N. Pattabhi Raman, Courtesy -
Hindu 27 March 1994
An extraordinary woman is
D.K.Pattammal, with her appearance and
achievements contributing to a seeming
paradox.
She is quite traditional in appearance. She
will be 75 on March 28 and not surprisingly, she
looks like an elderly matron. But, even in her
twenties, when she had a radiantly beautiful
face, she wrapped herself in a sari so well that,
projecting a picture of modesty, she could have
aroused the envy of Draupadi. On stage, then as
now, she sat like a rock as she sang, moving
little and gesticulating not at all;
interestingly even the music she offered was
solid as a rock.
In her role too as a wife and mother, she has
been deeply conservative, showing deference to
her husband, R.Iswaran, in all matters, including
music. So much so, because Iswaran disapproves of
the cinema, she stopped going to see any after
they were married! She sat on pins and needles
for more than 35 years eagerly waiting to see
M.S.Subbulakshmi in `Meera' and had her wish
fulfilled only when the film was telecast.
Traditional and conservative -- yes, indeed.
And yet she has been a revolutionary, a
pathfinder, and a liberated career woman,
expressing her individuality as a musician.
Perhaps those interested in women's liberation in
the country would find that her life and career
represent a unique blend of tradition and
change.
Even as a little girl, Pattammal had an
aptitude for music. She learnt to sing without
going through formal step-by-step lessons,
although she had teachers then as later. And she
was neither shy nor scared to sing before an
audience. None of this, however, could have led
anyone to expect she would have a professional
career in music, given the social circumstances
prevailing at that time. Among women -- insofar
as art music was concerned -- singing for the
public was restricted to those who belonged to
the Isai Vellala caste. Virtually no Brahmin
family would dare allow its daughter to enter the
performing arts arena. Moreover, Pattammal's
father was a conservative who had difficulty in
contemplating anything but an early marriage for
her.
In the event, these circumstances could not
hold Pattammal down. Her musical gifts were too
precious to be ignored and the Columbia
Gramaphone Company came forward to record her
after seeing in a newspaper, a photograph of
Pattammal which the headmistress of her school
had arranged to be published in order to draw
atten tion to her talents. Thereafter, although
still troubled by the idea of deviating from
tradition, her father yielded to sugges tions
that the young girl should be groomed as a
musician. He took her to Madras from Kanchipuram,
where the family lived, and arranged for her
further training. And it was not long before
Pattammal made her debut as concert musician.
This was in 1933, when she was but 14 years old.
In retrospect, it was a historic event, for she
was the first girl from among the forward
communities to break through the caste barrier
and take to singing in public. She was, indeed, a
trailblazer.
In the years that followed, as her music
gained in depth and amplitude, she crossed yet
another barrier, that of the gender. In the early
Thirties, it was taboo for women, even devadasis,
to display their manodharma when performing in
public; they were expected to restrict themselves
to rendering the song demurely. As I wrote
elsewhere commenting on this aspect; "Manodharma,
it seemed, was considered a man's dharma and
women had to follow Manu's dharma and refrain
from pushing themselves forward. Such taboos
were, of course, enjoined by men, even if they
were per haps willingly respected by the
womenfolk of those times. It was therefore
ironical that the men, especially male musicians,
at the same time described the circumscribed
music of the women derisively as ladies' music
and considered it inferior to their own.
M.S.Subbulakshmi, D.K.Pattammal and
M.L.Vasanthakumari -- the Carnatic music trinity
of the modern times -- finished off this
fashionable fallacy that ladies' music was
inferior. In this context, I should like to
recall what I wrote about DKP in `Sruti':
"Pattammal's contribution has been that of a
pioneer. She it was that emerged as the role
model for other women singers by daring to do on
the concert stage what had earlier been
proscribed. Manodharma was nor her forte, may be,
but she deployed her mastery of laya to render
ragam-thanam-pallavi as no woman had even
attempted to do before. She broke the ice not
with a pickax but with an icebreaker of a ship.
Many a male chauvinist musician has perforce
acknowledged that, yes, indeed women can sing
like men -- that at least Pattammal could."
Pattammal was thus a pathfinder too, providing
inspiration to other women musicians to sing with
freedom, without being inhib ited by the accident
of their gender.
Laya was of course only one facet of her music
which won her respect and admiration. She
excelled too in rendering kriti-s, with perfect
diction. As a critic once observed: "With her
deep-toned voice.... her deep roots in classicism
and sound knowledge of gamaka, she could render
every song unhurriedly, with progressive and
logical sangati-s, and the musical expres sion
became enjoyable."
