In a village of silence, her violin continues to sing for 80 years

The eerie silence of the narrow Madathu Theru (street) in Mathirimangalam, in the Mayiladuthurai district, is suddenly broken by the delicate strains of a violin. Ninety-one-year-old Meenakshi Subramanian is fine-tuning her instrument. She briefly launches into an alapana in Kedaram or Shankarabharanam or Khamas or Begada or Pantuvarali, before playing her favourite keerthanas.

Born in 1934, Meenakshi Subramanian is probably one of the last musicians of her generation from the composite Thanjavur district to have remained confined to her village — more precisely, within the four walls of her home — whilst others migrated to Chennai. She too might have carved out a space for herself and the Mayavaram Govindaraja Pillai style of violin playing in the world of Carnatic music in Chennai. However, that opportunity was denied to her as polio afflicted her legs at the age of four.

.“I started learning the violin from Kuttalam Vaithilingam Pillai, a student of Mayavaram Govindaraja Pillai, at the age of ten. The lessons continued for five years. Subsequently, I learnt a great deal from listening to musicians such as G.N. Balasubramanian, M.S. Subbulakshmi, D.K. Pattammal, Lalgudi Jayaraman, and Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavathar,” says Ms Subramanian, whose excellent hearing faculties, even at this age, still allow her to listen to music with clarity.

Her father, K. Ramachandra Iyer, was a schoolteacher who arranged home tuition for her up to the eighth standard. A music lover, he also decided to teach his daughter the violin. Vaithilingam Pillai regularly visited their spacious, old Thanjavur-style house — still preserved by her family — to give her lessons. On the wall of the house hangs a photograph of a curious four-year-old Meenakshi. The musical atmosphere in her home — as her aunts and four sisters would sing — worked in her favour, and she quickly picked up the violin. Music seems to have sustained her throughout her life.

However, she rarely had the opportunity to attend live concerts or perform. “I attended only two concerts — one by D.K. Pattammal and another by Chembai — organised in connection with the annual celebrations at the school where my father worked,” she said.

She was married to Subramanian, who moved to Mathirimangalam to be with her. “He was also interested in music because he was a relative of the vocalist and musicologist Dr. S. Ramanathan,” she said.

She went on to play a few of her late husband’s favourite songs, which included Brocheva in Khamas, Sakalakalavaniye in Kedaram, Ennaga Rama Bhajana in Pantuvarali, and Bharathiyar’s Chinnanchiru Kiliye. She still keeps the violin with which she first started playing — it is now 80 years old.

“Once, during a bout of rain, it was damaged, and my brother repaired it in Chennai. She used to play a great deal — now hardly an hour a day because of her age,” said M.S. Ganesan, her son. He added that his elder brother, Jaganmohan, now living in Chennai, is well-versed in the nuances of Carnatic music.

“She regularly watches Carnatic music programmes on Sankara TV. She wakes up very early in the morning and starts watching. She is very sharp and quickly learns new keerthanas,” said Sankarai, her daughter-in-law.