A gentle breeze wafts in as I open the window and I see the moon still lighting up the sky. The pre-dawn silence is interrupted by the tweet of birds. I smile to myself, remembering that yet another Margazhi is just round the corner and the full moon has heralded the month — a harbinger of many more musical days to come!
Memories come flooding in — all those competitions I participated in, reciting the Tiruppavai, Thiruvembavai, Thevaram and Divyaprabhandam, and always returning home clutching prizes! My mother Choodamani would not let me off unless I got all the verses right.
The Tiruppavai record
When MLV Amma’s Tiruppavai was released by the Gramophone Company of India, I remember so vividly how we would play the record at home every day, Marghazhi or not. We were in Bangalore then, and I was studying at the St. Sophia Convent School. As I slipped into my uniform and my mother braided my hair, I would softly hum along with MLV Amma, as if I were already her vocal support.
I found a few of the verses difficult to learn, I might use the word nerudal in Tamizh —‘Kuthuvilakkeriya’ (Sahana), ‘Elle Ilangileyae’ (Begada), ‘Karavaigall’ (Khambodi), and ‘Katrukkaravai’ in Huseini, were the challenging ones while ‘Muppathu Moovar’ (Chenchurutti), ‘Oruthi Maganaai Pirandhu’ (Behag), and ‘Thoomani madathu’ (Hamirkalyani) were my favourites! Tiruppavai shines as a gem among the Divya Prabandhams because it evokes a deep, unbridled emotion while praying to the Lord. The verses make us perceive Prakriti, Paramatma and Jeevatma merging into one another. The greatness of this divine text lies in the joy it can equally bring to the layperson and the music scholar.
After we moved to Chennai, I came under the wings of MLV Amma, and the first Marghazhi season seemed like a mountain blocking my path. Providing vocal support to my guru was always challenging; I had just begun and so much to learn. MLV had drafted the song list for the concert at Tamizh Isai Sangam and ‘Keesu Keesenru’ figured in it. I heaved a sigh of relief! That was the only song I knew in the entire list of 15, thanks to my immersion in Tiruppavai during childhood.
What was special in MLV Amma’s Tiruppavai rendition? The brisk pace, clarity in the lyrics, ragabhava, embellishments in sangatis, stunning brigas and of course, the sonorous voice that would touch the heart instantly. Each verse of the Tiruppavai is less than three minutes, some not even two minutes. MLV Amma deviated from Ariyakudi in three songs — ‘Naayakanai’ (from Darbar to Mohanam), ‘Maari Malai’ (Manirangu to Bilahari) and ‘Chittranchiru’ (Malayamarutham to Madhyamavathi). She had made Tiruppavai her own during the 1970s.
“Never try to imitate me — no two voices can sound alike in the rendition of a song,” is what MLV Amma would always say to us, whenever she thought we were doing that. Many years later, during the early 90s, I recorded the Tiruppavai for the AVM Recording studio, taking the cue from her renditions but adding my own touches to it. I considered it a samarpanam to her. I chose Tiruppavai, so I could channel MLV Amma as I sang it, and also because it would allow me to reach out to the younger generation, and encourage their interest and involvement in this beautiful work of Andal.
Ariyakkudi Ramanuja Iyengar, by setting them to tune, and MLV through her inimitable rendition have taken Tiruppavai to every household — making it another ‘Suprabhatam’ that welcomes the dawn during this special month.
