Remembering Semmangudi Mama – My Guru and God: Part 3

Saṅgīta Pitāmahā Padma Vibhūshan Dr. Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer

I will pen my experiences as the Siśya of  Semmangudi Mama in this post. At the outset, I thank God for blessing me with the great fortune of having such a Legend as my Guru. I am also forever thankful to my Guru – Semmangudi Mama for accepting Lalitha and myself as his Siśya-s and to have enlightened us on the glory and greatness of Karṇāṭaka Saṅgītam.

We greatly cherish the days that we spent learning from Mama. Semmangudi Mama was a very warm and affectionate Guru. His music was so very inspiring and has borne a great influence on us and our musical thinking. He was a legend – a towering personality yet so very approachable. He would teach us anything that we asked for. Once, my uncle Dr. L. Subramaniam remarked that he had heard Semmangudi Mama sing the Varnam – Sami Ninne in Ānandabhairavi beautifully. This inspired us to ask mama to teach us this varnam. He readily agreed to teach us this varnam – a composition of veenai Kuppier. Learning this varnam from Semmangudi Mama was a beautiful experience by itself.  He was a perfectionist and was specific about every svaram, anusvaram, its gamaka et al. He was also very specific that at every instance the beauty of the raga and sahitya surfaced in the rendition.

We learnt several beautiful compositions from mama including O Rangaśāyi, Śri Subramanyāya Namaste, Dwaitamu Sukhama, Janani, Narasimha Māmava, Paṅkaja Lōcana, Śri Rāmam, Śānthamu Lēkha, Tanayuni Brōva, Śri Kṛṣṇam, Kadanuvāriki, Padavini, Mākelarā ……….. et al.

Every musical phrase sung by him would seem very simple, but had a greater depth and meaning embedded in it. Only by actually singing can we realise the amount of effort that has to be put in to achieve the desired result. It was definitely not easy. Mama was a perfectionist who saw to it that we reproduced even an anusvaram in the right manner. This actually speaks volumes of his dedication to music. He actually lived – breathed music. If we sang well, he would treat us with palā cuḷai- jackfruit from his own garden !

Mama was a strict diciplinarian. He wanted us to memorise the sāhitya before he began teaching us the composition. If he was going to commence a new composition, he would give us the sāhitya the previous day and ask us to memorise it before class the next day. This greatly helped us to concentrate on the  bhāvam and musical aspects while actually learning the composition. After we had learnt the composition thoroughly he would give us the notation – never before ! His notations were all handwritten and precise. (It looked like print – there were very neat J ). He had several notebooks containing handwritten notations of several thousands of compositions. They were shelved in an orderly fashion  and I always wondered how Mama exactly remembered the particular shelf and book which contained the notation of a specific song ! He had such a fantastic memory.

I recall an incident, which happened when Mama was ill and was hospitalised. Lalitha and I had gone to visit Mama in the hospital. He was surrounded by family, friends and well-wishers. The moment he saw us his eyes lit up and he asked us “Enna pādam solli irukkēn ? Pādam acchā ?” (What lesson have I taught you ? Have you practised it ?) He also said that we could resume lessons soon. Such was his love for Saṅgītam.

(A cherished moment - when Laitha and I were receiving the Mohanam Award for the Outstanding Performing Artistes of 1991 from Semmangudi Mama. Aslo in the picture is Sri Maharajapuram Santhanam, yet another stalwart of Carnatic Music.)

One day after our lessons Lalitha and I requested Mama to sing for us an Ālapanai of Nārāyaṇagauḷa. Mama immediately obliged. Oh what an amazing experience ! It was an experience of a lifetime. There were just the three of us Mama, Lalitha and myself. Lalitha and I completely lost ourselves in the charm of Narayanagaula …. sung by the Sangita Pitamaha. The way that he brought the Raga svarūpa was simply matchless. His singing only made us yearn for more ! There were many such days that we spent listening to the glorious music of Mama.

He also used to share with us annecdotes of great musicians of yesteryears. We loved to hear stories of the past from Mama – in his inimitable witty style.  He never missed the evening news of All India Radio, and we would resume singing at the end of the broadcast. There were times when the lessons continued well into the late evenings and Mama would make it a point to tell us to telephone to him as soon as we got back home—just to ensure that we had reached home safely. Such was his affection. He was a very concerned and considerate Guru.

He was the perfect Guru that one could wish for. To my sister Lalitha and myself he is not only our Guru but also  remains a grand-fatherly figure. I truly miss him a lot. My humble namaskārams to him and I seek his blessings for ever.