 Suguna Purushothaman
 Pon Vilainthakalathur in Chengalpattu district, true to its name, has produced a real golden singer in Suguna Purushothaman. Belonging to the sishya parampara of the bard of Tiruvaiyaru, Saint Tyagaraja, Suguna started learning music from the tender age of 8.
Her musically-inclined mother, a violinist, put her under the guidance of Savithri, who was Suguna’s first guru. Later on, she became a disciple of Mannargudi Ramamurthy. Her maiden performance was at a Tyagaraja Utsavam in Saidapet where she recived the first prize.
Though her father wanted her to take up maths, her choice was music. The unquenchable thirst to learn the divine art made her join the University of Madras to pursue music. Suguna came out with flying colours securing a distinction in Diploma in Indian Music.
She is adept at playing the ‘Queen of Instruments’, the veena. She did not find it difficult to secure a first class in the Technical Teachers Training Certificate course.
Her practice hours would start as early as 4 a.m. Another musical luminary, Tinniyam Venkatrama Iyer, honed her skills. Suguna considers herself to be blessed because her practice would always be with the accompaniments. Music buffs would congregate at his house to interact with Venkatrama
Iyer.
Her innate desire to specialise in Pallavi singing was fulfilled by Venkatarama Iyer who taught her the nuances. She imbibed the technique of Pallavi singing from her guru and created ripples in the musical fraternity while young.
Suguna’s musical genius was manifest in the art of keeping two different talas with both hands simultaneously while singing. This is a unique and a rare feat “I undertook rigorous practice to master it,” confesses Suguna. To perform a concert incorporating this aspect is not a joke. Suguna emerged successfully earning accolades from veterans.
After obtaining the Government of India scholarship for advanced study in vocal music, she came under the tutelage of Sangita Kalanidhi Musiri Subramania Iyer. Her classes under the guidance of Musiri would stretch to four hours. She also learnt Dikshitar kritis and other compositions from Seemmangudi Srinivasa Iyer, and Annamacharya kritis from Manchala Jagannatha, sponsored by the Tirumala-Tirupati Devasthanams, Andhra
Pradesh.
She has the greatest reverence for her gurus with whose guidance and blessings she was able to unravel the treasure of music. She humourously recalls that when everyone would relax on Sundays. She would particularly wake up very early to take music lessons. Suguna nostalgically recalls her worthy association with such stalwarts of the music world on a trip down memory lane.
She has been an ‘A’ grade artiste of AIR since 1962. There is not a single sabha that she has not performed in and around Chennai. The Music Academy and The Indian Fine Arts Society decorated her with the best senior musician award. Krishna Gana Sabha awarded her with its prestigious Sangeeta Choodamani award in 2004. A great vaggeyakara, she has composed many kritis in difficult talas, which is her forte.
Her teaching career spans over four decades and she is a visiting faculty in the University of Madras and Tamil Nadu Music College. Her musical offspring, ‘Sunadam’, comprising her students, has earned plaudits from Music Academy and The Indian Fine Arts Society.
Her erudition surfaced when she assisted her guru Thinniyam V. Iyer in publishing the book Pallavi
Rathnamala, financed by the Madras Sangeet Natak Sangam. The Indian diaspora in USA has benefited from her lectures and demonstrations, and, of course, concerts. She is a good conversationist with a great sense of humour and one can enjoy listening to her reminiscing about the bygone days.
She lays accent on preserving our rich musical tradition. She believes that good patanthra and practice will elevate an artiste to great heights.
Mira
mira60@rediff.com
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