T.M.Krishna

 

There is no denying that TMK is an extremely good singer. It is not correct to demand that a good musician should be honoured whatever be their foibles and chicanery. 

Many great musicians have been ignored for Sangita Kalanidhi including giants like Flute Mahalingam, MDR, Ramnad Krishnan and Rajaratnam Pillai. Good musicians are a vast community and always present an ample choice for awards.

Some were deliberately overlooked because of their unbecoming utterances like Veena Balachander who belittled Semmangudi and Bala Muralikrishna.

Thus a tradition of excellence and geniality dictated the decision on awards of Sangita Kalanidhi.

TMK belittled (I am using an euphemistic term) MS Amma and many other musicians. He condemned what he called Sabha culture and in 2015 decided to boycott Sabhas including the Music Academy. The boycott of MA lasted till last year. This year, thanks to the ascendancy of N.Murali in the MA power equation, TMK is sought to be rehabilitated with an award and with the privilege of presiding over the December conference.

 You would have noticed that Ranjani and Gayatri did not oppose the award being given to TMK but could not bear the insult of an insulting musician presiding over their Kutcheri. Veena Balachander's misdemeanor was a trifle in comparison to TMK's. But, Balachander did not have his buddy and benefactor as MA President then.

Kindly read RaGa's tweet and Murali's off course response and listen to Dushyant Sridhar's interview to Barkha Dutt. You will be convinced that the award is atrocious.

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Krishna Leela

 

The proposed award of Sangita Kalanidhi title to T.M.Krishna and his consequent presidency of the music conference in December, 2024 has become very controversial, and deservedly so.

T.M.Krishna has been saying that Carnatic music is in the vice-like grip of Brahmins and as such is not inclusive. He has held the Music Academy, Chennai also responsible for this. As if doing amends for this ignoble collusion, the Music Academy has decided to honour TMK. (Of course, there is no denying the musical genius of TMK. His music deserves the award and much more.)

Being a fan of TMK for his magnificent music, I go by TMK logic. I suspect that the Iyengar President (N.Murali) of the Music Academy has chosen to honour an Iyengar musician . (In addition to being of the same caste, both of them possess the names of Krishna.) The incestuous relationship between the two goes further in that TMK is a contributor to The Hindu wherein he is given unrestricted freedom to propagate his views on all issues. (Trichur brothers have sought equal access to The Hindu.)

By accepting the award, the musician is creating one more illustration of the non-inclusive nature of the Music Academy. So far, TMK has not declined the award. He would not decline because the duo seem to have conspired to engineer a coup to herald the return of the musician to the Academy.

TMK has boycotted the Music Academy for the past eight years because of its "non-inclusive" nature . Many musicians feel that rewarding his boycott with an award that includes Presidentship of the Conference is an insult to them. TMK has spoken insultingly on various musicians who in his opinion exhibited Brahmin qualities as defined by him. The revered M.S.Subbulakshmi also attracts his ire and ridicule because though a non-Brahmin, she was fair-skinned and therefore, in TMK's opinion, she was accepted by the Brahmin group. What a lofty thought!

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