Pattammal was a pioneer in regard to another
aspect of art music as well. At a time when even
those musicians who included Tamil songs in their
performances relegated them to the tailend of
their concerts, she began singing a Tamil
composition or two even in the pre-pallavi
segment.
It was entirely consistent with this
remarkable record of achievement that she played
a leading role in popularising, through her
recordings, the songs of Subramania Bharati, the
freedom poet, and that she embellished the music
of films like `Naam Iruvar' with her mellifluous
singing.
There was an yet another barrier that this
steeplechase runner of a musician had to jump
over. Yet another gender barrier, in fact. The
combined impact of the separate contributions of
Subbulakshmi, Pattammal and Vasanthakumari had,
by the Sixties if not earlier, smashed the silly
notion of male superiority in music. The maestros
and the mandarins who ruled the Music Academy of
Madras, that mecca of carnatic music, had
inevitably to consider inviting a woman musician
of their calibre to preside over the annual
conference of the Academy and to receive the
title of Sangeeta Kalanidhi that goes with the
responsibility.
At that time, if both MS and DKP were
respected as well as popular musicians, the
congnoscenti seemed to respect Pattammal's music
a bit more even as they acknowledged MS was the
more popu lar of the two. Yet, the record shows
that the credit of being the first woman musician
to receive the Sangeeta Kalanidhi title went to
MS. Not many know even today that it was DKP who
was initially selected for this honour and that
she was even apprised of it by some of the
numbers of the Experts' Committee of the Academy.
Reportedly even at this stage some influential
members argued in favour of MS and Pattammal
herself agreed to the suggestion that MS might be
honoured first. A sequel to this story is that,
in the following year, when there was a wish to
honour Madurai Srirangam Iyengar a senior
musician, Pattammal volunteered the suggestion
that she should wait yet another year. In the
event, Pattammal received the Sangeeta Kalanidhi
title in 1970.
A paradigm of tradition in personal life,
Pattammal as a musician has thus been a
revolutionary, a trailblazer and a pathfinder. If
her contribution to music has been immense, her
role in the emancipation of women musicians can
only be termed historic. Significantly, and in
contrast to the present day trend, she has made
her contribution almost unobtrusively, without
media hype.
There was yet another notable achievement. In
her heyday, she stood shoulder to shoulder with
giants of Carnatic vocal music like Ariyakudi
Ramanuja Iyengar, Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavatar,
Musiri Subramania Iyer, Semmangudi Srinivasa
Iyer, G.N.Balasubramaniam and Madurai Mani Iyer,
all senior to her in age. Like them, she too
played a crucial role in building up an audience
for Carnatic classical music, without
compromising her artistic integrity, after the
patronage of the art had shifted from princes and
she landed gentry to the lay public organised in
sabhas. She and MS were among the icons who
transformed thou sands of casual listeners into
devotees of art music.
In an appreciation of Pattammal's life and
career, a veteran "observer wrote 10 years ago
(in Sruti)." Up and coming women vocalists -- and
why not men as well? -- could do no better than
take DKP as their guide and model. Her
uncompromising adherence to tradition while
putting her own individual stamp on it, her
willingness to blaze new trials, her sense of
moderation, her dedication and systematic
approach to learning -- and continuous learning
at that -- and her innate grace and sense of
humility are virtues worthy of emulation. This
sums up the unique personality perfectly.
Interview with D.K. Pattammal - Courtesy
Frontline,13 August 1999
.....Pattammal, in spite of her ill-health,
has been training youngsters and giving concerts.
On July 11 she sang in the 18-hour Carnatic music
concert conducted in Chennai for the Kargil
soldiers benefit fund. Severe arthritis has left
her almost immobile. But the unassuming and
ever-smiling DKP readily agreed to meet
Chitravina exponent Ravi Kiran (RK) and
Frontline Special Correspondent Asha
Krishnakumar (AK) at her Chennai residence . In
the two-hour-long interview, DKP looked back at
her life and music. She also spoke about Carnatic
music, and about musicians and audiences then and
now.
Excerpts from the interview:
RK: Can you share with us the
experience of your first stage
performance?
I gave my first public concert in 1932 at
Madras' Rasika Ranjani Sabha. I was 13 then. It
was a group concert in which five of us sang. But
before that I had given a concert on Madras
Corporation Radio (run by the Corporation of
Madras before the All Ind ia Radio came into
being) in 1929. In those days it was a rare
feat.
