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Articles on Sheik Chinna Moulana

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Sheik Chinna Moulana become a part of the Srirangam atmosphere. It was not surprising, for when you move out after worshipping Sri Ranganatha in the garbha griha, you have to pass the Arjuna Mandapa, where there is the magnificent portrait of Princess Sultani, a devotee from New Delhi. You tarry a moment to receive the prasada of wheat roti and butter and remain lost in the unique integration achieved by bhakti. We felt the same whenever we thought of Sheikh Chinna Moula in his modest home near the Srirangam railway station. His devotion for Lord Ranganatha had become a legend and we always received the prasada of his bhakti- laden music and remained self-lost in the sounds of nagaswaram handled with loving care by him. In earlier days one could pass him as he took his early morning walks on Gandhi Road. Later, it was more often a glance of reverence that was directed at him silently by wayfarers as he sat in the front verandah of his home, statuesque, calm and serene.

Sheikh Chinna Moula hailed from an illustrious music family whose ancestry goes back to Sheikh Nabi Sahib (18th Century) of Sattalur who is said to have received the grace of Goddess Muniamandamma. Sheikh Nabi Sahib's subsequent mastery of the nagaswara instrument brought him to the zamindar of Chilakaluripeta, and gained him a permanent place in the Narasimhaswami temple for music-service. The coming generations took up the study of Sanskrit and Telugu in a big way apart from continuing the tradition of nagaswaram playing that has now come to be known as the Chilakaluripet parampara.

Sheikh Abdulla Sahib of Karavadi village was an eminent student of this parampara and his son Kasim Sahib was to become the father of Sheikh Chinna Moula.

The boyhood admiration for T.N.Rajarathnam Pillai had turned into almost an obsession when Chinna Moula (born in 1924) began to give concerts on his own. He was not satisfied with what he was doing, and was sure that he could do much, much better. If only he could become a direct student of the legendary TNR! But TNR was too busy and so he chose N. K. Duraikannu Pillai of Nachiarkovil and was his student for ten years. Moved deeply by the demise of his eminent student, the aged Duraikannu Pillai said: ``He used to tell me and my brother that he wished to become a student of TNR. And when that could not be, he came to us for we were close to TNR in the nuances of the Thanjavur bani. Certainly Chinna Moula carried forward the TNR approach in a scintillating manner. Can there be another like him?''

One could gauge the pain of Duraikkannu Pillai's loss, for Chinna Moula was an ideal student. The two months he spent with his guru annually were used only for learning. He did not accept any concert engagements, though the teacher had no objection.

He simply said that he wished ``to concentrate on learning more and more from my guru and also serve him as best as I can.'' It was only in 1960 that Chinna Moula gave his first performance in Tamil Nadu. The concert in which he was accompanied by Tattamangalam Ponnuswami gave a flying start to his new career, which brought the original sketches of the Chilakaluripet School as strengthened by the laws and logic of the Thanjavur bani. For more than three decades it was constant travel for him all over the country and also abroad. Honours came pouring in and the pinnacle was reached when he was conferred the title, Sangita Kalanidhi, by the Music Academy for the current year.

Of course, the somewhat daunting graph of success and honour in China Moula's bio-data was not built overnight. It was sheer hard work as a student and even a career artiste, for Chinna Moula was also a teacher who ran his own school to impart training in nagaswaram. There were other sociological hurdles too. But he was gifted with eminent patience and there were spaces of silence deep within his heart that overcame all the external irritations. As he himself said once:

``For the past many generations, my ancestors have served in Hindu temples, though it may not be the case in Tamil Nadu. Those who appeared to be my antagonists soon became my friends and fans and they themselves came up with the offers of engagements. I am confident of one thing. Ranganatha Swamy is behind me always and takes care of me. It is only because of His benign grace and the blessings of my gurus and parents, I am what I am today.''

Chinna Moula's unflinching faith in Lord Ranganatha made him take up permanent residence in the pilgrim city three decades ago. Since religion had never come in the way of his ancestors in adhering to the local atmosphere of spirituality, Chinna Moula felt quite at home in Srirangam and the other residents of the place were immensely proud of him.

Whether it was a retired railway employee or a celebrated cook or the secretary of a music sabha, affection for Chinna Moula was spontaneous for he was a true son of India. As a close family friend says:

``You felt totally at home with him and his ways. In his family they observe Islamic as well as Hindu festivals. His devotion for Ramachandra was palpable. On the day the pattabhishekam episode of Ramanand Sagar's ``Ramayana'' was telecast on the Doordarshan, Chinna Moula celebrated it with puja and special offerings. I dropped in at his residence by chance. He welcomed me with great warmth and after a lovely lunch of prasadas we conversed for a long time about the Ramayana.''

