Aug 24, 2005 05:39 PM
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(Updated Aug 24, 2005 05:39 PM)
Good looks, intelligence, versatility, character, the humility to learn at all times and from all people. Finally, there is that elusive indefinable gift which few possess and which alone can transform a song into a thing of magic.'' That is MS SUBBU;AKSHMI FOR YOU!!!
Subbulakshmi learned and recorded the song the night of September 30th, finishing at 2 a.m. The disc, sent off by plane, was played on what was to be Gandhi's last birthday. Three months later he was dead by an assassin's bullet. When the announcement of his death was reported over the radio, it was followed by the playing of Subbulakshmi's recording of ''Hari Tuma Haro.'' Hearing her own voice singing his favorite bhajan was unnerving and Subbulakshmi finds to this day that ''Hari Tuma Haro'' brings a flood of memories of that tragic time.
In October 1966 Subbulakshmi flew to the United States to sing as her country's representative at the United Nations in connection with United Nations Day observances. Her reputation had preceded her and she received an ovation even before she came on stage. During the next seven weeks she performed across the United States from Boston to San Francisco and back. One critic wrote:
''A more educated and pedigreed singing art would be hard to imagine. The listener may well find himself under something close to a hypnotic spell.''
Subbulakshmi always reminds students that technique is not all. Ragas and bhajans, she points out, have been composed for the ''purpose of directing the minds of the listeners towards God and his manifestations,'' and that ''one's singing comes through one's own experience and it is this depth of feeling that enables one to communicate with the audience.'' In fact, expression is more highly sought and judged than quality of voice.
In the final analysis it is her empathy for the downtrodden — in daily life, not just in cheques donated on platforms — that gave her music the quality of mercy.