AK: You were the first Brahmin woman
to come on stage in Carnatic music. It must have
required a lot of courage. Who encouraged
you?
It was indeed a big thing in those days. I was
the first Brahmin woman to come on stage in
Carnatic music as Rukmini Devi was for
Bharatanatyam. Everyone was supportive. At first
my father opposed it. But later he gave in.
AK: What about the support from
fellow musicians and the public?
Colleagues were supportive. But I have heard
some people make remarks like "How dare a Brahmin
girl sing in public?" and so on. I did not give
up. At that time women from one particular
community used to sing in public. It was anathema
for a Brahmin woma n to sing in public. My
mother, Kanthimathi (Rajammal), used to sing very
well. But she never sang in public.
AK:Who encouraged you to sing in
public?
Primarily my father's friends. I was 10 when
my father's friends approached him to let me sing
for a gramophone record company. First, my father
refused, fearing that the record will be played
at all and sundry places. He did not want the
works of great masters like Thyagaraja and
Dikshitar and his daughter's voice to he heard at
such places. Then Dr.Srinivasan of Kancheepuram,
who is my husband's uncle (I was not married
then), persuaded my father to let me sing. My
school headmistress, Ammukutti-amma, also urged
my father to let me accept the offer. After a lot
of pressure from a number of his friends, my
father finally agreed.
RK: You were the first woman
musician to present layam in pallavi. Whom did
you learn that from?
Naina Pillai used to sing pallavi with
kuraippu. I used to go to his concerts
repeatedly to learn the technique. I then
practised it on my own. I have set
pallavis such as "Mamava Pattabhirama"
inspired by Muthuswami Dikshitar's mast er-piece
in raga Manirangu.
RK: What were your practise methods?
This may be a useful tip for
youngsters.
I used to practise whenever I got the time.
Untiring practice is most important. My father
was my first guru. Even when I was four he would
wake me up at 3.30 a.m. for practice. First he
taught me to sing shlokas (hymns) and
later, kritis(c ompositions). I used to
sing 10 kritis in different ragas
everyday. My father would make a weekly
time-table. Every day the songs would be
different. To perfect the songs, I had to sing
each one for about 50 times. After that I would
have to do alapana (delineating raga in
extenso) for each one of the raga. I used to
practice till 6 a.m. (from 3.30 a.m.) every day.
Then again, after I returned from school in the
evening I used to practise singing shlokas
such as Mukundamalai, Shyama la Dhandakam,
Meenakshi Pancharath-nam and Lalitha
Pancharathnam. And, then, more kritis.
My father never allowed me to look into a
notebook and sing. He used to say that it will
divert concentration. Nowadays youngsters use
notebooks all the time, even during concerts. I
wonder how they can concentrate on singing.
RK: Did you ever practice under
Naina Pillai?
No. I did not. But even when I was five, he
was an inspiration for me. My father used to take
me to all his concerts, and I would come home and
practise the songs he sang.
Naina Pillai used to conduct a Thyagaraja
Utsavam in Kancheepuram every year. Carnatic
music giants such as Ariyakudi (Ramanuja Iyengar)
and Musiri (Subramania Iyer) used to sing there.
I used to attend all the concerts. Rajaratnam
Pillai was another ins piration for me. I was
also encouraged by my elder brother, Ranganathan
(he is no more).
When I was eight, Naina Pillai conducted a
competition at Kancheepuram. I got the first
prize, singing "Raksha Bettare" in Bhairavi.
Naina Pillai was impressed. That was a real
turning point in my life.
RK: I have heard a lovely rendition
of "Raksha Bettare" by Palghat Mani Iyer. From
whom did you learn the song?
I learnt it in Kancheepuram from Chinnamma,
who used to live in Pattu Iyengar's house. I
learnt about 10 kritis from her.
AK: Who were your other
gurus?
Naina Pillai was my primary inspiration. It
used to be a wonderful experience hearing Naina
Pillai sing "Nenje Ninai Anbe", a pallavi
in Jaganmohini. I also learnt from his student,
N.S.Krishnaswamy Iyengar and Ariyakudi Ramanuja
Iyengar's student Vaidyanathan. Kancheepuram P.B.
Srinivasan and Chinnamma were my other
teachers.
In Madras, I learnt some Dikshitar
kritis from Ambi Dikshitar and T.L.
