The mridangam fraternity should be rejoicing, for, two stalwarts from their clan are being honoured with titles by prestigious sabhas in the city. While multi-faceted vidwan T.V. Gopalakrishnan (TVG) will be conferred the Sangita Kalanidhi by The Music Academy, Madras, during the December season, Mannargudi A. Easwaran will receive the Sangeetha Choodamani Award from Sri Krishna Gana Sabha, T. Nagar, tomorrow (Saturday), at the inauguration ceremony of their 59th Gokulashtami Sangeetha utsavam. Incidentally, it was TVG who received this award last year.
A descendant of Appayya Dikshitar (a saint and a scholar, well known for his works in Sanskrit on Siva Advaita and many other related subjects), Easwaran was trained in mridangam initially by Kunisery Krishnamani Iyer.
“My father was posted at Palakkad when I was five. My childhood was plagued by sickness. Deeply worried my parents studied my horoscope and the astrologers had then predicted that I would reach higher plane in fine arts, particularly in the faculty of music. One of them even went further to profess that a vidwan in layam is in the making,” Easwaran laughs heartily and continues “It did not stop there. My father embarked upon a comparative study of my guru’s horoscope with that of mine like they do to find out a couple’s compatibility before their wedding. Fully satisfied, he formally put me on to Krishnamani Iyer.”
“Thanks to his training methods, my foundation was well-laid,” Easwaran turns into a reminiscent mood. “Classes were real fun and I always looked forward to meeting my guru after school hours. When we moved to Katpadi, my guru moved to Bangalore. Classes continued during his weekend visits to Katpadi.”
His father Appayya then shifted base to Chennai and Easwaran came under the expert guidance of Palakkad K. Kunjumani Iyer and Guruvayur G. Durai. He had special training on playing for vocal music with stress on kirtana patanthiram from them. A formal arangetram took place in 1958 with vidwan D. Pasupathi on the vocals.” My elder brother gave a helping hand in writing down the mridangam lessons neatly; my sisters gave me a solid practice session by singing kritis with my younger brother on the violin. This helped me in sharpening my skills. Throughout my entire family has had a hand in my career development.”
“To rise as a front ranking player I underwent several trials before reaching here. All along God has been kind to me and He has been my guiding spirit. Probably my lineage had something to do with this,” saying this he slips into a meditative mood and goes on to narrate how he got the prefix Mannargudi attached to his name.
A cherished moment“Maha Periyava of Sri Kanchi Math during our family visit to Kanchipuram asked me to play the mridangam during his puja. After the puja he summoned me and took my right hand and placed it on his right palm. This was hardly for a minute or two. I went into a trance. He then asked me to prefix my name with that of my ancestral village where I was born. Those moments are still etched in my memory and I keep reliving it time and again for sheer Divine ecstasy.”
“The encouragement that I got from leading vidwans helped me further in polishing my style”. He gives a long list of names of doyens and hardly one can find any names being left out. He, however, stresses the positive role played by several leading women artists during his formative years. “I have no clichés in playing for women which I continue even today,” Mannargudi A. Easwaran affirms. He had served All India Radio initially at Tiruchirapalli and then at Chennai as a top grade instrumentalist.
Another woman who has been a pillar of strength and support is his wife Kamakshi. “While I dwell in my world of layam, she is the one who has been managing the domestic circuit ably.”
Over the years he says that he has been fortunate to have made a lot of friends comprising rasikas, sabhas and fellow musicians. His disciples Aswin Sridharan and Mudhra Bhaskar are already doing rounds in the concert platforms. He has a host of students, spread across continents, learning mridangam from him.
Mannargudi Appayya Easwaran has been conferred with many titles including the Kalaimamani and also recognition from the Sangeeth Nataka Academy. He, however, cherishes fondly the gold chain with single rudraksha adorning his neck that was presented by his father. This and the broad smile he sports are his trademarks apart from his unique playing style.
