BENGALURU: A chat with Sashi Kumar and it doesn’t take much to figure his admiration for MS Subbulakshmi. On Varamahalakshmi, while Bengalureans celebrated the festival with a Lakshmi pooja, Kumar chose to get inked with the signature of the legendary Carnatic singer. “She is nothing less than a deity to me,” says the 21-year-old about the Bharat Ratna recipient.
It’s been a long and patient wait for Kumar who wanted to get the “right” signature. For this, he connected with a family in Chennai, who also happen to be fans. “I got in touch with them in December 2019, when they posted the picture of the autograph on a Facebook group.
Just to get a glimpse of it, I went to Chennai but they could not find it at that time,” says Kumar. He continued to stay in touch with the family who later scanned it and sent to him in June. Kumar didn’t stop there. To verify the signature, he sent the copy to Subbulakshmi’s family, and only after he got a go-ahead, he executed his plan.
You would think that Kumar is a musician, but, surprisingly, he has no connect to the art form. He first saw Subbulakshmi’s picture in 2010 on a visit to a temple in Malleswaram. Curious, the then 11-year-old started reading up about the late singer’s life. Later, he connected with her family and has since never missed any concerts by her great grand daughters – S Aishwarya and S Saundarya – who are also Carnatic musicians. “Sashi has been in touch with us for last 4-5 years.
When he sent the photo of my grandmother’s autograph, we verified it,” says V Shrinivasan, Subbulakshmi’s grandson, adding that they are used to his grandma’s fans reaching out to them. “Being a public figure, my grandmother was comfortable with a lot of attention. During her concerts, she posed for hundreds of pictures with fans,” says Shrinivasan with a laugh. “She would have adapted to the ‘selfie culture’ with ease,” he adds.
Fan Story
“Around 10 years ago, house burglaries in the absence of owners were quite common. In one such incident in Koramangala, a thief broke into a house, but left without stealing anything. During the interrogation after being caught, he said that the owner turned out to be a huge fan of MS Subbulakshmi, and had a large picture of hers framed. The accused felt extremely embarrassed to steal anything in front of a legend like her. My grandmother’s music has had such an impact that she could transform the heart of a wrong-doer. Her life is testimony to the fact that she touched the souls of millions.
— V Shrinivasan, Subbulakshmi’s grandson