A true devotee of music

Sheikh Chinna Moula, 1924-1999.

N. PATTABHI RAMAN

NAGASWARA vidwan Sheikh Chinna Moula passed away in Tiruchi (Tamil Nadu), his adopted home town, on April 13. He would have turned 75 on May 12.

We do not know what his thoughts were before his final surrender to his beloved Ranganatha of Srirangam, but if he had looked back on his life and career, he was likely to have felt deep satisfaction. For he had achieved much both as a musician and as a man. It was only on January 1 this year that he was crowned Sangeeta Kalanidhi by the Music Academy of Chennai - and, although he had received many awards and titles earlier, this was the pinnacle for him. He must have felt proud of his achievements but there is no doubt that at the same time he offered his gratitude to God.

This closeness to God had little to do with the name by which he came to be known. The public corrupted his name from Moula to Moulana, but he was no moulvi. He was closer to being a sufi, though he was not that either. He chose to worship Rama and Ranganatha in addition to Rahim, but there was no contradiction in this. His true religion was music.

COURTESY: HMV

This catholicity of outlook was as much his heritage as was the music that flowed from the nagaswara. His ancestors, who hailed from Andhra Pradesh, were nagaswara vidwans, who belonged to the Chilakaluripeta school, which took shape in the second half of the 18th century. This school consisted exclusively of Muslim pipers, although many Hindus were also trained in it.

Remarkably, the services of many members of this clan were enlisted to provide "auspicious" music at Hindu temples even as shehnai players - such as Bismillah Khan - were co-opted by temples in North India.

Chinna Moula - chinna in this case meant younger, as against pedda or the elder - might have remained a provincial musician had he not learnt to combine the Thanjavur style of music with that of his native school; in the event, he was accepted as a nagaswara vidwan of great merit in Tamil country. His hero was Nagaswara Chakravarti T.N. Rajarathnam Pillai, whose birth centenary was celebrated two months ago. There was poignancy when Chinna Moula, delivering his presidential address at the Music Academy's annual festival last December, said that he would place the Sangeeta Kalanidhi title at the "feet" of the late Rajarathnam Pillai before accepting it; poignancy because the Academy had not deemed it fit to honour Rajarathnam with the title, apparently because he had thumbed his nose at the Establishment.

The Academy chose to honour Chinna Moula for a combination of reasons. First, no nagaswara vidwan had been given the title for 37 years. Secondly, Chinna Moula was an outstanding exponent of the nagaswara, a maestro no less, with a large following. Thirdly, he hailed from Telugu country and it would be in keeping with the image of the Music Academy as an all-India organisation to go beyond the boundaries of Tamil land to honour an 'outsider', although Chinna Moula had lived in Srirangam, near Tiruchi, for many years and acquired the status of an honorary Tamil. Finally, as the nation celebrated the 50th anniversary of Independence, it was fitting to honour a man who symbolised not only linguistic but religious harmony.

There was allround satisfaction over the Academy's choice. No one questioned Chinna Moula's musical stature. Everyone admired his catholicity of outlook. There was also the fact that Sheikh Saheb had not sought the honour; it had come to him unsolicited. In fact, he had been recommended for the honour by someone who did not know him personally.

When the maestro was felicitated by his admirers at a function held in Tiruchi, he sat through the proceedings like a smiling Buddha, happy but unaffected, without a trace of excessive pride. In his reply, he said matter-of-factly that he owed his success to Ranganatha's grace. He was, one could see, speaking from the heart. Also striking was the fact that numerous musicians, belonging to the peria melam (nagaswara-tavil) fraternity and hailing from many distant places, came onto the stage and offered their felicitations and each placed a shawl around his shoulders or a garland around his neck. It was a genuine expression of respect and affection. A close friend of the maestro explained that Sheikh Saheb was merely reaping the harvest of a lifetime of showing affection and respect to fellow musicians. In a world marked by jealousy and hypocrisy, this marked the maestro out as a rare human being. Which he was.

N. Pattabhi Raman is the Editor-in-chief of Sruti.