He is meticulous in his attire. Just like his music and everything else about him. Arriving punctually for this meeting, he placed a flask of hot water and his smart phone on the table and proceeded to comb down his hair. He patted his angavastram neatly in place.
“This video recording is only for my reference,” I said. “It will not go public.”
“Whether it is public or private, one must look good,” he replied.
I knew Neyveli Santhanagopalan as a 20 something when I met him in 1991 at his home in Madras. My mission was to arrange a concert by this young and promising musician. When I mentioned our modest budget, he did not look shocked. He agreed straightaway, adding: “I will share it with my accompanists.” That spoke something of this one-of-a-kind artist who has mellowed into a mature musician whose only goal is to share his talent with his audiences, his pupils in this country and abroad. Each kutcheri has to be perfect in its presentation. His secret mantra: “Respect your audience always. Even if it is a single syllable, rehearse it well before you present it.”
Does he prepare a design before a concert or is it impromptu? “My best concerts are those when I go without a plan. I make myself free of thought and get up on the dais like a ‘sakshi’ to see what’s going to happen.” He has rarely failed his rasikas who flock to hear him and whose music leaves them happy and peaceful. No gimmicks, no breathtaking feats. It is a music that soothes rather than excites. Perhaps it is his philosophy of “free of thought” that makes it flow naturally, each sangati merging with the next until, finally, a well-ordered structure appears.
“It is being in the moment,” he says, as he elaborates on his style of singing. Neyveli’s philosophy of free of thought does not come easily. “If you don’t worry about what has happened before and do not have any expectation for the future, your music will flow of its own accord. I have aspired for this state for years.”
Has he reached that state? The answer is an emphatic “Yes - with great effort.”
Hopeless idealism? Empty jargon? Hardly. Neyveli Santhanagopalan can be highly professional in a kutcheri. He takes pride in working in tandem with his fellow artists. He firmly believes that the success of a concert is a team effort. “Once you climb the stage, forget what you practiced at home. Here, you are having a conversation with other artists.” He adds with a laugh: “You must have a stereo ear because we all talk together and try to understand each other!”
Trained by a disciple of the incomparable Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavathar, and completing a “gurukulavasam” with Madurai Seshagopalan, Neyveli is a master of both vocal music and the veena. He was competent to give his first public performance when he was a mere eight year old. He had many role models including Veena Dhanammal, Rajaratnam Pillai and later DK Jayaram whom he ardently admired. “I would try and sing just like him to the level of imitation!” he laughs.
According to Neyveli, art is a pursuit that has to be nurtured with patience and cannot be forced to grow fast. He has carried this philosophy to his many students scattered all over the globe. He teaches them the importance of being a rasika first and a musician afterwards. “You do not own anything – not even your talent which is a gift from your gurus, your parents, your ancestors,” he asserts, adding that it took him 53 years to realize that “you must lose yourself first before you achieve anything.” Talking to Neyveli can be as pleasant as listening to his music. With his abundant humour and his ability to see the absurd, he is a delightful conversationalist off stage, just as he is a committed artist on stage. He believes that, more than what you practice and sing, it is the philosophy of music that really counts.
“There is a myth that Carnatic music is only for those with bhakthi,” says Neyveli, and adds, “If a singer has a passion for music, isn’t his passion also a form of bhakthi?” Even your failures are important because they are part of your musical growth. The only thing every aspiring artist should remember is to think of all those greats who came before him…as Thyagaraja said in Endaro mahanu bhavulu…”
Switching the tambura app on his phone, he sang the kriti in which Thyagaraja describes the ecstasy of chanting Rama’s name:
“Intha soukyamani ne ceppa jala” That said more than anything else.
