M.S. Subbulakshmi

Madurai Shanmukhavadivu Subbulakshmi, மதுரை ஷண்முகவடிவு சுப்புலக்ஷ்மீ (popularly known as M.S. or M.S.S.)

Singing career

At 17, the child prodigy made her debut at the Madras Music Academy. Since then, she performed countless musical forms in different languages such as Hindi, Bengali, Gujarati, Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu, Sanskrit and Kannada.

Related Topics:
Madras Music Academy - Hindi - Bengali - Gujarati - Tamil - Malayalam - Telugu - Sanskrit - Kannada

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M.S. became famous as an film actress. Her most memorable role was Bhaktha Meera in Meera(1945). The movie had M.S. sing the famous Meera bhajans. Those renditions by M.S. continue to haunt listeners to this day. Following the success of the film she quit films and turned wholly to concert music.

Related Topics:
Meera

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M.S. met Sadhashivam, a freedom fighter, and a faithful follower of Rajaji, in 1936 and in 1940, the two decided to marry. Their marriage (which spanned over 50 years) had been extremely fruitful to both of them. They had no children.

Related Topics:
Rajaji - 1936

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M.S. travelled to London, New York, Canada, the Far East, and other places as India's cultural ambassador. Her concerts at Carnegie Hall, New York; the UN General Assembly on UN day in 1966 (while U Thant was the Secretary General); the Royal Albert Hall, London in 1982; and at the Festival of India in Moscow in 1987 were significant landmarks in her career.

Related Topics:
London - New York - Canada - Far East - Cultural ambassador - Carnegie Hall - UN General Assembly - 1966 - U Thant - Secretary General - Royal Albert Hall - 1982 - Moscow - 1987

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M.S. renders the human art of singing with a spiritual quality and divine grace that enthralls and transfixes listeners, and transports them into a different world, as though cast under a spell. As a first-time foreign listener put it, "M.S. does not sing. She makes divinity manifest."

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Mahatma Gandhi was so charmed of her Meera bhajans that he requested her to sing the song Hari Tum haro Jan ki bheer (Lord, please dispel the fear in mankind). She regretfully declined as she had a cold that day. A prompt reply came back from the mahatma's side saying "I would gladly hear subbulakshmi speak it than hear it sung by others".

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In the late 1950s, as she sang at the Ramakrishna Ashram in Delhi, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first prime minister, was among the audience. At the end of the recital he was so moved that he bowed, and said, "What am I, a mere prime minister before a queen of music."

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