Tributes to a Great Musician

(Preface: A Malayalam article written by me titled 'Sangeetha Sagarame Sthuthi', was recently published in the annual edition of E-Mashi, the magazine of Malayalam bloggers.  It was on the life of the legendary musician Sri. V Dakshinamoorthy.  When I posted an image of the same on my face-book page, a large number of my friends wrote complimentary comments.  But I realised that most of my friends in facebook do not know Malayalam.  So, I decided to write a translation here.  However, this is not a verbatim translation)

With the passing away of Sri. V Dakshina Moorthy, an era of classical music in the Malayalam film world has come to an end.  Dakshina Moorthy, popularly known as 'Swamy' could be described as the 'mobile encyclopedia' of carnatic music.  It is wrong to confine him to a mere film music director; he was much above.  He had profound knowledge of even the finer aspects and nuances of carnatic music.  Most of his singers say in one voice that his compositions were complete in all aspects of the 'raga' on which they were based.  They were not just film songs; but almost like a small 'keerthanam' (kriti).  

Born in 1919 to Venkiteswara Aiyer and Parvathi Ammal at Alappuzha in Kerala, Swamy completed his schooling at Thiruvananthapuram.  His mother was his first 'guru' (teacher).  She was a good singer and spotted the talent in Swamy at a very young age.  She taught him many popular compositions in carnatic music.  At the tender age of six, Swamy could sing close to 20 compositions, including some of the famous ones by Saint Thyagaraja.  Recollecting his schooldays, Swamy has written that he found no interest in subjects like history, mathematics, geography etc. and he was not a good student.  Since he did not know the answer to any question in the final examination of 10th standard, he wrote two carnatic music compositions in the answer paper!  The result was as expected; he failed and that was the end of his formal education.  After this, he started learning music from Sri. Venkitachalam Potty at Thiruvananthapuram.  Potty was a loving teacher who taught Swamy with great interest and encouraged him to learn new things.  

Later, when Swamy was staying at Alappuzha, a friend took him for a concert to Vaikkom.  (Vaikkom is a small town in the Kottayam district of Kerala.  It is famous for an ancient and very popular temple of Lord Shiva.  Here the Lord is addressed as 'Vaikkathappan'.)  This was his fist visit to Vaikkom.  He started teaching music to few children there.  During this time, a friend suggested that Swamy should start praying and singing regularly at the Vaikkom temple starting with 'Nirmalya Darshanam' early in the morning.  (Nirmalya Pooja is the first pooja offered to the deity in a temple, which is usually held before the sun rise).  Swamy was convinced of the benefits of doing this and started it the very next day.  Swamy continued this for the next three and a half years, every day, without a single day's break! This was probably the golden period in his life, when he was completely immersed in devotion to Vaikkathappan and dedicated his music to the Lord.  It is said that every evening his friends from the temple would surround him to listen to his music.  He would sing till late in the night, and after this, when his friends go to sleep, he would take bath and proceed to the temple to have 'Nirmalya Darshanam'.  There were days on which Swamy sang continuously for 18 hours!  Looking at his staunch devotion, many considered him the incarnation of Lord Vaikkathappan. 

Swamy moved to Chennai in 1942 for a programme in All India Radio.  His career in Malayalam films started in 1948 by composing music to the songs of the movie 'Nalla Thanka' produced by Kunjacko.  This was the beginning of a career spanning six long decades.  The combination of Dakshina Moorthy (music), Sreekumaran Thampi (lyrics) and the gifted singer Yesudas's voice gave birth to some of the ever lasting melodies in Malayalam movies.  He composed music for more than 800 songs in close to 125 movies.  Swamy is probably the only music director, who could make singers from three generations to sing for him.  He has given music to songs sung by Augustine Joseph (Yesudas's father), Yesudas, as well as Vijay (Yesudas's son).  He was not in favour of the modern system of setting the tune first and then writing the lyrics.  He strongly believed that every good poetry contained some musical characteristics and once, the lyrics were in his hands, the appropriate tunes just emerged from within.  He was teacher to many legendary figures like Yesudas, Ilayaraaja, P Susheela, P Leela etc.  

Simplicity was the mark of this great man.  He never took credit for any of his achievements. He kept saying that 'I don't know anything, all that I have is Vaikkathappan's blessings'.  He believed that it was Lord Vaikkathappan who sat within his mind and suggested the appropriate music for each song.  This simplicity, ardent devotion and boundless love to everyone kept him happy and healthy till the last minute.  On 2nd August 2013, an 'Ekadashi' evening, he passed away at the age of 93, without being bedridden even for a single day.  

“The tide recedes, but leaves behind bright seashells on the sand;

The sun goes down, but gentle warmth still lingers on the land;

The music stops, and yet, it echoes on in sweet refrains;

For every joy that passes, something beautiful remains”

How true.  Though Swamy is not with us, his music continues to take us to the higher planes of devotion and happiness.  Salutations to the memories of a great soul.