Chethalapathi Mama

Chethalapathi mama passed away .
He was the direct disciple of Papanasam sivan .

After i joined VIT i could never attend to my music well enough .. more so because the place and people and peers were not that kind and most importantly because of my muddled/distracted mind.
After i got a job in tcs i had a lot of free time until my training session at tcs began( in sept .)
It was then that i joined classes with Chethalapathi mama . He was known for his soulful rendition of Viruthams.
Viruthams were mama's forte . He would get totally engrossed in the lyrics and the tune and would sing it with so much soul . Every word seemed to come alive and the substance and feel would hang around /stay etched in your memory .


Mama taught tamil at the Ramakrisha school. He retired and was known (in mami's words) for how he used to beat children and then console them by telling them a funny story and making them laugh until they split their sides .
(she said the children would say " anikki neenga enna adikalai na na inikki ibdee varamaaten ")


Mama's classes would go on for hours and each minute would be an experience for both my dad and me.
Our classes would break for a nice hot cup of (mami' special) malli tea and tiffin( arusee upma,kara kozhakattais et al).Mami is a frail obedient loving woman who made you feel at home and happy .The moment anyone entered their apartment you could feel the warmth and true hospitality in the air around.The rule was that anybody who visited Mama could not leave without having a sip of coffee or tiffin. He would annouce for a hot cup of cofee or malli tea with tiffin. Their hospitality was not put on and did not have an ounce of hesitation.

Mama began my first class by teaching me a virutham on Lord Vinayaka.. the popular
"paalum, theli thenum ,paagum ,paruppum kalandhu unakku naan tharuven
kolam shei thunga karimugatthu thoomaniye
.. nee yenakku sangha tamil moonrum thaa"
in Karaharapriya and the song' ganapathiye' . I remember goose pimples rising to the size of ice capped mountains .

Mama brought out in me ( a hindi /sanskrit student throughout school ) an appreciation for tamil.
He taught me "sivakamasundari" and then would say "indha kutti ponnukku edhukku indha madhree paatu".
He could quote slokams and selected apt viruthmas from that huge database in his mind . he never referred or groped around for the text.He was 67.
Then he would begin singing the virutham stressing words at the right points to bring out their meaning well , adorning the lyric with apt, well suited sangathees and brigas .



The one that i loved most was :

"vedha nool pirayam nooru ,
manidhartham pugavarenum ..
pathiyum urangee pogum ,
midhee pani pasee moopu thunbam ( i cannot remeber the lyrics)
but to the effect of meedhi pani pasee moopu tunbam le waste aidum ...
aadhalaal piravee venden "

"oorile kaani illai uravu martoruvar illai
paaril nin paadhamoolam patrinen...........................paramamoorthy
karolee vannnane kannnane kadaarugindren "

in behag . We ( my dad and i) would fall silent and sniffing after he rendered viruthams .. with tears welled up in our eyes .

hehehee his grandson - ambi thambi avargal ( as coined by mama) would gambol in and out of our sessions . Mama would make him sing witty/funny songs.( i think there was one on a kosu -mosquito) that would have us laughing all over the place.
Also mama had a nickname for everybody ..eg.M.A.Krishnaswamy was called MAC haha .

Mama was adored by all cos he would make you feel comforatble .

He was the king of virutham singing.

I have with me a treasure of tapes and memories .