When Ramnad Krishnan lived in Ramanathapuram, he, as a youngster, learnt many Thiruppugazh verses from guru Sankara Sivam. The inbuilt rhythmic pattern of the verses developed his sense of laya as the guru made him sing repeatedly. The guru also taught his brothers, who all became accomplished artistes.
After Ramnad Krishnan shifted to Madras, his music gained new dimensions as he soaked in a range of influences — from Veena Dhanammal, Kanchipuram Naina Pillai to T. Brinda, who became his anchors. G.N. Balasubramaniam was another inspiration.
This is what the documentary, Ramanathapuram Krishnan - The Musicians’ Musician, by well-known theatre personality S.B.Khanthan portrayed. It was screened at the Dakshinamurthy Hall recently during the inaugural event of Ramnad Krishnan's year-long centenary celebrations. In the film, son R.K.Ramanathan recalls his father’s musical journey, “For the first two weeks, when my father listened to Veena Dhanammal, he could not appreciate the music, probably because he could not get the feel (of it) or understand it. But when he listened to it for a third week, the bhava and aesthetic aspects of Dhanammal's music hit him like a tsunami.”
The highlights of the evening were the three speakers, connoisseur Spencer Venugopal, disciple Ritha Rajan, and vocalist T.M. Krishna.
On his training
Ritha recalled, how her guru made her sing Poornachandrika swaraprasthara for almost a month, till she became fluent in it. She spoke on behalf of all his disciples, including this writer, when she said, that he trained students in this way to ensure flawless singing.
Venugopal pointed out that Ramnad Krishnan's influence was everlasting. “It is the love story of how he bent the bow of vidwat, and won over the heart of bhava, which was Sita’s hand in marriage. About his music, he would say, “I am singing what I believe is true music, I do not wish for any wealth beyond that,” said Venugopal. He did not wish to create music for short-lived entertainment, he believed in the timeless appeal of his art.
T.M.Krishna said, “I am biased about Brinda (T.Brinda), Viswa (T.Viswanathan), Bala (T.Balasaraswati), and (Ramnad) Krishnan. I am in love with their music. All of us went through a period when we imitated this man.” While TMK was happy that in this year’s event the focus was on the exquisite touches of his music, he said, “The truth is — we need more Ramnad Krishnans today.”