Venkatrama Iyer. I studied under Papanasam Sivan,
the great composer. I learnt about 50 Tiruppugazh
songs from Appadurai Achari. I also learnt a few
compositions of Tirupati Na rayanaswami and also
many varnams, pallavis and javalis
from Vidyala Narasimhalu Naidu.
RK: I have listened to the records
you cut when you were young. You had not only a
high sruti (pitch) but also tonal depth.
How did you marry the two? Did it come
naturally?
From shadjamam to panchamam
(lower to higher octave) I had the same depth in
voice. This, I think, was because of my intense,
and long hours, of practice from very early in
the morning.
RK: Did you learn music from the
beginning, say, from sarali and janta
varisai?
I have never learnt sarali and janta
varisai, geetham and so on. I practised some
varnams on my own. Now, I start from
kritis to my students.
AK: How has the audience culture
changed? What is the difference between the
musicians and the audience of your times and
now?
There is a change in the attitudes of both
listeners and artists. At the beginning of a
concert the youngsters sing a swaram and
then a korvai, for which they get a long
applause. They sing that way to get that
applause. There needs to be < I>bhava and
depth, without sacrificing vidwat
(scholarship). The youngsters need to practise a
lot for that. Art should be performed for art's
sake. It should not become commercial. If it
does, then we would be forced to sing for the
audience and not for the sake of the art. Music
is now being sung with great speed. It has become
very commercial. That is very sad.
As for the audience, only genuine music lovers
used to come to concerts in the earlier days.
But, now, it has become fashionable to go to
concerts.
RK: Has the kutcheri pattern
changed over time?
Earlier pallavi was the central piece
of any concert and hence varnam was very
important. They used to sing only four to five
songs.
RK: What pattern do you
follow?
I follow the pattern set by Ariyakudi and
Naina Pillai. I sing a varnam, a few
krithis of different types, a
ragam-tanam-pallavi, some javalis
and padams. In some concerts I sing
thillanas, patriotic and other lighter s
ongs .
RK: I would like you to clarify a
few doubts about Dikshitar kritis. Subbarama
Dikshitar has put together 250 keertanas in
Sangeetha Sampradaya Pradarshini and we all
accept that as authentic. But now, many songs
that are not in that co llection are also passed
off as Dikshitar kritis. How authentic are
these?
Yes. There are many spurious songs attributed
to Muthuswami Dikshitar. Some such as the popular
kriti "Akilandeswari", in Dwajawanthi, are
not Dikshitar kritis. But they are all
passed off as his. T.L.Venkatarama Iyer made a
specific point when he said that "Akilandeswari"
was not Dikshitar's kriti.
RK: There are also some other
keertanas in this category. For instance, "Sri
Ranganatham" in Poornachandrika. The chittaswaram
in that song is the same as the one rendered in
"Paluka Vemi". How did that come about?
I was responsible for that. I tried it and
then discussed it with Venkatarama Iyer, who
encouraged me to go ahead.
RK: What about
"Gananayakam"?
Again, there is a problem with that. Some say
it is in Rudrapriya and others say it is in
Poornasajjam. I am not clear on that.
RK: You sing "Gananayakam" in
Poornasajjam. Isn't it?
Yes. I learnt it from Venkatarama Iyer.
RK: Some other keertanas,
such as "Gajanana Yutham" in Vegavahini, do not
have the grandeur of Dikshitar
kritis...
Yes. Also, "Gajamba Nayako" in Junjooti, which
even I used to sing. Some composers have
spuriously introduced such songs as Dikshitar
kritis so that they become popular
especially when rendered by leading artists.
AK: You have sung many swathanthara
geetams (freedom movement songs) in
Tamil...
Yes, I have sung a number of freedom movement
songs. Even before the Tamil Isai Sangam was
formed, I popularised Tamil songs composed by
Gopalakrishna Bharathi and Muthuthandavar.
AK: How did you get interested in
Tamil songs?
The works of Papanasam Sivan and Gopalakrishna
Bharathi are among those that inspired me to sing
Tamil songs.
RK: We don't have Gopalakrishna
Bharathi's original compositions. Do we?
I do not know whether or not they were
original compositions, I only learnt those that
already existed. There are books on Bharathi's
songs now. Not in those days. In fact, the
infrastructure was poor - no records, television,
radio or books. We just had to listen to
musicians during concerts and learn. I had to
struggle to get the lyrics of the songs. My elder
brother used to help me. It used to be very
difficult.
RK: From whom did you learn
Gopalakrishna Bharathi's songs and Arunachala
Kavirayar?
