Ramanathapuram, July 1, 2013: Renowned Carnatic vocalist M.S.Subbulakshmi hailed him as another T.R.Rajarathinam Pillai after listening to his ‘todi’, but nadaswaram vidwan Pandanallur T.R.D. Anandakumar is still yearning for recognition.

Teaching nadaswaram at District Government Music School here, Anandakumar, a fourth generation artiste, regrets that he could not reach a place of repute despite being blessed by the queen of Carnatic music.

Inheriting the legacy of his father Pandanallur T.R.Dakshinamurthy, he developed interest in the most popular classical instrument at a young age. Many of his juniors have been honoured with prestigious state award ‘Kalaimamani’, but the award still eludes him.

He wrote to the Chief Minister’s Cell in this regard, only to get a reply from actor Sachu, Member-Secretary of Tamil Nadu Iyal Isai Nataka Mandram, taking exception to his directly writing to the CM Cell. A committee would look into his case, she said.

It was almost a year since Ms.Sachu wrote the letter and “it appears that my case has been put in the back burner,” he adds. “Sometimes I feel what more do I want after MS Amma hailed my todi,” he says. After AVM studios released his first cassette of todi in 1994 which received a rave review in The Hindu, he wanted MS Amma to listen to it and give her opinion. “She overwhelmed me by saying it was like listening to Rajarathinam Pillai playing todi,” he recalls.

MS then asked him to play at her grandson’s wedding. Later, he played during a special puja when Sri Chandrasekerendra Saraswati of the Kanchi Mutt visited the house of MS, he says.

He also cherishes the memory of former Chief Minister M.G.Ramachandran granting him a monthly scholarship of Rs.500 for five years from 1980 for winning a inter-collegiate (Devasthanam Music Colleges) music competition. One of the satisfying moments in his career was when he played nadaswaram in the mass marriage conducted by Ms.J.Jayalalithaa in Chidambaram during her first tenure as Chief Minister from 1991 to 1996, he says.

Anandakumar says he was hardly three-and-a-half years old, when his father got him a specially made mini nadaswaram . After formal learning at Devasthanam Music School in Sikkal, he staged his first concert at Sri Murugan Temple at Engan near Tiruvarur during Adi festival when he was only 12 years. Thirumagnanam Nataraja Sundaram had just completed his consort and retired to his rest room, when he began playing. Sundaram woke up from his sleep on hearing the music and came back to the temple to honour him with a garland, he recalls.

He was given the honour of playing nadaswaram during ‘Aintham Thiruvizha’ in Suseendram temple. The temple authorities had stopped nadaswaram concerts after the death of Rajarathinam Pillai and he was given the rare honour to play ‘todi’ after Pillai’s death.

He owes his talents to his father, who used to whip him with a ‘Thirukaval’ whenever he failed to get the right notes, he says.

Mr.Anandakumar’s grandfather Rathinam Pillai and great grandfather Maragatham Pillai had been asthana vidwans in the Mysore Samasthanam.

He did not encourage his son to carry his legacy. His son is doing engineering and daughter MBA. He, however, takes pleasure in teaching students. Lamenting the lack of patronage from the public nowadays, he says he charges about Rs.20,000 per concert and gives 20 per cent of the money to his assistant and thavil vidwan, 15 per cent to thalam artiste and 10 per cent to sudhi petti artiste.

Source: The Hindu, DT. June 30, 2013.