She exemplifies the adage that education leads to humility. An unassuming individual, Maragatham Ramaswamy is the recipient of the Best Teacher Award at this year’s Cleveland Aradhana and Director of the Ragamalika School of Music in Chantilly, VA near Washington DC (www.ragamalika.net).
Maragatham was the youngest in a large, traditional Brahmin household that attached value to education. “We (girls) learned Carnatic music as a matter of routine,” she says. “Many completed post graduate degrees too. My three sisters and several cousins learned and practised singing, the veena and violin.” One elder sister, Kalaimamani Radha Narayanan, was a student of Dwaram Venkataswamy Naidu and a recipient of the Music Academy’s Papa Venkatramaiah Award.
Maragatham was a gold medallist from the Central College of Karnatic Music (currently Tamil Nadu Government Music College), when Musiri Subramania Iyer was the principal. He and Brinda amma were among her examiners. She had the privilege of learning singing from Ramnad Krishnan, KV Narayanaswamy, TM Thyagarajan and B. Rajam Iyer and the violin from MS Anantharaman, TN Krishnan, Varaghur Muthuswamy Iyer and later, from Lalgudi Jayaraman.
She received rave reviews for her performances from noted critics, Subbudu and NMN, and received awards for both vocals and violin at many sabhas including the Music Academy and Krishna Gana Sabha.
She learned one-on-one, for over 10 years, from Thanjavur S. Kalyanaraman, the brilliant protégé of GNB who further embellished and augmented that baani. “His was total commitment to teaching. In every lesson, he would demonstrate the distinguishing aspects of the raga and how to present it. He would then write out the song’s notation, every gamakam, every anuswaram – I merely have to glance at it now to recollect the whole song– such was his clarity,” she says with reverence.
She began teaching over 39 years ago. Overhearing her sing at home, a discerning neighbour insisted that she teach. Maragatham found teaching to be her calling, and has since expounded her extensive knowledge in India and the U.S. Combining discipline and affection, she coaxes the best out of her students. One of the earliest, Varalakshmi Anandkumar (later a disciple of D K Jayaraman), a regular in the Chennai concert scene, says, “Maragatham is why I pursued music – she taught me the basics, encouraged me constantly and demystified advanced aspects; there were no trade secrets – she shares all that she knows”.
Among the many awards and titles she has received includes the Sangeeta Acharya Ratnam from Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam and the Best Teacher Award from Sivan Arts Academy. Maragatham has also propagated Carnatic music among western audiences at the Smithsonian and US Army bases.
