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When did your association with music start? It started at the age of three and continues to this day. I started playing on the ganjira when I was three and on the mridanga at the age of five. My first stage performance took place when I was ten. I am therefore completing 56 years of my journey in the world of music, now. If Carnatic music is the ship in which I travel, the opportunities, the atmosphere and the blessings that I received from senior artistes are the sails, oars and the wind that enabled the journey. Umayalpuram, the place of my birth, is significant in the world of Carnatic music because several important direct disciples of Sri Thyagaraja Swamikal lived there. Umayalpuram Krishna Bagavadar and Sundara Bagavadar were direct disciples of Thyagaraja. The treasure they received from him was passed down to their descendents and their disciples and this has continued as a tradition. The very air and atmosphere in Umayalpuram is thus saturated with music and I was blessed with a natural talent for music. My father Dr. Kasi Viswanatha Iyer sensed my aptitude at a very young age and my grandmother got me a ganjira when I was three. My training on the mridanga started when I was five. I learnt from Sri Arupathi Natesa Iyer at first, for seven years. Then I learnt from Thanjavur Vaidhyanatha Iyer, a veteran and Kumbakonam Rangu Iyer. I received the finest of training from Palghat Mani Iyer. My training lasted for around 15 years. My training continued alongside my regular education in Thanjavur and Madras. Right from the age of 10, I have been playing for senior and very senior artistes whenever an opportunity for it arose. I consider those days as golden days in my life. If at all I am respected in this field, it's all due to the fact that I played for such senior artistes and also due to the fact that they were all large-hearted to encourage talents, wherever it is, though I was very young at that time. I owe all my reputation, awards and titles to them. It is due to their support that I grew up and it is because of that I received the Sangeetha Kalanidhi award from the Music Academy. About your memorable performances… Plenty of them. Both within the country and abroad. The performances with T. R. Mahalingam, Pandit Ravishankar are the most memorable among them. Jagadguru Sringeri Sankaracharya asked me perform mridangam solo during the puja of His Holiness. The ready applause for my solo performance during concerts in various places, and the standing ovations I received from international audiences………there are a lot many to remember. Chembai Vaidhyanatha Bagavathar, the all time great, had given me very valuable opportunities even when I was very young. Sometimes, he was so generous as to give me time for performing thani-aavardhanam as many as five times in a single concert. 'Don't worry Siva,' he used to tell me. 'People enjoy your performance. I will give you more number of opportunities to perform in every concert.' Without such support, I could not have imagined to reach the place that I am now in. I am very deeply indebted to doyens like him. It is a debt that I can never repay. On another occasion when I was playing for Ariyakkudi Ramanuja Iyengar, we were expecting the arrival of my guru Palghat Mani Iyer to the concert. As soon as he arrived, Ariyakkudi told me, 'Your guru has come. You take time now to play 'thani' and make him happy.' I cannot forget this gesture forever. It is only with the blessings of all great artistes that I have come up in my career. I owe all the acclaim that I receive to all those stalwarts. But for their support and generosity, it would not have been possible for me to achieve whatever I have achieved. Another memorable event is my participation and playing on the mridangam in a jazz group in Belgium. People there gave a very warm and ready welcome to my performance. They show a very keen interest in our music and the group considers me as their guru. It is important that all our performances should be memorable. We have to hone our skills and fine-tune ourselves regularly and come out with something new every time. Only then can those concerts be memorable, both for the audience and for the artiste. We have to keep ourselves abreast with the changes that are taking place. Generations are changing and necessarily the taste would be different. We should be able to feel their pulse and respond accordingly. Only then will we be able to maintain our standing. Tell us something about your contribution to this field, apart from being an artiste… I have done quite a few. In the olden days, they used cloth wrapper for taking the instrument from place to place. It was I who introduced the waterproof rexine cover for mridangam. It was 29 years back. Then I introduced the mridanga made of fibre glass. Usually the instrument is made out of pala maram (wood obtained from jackfruit tree). It can also be made of sandalwood. But reasons like cost and ready availability makes pala, a more preferred material. Even that is not available these days and whatever is available is not of good quality. It was therefore that I introduced the mridanga made of fibre glass. I made a mechanical