OF GIFTED VOICE: The Life and Art of M.S. Subbulakshmi

First it's not a hagiography nor is it the other extreme as another biographer painted MS.That work was downright scandalous.This book seems to be a Labour of love.It's originality can't be missed.The notes run into some one hundred pages and many of them primary sources.I liked two things about the book.The context setting for each period of MS' long life is well documented.This helps the reader to form a perspective which can be helpful.The other thing that struck me is that the author chose to parallely track the career of a distinguished dancer Balasaraswathi whose background is similar to MS but the dancer held her own, made choices of her own free will and was fiercely independent unlike MS who was always being governed by her husband.The similarities and differences between the good friends once again helps the reader to form an opinion without as much the author mentioning it.MS was woman of a few words and the few words she spoke we often wonder were it the words of her husband couched in her voice or her own.This makes the job of any biographer difficult.In a biography of a musician I always want to read about the music, musicianship and musicality of him or her.And if the biographer helps the reader to delve deep into her or his mind that would be great.I was not disappointed and I got to see and read a lot of it in the book.What disappointed me particularly in the first half of the book was the theme of upper classhegemony and exploitation of devadasis recurring repeatedly.It was overdone so much so that I began wondering if the author was using MS as a facade to write about this social disgust.Fortunately it wasn't.The tone in the second half of the book is completely different and it rightly focussed on MS, her music and as a person.A few years back I read a biography of MS by TJS George. I sensed betrayal at the end of reading that book.Not this one.This book is objective, definitive and uplifting.And a kind of redemption for me.Highly recommended.

If you hail from the southern part of India or love Classical Music, I am confident that "M.S Subbulakshmi" is a name you are well aware of. But since I don't fall in these categories, I decided to pick up this book and I must say I am not disappointed at all. I got to learn so many new things and above all learn about the first and foremost a classical vocalist of the highest rank with unmatched gifts who will continue to rule the musical history of India.The Author has taken a formal, historical and informative approach to pen down this biography.The rare pictures added another dimension to an already great biography. The notes, references, and appendix at the end of the book shows the extensive research and hard work that went into the book.

