T. M. Krishna - Thy name is Controversy

In the recent times, the name TM Krishna is synonymous with the word controversy.

I as a person who admires Carnatic Music a lot and who have grown up listening to it have learnt to admire any one's singing though I treat the singing of MS Subbulakshmi amma's music and voice as divine. It soothes me a lot. And when I read the article where in TM Krishna have said that if not for fair skin and if not have adapted to the caste of her husband no one would have bothered to have listened to her. Though I have grown up listening to her songs, never ever thought of whom she is and where she belonged to. Music need not give you all such info. The legends of Carnatic music are people who have won the hearts of millions by their voice, by the way they have rendered their music and also by the way they have taken the music to the masses.

A man of such a calibre and whose voice and singing I still admire should not have stooped to such a level of demeaning someone who is the love of millions of Carnatic listeners just for the mere sake of getting cheap publicity. Yes I felt it to be a cheap publicity. When you say that you are planning to take the music to the common man, then why belittle others? Whatever that have happened in someone like MS Amma's life is of no concern to any of those who take solace in her music in her voice and in her singing. It is a real tragedy on the part of TM Krishna to describe the life of MS Amma as a tragedy. It’s a person's personal choice to choose a career or a personal life on their own and no one have any rights to dissect it. I had always admired the way MS Amma dresses herself and it had always looked so divine adding extra divinity to her music.

In that article I read that her voice had a sadness in it after her marriage, I have to say that either he is using the highest quality of speaker or headphone which shows him the voice quality (which is not a reality) or he have a lot of hearing challenges. Not only I but I am sure all the rasikas would agree to the fact that the emotion underlying is not sadness but compassion and divinity combined with melody and bhakthi.

There are lot of things to be learnt from her like how to be appreciative of even a 10 year old singing with lot of mistakes. Yes it was me who sang Kurai Ondrum Illai in front of her when I was taken to get her blessings by my mom and aunt. I still remember her house, the way she welcomed us the way she treated us with coffee and snacks and I was given a cup of some chocolate drink which I drank just because it was given by MS Amma. (I hate milk). I still remember listening to her Meera Bajans as a morale boost before my every exam. I can keep on adding a list of songs including Kurai Ondrum Illai and Bhavaiyaami Gopala Balam as a soul cheerer.


The way TM Krishna has tried to portray MS Amma hurts a lot of people like me who treat her as the Goddess of music. I am so sure that there is not going to be any apology statement from him but at least he should understand the feelings of rasikas. If he keeps on trying to be in the trend with his talks I am sure he is going to lose all his rasikas whom he have gained by his singing.

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