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Flute Mali – A trail-blazer
By T.M. Sivaraman |
T.R. Mahalingam (16-11-1926
to 31-05-1986), popularly known as Mali,
was and continues to be the "God of celestial
flute", whose playing was the epitome of all
divine music as embodied by Lord Krishna himself.
There never was and it is highly improbable that
there ever will be another flautist to equal him
in sheer brilliance, virtuosity, creativity and
evocative genius, capable of transporting listeners
to an out-of-the-world experience, when he was in
his element.
My own association with the legend dates back to
my early childhood days in 1947 at Lakshmipuram
in Madras (now Chennai), when our family landed
as refugees of partition from Karachi, where I was
born. My father left my mother and my four siblings
with my maternal grandmother's family in Madras
and went in search of livelihood to Bombay.
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My uncle Venkatraman - along with
N.Ramani, his friend and colleague - was at that
time a disciple of Mali. While Ramani later on became
a torch-bearer of Mali's school of innovative flute
and went on to become Dr.Ramani, my uncle Venkatraman
did not make a career of flute. Mali was not only
his Guru, but also his close friend and mentor and
used to visit our home at Lakshmipuram frequently
and spend hours discussing Carnatic music, sports
and various other topics. Mali was an interesting
conversationalist. Though not formally educated,
he was brilliant in English. He could talk authoritatively
on any subject in addition to music. Another little
known fact about Mali was that he was a great carrom
player and frequently used to play carrom at our
home. He was a master of many brilliant double strike
ideas in carrom, where he used to pocket coins from
almost impossible-looking situations. He used to
beat all of us hollow at the game, often starting
the first strike and going on to finish the game
at one go, without allowing his opponents any chance
to strike. Such was his mastery at the game! Mali's
mastery at Carrom was only a reflection of his inborn
genius, capable of quickly grasping anything he
chose to concentrate on. The apex of his genius
talent was his celestial flute playing.
Mali never had formal training in music. His mother
taught him the rudiments of Carnatic music. And,
he took a liking to flute-playing in his childhood,
when he heard great flute vidwans of those days,
Palladam Sanjiva Rao and his Guru Saraba Shastry.
He started playing on his own and became very proficient.
His parents wanted him to be trained by Palladam
Sanjiva Rao and took him to his home. But when Sanjiva
Rao asked Mali to play, and heard his celestial
notes, he told him, "I have nothing to teach
you. You are a born genius. Go back. Just practice
intensely, hear all great masters of music, and
use your own imagination, you will become the greatest
flautist of all time."
Sanjiva Rao's words proved to be prophetic and soon
Mali rose to become a darling of rasikas, who thronged
his concerts to be enthralled and held in captive
by his sheer genius. An eccentric genius, Mali often
played truant at a number of concerts, choosing
to ditch his numerous exasperated fans, eagerly
waiting for him to arrive at the sabha and perform
only to return home with disappointments. When a
close friend and disciple of Mali asked him why
he ditched his fans at various concerts, Mali, in
his typical nonchalant style, replied, ``for me,
every music concert is an act of giving birth to
my creativity. I suffer labour pains and birth pangs
on every concert day.I set very high personal standards.
On the days, when my creativity runs dry, I am afraid
of not being able to meet the high personal standards
I set for myself, and thus, I would rather play
truant at those concerts than perform with mediocrity,
bereft of creativity."
This showed that Mali was a true perfectionist at
his craft. He was grossly misunderstood by many
of his critics. They dubbed him arrogant, egoistic
and what not, little realising that he really worshipped
music in all its divinity and chose not to compromise
on absolutely supreme standards he set himself.
On the days when his creativity was at its zenith,
he used to play celestial music, often plucking
unheard of and impossible notes, seemingly out of
thin air, sending his audience into rapturous delights
and transporting them to an emotionally charged
musical bliss never heard before.
Here I must recall my nostalgic memories of a divine
concert that Mali gave at my eldest uncle Late Ramasubramaniam's
marriage reception, way back in the 1950's. He played
a scintillating Bhairavi and sent all of us into
divine raptures. Many years later, my uncle Venkataraman,
complemented Mali for playing a memorable Bhairavi
at yet another concert. However, my uncle inadvertently
said, ``"Mali sir, neenga en anna kalyanathil
vasicha adhey Bhairaviyai, innikkku marubadiyum
ketten. Romba magizhchi" Mali stared at him
with a disdainful look and said, "adhey Bhairaviya?",
implying that his creativity was such that no two
Bhairavis he played could be the same, being the
genius he was, and that he was capable of rendering
the same raga with two entirely different range
of creative ideas in two different concerts.
It is 22 years since the eccentric genius and legend
passed away, but his immortal and trail-blazing
music will continue to transport forever countless
music rasikas to a celestial world of divine bliss.
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