Scanned from articles in ALAPANE Series in the Deccan Herald, Bangalore, April 16, 1994 GREAT MASTERS: Not everyone could appreciate Tiger Varadacharya's music. The famous vocalist had a stubborn voice which refused to obey his imagination, but whatever music it did yield was divine, recalls MYSORE VASUDEVACHARYA TIGER TIGER BURNING BRIGHT WOLVES in sheep's clothing are not uncommon among us, but sheep in wolves' garb are in deed rare! Varadacharya was known as "Tiger", possibly because of his appearance, the way in which he carried himself and the manner in which he gesticulated while singing. He received the nick- name with a sense of humour. To "Ti- ger" he added "Lion" and had his name printed on his letterhead as Tiger-Lion Varadacharya. In fact, there was a manly, tiger-like grandeur and dignity about his music and from that point of view it was appropriate to call him Ti- ger. But the simile ended there. He was as innocent as a child, open-hearted, outspoken and extremely generous. He had, of course, the shrewdness to detect mischief or deceit in others but he was himself guiltless of such ignoble traits. He had no jealousies. In fact, he had the nobility to seek and find greatness even in his rivals. Varadacharya did not have a pliant voice which could be exploited to ad- vantage. The result was that though his creative imagination was as expansive as the very seas, his voice could reveal only a few glimpses of that richness; and those few glimpses were, indeed, precious pearls. The rag as and swaras he sang were marked by artistic excel- lence. He cursed his voice as it blocked the free expression of his prolffic im- agination. He used to gulp down boiling water before commencing a concert, but it was of little use. His voice never proved adequate. He would curse him- self and say, "Well! This is the harvest of my past sins. I seldom sang to the tamboora sruthi. My habit was to sing whatever occurred to me, wherever I was. And the consequence is that in- stead of my adjusting my voice to the tamboora, the instrument has to be ad- justed to my voice!" It was not given to everyone to ap- preciate the beauty of his music, which was like a capricious river. If one lis- tened to him patiently in a number of concerts, one could come across an op- portunity to experience the unsur- passed brilliance of his art; that would indeed be divine. That was why people at large couldn't appreciate the great- ness of his music; and for a long time, Varadacharya had to remain a little known musician, scarcely in demand. "Have you taken a vow that you will not stir out of Mysore? Why don't you come and stay in Madras for a few days for my sake at least?", Varadacharya used to ask me often. He got fed up with me in the end. He lost his temper and shouted: "It is your fate I suppose!" Some years ago, I was invited to take part in a music festival at Kalakshetra in Madras. I knew at once that it was Varadacharya who was responsible for my getting the invitation. He was pleas- antly surprised when I accepted and went to Madras. It was about four in the afternoon when I called at Kalakshetra to meet Varadacharya. He was illustrating for the benefit of Rukmini Devi the characteristics of certain ragas. Some- body whispered in his ear that I had come. He at once stopped the lesson, came up to me and prostrated at my feet. Hugging me fondly, he exclaimed: "Luck has favoured us after all! I am happy that at long last you have taken pity on this poor soul and come." His words left me Speechless, I was over- come with emotion. My eyes were wet with tears of gratitude. Tiger turned to Rukmini Devi and said: "After years of effort, I am placing before you this treasure. It is up to you now; hold on to it fast or let it go." He summoned the students and staff of Kalakshetra and by way of introduc- tion paid me rich tributes. Ignoring my protests, he praised me using the most extravagant metaphors. I returned home very embarrassed. The music festival began the very next day. The inaugural concert was by Tiger. Arrangements in the concert hall were excellent. The hall was packed to capacity but there was absolute silence. The students sat right in front of the dais. There was a desk and some writ- ing material before each of them. "What is this for?" I asked someone, and he told me that it was the practice there for the students to make notes at every concert. They jotted down what appeared special to them. They got the artiste to clear whatever doubts they had at the end of the concert. I have given hundreds of concerts and attend- ed hundreds of others but nowhere have I come across such a disciplined and dignified atmosphere. The grandeur of Varadacharya's per- formance that day could only be experi- enced; it defied description. His voice was in an unusually good form that day. As though he possessed some magic charm, whatever swara or sangati he sang came out like an ex- quisite jewel. He sang Mukhari for about an hour or so and presented us the very cream of the raga. When he sang the Tyagaraja kriti Entaninne sabaribhagyamu, one was transported to a different world altogether. Tiger, who invariably sang the tana in his concerts, took up a pallavi