Demise of Sri.S.Vaidyanathakrishnan

Remembering musicians of the recent past
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Ramasubramanian M.K
Posts: 1226
Joined: 05 May 2009, 08:33

Demise of Sri.S.Vaidyanathakrishnan

Post by Ramasubramanian M.K »

I deeply regret to announce the sad demise on October 9,2016 of a good family friend(for over 5 decades),Sri.S.Vaidyanathakrishnan (SVK as he was known in Coimbatore)-- was one of the greatest,and authentic Musicologists/Scholars on Carnatic Music.

Some of the forumites may have known him personally as he has been actively involved in conducting the Thyagaraja Aradhana in Coimbatore for over 25 years. All the present day Vidwans and Vidwans of yesteryears have all sung at the annual festival. He was a retired Tax advocate with impeccable integrity and well respected in Coimbatore --both in the legal community and the cultural community. He was honored at the Cleveland Aradhana a couple of years ago. He has been honored by Institutions like Saraswathi Vagyeyakara Trust in Chennai.

A lifelong devotee of the trinity he has in his archives(barring a few that have been published in various journals) several volumes of his work on Thyagaraja and Dikshitar kritis--using his tremendous knowledge of Sanskrit,Telugu and Tamil. He has given several lectures in the AIR radio in Coimbatore--on Dikshitar's Navavarna krithis,Navagraha krithis and the panchalinga krithis.
He was highly respected by Musicians like the Bombay sisters,Neyveli Santhanagopalan,Semmangudi,DKP et al for his erudition and knowledge.

A very humble man by nature. An anecdote.

SVK was like an elder brother to my wife and after our marriage I got close to him and over the last 50 years whenever we met our talks centered around Music. We are trying to "digitize' the several volumes of his works and if feasible publish them. During the last 50 years of friendship myself and my father have been trying to persuade him to come out of his "shell". Finally about 15 years ago,we coaxed him into meeting with DKP and as he used to tell us about the meeting--an ordinary one hour courtesy call would turn into a spell-binding exchange over 3 hours between the two--thoroughly "abetted and encouraged" by the late Mr.e. Isvaran(DKP's husband--anyone who knows him would know that he is a no-nonsense,curt person who rarely would encourage reminiscences and memories!!!).

At the end of the first meeting--DKP not an easy person to throw compliments - I believe asked SVK, in Tamil"Ithanai Nalai Engu Irundeer--Neengal oru Pokkisham"( Where were you all these years,You are a Treasure).

I can easily aver that if you ask any artiste of today about SVK they will have nothing but praise for his knowledge,patronage and integrity.

I am too overwhelmed--when I was in Combatore -two months ago I spent a couple of hours discussing with him. he will invariably show me what he is currently working on-- he had just finished a multi-volume study linking Thyagaraja/Dikshitar Kritis to the Bhagavad Gita,Ramayana and he would go into ecstasy .

He lost his wife about 2 years back after a prolonged bed-ridden ailment and since then he seldom got out of the house. He was honored by the Bharathiya Vidya Bhavan--Coimbatore chapter of which he was an integral part after much coaxing and cajoling by friends and admirers. He was not in the prefect health when I met him(he was 84 ) but was lucid and animated . Little did we expect the end would be so near. Myself and my wife's family are all in shock.

Although many forumites may not have known him or heard about him I thought the Music World of the Forum should know. Hence this hastily written homage to my dear friend,musicologist,scholar and humanitarian.

May his soul rest in peace!!

Nick H
Posts: 9379
Joined: 03 Feb 2010, 02:03

Re: Demise of Sri.S.Vaidyanathakrishnan

Post by Nick H »

Very sorry to hear of the loss of your dear friend, MKR,

thanjavooran
Posts: 2972
Joined: 03 Feb 2010, 04:44

Re: Demise of Sri.S.Vaidyanathakrishnan

Post by thanjavooran »

My heartfelt condoleces. RIP.

Rsachi
Posts: 5039
Joined: 31 Aug 2009, 13:54

Re: Demise of Sri.S.Vaidyanathakrishnan

Post by Rsachi »

Dear Sri MKR,
It saddens me that you and the Carnatic world have lost a friend. Yet your obit gladdens me that I have come to know about a great man.
Kindly share, if possible, some piece of his writing. It will educate us enormously!
Regards
Sachi

Sundara Rajan
Posts: 1081
Joined: 08 Apr 2007, 08:19

Re: Demise of Sri.S.Vaidyanathakrishnan

Post by Sundara Rajan »

My sincere condolence on the loss of a great man. The fact that many of us have not heard of this person reminds me of Thomas Gray's Elegy: "Full many a gem of purest ray serene, the dark unfathomed caves of oceans bear".

I hasten to indicate that this was not the SVK (S.V. Krishnamurthy) who wrote reviews in The Hindu, whose books "Know your Thyagaraja" I have.

arasi
Posts: 16774
Joined: 22 Jun 2006, 09:30

Re: Demise of Sri.S.Vaidyanathakrishnan

Post by arasi »

MKR,
Sorry to hear about the demise of your friend and CM's friend Sri. Vaidyanathakrishnan.
As Sundara Rajan says, we had not known about this great rasika. How many more there are who are unknown to us!

