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
