HYDERABAD: The story of Bharat Ratna late MS Subbulakshmi — from being the daughter of a Devadasi in Madurai, to transforming herself into the best Carnatic singer is not just a journey, but a profound story of grit who challenged patriarchy, said a well-known writer P Lalita Kumari, better known by her pen name Volga. She was speaking at the launch of the Telugu translation of the book —MS - A Life in Music’, which was published in 2004 by TJS George.
Titled ‘Manaku Teliyani MS: Devadasi Putrika Nunchi Sangeetha Samragni Varaku - the book was launched in association with the Hyderabad Book Trust (HBT) and the event was organised by Manthan. The English version of the book was republished in 2016, marking her birth centenary celebration the book was republished with a different title and a new preface. “Some great opportunities have come my way and one day Gita Ramaswamy from HBT called me asking to translate her journey. Till that point I knew nothing about her life or Carnatic music and this book has left me mesmerised,” said Volga. It was not just about her life, but deep profound aspects of Carnatic music too was a discovery for her, she added.
Recalling aspects of MS’ journey that stirred her the most, Volga shared that the day MS defied the norms and left her home and her childhood memories in Madurai and moved to Chennai and knocked on the door of the only person she then knew, Kalki Sadashivam, a leading freedom fighter at the time, whom she eventually married.
“She lived in the house that was hostile and none, except Sadashivam cared for her. Her thought of leaving her home was a bold decision,” said Volga. “There is something about her story, where she was oppressed, but at no point did she let any chapter of her life take place without her consent,” Volga added. On the other hand, she was oved by MS’ profound story because of the effort that TJS George took. “The effort and the amount of research that went into telling this story is evident.
Everything is described in such detail, even if it means deviating from the storyline and talks about the politics, music, culture and where MS stood in all this,” Volga shared. However, one thing that needs to be noted is that such an enthralling and thought-provoking story was not published in many local languages.
Carnatic music vocalist and Ramon Magsaysay awardee, TM Krishna who delivered a talk as part of Manthan talked about the aspects of culture, community while relating it to MS’ life.