Our condolences to his family.

rshankar
Posts: 13754
Joined: 02 Feb 2010, 22:26

Re: Demise of Sri.S.Vaidyanathakrishnan

Post by rshankar »

Mama, my condolences to you and his family members! May his soul RIP!

Sri Sundara Rajan, thanks for the clarification.

Ramasubramanian M.K
Posts: 1226
Joined: 05 May 2009, 08:33

Re: Demise of Sri.S.Vaidyanathakrishnan

Post by Ramasubramanian M.K »

Folks: Thanks for your words of comfort. A slight correction:
Mrs. Vaidyanathakrishnan passed away just 6 months back and not 2 years ago .What I meant to say was that she was bedridden for over 2 years and SVK took such good care of her. Even in those trying moments he never once expressed a thought "WHY ME" for all the good work he and his wife had done over the years, attributing it to "Prabhdham". It was as though his duty on earth was over--a true Karma Yogi

Incidentally his grandson Abhinav Sitaraman --based in the US is a budding Mridangam player who has played in Cleveland and in Tamil Nadu.

kvchellappa
Posts: 3598
Joined: 04 Aug 2011, 13:54

Re: Demise of Sri.S.Vaidyanathakrishnan

Post by kvchellappa »

From FB:
Padma Sugavanam with Abhinav Seetharaman and Mahesh Prabhu.
10 hrs ·

As a young student of music, slowly growing aware of sangita as a higher calling, one of my very first and most unforgettable experiences, was getting an opportunity to share the stage with my revered Guru, and senior legends, Vidvans Sri. B.V.Raman and B.V. Lakshmanan. I was so young, naïve and ignorant, that I could not at that time, even comprehend the magnitude of the occasion. It was at this program (for the Rotary Club of Coimbatore, in 1995), that I first met the late Sri. Vaidyanathakrishnan, of Coimbatore – whose demise a few days back, has shocked the music world.

Through that program, started a beautiful association based on the love for music, and for Sanskrit. Vaidyanathakrishnan Mama was a vidvan’s vidvan, a true seeker, and a devotee of the Sangita Trimurty, with a particular attachement (or should I say weakness) for Tyagaraja svami.

In fact – it would be apt to paraphrase Tyagarajasvami’s words and say – ‘Trimurti-bhakti samrajyam- eemanavula kabbenu.” (This man attained the kingdom of devotion to the musical trinity). And those amonst us who were fortunate enough to know him, experienced a fraction of his joy, whenever we watched him speak of the Trimurti-s.

A self taught man, Vaidyanathakrishnan Mama has recounted to me, how he started studying Tyagaraja’s compositions, during his numerous work-related train journeys. What started out as a hobby grew into a great flaming passion, and insatiable thirst for knowledge. Mama would dive into each composition, its philosophical import, its contextual and historical background, the raga bhava, the sandhis and samasa-s, and would not be satisfied until he had dissected threadbare, every single syllable (yes, I mean every syllable) of the composition. I have very fond recollections of us discussing the Panini sutras for different samasas in some of Muttusvami Dikshitar’s compositions.

I was amazed that such a senior lawyer and scholar, used to speak to me as if I were a ‘sahapathi’ (co-student). To him, we were all students - and age did not matter. The only thing that mattered, was to keep seeking. So unassuming was he. And every time he had a ‘eureka’ moment, he would leap with a kind of child-like joy, that only discovery can bring.

Mama stood out not only as a great scholar, but also a truly caring, compassionate and generous human being. He had only affection, for anyone who came into contact with him. And for all his knowledge, seniority and stature, he never uttered a sharp or unkind word about anyone. He was much above the petty and the mundane. He cared not, for attention or recognition. He clearly dwelt in a higher plane. He worked relentlessly and freely shared his erudition.

And perhaps he has moved on to a higher plane, to seek higher things. The demise of Mama, is indeed a great a great loss for the world of music. I pray that his family, friends and numerous admirers have the strength to bear this bereavement.
One of Mama’s favourite quotes from Oliver Goldsmith’s “Village Schoolmaster”, today seems to shine with new meaning :

While words of learned length and thundering sound
Amazed the gazing rustics ranged around,
And still they gazed, and still the wonder grew
That one small head could carry all he knew.

Rest in peace, mama…

rajeshnat
Posts: 9906
Joined: 03 Feb 2010, 08:04

Re: Demise of Sri.S.Vaidyanathakrishnan

Post by rajeshnat »

V Govindan Sir
By any chance did you know or meet S.Vaidyanathakrishnan?

maduraimini
Posts: 477
Joined: 22 Sep 2009, 02:55

Re: Demise of Sri.S.Vaidyanathakrishnan

Post by maduraimini »

Sorry to hear about the loss of your friend. My sympathies to you.

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