Dr.M.Balamuralikrishna:Pumbhaava Saraswathi
- In Current Affairs
- 08:27 PM, Nov 23, 2016
- Santhi Pasumarthi
Pumbhava Saraswathi is an epithet given to a male genius who is considered an epitome of Saraswathi. Dr. C. Narayana Reddy aptly used this for Sri Balamuralikrishna who left this world leaving his ardent admirers in grief.
From Andhra with lot of grit and ... Love
Growing up in the Andhra heartland of Vijayawada in a musical family, music came to him naturally. He mentioned in an interview how his mother sent a telegram his father after his birth and when he arrived. She said that her job was to deliver this child and it was done. She also told him about the boy's potential. She was not ill but passed away soon. Her father Prayaga Rangadasa was a composer. Balamurali Sir sang some of his compositions towards the later part of his career.
When he landed in Madras, he was a rank outsider. His guru and parama guru were from Andhra too. He was the first musician from outside TN-Palghat to make it big on the performing stage and this was no small achievement considering the dynamics of the music circles at that time. He didn't wear the 'tiryak-pundrams' or the 'urdhwa pundrams' and was half the age of many in the fraternity. He created new Ragas! And worse Ragas with just 3 notes!! That was some grit!!! Much is written about his experimentation and innovation and he was surely ahead of his time. He got a Gandapendera Satkaram(anklet) at 30 years of age by none other than Sri. Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavathar who was 60 at the time.
Yeoman Service
Balamurali garu gets the biggest credit for popularizing Bhadrachala Ramadasa Krithis, Sadashiva Brahmendra Krithis and tatvams(philosophical compositions). For many like me growing up in Andhra, his singing was synonymous with the composer's version. He made sure he gave that kind of treatment to Krithis and Keertanams and said so in many interviews that he tried hard to visualize how the composer would sing.
He pioneered Bhakti Ranjani program while working for AIR Vijayawada. Later ran a lec-dem ( Lecture-Demonstration) style program named 'Swararaga Sudha' for DD hyderabad. He had done a similar one in Madras on all Melakarta Ragas earlier. Popular Annamacharya compositions like 'Brahma Kadigina Padamu' were tuned by him. His jugalbandis with Hindustani musicians like Pt Bhimsen Joshi were a delight. In doing these, he became the face of Carnatic music. Only he could make 'Pt. Bhimsen Joshi' sing 'sangeetame manasuku haayi' in Telugu. He seamlessly forayed into film music, light music, Rabindra Sangeet and came out with flying colors.
His music knew no boundaries. He represented the quintessence of Indian music.
Sahitya Bhava
People remember his focus on pronouncing the lyrics well. If the Carnatic music of today values lyrics much more than it would have few decades back, the credit goes solely to him. Apart from his flawless Telugu which implied that his would be the gold standard while singing Tyagaraja Krithis, he showed the same dedication to any language he sang in. Not only lyrics, he would say that the facial expressions too should match the mood of the song. A song like 'Krishnam Kalaya Sakhi' could not be sung with a serious face but only with a gentle smile.
The other side
One of his foremost disciples Prince Rama Varma said that BMK would secure a place in the hall of fame even if he didn't sing a single note. Just by the virtue of being a Vaggeyakara. There was high-quality poetry in his Krithis. The Krithis are less-known than the Pada varnams and more importantly Tillanas that have made way to the repertoire of Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi.
It's a pity that he rarely sang his compositions in public. His golden voice and magic he weaved when singing probably came in the way. During the last US tour, he only sang crowd favorites like 'nagumomu ganaleni', 'pibare ramarasam' etc. It was surely disappointing knowing his immense repertoire. But he let a young teenager from Greater Washington DC area accompany him when he sang and encouraged him though the concert.
Memories
I first listened to him live as a 5 year old when he performed at Rajamahendri for the Tyagaraja Narayana Dasa Seva Samiti. His divine 'nagumomu galavani naa manoharuni'in Madhyamavathi is still fresh in the memory. He was a patron of that Sabha. Next time I saw him, he only spoke and did not sing as he had taken a vow not to perform in Andhra. Thankfully his recordings were in abundance by that time. He was the most recorded artist in Carnatic music after M.S. Subbulakshmi.
But with his demise, one can only hope that his compositions are performed more. That would be a real tribute to the master.
గ్రోలితిని మధు రసము మ్రోగితిని మురళినై...
ఆ మధువు గ్రోలగా మధుపమును నేను
grOlitini madhu rasamu mrogitini muraLinai...
A madhuvu grOlagaa madhupamunu nEnu
I drank the nectar, became the Murali and started making sound.
I am the honeybee drinking that nectar.
He describes himself as the honeybee drinking the all-pervading nectar of music. This is from an old autobiographical song 'paaTalE nee bhakti'. It sums up his approach to music. (Thanks to Rama Varma ji for bringing this out. You can listen here).
Some of my picks:
Peridi ninnu
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=YJHKL4luRRY
Tunga tarange gange
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=s5G5dgvkhHg
Ninuvina naamadendu nilvade
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=T9GDTh42UQs
Sree Sakala Ganadhipa
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=9XSZ75ESRXU
Khelati mama hridaye
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=H3uMNdfigho
Jo Jo yashodayaa nanda mukundane
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=q6kdyEIeiS8
Srita kamala kucha mandala
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=bH2S-LniDOs
Ksheera Sagara Shayana
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=DegAzazVgyA
Kadanakutuhalam Tillana
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFaTWXg7duw
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