“As a helicopter hovered overhead, a saxophonist parachuted from the aircraft, playing a piece in the
major scale during his descent. The instant his feet touched the ground, nagaswara vidwan Sheik Chinnamoulana took up the melodic thread and enthralled the audience with an alapana in the corresponding Shankarabharanam raga, followed by the Muthuswami Dikshitar krithi ‘Mahalakshmi’. A spectacular start to the 1996 International Music Fest at Helsinki, Finland that will remain etched in memory,” reminisces his grandson and disciple, eminent nagaswara vidwan Kasim, of the Kasim-Babu duo.
“We always saw him as a guru first. Only then as a grandfather,” recount the brothers. Sheik sahib had no sons. Kasim and Babu are his daughter’s sons. Concerned about perpetuating the family tradition, he personally saw to their training. Their sangitha siksha began early, with vocal music at age 6. At age 8, they started playing the timiri and by age 12, they graduated to the bari nagaswaram.
“Throughout his lifetime, we performed as a duo or trio along with Sheik saheb — an invaluable learning ground which has been our greatest strength.” Adds Kasim, “Growing up in Trichy and Srirangam, I completed my B.Sc in Physics from St. Joseph’s College. But music has always been my destiny.”
The Guntur region has nurtured some of the greatest musicians in Andhra Pradesh. The brothers belong to a 300-year-old nagaswara parampara, stretching across nine generations, in unbroken succession. “Karavadi, our native village, has a Siva temple and a Venugopalaswami temple. The local zamindar trustees had granted 3.5 acres of land to my nagaswara vidwan ancestors whose music was part of temple ritual. So, our family held the responsibility of continuing the sangita kainkaryam ,” they explain. Thus, compulsion and inborn interest ignited Sheik Chinnamoulana’s passion for the instrument. From his father Sheik Kasim Saheb, he inherited a treasure trove of krithis . From his guru, Sheik Adam Saheb, he imbibed the expertise in raga alapana for which the Chilakaluripet style is famous.
By dint of natural aptitude and intense sadhakam, Sheik saheb became one of the best exponents of this bani. However, he had one unfulfilled wish — to become a disciple of his manasika guruT.N. Rajaratnam Pillai. As the vidwan was at his peak, performing full-time, he was not accessible. So, Sheik saheb approached TNR’s disciples, the Nachiarkoil brothers, Rajam and Doraikannu, who groomed him in the Thanjavur bani, with its repertoire of ritual temple music that included mallari and Tamil isai such as Tevaram and Tiruppugazh. What captivated rasikas was his sense of proportion and aesthetics in presentation.
He believed that an artist should have the clarity of vision (nirnayam) to reveal the raga swaroopa in the very first line of alapana; emphasis on sahitya bhava of krithis , such that the instrumental rendition comes as close as possible to vocalisation.
“Where to begin,” Kasim smiles, when asked to name some memorable concerts of Sheik saheb. “ Whenever we meet vidwan T.N. Seshagopalan, he makes it a point to speak about a luminous Kedaragowla played by our grandfather at the Sai Baba temple utsavam in Chennai. At the Viralimalai utsavam, accompanied by the thavil maestro Valangaiman Shanmugasundaram Pillai, with whom he had a 30-year-long association, he played a remarkable Todi with only panchama-varja prayogas.”
Widely-travelled, Sheik saheb was the first nagaswara vidwan to undertake a concert tour of the U.S. His numerous awards and honours include the Padmasri, Sangeetha Kalanidhi, Sangita Choodamani, Sangeet Natak Akademi award, Isai Perarignar, Asthana vidwan of Kanchi and Sringeri Peetams. “His blessings have earned the Kalaimamani and Asthana Vidwans of Tirumalai Tirupathi Devasthanams for us,” says Babu.
After Sheik saheb passed away on April 13, 1999, the brothers established the Dr. Chinnamoulana Memorial Trust and began holding a two-day programme every year on April 12 and 13. The prime objectives are to globalise the glory of nagaswaram and to preserve its traditions for future generations.
At the aradhana, deserving students are presented nagaswaram/thavil (with the support of BHEL, Trichy), who cannot afford to buy their own instruments, while a purse of Rs.10,000 each is awarded to two senior, indigent melam vidwans. Leading vidwans and vidushis pay musical homage through their concerts.
Under the Paddhati project aimed at preserving temple music sampradaya, 10 students (five nadaswaram and five tavil) are selected every year to undergo advanced two-year training from veteran melam vidwans. Each student and guru receives Rs. 2000 per month.