in Kambhodi immediately after the alapana. The audience was surprised and one or two in the hall appealed to him: "Please sing the tana." Pointing to me Tiger said: "Another Vidwan has been specially invited to entertain you with his tana. You can listen to him till you feel satiated with tana. It is his forte." "I beg you not to embarrass me with such praise. Please sing the tana for a while and then proceed to the pallavi" I said. "You must permit me to overrule your word on this one issue," replied Tiger and continued with his pallavi. Even today I remember with gratitude the honour he showered on me in that scholarly gathering. Such generous praise of another is rather uncommon in an artiste. Whenever I went to Madras, I used to call on my friend Sangeeta Kalanidhi T.V. Subba Rao. Once, after tea in the evening, Subba Rao and I were chatting in the veranda. We happened to be dis- cussing the individual styles of Patnam Subramanya Iyer, Mahavaidyanatha Iyer and Tirukkodikaval Krishna Iyer. At Subba Rao's request, I wwas trying to demonstrate their different styles. The conversation gradually drifted to Varadacharya's manner of singing. As I had attended and enjoyed several of his concerts, I tried to imitate his style too. Subba Rao was laughing within himself. Suddenly, Varadacharya emerged from inside, with a rolled mat and pillow under his arm and tears in his eyes! Thrusting his head out of the bed sheet which he was wearing like a gown, he said: "Subba Rao! I now have no place in Madras. This thief has rob- bed me of all my belongings. I have to run away and seek refuge else- where!" Both Subba Rao and Tiger had a hearty laugh. "Forgive me, it was only for fun. I was trying to imi- tate your way of singing," I said. Tiger was all smiles; he persuaded me to continue and enjoyed the fun thoroughly. Just as Tiger was eager to have me over in Madras, I was anxious to see that he came down to Mysore and enjoyed the patronage of the Durbar. When Jayachama- raja Wodeyar, a musician himself and a great patron of art and culture, invited Tiger to become an Asthana Vidwan in his court, my joy knew no bounds. When His Highness conferred on the two of us the same title of Sangita Shastra Visharada, we hugged each other and said: "We must have been brothers in some previous birth!" Tiger paid little attention to his dress. At times he would wear his shirt inside out or with the pocket at the back! He would put on a long black coat on several occasions without a shirt in- side! He never learnt to tie a turban properly. He squashed down on his head some turban, several sizes too small for him. Looking into a mirror, he would laugh at him- self and say: "Anjaneyaswamine namaha." "The profuse proportions of the body adds to this unique personality," he would lightly remark about himself It was his habit to exclaim, "Appane! Adimoolane!" whenever he sat down or stood up. What after all did his physical appearance matter? His bright face pro- claimed that he was indeed a blessed child of goddess Sharada who could command the respect of everyone. I have no intimate knowledge of Ti- ger's childhood. He did not talk about it at any time either. He was born in 1876 at a place called Kolathurin Sriperambur taluk in Chengalput dis- trict in Tamil Nadu. Srinivasa Iyengar, who is known to all lovers of music through his book Tyagaraja Hridaya, was Tiger's elder brother. The well- known veena vidwan Krishnamachari was his younger brother. Tiger worked for a time as a clerk in some government office at Kaveripattinam. Whenever I asked him how he switched over from a govern- ment job to music, he used to say, "It is a long story. I'll tell you about it some other time," and change the subject. Kaladipettai Masilamani Mudaliar, it is said, was a famous violinist and critic. "It was he," Tiger used to say, "who initiated me into music." Varadacharya is said to have received his prelimi- nary training under Neelakantha Sastri. My guru Patnam Subramanya Iyer often went to visit a musician by the name of Techchur Singalachar. Ti- ger used to tell me that on these occasions he did his shishyavritti under my guru and enriched his knowledge of music. Varadacharya rendered good service to the cause of music as the first Principal of the Teachers' College of Music run by the Madras Music Academy and later as the Principal of the music college attached to Anna- malai University at Chidambaram. His last days were spent at Kalakshetra. He had great respect and affection for Rukmini Devi. He was grateful to her for the way she had arranged for his care in his old age and given him a place of honour in Kalakshetra. At peace and without worries, Tiger was able to devote himself to his art wholeheartedly. He composed several varnas, kirtanas and tillanas which have added to his fame. Varadacharya left this world on Jan- uary 31,1951. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- To find out more about the anon service, send mail to help@anon.penet.fi. Due to the double-blind, any mail replies to this message will be anonymized, and an anonymous id will be allocated automatically. You have been warned. 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