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U Ve Sa - Part 12
An English note
 During the period of study, there was a slight misunderstanding between Subramanya Desikar and U Ve Sa. In order to set things in order Sri Meenakshisundaram Pillai composed a viruttam and a kIrtanam in honour of Desikar. The kIrtanam interestingly was set to the music of an English note! U Ve Sa sang the same before Desikar and he was happy, hardly showing any sign of the misunderstanding. Oduvars in the mutt also learnt the kIrtanam and rendered it everyday before
Desikar.
Music for the teacher
During the last days of Meenakshisundaram Pillai, U Ve Sa used to visit him every night and sing several Tamizh kIrtanams. For one who never had interest in music, Shri Pillai, because of the weak state of his body, forgot himself in the music and the simple gait of the lyrics. He was particularly moved while listening to the Nandanar charittira
kIrtanams.
A different rAgam
When U Ve Sa was staying at Tiruvavaduturai, a Tamizh vidwan named Tirisirapuram Govinda Pillai made a visit to the Adeenam. He was a specialist in Kamba Ramayanam and was scheduled to give a discourse on some portions of the same. U Ve Sa was asked to read out sections and Govinda Pillai would then give his expositions on the same.
U Ve Sa usually followed the practice of always singing verses in a rAga rather than just reciting them. Govinda Pillai was not comfortable with that and rebuked U Ve Sa, saying, "This is not a sangeeta kutchery for you to sing!" He then proceeded to show how verses were recited in a particular tune especially in the Tirisirapuram area. U Ve Sa was familiar with this because that was how his own teacher read the verses. So U Ve Sa immediately obliged and this pleased Govinda Pillai who said "There! That is how it should be done!". Desikar who was observing this responded with a chuckle, "Not bad, our Swaminatha Iyer can sing these rAgams as well!!"
Sakkarai Bharatiyar
U Ve Sa had accompanied Subramaniya Desikar on a trip to the southern districts. During their stay in Kuttralam, U Ve Sa was walking with a friend through a grove when he heard the sound of music. As they followed the direction of the music they came upon a huge mansion. Seated on a stool just outside the mansion was a man, singing in a loud voice. If he was singing for himself it would not have been necessary to sing so loudly. As soon as they reached the singer, he stopped and asked them who they were. After they informed him that they had accompanied Desikar, he said his name was Sakkarai
Bharatiyar.
As they were talking they heard an angry voice from inside. "Why has the music stopped?". Immediately a servant came outside to see what was happening. Sakkarai Bharati immediately started singing. U Ve Sa asked him to come to the Tiruvavaduturai mutt later in the evening and
Bharatiyar responded with a nod.
Sakkarai Bharati was the younger brother of a Tamizh vidwan with whom they were all familiar. In the evening Sakkarai Bharati came to the mutt and explained his position to Desikar, U Ve Sa and the others. Apparently the mansion belongs to a zamindar who was sitting inside and playing cards with a female companion. Because he was in her company it was not appropriate for Bharatiyar to go inside. Also because Sakkarai Bharati was dependent on the zamindar for support he had to perform these tasks. He then sang a number of rare songs and pleased everyone. Desikar presented him with a zari vastram valued at 15 rupees. Sakkarai Bharati was so happy and said that if he only he had such patronage he would never leave the side of Desikar. Desikar invited him to Tiruvavaduturai and Bharatiyar responded "For someone who has to spend time with ignorant and arrogant people, if I am more
fortunate I will definitely come."
Composer of keertanams
A friend in Sri Lanka wanted U Ve Sa to compose some verses especially for a temple of Dandapani that he was building. U Ve Sa obliged with five kIrtanams. U Ve Sa had learnt the nuances of composing kIrtanams from Gopalakrishna Bharati and Vayyai Ramaswami Iyer (brother of the famed Maha Vaidyanatha Iyer). It was important for the anupallavi and the pallavi to have a connection and that meaning of the charanams should have a continuity with the pallavi. Applying all these principles he composed kIrtanams in suruTTi, sahAna, sEnjuruTTi and jujAvanti (these are the names by which he mentions the rAgAs). They were later published in Kumbakonam in 1891.
Music in the ancient Tamizh epics
During his research of the ancient epics, U Ve Sa had occasion to discuss the details with both Maha Vaidyanatha Iyer and his brother. Both were quite amazed at the level of knowledge of ancient Tamils. Books like Silappadikkaram, Tala Samuddiram, Suddhananda Prakasam carried a lot of information on the musical system of the Tamils. (Later research by Dr S Ramanathan and others yielded a lot of information about the music of those
times).
A 'Poochi' concert at home
In 1896, a zamindar named Panditturai Tevar who had funded the publications of U Ve Sa visited Kumbakonam. During that visit he called upon U Ve Sa in his house. A reception was arranged by U Ve Sa in his honour and a concert of Seenuvayyangar with Tirukkodikaval Krishnayyar was arranged. (Considering that Panditturai Tevar, the Zamindar of Palavanattam was a close friend and patron of Ramanathapuram Srinivasa (Poochi) Iyengar, the Seenuvayyangar must refer to that great vocalist).
Conclusion
En Charittram started appearing in Ananda Vikatan in 1940 and continued till May 1942. U Ve Sa died on 28th April 1942. The story was written only up to the year 1898. I have tried to compile only the music related information from this publication for the benefit of music lovers. It is indeed fortunate that U Ve Sa was a trained musician and had the association of the legendary Maha. He has also published the biographies of Ghanam Krishnayyar, Gopalakrishna Bharati and Maha Vaidyanatha Iyer. I definitely intend to carry out an English translation of those books in the near future.
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