Sumathi Krishnan, a disciple of senior vocalist R. Vedavalli accompanied her guru to participate in a recording session of T. Mukta, a specialist in padams and javalis. She shares her memories with Kutcheribuzz, in this column.
As her name suggests, Muktamma is a precious pearl among musicians. Today if there is any musician who sings padams and javalis, it can be traced to the teaching the Brindamma or Muktamma. They have an illustrious sishya parampara including Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer, M.S. Subbalakshmi, Ramnad Krishnan, R. Vedavalli and many others. Their fame and name as musicians drew a lot of eager students and fortunately they have left their imprint on a vast number of musicians. One unique and appreciable aspect is that whether one learnt from Brindamma or Muktamma, the padam and javali was rendered in the same manner with no change whatsoever. Even today if ten different students sit down to sing a padam or javali, they are likely to render it in unison!
Muktamma’s music was based on ‘sravanam’- listening to music all the time in the midst of a family devoted to music. Her music was lakshya oriented. In fact although padams are notated, it is almost impossible to sing a padam by merely looking at the notation unless one has learnt it from a guru. At times the oscillations are so subtle that one can never figure out how to render the sangati. Also, the line of the song does not fit into the triputa talam (quite often used for padams) as easily as it seems!
Her music is soul stirring and though she received it late, she had her share of recognition in the form of the title of Sangita Kalacharya from Music Academy, Madras and the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, New Delhi. She also received the Sangita Ratnakara award at Cleveland. These honours sit lightly on the shoulders of an artist who created a niche for herself in the field of Carnatic Music.
My interaction with Muktamma has been brief and more recent. On a number of occasions I went to see her with my guru Smt. R. Vedavalli who is a student of Muktamma. Each time I saw her, my admiration for her grew. How simple and approachable she was. She had a wonderful sense of humour and I could see how fond she was of Vedavalli Amma. In the course of the conversation, apart from inquiring about her health, daughter etc. she would talk about music. She would break into a song, singing a line or two just savouring the music. Sometimes she would ask Vedavalli amma to sing along.
On one occasion, a group of musicians assembled at her house. She was to be honoured by a sabha on her 90th birthday.The whole programme was videotaped, including some songs rendered by her. She wasn’t too well at that time, she had memory lapses and I was wondering how she would manage the whole programme. She was a remarkable woman. To the disappointment of some she forgot the names of musicians but she remembered every line in her songs. Her short term memory faltered but she remembered very well those whom she had taught earlier. As soon as she saw Vedavalli Amma, she hugged her said, “I knew you would be there.” I am really glad that it has been archived.
Much of her music is in the hands of collectors and connoisseurs of music. This age of technology has helped in archiving and preserving our classical music. Most of the recordings are of the Brinda Mukta duo but there are some of Muktamma alone too. Her music is the kind that stays on in the mind long after song is over. The melody and her voice are both haunting. Her music was her life and she will continue to live through generations with her everlasting music.