Ariyakudi tuned Arunachala kavirayar and I
learnt it from Vaidyanathan. I also learnt
thevaram in Kancheepuram. I sing a lot of
thevaram songs such as "Sirai Arum",
"Adukkanai", "Bhanthathal" and so on.
AK: How did you start singing in
films?
It was Papanasam Sivan who introduced me to
films. Then K.Subramaniam, the well-known
director, also encouraged me to sing in films. I
used to sing only bhakti and patriotic
songs. I never sang romantic songs. Thyaga
Bhoomi was my first fil m. After that I sang
for Naam Iruvar and so on.
RK: What are the concerts you
cherish?
I feel elated to have sung at the
shastiabdapoorthi (60th birth anniversary)
celebrations of many great musicians such as
Swaminatha Pillai, Papanasam Sivan and Chembai
Vaidyanatha Bhaga-vathar and on many such
occasions in T. Brinda's and some ot her
musicians' houses. I am proud that I sang in
Brinda's house before a dream audience
well-versed in Carnatic music. There was Jayamma,
Brinda, Mukta, Balasaraswathi, Periya Kuttiamma,
Chinna Kuttiamma, T.Sankaran, Swami-natha Pillai
and others. I sang "Rama Rama Prana Sakhi"
(padam in Bhairavi) and it was well
appreciated. That was a memorable experiences for
me.
RK: From whom did you learn to sing
padams?
Ariyakudi's student, Vaidyanathan, taught me a
few padams - Sankarabharanam, Atana,
Gaulipanthu, Panthuvarali, Kambodhi, Bhairavi and
so on. Mukta also taught me some padams. I
love singing padams in concerts.
RK: When did you first go to
Mumbai?
In 1934. I gave a number of concerts there. I
used to sing a lot of Tamil songs. Chidambaram
Iyer, a music critic in Bombay, used to write:
"We are all fortunate to be treated by
Pattammal's Tamil songs". Since 1934, I visited
Bombay every year.
AK: How many students do you have
now and how promising are they?
I have seven students now. Two are very
promising. I have students all over the world,
including French, German, American, Canadian and
Japanese people. Akiko, from Japan, was
brilliant. She sings very well. Absolutely
impressive. Carnatic music is popul ar in the
United States. But in Japan it is unfamiliar. She
sang at the Thyagaraja Aaradhana in Tiruvaiyar
near Thanjavur, a few years ago. It was well
received.
RK: When did Palghat Mani Iyer play
on the mridangam for you?
He played for me first in 1967. Till then he
would not play for women. I did not ask him, but
he himself volunteered to play for me at the
Music Academy. Not because he is my son's
father-in-law but because he thought I sang in
the traditional manner.
RK: Initially you gave only solo
concerts. When did your brothers join
you?
Much later. First Nagarajan (now in
Washington) sang with me in concerts. My other
brother, Jayaraman, was first my student and
later started to sing with me.
RK: When you sang with Jayaraman,
did you have to compromise on sruti?
I reduced sruti a bit and he increased
it a little. But it was very difficult for
him.
RK: You have given many concerts
abroad and popularised Carnatic music...
First I went to the U.S. on an invitation from
the Carnatic Music Association of North America.
Then I went to France for the Festival of India.
Since then I have been to many places - Berlin,
Bonn, Geneva, many places in Canada and the U.S.
and so on.
AK: How many concerts on an average
do you give every month?
During my busy days I used to give 20 concerts
every month. But not now.
AK: Who would manage the household
when you were away?
My mother-in-law used to be at home. We had a
cook. For my husband, home was very important.
Even when I had to go off somewhere on tour I had
to buy all the household items before I left.
When I was at home, my husband was particular
that I took care of the house and everyone at
home, even the cows!
AK:What is your advice to
youngsters?
They are very talented. They can sing any
raga. But they should have a sense of proportion.
They should avoid extensive swarams and
raga alapanas for a small keertana.
Proportion is very important. They should
practise a lot and sing for the sake of the art
and not, as I said earlier, for the applause.
They should understand the words of every song
and enjoy singing. They need to desist singing
with great speed. They should not get into the
commercial tangle.
RK: People like you have been an
inspiration for the younger generation. You have
done Carnatic music proud...
Carnatic music is like an ocean. There is so
much to learn. How much ever you learn, there is
always more. One lifetime is not enough even to
fathom the depth of the art. My wish is that I
should die singing. I ask for nothing more.