jig to correct the errors of tuning, when the instrument is tuned manually. I did my bit to widen the horizons of playing on the mridangam, apart from playing it as an accompaniment in the regular way, like jugal-bandhi, playing with different styles and schools of music like Jazz, Pop and even Rap. How about sharing your memories of working for the film industry? I entered the film field through the film 'Mridanga Chakravarthy.' My friend M. S. Viswanathan was the music director. Sivaji Ganesan played the role of a mridangam artiste and everyone in the Unit was of the opinion that I should play mridangam in the background for Sivaji. I was not for money. I told them that I did not expect money from them and all I needed was an honourable and respectable treatment. I had another request to make. I told them that the portraits of Thyagaraja Swamigal and my guru Thanjavur Vaidhyanatha Iyer should find a place in the house shown as the residence of the character played by Sivaji. They agreed to do so and they did so. They treated me very respectfully. Though my part of the work was completed within two or three days, Sivaji wanted me to stay by his side, when the film was shot. He used to call me 'vaadhyare!' At the end of each shot, he would come to me and ask me 'What sir! (enna vaadhyare!) Did I do it rightly? Were my hand movements convincing?' He was so particular that his acting as a percussion artiste should be convincing and the great thing about it was that he did not hesitate to check with me. He was a devoted artiste and his success was undoubtedly due to his devotion. I then received an offer for playing in Sindhu-Bhairavi. Unfortunately, I could not do so because I was in the States then. MGR was very affectionate and fond of me. I am talking about a time when he was in the film field and had not yet become the Chief Minister. He used to attend all the concerts whenever I invited him and would stay till the end, speak a few words at the end before leaving. It was during his time that I was made the 'asthaana vidhwan' of Tamil Nadu and I held the position for 7 years. I used to play in the Navarathri festivities in Ilayaraja's residence. Ilayaraja and his sons would listen to my performance till the end and enjoy. It is said that the impact of private TV channels and cinema has affected the crowd that attends music programmes. To what extent do you think is this true? No. I do not agree with that view. There is no reduction in the number of people attending concerts. You can verify the fact from the occupancy levels of hotels. All of them are occupied, fully. There are around 800 to 900 concerts and programmes of various kinds arranged for the season. Do you mean to say that these programmes are conducted without there being demand for them? Neither the crowd nor their enthusiasm nor their taste has gone down. There is no paucity in getting sponsors for the programmes. Carnatic music has a very bright future. It is like the shining sun. It can never diminish. To tell you the fact, students are not able to get seats in music colleges these days. This is something unprecedented. If one is wearing dark glasses, naturally one cannot see the brightness around. Tell us something about your students… Where do they come from and what do they do… Many students from within the country and abroad come for learning music. I do not make any kind of differentiation in teaching this art. My art is far away from the barriers of language, caste and creed. Yes. I do look for a particular community of students. The community that has enthusiasm and that's that. If the student is imbued with enthusiasm and keen interest, that is sufficient for me. I am here to teach and I am ready to accept such students, from wherever they are.
As I told you I was the 'asthaana vidhwan' of Tamil Nadu for seven years. I have been the recipient of titles like Sangeetha Kalanidhi, Sangeetha Kalasigamani, etc. Kanchi Sankaracharya conferred on me the title 'Nadhamani' and Sringeri Acharya conferred the title 'Mridhanga Kalanidhi.' I have received about 20 titles. I am deeply indebted to my masters who shaped me, and the maha-vidhwans who enthused and encouraged me, for all the honours that have been conferred on me. How do you relate and interact with the younger generation of the present days? So many years have rolled past since I entered the arena. I have seen many great artistes. It is my endeavour to help the youngsters reach the position in which people are holding me. If I am able to provide opportunities for the youngsters to come up high in their career by sharing my knowledge and experience with them, that would be the fulfilment of my career and my life. --Saravanan
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Umayalpuram K. Sivaraman doesn't need a formal introduction to the Carnatic music enthusiast. He is a well-known figure in other music forums as well. Recipient of the Padmashree award, apart from dozens of tittles and honours like Sangeetha Kalanidhi, Sangeetha Kalasigamani, etc., this mridangist was aasthaana vidhwan of Tamil Nadu for seven years. This 66 year youthful veteran shares his experiences with us.
About the titles and honours you have
received…
