Carnatic musician TM Krishna is within the information once more. For a similar cause as in March this 12 months: he was conferred the title of Sangitha Kalanidhi and obtained the MS Subbulakshmi Award for that honour.
The Madras Excessive Court docket is contesting the choice to award him the award in reminiscence of the legendary Carnatic singer. Ms. Subalakshmi’s grandson V Shrinivasan requested the courtroom to cease awarding Krishna the award named after her.
Since 2005, the MS Subbulakshmi Award introduced by The Hindu Press Group is robotically awarded to Sangitha Kalanidhi. Shrinivasan, in his petition filed within the Madras Excessive Court docket, in contrast the awarding of the Krishna Subrakshmi Award to the awarding of the Bhakti Award to an atheist.
Considered one of Krishna’s feedback in regards to the legendary singer was in December 2017, when he mentioned that Ms. Subrakshmi should avoid her ‘Devadasi’ roots to be accepted into the higher caste society accepted.
For the uninitiated, MS Subbulakshmi is the “OG” singer of Sri Venkateshwara Suprabhatam. TM Krishna is a Carnatic singer, writer, Ramon Magsaysay Award winner and activist who spoke out in opposition to caste inequality in Carnatic music.
The mildest of TM Krishna’s criticisms of her was to name Subrakshmi a “Brahminised” girl, far faraway from her “Devadarsi id”. S Gurumurthy, editor of Thuglak, a Tamil political weekly, wrote in a newspaper article that Krishna referred to Subrakshmi as a “divine Barbie” and quoted “a younger musician” as saying, The Carnatic legend is “the best hoax of the 20th century”.
Krishna’s different feedback have been worse as a result of they belittled Subrakshmi’s achievements. At one level, Krishna known as the music legend a “diva” and mentioned males have been “obsessed along with her magnificence” and so they have been “obsessed along with her appears as a lot as she was along with her music.” On one other event, he commented on Subrakshmi’s “Creative Journey via the Kalanidhi Panorama” and mentioned there was a lot to debate in regards to the “detrimental impression of her music”.
Gurumurthy criticized the Music Academy and TM Krishna on the X web site in view of the petition filed by MS’s grandson within the Madras Excessive Court docket. He wrote, “…the music academy has humiliated itself by honoring TM Krishna, who humiliated Carnatic music’s noblest icon MS Subbulakshmi, and obtained the award within the title of MS whom he humiliated . . . ”
In his newspaper article, Gurumurthy mentioned Krishna had belittled the “mild and humble girl” by “quoting her beginning, music and look”.
Shrinivasan talked about the identical in his petition stating that Krishna had made a “vile, abusive and defamatory assault” on Subrakshmi and his “tirade” was geared toward “defaming the nationwide icon ”.
The petition additionally states that Subrakshmi’s will prohibits the institution of any belief, basis or memorial in her title.
That is the irony. Krishna was the vocal critic of the Academy of Music and was awarded the very best award, which had been conferred on MS Subbalakshmi method again in 1968. Sangitha Kalanidhi was the automated winner of the award.
Paradoxically or hypocritically, relying on one’s perspective, Krishna didn’t refuse the Sangeeta Kalanidhi Award from the establishment he has been so crucial of.
Moreover, the faculty has additionally questioned Krishna’s rationale for receiving the award, particularly in gentle of Shrinivasan’s revelations in regards to the school’s present structure. “The present constructing of the Chennai Music Academy was constructed largely with funds raised from the various charity live shows my grandmother gave within the Nineteen Fifties,” he wrote within the newspaper article.
Shrinivasan additionally questioned the faculty’s reasoning within the article. “What is actually mind-boggling is what prompted a protocol-driven establishment just like the Conservatoire to waive its guidelines for somebody who had refused to carry out for it for practically a decade!”
Vedic speaker Dushyanth Sridhar additionally expressed related views in an interview with India At this time. He mentioned: “For the previous eight to 10 years, it was the identical ‘vidhvan’, the award winner, who boycotted the December (music) season… when he had not carried out in any respect… when one had not participated Competitors, what prize will you get?