J. Surendar rubs a black paste in a circular motion, into the centre of an upturned mridangam. “It is one of the most important parts of the instrument. The paste is applied to improve the tonal quality of the instrument. It is made from kittangkal , mixed with cooked rice,” Surendar says. The black paste has considerably smeared his fingers, suggesting that he has carried out this process on a significant number of mridangams. Surrounded by instruments at his workshop on P.S. Sivaswami Salai, Surendar and his staff are a picture of busyness.
For years now, this locality is synonymous with mridangam repair shops. People come from far and wide to have these instruments serviced at these shops. Opposite Surendar’s shop on Balasubramanian Street is one owned by his relative, who is into the same business for around 10 years.
There are three more shops, close to one another, at Appar Swamy Koil Street that repair musical instruments. None of them has a name board. All these artisans learnt repairing instruments from their elders and were brought to the city by vidwans who wanted them to be close-by so that repairs could be undertaken anytime.
At A. Arogyam’s shop, a customer is in deep discussion with a staff, and the two are dwelling on the technicalities of the instrument. He wants the mridangam repaired before Vijayadasami. “Though we have customers throughout the year, the time between Vijayadasami and the end of the Music Season is hectic,” says Arogyam, a sixth generation repairer of music instruments.
A picture of his father receiving an award from the Vidwan Sri V. Raja Rao Felicitation Committee and another of him with a vidwan adorns the walls of his shop. Apart from undertaking all kinds of repair, these shops get many NRI customers during December.
Many bring their instruments for tuning so that they can perform abroad, say the technicians. These men say they don’t compete with one another and that each of them has a steady set of customers. “Doing a good job is enough, many come here by referrals,” says Arogyam. Do they play music?
“No,” says Arogyam, “But my son Abish Antony is learning music. He has completed his B.A. in Music and wants to do his post-graduation in it,” he says. Abish adds, “I can teach my father the theoretical and practical aspects of music.”
