....but, the citizens of Mysore, knew better. They knew they were about to hear one of their country's greatest singers, the one who had transcended all barriers and the one who was their 'Bharat Ratna'. So they came, they thronged in multitudes, they packed themselves to the 'hilt' all the way from 5 Lights-Ramaswamy Circle to "Parvathi" to welcome her; to this one and only lady to whom Gandhi himself had turned in a direct appeal to hear "Hari Tuma Haro Jana Ke bhi".
If the events of that particular day are to be believed, then, it was one of Mysore's finest moments and we leave it to Prof. S. Dandapani who captured the following significances in Star of Mysore 15th December 2004:
" Soon after her return from the USA after a memorable concert at the United Nations, MS visited the Chamarajapuram (Mysore) residence -'Parvati'- of the music lover K. Srikantiah on Sept 12, 1967 to render a chamber concert. Those who listened to her soulful rendering of 'Odi Barayya' (Bhairavi), 'Sri Chamundeshwari (Bilahari) 'Saroja dalaney (Shankarbharanam), 'Sogasada Mridanga' (Sriranjani) and Jagadodarana (Kapi) still mull over her mellifluous voice that transported everyone to the celestial heights!....."
As a reminiscence of great times from our past heritage, we reproduce below a photograph which came along with the article - of a young and resplendent GNB and an equally young and alluring MSS from 'Shakuntalai' (1940)
and now, a start to the 1967 concert as written by Sri T. Sadasivam, himself:
with the concert from M.S.Subbulakshmi-V.V. Subrahmanyam-T.K. Murthy
[ with apologies for some shortcomings with the audio ]
[ 01 - Eranapai – Todi – Varnam – Patnam Subrahmanya Iyer; 02 - Siddhi Vinayakam – Shanmukhapriya - Muthuswami Dikshitar; 03 - Chala Kalla – Arabhi -Thyagaraja; 04 - Naradamuni Vedalina – Pantuvarali - Thyagaraja; 05 - Sogusaga Mridanga Talamu – Sriranjani - Thyagaraja; 06 - Ksheerasagarasayana vakshasthala nivasini - Mayamalava Gowla - Jayachamaraja Wodeyar; 07 – Brochevarevarura – Khamach – Vasudevachar; 08 - Odi barayya – Bhairavi – Purandaradasa; 09 - Manasulo nee - Suddha Hindola – Thyagaraja; 10 - Sri kamakoti peetha sthite – Saveri - Mysore Sadashiva Rao; 11 – Sarojadalanetri – Sankarabharanam - Shyama Sastri; 12 – Ranganayakam – Nayaki - Muthuswami Dikshitar; 13 - Kaliyugadali Hari Nama – Chenjuruti – Purandaradasa; 14 – Thoongula – Ragamalika – Sopanam; 15 – Jagadoddharana – Kapi – Purandaradasa; 16 - Maitrim Bhajata – Yamunakalyani - Kanchi Sankaracharya; 17 – Pavamana – Saurashtra – Thyagaraja; ]
and an acknowledgment and closure from Sri T. Sadasivam
An Epilogue (on the Mysore 'Sandigai' )
" Sadasivam, three things about this 'Sandigai' which you have given me: (1) This has to be from Karnataka only (2) It is made by a lady and (3) The lady is about seventy years old..."
- Honorable Sri 'Rajaji' ( C. Rajagopalachari - Governor General of India )
