Sunday, April 14, 2013

Our dedication to "Sangeetha Bhushanam" Sri. Emabr S. Sadagopan


Our humble dedication to our Guru mentor and dear appa "Sangeetha Bhushanam" Sri Embar Sadagopan

I recall the day i met him along with my mother - in - law in my house in December 1993, when he had visited our house in Santhome to see me and my parents to talk about getting our families in to a LIFE relationship! After they left our house and when my parents asked me if we could meet their daughter Lalitha, i said, "I sincerely like mama and mami and i do not have to see Lalitha to decide! We shall meet if they like me in principal and also if Lalitha wants to meet and then decide”. Later Lalitha also told me that she had said the same to her parents! I am really blessed to have Smt. Padmasini and Sri. Emabr S. Sadagopan as my parent-in-law and they have been and will be always be like my parents!


Lalitha's Guru - Being her father and a Music teacher himself, he initiated her into Music and put her under great Musicians to learn. Understanding her strengths in terms of learning music and his passion for music studie he put her in TamilNadu Music College to study "Sangeetha Vidwan" a Diploma course. While she was studying he made a career for her in Film Music introducing her to The Maestro Illayaraja! He continued to teach / guide her through out his life and all her rendering in All India Radio had his musical tunes for all the Alwar padhigams, Thevaram and other verses she performed till date!


He was understanding the pulse of the film industry and when the recordings in general were coming down suggested her to take up Teaching as he always thought that will ensure her links to come back to the Carnatic side, which he always wanted her to come in some day! This was also reason for us to start Kbs Inculcation ! When KBSI had an oppurtunity to stage a small performance we lined up all our members to perform and he sat through the entire programme and appreciated our efforts, the teacher's, parent's and that of the children! We shall hope to continue his tradition of teaching Music and with his blessings make as many rasikas / performers in the coming years!

Sathya’s Guru – He has been one of the Roll Model Thatha’s and a great Guru for Sathya! While every Thatha use to tell stories to their grand children, this Thatha identified his interest when Sathya was three years old, to see Trains passing by and ensured to take Sathya on a bicycle making him sit in the rear career and stroll the cycle (pushing and not riding) him to the nearby (around 1 and half Km) Railway Gate in West Mambalam (now new Rangarajapuram fly over has come in) to show him at least 10 trains pass by! He also thought of Sowing the Musical thoughts in Sathya and to keep this going, he did this on a daily basis he decided to sing aalapana, few lines of krithis and swaras of a raga while going to the station and checked if they had gone in to his mind by asking it on the return! He found this unique way working with Sathya and did it for almost 6 to eight months!

Other innovative idea, I believe, he did to get rid of Stage fear in Sathya was to make his feel as if he is presenting concerts amidst people or create an classroom atmosphere and give him credits for his performance! He used the shawls and gifts his uncle Emba S. Kannan use to get during concerts and also all items at home and present it as a memento / as a gift to Sathya appreciating his efforts on a daily basis! This is indeed a unique way he used to encourage Sathya and inspire / motivate him to get his mind set towards Music!
After teaching his few small songs, he took him to All India Radio to make him perform in Children’s program for which Sathya got his First Reward / Payment too for the Performance! This is also a unique ways of this great Thatha & Guru!


When we found him play an unused keyboard in our house, bought for his uncle, he immediately suggested and invited Late Sri. Vidhyadar, a violin artiste from Maestro Illayaraja’s Orchestra and based on his suggestions guided us to make him learn Western Music! In the mean time he also handed his son’s small violin to Sathya and asked him to try playing it and he was so happy to see that Sathya was getting it to play naturally! He then took him to Sri. Vittal Ramamurthy and requested him to initiate Sathya on violin with a request to hold on to his natural fingering techniques!

When we saw Sathya attempt playing Carnatic music on Keyboard he was actually not very forthcoming being a traditional person himself! The thought of somebody getting misguided was more in his mind than any thing against any form of music! However when I asked him to check for one opportunity after which we will decide the course, he spoke to Sri. Nadopasana Srinivasan and got Sathya his First Opportunity of a public live performance when he was was 6 and half years old! He then guided us to take Sathya to be under the tutelage of Kalaimamani Kanyakumari Madam knowing with his vast experience of her being his son’s Guru and the noble and open minded personality she is! Sathya was aptly guided on to perform the nuances of his musical thought by Kanyakumari mam which he continues to date! He was so happy that now Sathya is slowly growing his creativity and sticking to his musical interest in particular to Carnatic, even though it was not his (thatha’s) preferred instrument.

Sathya’s western guru Mr. Alphonse’s class room was located in a lodge in Rangarajapuram and both Sathya and his Thatha had hilarious time going and coming for the class as they had to climb the West Mambalam Railway Station foot bridge to go to the other side and their recollection of going to the railway gate (well this is when Sathya was 5and half years old)! More than attending the classes, Sathya was inclined to go probably to see the trains as they used to go through the railway station.

Well here I need to mention the way he use to be like a school kid to go and receive him from the school PSBB KK Nagar and he used to travel with Sathya in the same van after talking to the driver! We had moved in to the house 2nd building to his residence as Sathya joined PSBB. He made a good smart deal to be in the Van that took Sathya to school and back and travelled with Sathya to School. He used to wait outside the school premises he had a great joy and always shared that thought with us!

My Guru - Yes i have always seen him as my guru firmly after seeing Sathya's budding talent in playing Carnatic music around the year 2001! I have never known the way he had brought up his children until then or may be i did not have value for them till then! When i left my job to go with Sathya to South Africa, he was shocked to know the reason and told me that it was not a easy world to live with particularly leaving the kind of a job i was in! 

He then with concern, narrated me the way he used to bring his children up, with both himself (as a music teacher in a Govt. School and my mother-in-law (in TNEB) as working parents with their office in totally different ends of the city! He was insistent that he was confident of Sathya's ability but cautioned me for not letting my concentration lapse in bringing him / encouraging him . It was indeed great experience to sit with him and know the way he brought his children and the amount of dedication he has had to have his dreams come true!

He always was very clear in saying that you should dream of things you are capable of and should surely work hard towards the same! I know what he meant and i am sure he lived his entire life that way; most contended human with great values in what ever he thought was right.

It is very much important that every one of us need to have dreams, which can be achieved and should keep attempting to accomplish it with dedication, sincerity and hard work. It might need some sacrifices from your side or from your kith and kiln as well and need to keep going with just your goal in mind! Yes this is what I am trying to learn from Appa’s life!

Its 19 years plus I know him from December 1993 and almost until last November he has never called me by name! How ever almost from Oct / Nov last year he started calling me as KB and that was so sweet of him to refer me like that! I think that should be the way I should be referred by and known by and so from now on I am going to refer my self as “KB”. This is equivalent to me as “SIR” Padmabhushan, PadmaShri or any awards which one can get in his / her life time!

I am blessed to have him in my life! I will sincerely be happy if I can achieve at least a percentage or two of what he has achieved in terms of bringing up his children and Embar Kannan as an artiste in particular, with respect to Sathya!

While he was not forthcoming in the initial days when Sathya took up the instrument Keyboard as medium of his musical expressions, his compliments to me for having come this far with Sathya as recently when Sathya’s DVD album with Pt. Vishwa Mohan Bhatt on the 31st December 2012, does give me hope and I am sure we will keep growing to greater heights and I seek his blessings as always to accomplish same.

Anbudan Kb