Suprabhatham Sub Judice

M.S. Subbulakshmi decided the fate of her memorials a long time ago

- Ankita M. Kumar

BHARAT Ratna M.S. Subbulakshmi was one of the greatest icons of the 20th century. For the uninitiated, she’s the first woman to receive the coveted Sangita Kalanidhi from the Music Academy in Madras (now Chennai), the first musician to receive the Bharat Ratna and the first Indian to sing at the United Nations General Assembly. She’s also a Ramon Magsaysay awardee. The song she sang at the United Nations, Maithreem Bhajatha, continues to be an iconic composition that promotes world peace. Touted as one of the greatest Indian Carnatic music singers, M.S. Subbulakshmi’s songs continue to wake up most of the country at dawn and are played at temples and even weddings. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru himself bowed down to her, saying on multiple occasions, “Who am I, a mere Prime Minister before the Queen of Song?”

If you have never heard a song of M. S. Subbulakshmi’s, then I suggest you look up one of her most famous songs–Vishnu Sahasranamam (a Sanskrit shloka of Lord Vishnu). It has 162 million views on YouTube–a number singers today would die to see on their analytics screen. Subbulakshmi truly is, in all senses, an icon. Which is why it’s understandable that a lot of people are sentimental about her. Subbulakshmi means the world to those who understand and appreciate Indian classical music. Which is why when the renowned Carnatic singer T.M Krishna wrote an article in 2015 referring to Subbulakshmi as the ‘‘greatest hoax of the 20th century”, it was shocking for many. Krishna criticised Subbulakshmi for adhering to the image of the ideal Brahmin woman and shying away from experimenting with her music after marrying freedom fighter, advertising specialist and managing director of Kalki magazine, T. Sadasivam.