On January 21, Sangita Kalanidhi Sanjay Subrahmanyan will celebrate his 50th birthday. Time passes quickly. To most Carnatic music lovers, Sanjay has always remained ‘the boy next door,’ cycling or motorcycling his way around Mylapore, Alwarpet and other locations in Chennai during the music season, always to be seen devouring the music of the great masters during the late 1970s and ‘80s at all the famed venues. That is, till he became a performer himself during the early ‘90s. The rest is history. Only, it is history still in the making, as Sanjay continues to rule the roost and draws adoring and devoted followers to his concerts, wherever he performs. Awards and recognition have come his way almost routinely, and the most coveted Sangita Kalanidhi title conferred on him by the Madras Music Academy in 2015 at the age of 47, puts him in that elite group of musicians who have been so honoured before they turned 50.
It is only but natural that a writer, deeply interested in Carnatic music, would want to be the first in the queue to interview the ebullient maestro on this important milestone. And when the musician happens to be the interviewer’s nephew, complications can arise.
Will there be an obvious bias towards the subject? I wish to make it abundantly clear that the answer to that question is a resounding ‘Yes’. Readers are free to ascribe and posit their own levels of subjectivity or objectivity to this interview. If it helps, I can only plead in extenuation that it is far more difficult for a close relative to conduct such an interview than it would be for an outsider. For a musician, who routinely attracts gushing praise from fans, critics and musicians alike, I can afford to remain understated.
During the past decade or so, Sanjay has hardly given any interviews, the Kalanidhi year being a notable and understandable exception (this supplement carried an extensive interview ahead of the prize announcement that year). His point of view being that everything that needs to be said about him has already appeared in print and the social media. And the media don’t seem to look beyond what inspires him, who were his gurus, what are his favourite ragas, culinary dishes, cricketers and other tidbits that are freely available on any search engine. As a family member, I felt it gave me an opportunity to provide insights on the man who can be characterised as unique. From that perspective, one hopes this will be an interview with a difference. So here goes nothing. Or perhaps, something.
Sanjay, completing 50 years is not in itself unique. But riding the crest of a wave over the past 25 years and more, do you not feel like asking yourself, ‘Where did the years go?’
I don’t think the answer to that will be different from what any other 50-year old will offer. It is one of the most natural questions that I face as I approach each birthday. It is also good to look back and say, ‘That was one heck of a journey!’ More like a batsman looking at his record after a reasonable time and saying ‘Have I really scored so many centuries?’ So yes, I do ask myself this quite frequently.
There is a perception that Carnatic music is an ancient and hoary tradition. But as a performing art for the music lover, the concert platform or the kutcheri format, is barely 135-odd years old. Would you say there have been substantial changes in the format over this period or have the changes been organic and consistent with the way things were?
The problem with the above perception is the lack of documentary evidence or details about how music was performed before the kutcheri format fell in place. Going by just the available information, yes, changes have happened. Some radical, some cosmetic. The art form continues to evolve, guided by both intelligent and creative artistes and a demanding audience. Whether these changes are substantial is for a data analyst to figure out. As a performer I can say that there is enough and more on offer for me to feel satisfied with what I am doing.
It is a truism that when people speak of performers, the comparison between artistes has always been divided by gender. M.S. Subbulakshmi will be compared only with D.K. Pattammal or M.L. Vasanthakumari, but never with G.N. Balasubramaniam, Semmangudi Srinivasier or Madurai Mani Iyer. And vice versa . This holds true even today. Why do you feel this is so?
C’mon, this is not restricted to Carnatic music alone. We come across articles like ‘Seven important women writers to read’ quite frequently. This kind of gender division is something more intelligent people than me are working on. So it is quite normal under the circumstances to see this. Writers and reviewers will have to try and break it and mix and match, so that we can have a Harmanpreet Kaur and a Virat Kohli batting together in a cricket match.
Most of us feel the 1950s, ‘60s and ‘70s were the golden age of Carnatic music as a performing art form. Why do you feel there was a marked dip in interest during much of the ‘80s when sabhas struggled to fill up halls even during the season? And what happened during the ‘90s that a whole bunch of youngsters, yourself included, were involved in a dramatic revival?
There are at least three to four documented ‘golden ages’ in Carnatic music. The early Eighties was tough for all art forms. The economic depression in the country was not exactly helping things. Musically also there were only a few who could draw a big audience. The others gave sincere high quality music but the audience response was lukewarm. Also, I think there was a sameness to the way they performed. The ‘70s was a good time for instrumental music as well. So you can say the ‘80s was a transition period before upstarts like me got involved.
There are those who believe that the affairs of Carnatic music are conducted perniciously on caste lines, and periodic attempts are made by some ‘evangelists’ to ‘take it to the masses.’ The opposite view is that this is totally fallacious, and that certain communities are just naturally drawn to certain art forms, and there has been no evidence to suggest that the so called upper castes have kept out others from their fold. Where do you stand on this issue?
I guess the answer lies somewhere in between the two views you have outlined. Things are never as black and white as they are made out to be. As for taking it to the masses, the question to be asked is, ‘Did the masses request it, want it, demand it?’ My stand on this is that I am a performer who is paid to do my job. I am too limited in my thinking to dwell on the larger picture. I am happy if smarter people can get something done.
You may be the captain of the ship, but how vital have been the contributions of your fellow artistes on stage towards the success of your performances?
I am only the captain of the team in that sense. It is still a team and they do contribute significantly to the success that I enjoy.
Do you keep a close watch on the up-and-coming musicians? If so, how sanguine are you about Carnatic music’s future? Would you say the art form is in safe hands?
I don’t keep a close watch, but I am certainly aware of what is happening. I am positive about the future. I think the art form is in very safe hands. The youngsters are skilled, hardworking and unafraid to experiment. They have also not yet been bogged down by abstract concepts and instead are concentrating just on producing their music.
Finally, at 50, you appear to be just breaking stride in terms of your enthusiasm and energy levels. Every one talks of your three-hour marathons without taking a sip of water or glancing at notes to aid memory. How do you see the next decade unfolding for Vidwan Sanjay Subrahmanyan, in terms of keeping your own interest levels and your audience frenzy from flagging?
I will just try to maintain what I am doing at the moment. I do however see that things may slow down a bit, though I have to grow older to be convinced it is so. I am confident of doing what I am doing for the next decade definitely. Then we will have to wait and see how things pan out.
