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| T. J. S. George talks about his book on MS By KutcheriBuzz Staff / Chennai |   | |||
 There have not been too many fireworks following the release a new book on M. S. Subbulakshmi released in India in February. This is probably the first time that a writer has taken a close and sharp look at one of India's greatest classical singers who is now respected like a goddess. And has not stopped from calling a spade a spade.
In Chennai though, where MS resides, the light brickbats and muffled remarks on the book have been floating around. And these came into the open when the author of the biography, journalist-columnist and writer T. J. S. George, who is now based in Bangalore, joined a discussion on the book hosted by the Madras Book Club. Two opinions were strong ones. Though these may not be from people who have read the book from cover to cover. One, that George has gone into Carnatic music and the culture in such minute detail that only a man ignorant of Carnatic music could have indulged in this.
Soon after the book was released, the gossip in Carnatic music circles in Chennai was on the 'love letters' of MS. Most of the buzz was hearsay. Others were livid when the buzz got to them. One rasika mailed 'KutcheriBuzz.com' saying that the book should be banned. Another said that it was not fair for the author to menton about love letters and the romance of MS when she was still alive.
At the Madras Book Club function, chaired by historian S. Muthiah, music historian and editor of 'Sangeetham.com' V. Sriram did a smart job of giving the large audience at the Taj Connemara hotel an overview of the book, emphasising that George had set MS' life against the backdrop of the times in which she was born, grew up, blossomed, achieved greatness and lived to this time. Sriram also had a more telling point to make - that books, brochures or commemorative volumes or any forms of literature either sang laudatory notes on the artistes or simply did not include dates, times, background and context. Which is why George took almost ten years to research and just a few months to write the book! Did he meet MS? No, he did not and said there was no need too do it. Wouldn't it have been right to have shown the manuscript to MS before it was published as a book? George said that was not proper. This was not an 'approved' biography, he said. It was his book and anyway, all that she may have wanted to say had been said over the years and MS would not have said anything else. "I would lose my credibility if I did all this. It is not enough to be independent, you must be seen to be independent,"said George.
George said he must have spoken to at least 300 people and that he had never met MS for an official interview. "We did meet at her house in Chennai but that was an accidental one,"he added. Most people at the meeting had views to share on MS' husband, T Sadasivam, who nurtured, managed, promoted and guarded MS from the day she landed at his doorstep. Some said George had made him out to be a monster. Others said the book also showed the nicer side of Sadasivam. "When you write about a powerful man like Sadasivam you have to present both sides of the person but I never set out to paint Sadasivam as a monster. In a book of this kind I cannot keep out the negative side of a person like him," said George.
George emphaised that he was absolutely sure of the veracity of the love letters that MS had written to GNB. And he felt he had not sensationalised that part of her life. "I did not overplay the letters part. But a good biographer has to treat such issues sensibly, honestly and in a balanced manner and I think this is what the book does," he said. (While the author makes a passing reference to this development in MS' life, the appendix deals with the romance, words used in the letters and the relationship which MS 'closed' in favour of Sadasivam.)
Read all about the book here. You can also read an extract from the book here. | ||||
Two, there was no need to write on the romance of MS, a reference to the part where George talks about MS' infatuation for the then reigning star of Carnatic music, GNB, as he was popularly called, or G. N. Balasubramaniam.
Others wondered if MS had given permission for making public less-known details of her life and career.
People at the Book Cub meet were keen to comment on this relationship. One said that GNB may not have done much to MS as an artiste and to her career may have meandered, had she married him. Another said MS was confident that only Sadasivam would make real her goal of a making a career in music. And that decision was crucial - for it made her what she is today.