He walked with the titans. In the realm of melam music, his was a name to reckon with. Yet greatness sat lightly upon tavil maestro Mayavaram Venugopal Pillai, who passed away recently at the age of 91.
The early years were not easy for the child, who lost his father very early in life. “Too young to remember the father I lost,” he sighed. “Contemporaries revered his memory and spoke of his multifaceted genius with awe.” Father Ammachatram Kannusami Pillai was not only a renowned tavil vidwan but also a vocalist and composer who played the nagaswaram, jalatarangam, mridangam and dholak, all entirely self taught. As if this were not formidable enough, he was also an ashtavadani.
Venugopal Pillai's rendezvous with destiny led him under the wing of the legendary Needamangalam Meenakshisundaram Pillai and his later his son-in-law Nachiarkoil Raghava Pillai after the family moved from Thiruvizhandur to Mayavaram. Musicologist and scholar, B.M.Sundaram, son of Meenakshisundaram Pillai, recollects, “He was my father's disciple. Possessed of a sharp intellect, his playing style was oriented more towards kanakku than janaranjakam -- possibly the reason why he lost out on popular acclaim. He was blessed with the gift of maintaining evenness of kalapramana, irrespective of co-artists' tendency to slow down or accelerate the original pace. He often accompanied Pattiswaram Ramaswami Pillai, Thirunageswaram Ratnasami Pillai, Valangaiman Shanmugha Pillai and the Sembonnar Koil brothers. And of course, Tiruvavaduthurai Rajarathnam Pillai.”
In safe hands
Unassuming to the point of being self effacing, Venugopal Pillai was content to let his art do the talking and enjoyed a busy career. “When he was the accompanist, nagaswara vidwans knew that they were in the safest hands in the business. His precise, consistent sense of kalapramana made him adhere to tala like glue. His speciality lay in adapting his playing to each individual nagaswaram style. This made him much sought after,” reminisces Vedaranyam Balasubramanian, tavil exponent and nephew. “Back then, during temple festival processions, the melam would last all night. Once, while accompanying the renowned Vandikkaratheru Subramaniam Pillai, my guru's marathon tani lasted nearly six hours from midnight to dawn! The crowd stood transfixed. Each permutation was new, sans repetition. Vandadum varaadadumai vaasithar. Such towering vidwat!”
Venugopal Pillai's generosity of spirit and keenness to share a lifetime's store of knowledge benefited scores of disciples, many of whom came to learn music and went on to learn lessons in humility. “A teacher extraordinaire, he could make the most complicated korvais appear easy by breaking them down to the simplest components so that any student could grasp it. And the variations! Taking any korvai, any tala or nadai, he would tell us to how to adapt it to all nadais,” says Balasubramaniam.
Another disciple, Dr. Subbalakshmi recalls, “I began learning from Vadyar in 2001. When I meekly enquired whether I could be his sishya, knowing full well that traditional drumming is a male prerogative, he replied without a moment's hesitation, ‘Besha', but warned me that it required arduous training. I never absented myself. Vadyar would wake up early, have his bath, visit the temple and be seated in his chair with that bright patch of kumkum smeared on his forehead, braced to teach. He had given away his tavil but had preserved two tavil kazhis of his two gurus. Later, he presented them to me, a rare honour. Vadyar taught at the Government Music College, Madras, from 1973 to 1985, where he was held in high esteem. He also had a long-standing association with the Tamil Isai Sangam where he was senior external examiner. Several disciples are top level performers today. He arranged for his some of his students to be subjects for my functional MRI studies for my PhD thesis, and was able to explain to them the importance of scientific investigation to understand the miraculous working of the human brain.”
Positive impact
Pillai had only positive things to say about fellow vidwans and revered his gurus. “With Needamangalam, it was the ‘nam' sound which he rendered to such precision that it truly lifted his performance, along with his dancing movements while playing, the very embodiment of laya,” says Dr. Subbulakshmi. “Recollecting his Sri Lanka days, Vadyar spoke of the genius of Yazhpanam Dakshinamurthi Pillai, whom he taught and later accompanied. Vadyar touched upon Pillai's rare teermanams in the fourth kalam, almost unbeatable and the friendly rivalry between Dakshinamurthi Pillai and another luminary, Needamangalam Shanmugavadivel, (son of N. Meenakshisundaram) a left hander on the valam.”
A witty raconteur, Venugopal Pillai's anecdotes brimmed with wisdom and humour. His disarming simplicity, childlike candour, down-to-earth approach and homespun wisdom endeared him to those who had a close association with him. Although a recipient of the Kalaimamani and other awards, richly-deserved recognition on a wider platform eluded him. A strong sense of duty towards family ensured that he saw his children well-educated and settled. “My father was fiercely independent and self-reliant. He exemplified tolerance, determination, hard work and simple living,” remembers daughter Dr. Vanitha. “He won a battle against cancer, but was ailing briefly before he passed away.”
