Speaking at the traditional oriental convocation aka the Sadas of the Music Academy in 2020, Suresh Krishna, chairman, Sundaram Fasteners Ltd, made a strong case for striking a balance between lyrics and music and said, “When language is not understood, the audience switches off.” He argued, “When a song in other than Tamil is rendered music dominates and not the lyrics.” He chose to speak the words at The Music Academy, the premier institution whose Sangita Kalanidhi Award is a byword for recognition in Carnatic music, which in the past had been less tolerant of language politics in music. It should be kept in mind that the Academy even banned Bharat Ratna M.S. Subbulakshmi for five years for being at the forefront of the Tamil Isai Movement and singing Tamil songs in the major, first section of a concert.
Stiff opposition
“Even though a lot of people supported the Tamil Isai Movement, it was T. Sadasivam and his wife M.S. Subbulakshmi who sustained it from being wiped out when it faced stiff opposition,” noted late writer and journalist Kalki Krishnamurthy, whose writings on the Tamil Isai Movement were published as Sangeetha Yogam. It was anathema to start a Carnatic music concert with Tamil songs. Tamil songs could be rendered only after the main ragam was sung elaborately, which would be followed by a ragam-tanam-pallavi. They were and are still referred to as uruppadis. Late Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi used to castigate those who called Tamil songs as uruppadis since the term means “soiled clothes”. The sabhas, though patronising classical music, did not take lightly to the singing of Tamil songs as a main items. Late Chief Minister C. Rajagopalachari, Kalki Krishnamurthy, and Tamil scholar T.K. Chidambaranatha Mudaliar were some of those who fervently campaigned for Tamil music. Freedom fighter Sathyamurthy, asked to speak at the end of a concert at a sabha in 1938, said more Tamil songs should be rendered. “I could fully enjoy the concert only when songs are rendered in Tamil,” he said.
