"Memories of my parents"
by their only child.
(Smt. Mysore Prabha, daughter of Sri. K. Srikantiah)
It has been a little over a year since my dear Father,
K.Srikantiah, left for his heavenly abode at the ripe age of ninety-six. It was
the blessings of his Aaradhya Daiva, Sri Rama, that the transition to the next
form happened without any pain or suffering whatsoever. In fact, it was only
the second time in his life of 96 years that he stepped inside a hospital, that
too for a short period of 24 hours.
As a child, my first impressions of my father were that he
was a very strict, disciplined and dominating man. He certainly was all of
that. Everyone seemed a little afraid of him.
But later on, as I grew up, I realised that he was equally
caring, loving and helpful. He was passionate about three things in life - Lord
Rama, Music and Gardening. GNB was his all-time favourite singer and an
evergreen hero. Some melodious songs of Lata Mangeshkar and Kishore Kumar
(especially the semi-classical tunes of R.D.Burman) moved him as much as the
classical depths of M.L.Vasanthakumari or a Madurai Somu. His enthusiasm for
Indian Cricket was infectious. I remember him planning his day in advance so
that nothing would disturb his viewing of the match. Father loved watching good
movies -whether it was English, Kannada, Hindi, Tamil or Telugu. His favourites
were Roman Holiday, Ranganayaki, Babruvahana, K. Balachandar movies, and Shankarabharanam, to name a few. Indeed- a man of varied interests.
Above all, my
father's passion for Carnatic music surpassed everything else. From his teenage
to his nineties, musicians from six generations and their music filled his
life.
As I recall, every day our house would echo with either a musician's live singing or music being
played on my father’s precious spool tape recorder. It was this passion of his
that drove him to organise Ramanavami and Ganesh festivals for more than sixty
years. His joy, seeing that thousands enjoyed these concerts, was boundless. A
thousand namaskarams to Lord Rama for giving my father such a fulfilling and
worthy life.
***
To my utter misfortune and deep regret, my dear mother,
Vatsala Srikantiah, also joined my father at the Lotus Feet of Lord Rama on the 26th of August,2025, within a
year of my father's passing. It had been just 48 hours before that father's
first year Vaikunta Samaradhana was performed. Probably she heard her husband's
commanding voice calling her, 'VATSALA!',
and the dutiful wife that she was, she went and joined him.
The two were made for each other, I feel. Both shared their interests in music,
festivals, traditions, rituals, movies, socialising, travelling, etc. Both
Father and Mother were very good singers. They used to sing together on
occasions. Their rendition of ' Vande Sadaa Padmanabham' at the Padmanabhaswamy Temple in Trivandrum
is still ringing in my ears.
The music festivals that my father conducted for decades
would not be possible without the support and co-operation of my mother. Behind
the curtains, it was she who took care of the pooja arrangements, kitchen
supervision, catering endlessly to the musicians who used to stay at home,
attending to guests and visitors, etc. I have never seen her talk back or go
against the wishes of her husband even once. She would quietly go about her
duties. What a great pillar of strength she was to all of us!
I miss
you both terribly, Anna and Amma!
The passing of my parents has coincided with the curtains coming down on our blog. It has been a wonderful, satisfying journey of sharing my father's legacy of recordings of the concerts he organised with the music-loving world. The blog itself was the brain-child of my cousin brother, Vish Murthy (nephew of Srikantiah), with the able and constant support of Sri. R.Sachidananda ( a scholar and an ardent music lover).
***
Now it
is time for our blog to come to an end. We are doing so with a sad, yet
content, heart. For the finale, we are posting the live recording from a very soulful jugalbandi
concert of Vidwans Mysore Manjunath and Pravin Godkhindi, held in 2017. This also
happens to be the last concert my father organised in Mysore (in memory of his
father, K.Puttu Rao), at the age of 89 years.
On this Vijayadashami day, May Goddess Chamundeshwari bless all our viewers and listeners with Ayur, Arogya, Soukhyam.
***
Concert Details
Held in the Jagan Mohan Palace, Mysore, on 31-8-2017.
Dr. Mysore Manjunath -- violin
Pandit Praveen Godkhindi -- Bansuri
B.C. Manjunath -- Mridangam
Kiran Godkhindi -- Tabla
Song list
1. Welcome
2. Introduction
3. Evari bodhana
4. Niravadhisukhada
5. Raga Mohana
6. RTP Keeravani, Yaman...
7. Shivaranjani and Sindhubhairavi
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