KOCHI: When he lost both hands in an accident, at 23, on this day in 1971, Hariharan Nair did stare at his own life with a rather confused mind, but soon decided he would not give up. Always a lover of Carnatic music, he turned to it even more passionately to stay calm, researched on it as well as its therapeutic use and paid back greatly by grooming hundreds of talents afterwards.
Having entered his 70s, Nair had started perceiving life with far more composure. It was then fate shattered the life of the Karumalloor (Aluva) native yet again, this time in the form of floods. Nair had to take extra pain to write his 15,000-page book on the evolution of music — from vedic era to present day — as he did it using his prosthetic hands, but the manuscripts now lay in a shambles. So are his musical instruments, including a vintage harmonium. Even the artificial hands, which he bought for `5 lakh, are ruined beyond repair. But he refuses to get bogged down.
“I’ve to start from scratch again. I’ve my lost hands for a second time. But my students and well wishers said they would write them down if I can recollect and narrate all those I put together in manuscripts over two decades. I’m confident. After all, I’ve mastered more than 10,000 Carnatic compositions,” said a smiling Nair, who runs the Sariga Sangeetha Academy, at Karumalloor, which is authorised to conduct examinations for 13 UGC-approved courses including PhD in music. M Balamuralikrishna, K J Yesudas, U Srinivas and Kunnakkudi Vaidyanathan among others have performed at the annual Navaratri festival organised by the academy.
“Health Minister K K Shailaja visited me and assured me to help purchase new prosthetic hands. A foreigner, who was here to learn Nada Brahma Yoga, too has offered her support in penning my book Sangeetha Sagaram. She says the yoga developed by me is helpful in treating autism. All that make me optimistic,” said Nair.
After completing ITI, Nair joined Premier Tyres as a worker. It was there that his hands got entangled in the machine and mutilated. Still he went on, secured a degree in music from the Madras University and started performing concerts. His research on music won him Junior Fellowship from the Ministry of Human Resource Development in 1992. Six years later, he was awarded Senior Fellowship. In between, he won the Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Academi Award for classical music.The Indian Council for Cultural Relations had selected him to represent India abroad.It is not surprising as he has been a true ambassador of music. And a true fighter.