The importance of being pious

MS' life also led to observe the turning points in the history of Carnatic musicians, composers and performers of which she was one of the leading figures of her tim

Some 30 years ago a city magazine I worked for had published a cover story on M S Subbulakshmi. In the 1990s Subbulakshmi was Chennai’s living saint. She was an embodiment of south Indian high art and philanthropy and emanated dignity and piety. Above all, she was a woman blessed with an extraordinary gift of music.
 
While Subbulakshmi was a consummate singer, with a huge repertoire learnt from many renowned masters, the songs that had made her hugely popular on the concert circuit and over the airwaves and TV and in popular imagination were not so much to share