In the Corridors of Music Academy

Waiting for the next concert to start, my friend and I sauntered the corridors of Music Academy. A lot of dust had settled over the pictures of Sangita Kalanidhis’. We curiously starred at their pictures and made a few observations here and there (connected dots and analyzed for patterns, if any).

For me it may be a statistical exercise, but for every performing musician, it is a dream to take home this coveted title. Every musician wants to increase their chances of winning the title. We have seen sisters and brothers suddenly appear in the scene, some move into Chennai, some change their gurus, and some move from being an instrumentalist to a vocalist. What is driving their moves? Is it the science of statistics? Is there a winning formula for Sangita Kalanidhi?

1. Sangita Kalanidhi was institutionalized in 1929 (No award was given in 1967 and 1975).
2. In the 92 years, 90 awards were given out. Vocalists (36+) have won more than instrumentalist (26), composers (7), dancer (1), etc.
3. Statistics: 33% vocalist, 26% instrumentalist (20% violinist, 7% Mridangam, 3% rest)
4. Amongst instruments: Violin tops the SK awards, followed by Mridangam, Veena and flute. Nadhaswaram and Clarinet have won only once.
5. 1929 was the first time SK was given out and it was awarded to three musicologists.
6. Harikatha was awarded SK twice and after 1940 no Harikatha artist has been awarded with SK.
7. T. Balasaraswathi was the only Barathanatyam artist to be honored with the tile.
8. Composers like Ponniah Pillai, Mysore Vasdevacharya, Kalladaikuruchi Vedanta Bagavathar, Harikeshanallur Muttiah Bagavathar, Papanasam Sivan, R Anantakrishna Sarma were awarded with SK.

Women and SK:

• MS was the first woman artist to be honored (1968) with Sangita Kalanidhi followed by DK Pattammal, and later ML Vasanthakumari.
• In 43 years only 9 awards were given to women since MS Subbalakshmi was honored in 1968.
• The only time successive titles went to women was in 1976 and 1977 (T. Brinda and ML Vasanthakumari).

SK in DNA:

• It was Dhannammal’s family that took home the title maximum number of times:  T. Balasarswati, T.Brinda and T.Viswanathan and was followed by DK Pattammal and DK Jayaraman.
• The only father and son to take home Sangita Kalanidhi is Maharajapuram Viswanatha Iyer and Maharajapuram Santhanam
• The uncle and nephew combo to take home SK is Madurai Mani Iyer and TV Shankaranarayanan.

Duos and SK:

• Only 3 duos have won in 90 years. If you are duo then there are 3.33% chances of you winning the title.
• Though Sikkil Sisters and Bombay Sisters took home the title together, Alathur Brothers (though not biological brothers) took home the title subsequent years.

Instrumentalist and SK:

• After a gap of 43 years (Tirupampuram N. Swaminatha Pillai was awarded in 1953) SK was awarded to a flautist, T. Ramani (1996) and was followed by Sikkil Sisters (2002).
• Sheik Chinna Moulana, Nadhaswaram vidwan and AK Natarajan, Clarinet vidwan were the only ones to be awarded with SK in their genre.

Schools and SK:

• Musuri School of Music took home the maximum SK awards: Musuri Subramania Iyer, Mani Krishnaswamy, TK Govinda Rao, Bombay Sisters. Let us not forget that Musiri’s guru TS Sabesha Iyer was the first recipient of SK. (guru, parama guru, paramartha guru)
• Harikeshanallur Mutthaih Bagavathar school takes the second spot. Mutthiah Bagavathar was a SK awardee, followed by Madurai Mani Iyer and TV Shankaranarayanan.

Out of State Awardees:

SK awards have also gone to people outside of Tamil Nadu and definitely Music Academy didn’t seem to face Mullaiperiyar, Kaveri or Krishna situation. Who knows what happened behind the curtains?

Andhra has taken home the title 6 times, while Karnataka and Kerala 4 time each.

• Mysore Vasudeacharya was the first recipient (1935) from Karnataka and was followed by T. Chowdiah in 1957, Mysore Doraiswamy Iyengar in 1984 and RK Srikantan in 1995.
• Dwaram Venkataswamy Naidu (1941) was the first recipient from Andhra followed by Chittoor Subramany Pillai (1954), Rallapalli Anatakrishna Sarma(1974), M. Balamurali Krishna (1978), Sripada Pinakapani (1983) and Nedunuri Krishnamurthy (1991).
• Chembai Vaidhyanatha Bagavathar (1951) was the first recipient from Kerala followed by Palaghat Mani Iyer(1965) , KV Narayanaswami Iyer (1986), and Palghat Raghu (2007)

Who in the current list of musicians can make the statistics interesting?

• If Trichur V Ramachandran and Sudha Raghunathan earn SK, then GNB school and Musuri school will go in for a tie.
• Nithyasri Mahadevan is the only artists to have both side grandparents win SK title. If Nithyasri Mahadevan wins SK title, then DKP family will tie with Dhanammal family for taking home maximum titles.
• If someone from Maharajapuram family (Ramachandran, Nagarajan, grandson Ganesh) wins the title then they set a new record for three or four subsequent generations to take home the title.

While we could not answer why Lalgudi Jayaraman, Chitti Babu, Gottuvadyam Narayana Iyengar, Veenai Balachandar, and other doyens never found a place in the corridors of Music Academy? Is it because they wanted to be away from the corridors of controversy and not accumulate dust or be a part of our analysis and paralysis?

On a lighter note, should we ask Anna Hazare to include the awardee selection process in Lokpal? May be opposition will bring reservation (gender, caste, religious minority) in Music Academy and SK ?