October 31 is a day to pause for a while and reflect into the past. It is on this day in 1990, the Carnatic music world was robbed of its finest daugher M.L.Vasanthakumari, who formed the female trinity along with late M.S. Subbulakshmi and late D.K. Pattammal. The three together ruled the Carnatic music world for several summers. M.L.V. Rasikar Manram and Hamsadhwani have organized memorial vocal concerts of Saindavi and Subha Ganesan, respectively, here in Chennai on Saturday evening. While the concert of Saindavi will be held at 5.45 p.m. at Dakshinamurthy Hall, P.S. Higher Secondary School, Mylapore, that of Subha Ganesan will be held at 6.15 p.m. at the Youth Hostel in Indira Nagar, Adyar.

A few sentences will not be enough to capture the yeomen services rendered by this legendary singer to the cause of Carnatic music. This single concert on the Christmas morning at Sri Krishna Gana Sabha in 1988 was enough to reveal the great commitment in MLV the artiste and also the fine person in Vasanthakumari. As unsure organizers were keeping their fingers' crossed on MLV making it to the concert, she did come and that too in an ambulence! She was helped on to the stage in a stretcher. And as the curtain went up, a smiling MLV began the concert in right earnest! Much of her last days were spent frequenting hospitals and she was stretched for resources. Yet, when a visitor came seeking financial assistance for her daughter's wedding, MLV stunned the visitor by giving away her own mangalsutra!

As the music world remembers this legendary musician, we, at www.carnaticdarbar.com, offer our pranams to this great artiste.


MLV, Music & Marghazi