A Review of Keshav Desiraju’s book : Of Gifted Voice - The Life And Art Of M S SubbulakshmiYears ago, when I started my surgical training in AFMC, Pune, I was terrified when a senior trainee asked me on day 1 about Portal Hypertension. I had no clue, as I was coming after nearly 5 years of non academic military work. He assured me I was going to fail the initial eligibility test. Standing in the staircase leading to the Dept of Surgery, he lectured me on the surgical treatment of this condition I knew nothing about. I rushed home to my books and read like mad about this and other topics. Luckily I survived the screening test and hence saw a lot more of this senior chap. And I discovered that all he knew in surgery was one thing and one thing only – portal hypertension! Ask him about brain tumour, he would say that if a brain tumour patient suffered from portal hypertension it would be even more serious an issue, because in portal hypertension …….and he would launch into this favourite (and only) topic. If the discussion involved a broken hip, he would say that broken hip would have serious implications in patients with portal hypertension because….! We called his bluff soon enough, and when I finished my course and got posted as faculty, he was still working his way around some of the examination papers and practicals!Reading Keshav Desiraju’s book gave me this deep sense of déjà vu. The book is all about its own version of Portal hypertension – occasionally returning to the main topic - MS’s life and art! It meanders all over the music of both south and north India, even other types of music, using MS as a crutch to justify the discussion of these related, but not necessarily relevant topics. Every once in a while, Desiraju happens to look at the title and says, hey, I better bring in a bit of MS now! You get a lot of information about pre trinity composers, what Tyagarajaswamy thought and did, how many keetanais Syma Sastry actually wrote, did Swati Tirunal actually compose kritis, etc etc. Very interesting information alright, but basically tidbits or footnotes if you are looking to learn about MS, as the title promises you.I bought the book because it was about MS. Yet, while the book boasts of 499 pages, the last 180 pages are notes, references and the like. In other words, this is a PhD thesis by Desiraju, - certainly NOT about MS alone. His every sentence is referenced meticulously – there are as many as 1464 notes for the 15 chapters of the book. Compelled out of interest, I started going back and forth between the notes and the main story as I read along – and very soon gave it up as a bad distraction. Desiraju comments on unsubstantiated things about various subjects in the book (with references of course) almost as if he does not want to be held responsible for a single word he says – and yet he does precisely that, and often – he is quite short on the English language proficiency of many of the critics who appear in his book – “verbose” and “long winded” “ponderous” and so forth. He comes through as rather judgemental about most of his (Indian) references. He often leaves it to you to find out who the author of a particular quote is, but never fails to name them if they are of western origin! There is an unsaid admiration for anything western – indeed there are far more western “authorities” we get to hear passing judgement on an exclusively Indian topic, with very few respected Indian references like that of Gowri Ramnarayan. This, and his explanation at length of what is a ragam, layam etc, gave me the impression that the book – sorry the thesis – was meant for submission to a western university. Least ways, he seems to expect his book to be read by non Tamils, non Indians even.My review has not said anything so far about MS – deliberately – just as the first chapter in the book says nothing at all about MS. The second suddenly remembers her in a few short lines. But I must confess, my disillusionment notwithstanding, I plodded on, learning about the vagaries of Ariyakkudi and R S Gopalakrishnan (I am ashamed never knew about this violinist) and Naina Pillai’s origins, but with each succeeding chapter, got more and more info on MS and her life. The last few chapters were totally unputdownable, as Desiraju was now mostly (but not totally) into MS.Like TM Krishna, Desiraju raves on and on about the brahmin – non brahmin divide, doing no one any good in the process. And dwelling on the details of devadasi traditions and peculiarities, which merely keeps alive a topic we all want to put behind us and move on. He also sounds apologetic about south Indian classical music being totally devotional, that faith is an integral part of our music. So what? Why can’t we celebrate this uniqueness? There is a certain desperation in his writing to belong, and be accepted, by the west. I found this abhorrent. Remnants of colonial slavishness, it appeared to me. Time to move on in this sphere too, at a time when the Indian flag, not a UK or German one, gives safe passage to students, even Pakistanis, in Ukraine! Desiraju suggests that MS became the “voice of the nation” because of her brahminization (through Sadasivam). I beg to differ. No groups were invited to vote for her to be selected to this title – she got there, entirely because of her talent! To suggest otherwise is to do disservice to her vidwat. But in the very end of the book, Desiraju redeems himself by stating that such charges do not hold (p 301). In another place, he suggests that MS’s choice to move more and more towards devotional music in her later years, may (italics mine) “have been to ensure a longer presence in the collective memory of the people” (p 247). I strongly contest this assumption. Ever lasting popularity seems to have been the last thing on MS’s mind, as anyone who knew her up close would testify.There are areas where he unhesitatingly calls a spade a spade, and I salute him for these: That Sadasivam would have been largely an unknown entity but for his walking in the shadows of a star wife, while MS, could quite possibly have found her fame even without Sadasivam is a moot point, but well worth the speculation. How could someone of her talent go unnoticed, and for how long? The utter tastelessness of Birla in referring to MS’s appeal for help has been well and truly called out for the egotistic farce that it is. He is also, to some extent right in admonishing TS George for publishing MS’s private correspondence when she was still alive. It shows Desiraju’s sense of propriety. He also suggests that perhaps she could have soared much higher in manodharma had she chosen not to be restrained by Sadasivam’s dictat (however much she agreed to all that) and here I find myself nodding in agreement, thinking of the possibilities.This review is nothing more than the outburst of a disappointed MS devotee – proudly prejudiced in her favour. And I speak for many millions, I dare say. I was disappointed at the inexcusable waste of more than a third of the printed matter on non-MS stuff. I was troubled by repeated allusions to her quest for status as a “respectable” south Indian woman. I offer no apologies for this outburst. The 100 page book by Lakshmi Viswanathan, and TS George’s book (despite those intrusions into MS’s privacy) were far more satisfying for this devotee. May be the fault lies with the choice of the book’s title. To paraphrase Desiraju, MS and her music will be fondly remembered long after this book and this review are both forgotten.Koduvayur Harikrishnan

This is the book whoever is a fan of this great talented singer should read. How naive i was to refer her as Subbalakshmi where as her real name is Subbulakshmi which i could learn. Sure the writer has done a lot of research about Carnatic music apart from the life of the Singer. The cover page is very appealing in b/w color.Strongly recommend for all the book lovers to have in their personnel library.

I personally believe that the author has done a commendable job in compiling this book. The amount of research and efforts on the author's part is indeed evident in the way the entire story has been put together. I especially enjoyed the narrative style of the author.I really feel like this is a must-read for every reader out there who have any interest in music and its evolution through the times, focusing a bit more on the impact women singers had in the music industry.

Harper & Collins have produced a truly excellent hard cover book of Author Desiraju Keshav’s authoritatively researched and outstanding writing about South India’s greatest Carnatic Singer M.S.Subbulakshmi.If you are building a library collection and love music , then this book is great piece of reference.

Très bonne transaction.