M.L. Vasanthakumari (1940 - 1990)

Krishnanand who passed away on 11 May was well-known among the lovers of Hindustani music in Chennai. He not only taught many eager aspirants but also organised the Tansen music festival in Chennai where one got an opportunity to listen to many performers, professionals as well as his disciples.

Unassuming and modest, he spent hours in teaching the music of the Kirana gharana. He was himself a good vocalist but never bothered to propagate his versatility. His humility was evident in his readiness to provide tabla accompaniment or even to keep the tambura sruti for his disciple in a concert. He walked to the homes of many of his disciples, to transform a student into a performing artist of Hindustani music.

Admirers and disciples of M.D. Ramanathan observed his 19th death anniversary on 27 April at the Kalikotta Palace in Tripunithura in Kerala. The programmes commenced at 9.30 am with the lighting of the kuthuvilakku by Palghat T.R. Rajamani, a Chartered Engineer, mridanga vidwan and son of Palghat Mani Iyer. A book titled M.D. Ramanathan, An Unique Octave in Music (in Malayalam) on the life and music of MDR, edited by Dr. Madhu Vasudevan, was released on the occasion by T.K. Sethuraman, disciple of MDR, who was specially invited from Chennai by the organisers. It has been published by D.C. Books, Kottayam. Prof. Mavelikkara Prabhakara Varma, P. Ravikumar, Ravi of D.C. Books and Madhu Vasudevan spoke on the occasion. T.K. Sethuraman presented a lecdem highlighting his personal experiences with MDR. The popular Malayalam daily, Deshabhimani, carried an interview with Sethuraman on the same subject.