivasan. In fact they ruled the roost then.

“Those were fine days. I had the fortune to learn music from my uncle Madurai Mani Iyer. My mother Gomathi, sister and disciple of Mani Iyer taught me the basics of music. My father Vembu Iyer, had been giving vocal support to Mani Iyer for long. From the age of 15, I started accompanying my uncle. After my graduation in Commerce and then Law Degrees I was called to the bar only to discontinue after a fortnight. Finance minister Chidambaram was my classmate for Law” said T V S.
His maiden concert was held in 1968. “I was accompanied by great masters like T N Krishnan, Vellore Ramabhadran and Alangudi Ramachandran. Since then till today I am busy. I am a strict follower of Mani Iyer bani. Mani Iyer was a great creator. His improvisation, exposition of the raga, swara sancharam in the sarva laghu patterns were his brand. One never knows what comes next. Mani Iyer is known for his sahitya suddhi and bhava sangeetam. I could more or less establish his style” explained T V S.

A voracious reader, T V S favorite authors include Oscar Wilde, Shaw, Arthur Conan Doyle, P G Woodhouse, etc.

T V S has composed a few vruthams brimming with philosophical thoughts. He is a touring performer. He has conducted more than 15 trips to the USA and Canada and several trips to Australia, the Gulf countries, Singapore, Malayasia, Hong Kong and Sri Lanka. His wife Vijayalekshmi is also a musician and restricts herself to AIR and T V. “She gave up public performance for my sake. Our children Sankaramahadevan and Amrita are also in this line. Faith in God, and devotion to my gurus, and hard work made me what I am today” he said.