One of the most striking aspects of the violin is it comes close to the human voice but the artiste has to strive to make it ‘sing.’ ‘Sangita Kalanidhi’ Mohan Chandrasekaran’s felicity with the instrument is legendary. The late Sripada Pinakapani said: “When Chandrasekaran plays, you can hear vocal, veena and nagaswaram all together.” Rasikas would vouch for that. When the visually challenged musician plays the violin, he can make you hear lyrics and feel the sahitya bhava like in a vocal recital. His violin produces all the gamakas and rhythm that a veena and nagaswaram can create. The performance is the same even when he accompanies other artistes — he just lets the violin resonate and blend with them.
Ask how does he pull off the feat in every concert, the veteran, who turned 82 on December 11, is all smiles. “Involvement is the key. Your knowledge of music without dedication and involvement is akin to a samaiyal (cooking) without salt,” guffaws Chandrasekaran as we sit for a tete-a-tete at his residence on the busy C.P. Ramaswamy Iyer Road, Alwarpet, Chennai.
Chandrasekaran’s more than a seven-decades-old musical career is the result of sheer dedication and hard work. “I dedicate everything to my mother,” he says . He was born in Calcutta, in 1939 as the younger of the two sons of T.N. Mohan and Charubala Mohan, a violinist herself. Chandrasekaran showed great affinity to music at a very young age. “I was exposed to music even before I was born. My mother used to hear a lot of music while she was expecting,” he says.
But the boy was to have some turbulent times ahead. At age two, young Chandru lost his eyesight to jaundice. It was a severe blow to Charubala, but she didn’t get disheartened. “I used to sit beside her and touch her violin when she played it,” recalls Chandrasekaran. Understanding his intense taste of music, Charubala started training her son when he was seven years old. That was when his father passed away and the family had to shift to Madras. “My mother made me who I am today. It is all her hard work. Everything came right at the start, but positioning the bow was a big challenge. But my mother did not give up. We tried hard and finally it worked,” he remembers. At age 11, Chandrasekaran gave his first stage performance at the Thiagaraja Sangeetha Vidwath Samajam, Mylapore.
Till her death when Chandrasekaran was 20 years old, Charubala was a pillar of strength for her son. To get him the best training and social skills, she went the extra mile whenever she could. For instance, during a visit to London the mother heard about Braille and learnt it soon to impart the lessons to her son. “It was quite something during those years,” says Chandrasekaran. The mother taught her son how to read and write in Tamil, English, Sanskrit and Telugu. “I can fluently speak in all south Indian languages and Hindi, and can manage any Indian language.”
To improve his repertoire, Chandrasekaran also learnt vocal music from Mannargudi Sambasiva Bhagavatar, Kumbakonam S. Viswanathan, Vidyala Narasimha Naidu and T. Jayammal. But in violin, his mother remained his only guru. Even at the beginning of his career, he was able to impress the audience with his prowess. Once, in 1956, when he was hardly 17, hearing his performance of Kadanakuthuhalam raga, nagaswaram legend T.N. Rajarathinam Pillai held his palms and said, “These hands are going to play many more such concerts in the years to come.” His words proved prophetic.
Chandrasekaran has accompanied six generations of musicians including stalwarts such as Maharajapuram Viswanatha Iyer, Musiri Subramania Iyer, Madurai Somasundaram, T. R. Mahalingam (flute), Madurai Mani Iyer, Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavathar and T. K. Rangachari to name a few. Whether the fast brigas of G. N. Balasubramaniam, the bhava-filled music of Palghat K.V. Narayanaswamay or the fast-paced rendering of Madurai Somu, Chandrasekaran always in step with the main artiste. “While accompanying an artiste I never play for myself showcasing my expertise,” he supplies..” As a solo artiste, at times he sings along while playing the violin. “While learning a new kriti, I learn in vocal first and then move to the violin. Only then you can perfect the bhava,” he says.
That is his teaching style as well. “He asks us to sing first to understand the nuances and emotions of lyrics and stresses the importance of anu-swaras. He has immense patience and never gets irritated while teaching,” says his daughter and violinist G. Bharati, who has been performing duets with him for the past 17 years. His duets with T.N. Krishnan and jugalbandi with M.S. Gopalakrishnan attracted a houseful audience in the 1970s. Once invited to play at Tyagaraja Utsavam at Nellore, T.N. Krishnan said to the organisers, “I will play only with Chandru.” Chandrasekaran says, “We never practised together but our wavelength matched,” he recalls. He also has played duets with wind instrument experts A.K.C. Natarajan and Namagiripettai Krishnan.
Music is universal believes Chandrasekaran who hears and enjoys all genres including Western, Hindustani and film music in all languages. “Songs of composers such as C.R. Subburaman, G. Ramanathan, K.V. Mahadevan, MSV-Ramamurthi are classic,” he says. Humming the song ‘Enthan nenjil neengathe’ from the movie Kalaignan , Chandrasekaran says, “All the beauty of Nalinakanthi is woven into this Ilaiyaraja song. So my policy is to hear all the good music,” he says. This perhaps stems from the fact that his mother never restricted her child in music. Chandrasekaran has composed more than 30 kritis, varnams and javalis.
So, should the artistes stick to pure classical music or deliver what the audience demands in a concert? “It depends where you are performing and the perceptiveof the audience. However, we have to perform heavy-duty kritis and ragas for 75 per cent of the time. And then if the audience asks, you can play lighter songs,” he responds. Among his favourite ragas are Thodi, Shanmukhapriya, Mohana Kalyani and Sudhaseemanthini.
Apart from his daughter, Chandrasekaran has three sons. He lives with wife Pattammal and credits her with the success of his life . Any secret that he would like to share with his fans and fellow artistes regarding his success? “An artiste can perform well if he or she is happy. And to be happy, you have to be always active, both physically and mentally. That’s the key,” he says with a broad smile, which comes from the heart.