The Ramayana and the Mahabharata were favourites with Chinna Moula. Valmiki's epic has been retold in Telugu hundreds of times and has gone deep into the Telugu psyche, and Chinna Moula had imbibed the best that the epic had to offer.

Strong grounding in the foundations of culture gave a rare depth to Chinna Moula's nagaswaram play. There was restrained energy in his presentation of kalpanaswaras, while the ragas were displayed with poetic vision. But the rendering was always imperturbably yoked to tradition. In spite of playing an instrument where the words cannot be heard, Chinna Moula made us hear the words, for such was his devotion to sahitya. His long-time friend and rasika, Prof. D. N. Krishnamoorthy says:

``For Chinna Moula, the sahitya - the uttered words of the composer - was sacred. So much so, you could almost hear the words when he played the compositions of Muthuswami Dikshitar, Tyagaraja, Papanasam Sivan or Purandaradasa. Because of this strict adherence to the received tradition and self-discipline in rendering the kritis, it was ever a pleasure for the scholar as well as the layman to hear his nagaswaram.''

``In the same manner, he would not go in for unnecessary novelties. He would take up rakti ragas understood by everyone and concentrate on bringing out the endless whorls of swara combinations. The ear could always remain fascinated by the craftsmanship he brought to chisel experiences of beauty from the well-grown trees of the composer. Ah, I had always been transported to the heights of Aananda when listening to him essaying Kedaragowla and Devagandhari.''

One could add any number of ragas which gained the Chinna Moula touch. The Kalyani he played at Delhi to mark the inauguration of the Doordarshan Kendra. Or Karaharapriya. Or Poorvikalyani. The kritis, of course, were innumerable. Memory thrills at his rendition of ``Amba Neeladakshi'' in Nilambari and ``Ananda Natana'' in Kedaram, both composed by Muthuswami Dikshitar. In his hands the nagaswaram did not lose its premier position as the grand instrument that can overcome the noises of a wedding or a deity's festival procession; nor did the thavil accompanists like Valangaiman Shanmugasundaram Pillai give up their rhythmic blow- ups. But there was a magical calm in the air when Chinna Moula was there for he exuded a perfect poise that seemed to still the very air into prayerful listening. The result was unforgettable. The full power of the nagaswaram and thavil was unleashed but Chinna Moula's personality supervened and tinted everything with a regal majesty so that there were no broken passages and harsh broadsides to shatter our psyche. It was sheer beauty, a joy to remember for all one's lifetime.

Honours came rushing towards him but nothing could disturb his equipoise which made him say with a quiet dignity that it was Lord Ranganatha's blessings that had planned his career including the title Sangita Kalandhi: ``I honestly believe that this honour has come my way because of the grace of the Almighty, the blessing of my parents, gurus and elders and the good wishes of my friends and rasikas.''

But we followed the awards avidly as each one was announced. Among them were the Padmasri, Kalaimamani, Nagaswara Kalanidhi, Kala Prapoorna, Isai Perarignar and Mysore T. Chowdiah Memorial Award. He was also the Asthana Vidwan of Sarada Peetham of Sringeri. There were moments of pride when we scanned the newspapers to learn that he was participating in the Festival of India in the Soviet Union or the Festival of India in Germany or the SAARC festival. We heard that he had gone to the United States or Sri Lanka or France. And we were always happy.

Of late, indifferent health had restricted his movements but we could see him occasionally and gain much by his mere presence. I remember how he sat with rapt attention through a lecture demonstration of the Roopaka Talam by the eminent musicologist V. P. K. Sundaram six months ago at the Music Circle of Srirangam. And despite physical discomfort, he exuded unperturbable calm when lovers of music held a festive meeting to celebrate his becoming the Sangita Kalanidhi at the Rasika Ranjana Sabha, Tiruchi.

It is good that in 1982, he founded and nurtured the Sarada Nagaswara Sangeeta Asramam in Srirangam giving us several promising nagaswaram players of the younger generation. Among them Sheikh Abdulla, his own grandsons Babu, Pedda Kasim and Chinna Kasim, Mahaboob Subani and Kalishabi Mahaboob readily come to mind. Recapitulating this great life, one's thoughts go back first to the great Princess Sultani, an intense devotee of Ranganatha.

Getting into a meditative mood on Chinna Moula's life and ministry one can but conclude referring to another great artiste, of our times, a devotee of Mother Sarada, Ustad Allauddin Khan of Maihar. Salutations to these great integrators of mankind, through devotion, spirituality and music!

It is very sad that in June of 1999, Sheik Chinna Moulana died. Let his soul be with us for years to come.