REMEMBERING TODAY ON HER 95th ANNIVERSARY THE FUNNY SIDE OF MY MOTHER SMT MANI KRISHNASWAMI’S PERSONALITY
My mother Sangitha Kalanidhi Smt Mani Krishnaswami would have turned 95 years of age today Feb 3 2025 .
She was a musician with a very warm, friendly heart that endeared her to one and all in the Carnatic music fraternity of peers, accompanists, rasikas and aficionados.
She also had a playful, impish and cheerful air about her in personal life which was actually in great contrast to her rather otherwise very stern and martinet on-stage demeanour known to the public and her fan circles. Mani K in fact could laugh and joke and goof about a lot with her fellow artistes …
To give an example … this photograph of my mother and Kanyakumari and Manargudi Eswaran taken in 1979 !
They were off as a troupe on a 3-month concert tour across USA and Canada . They had applied for their US visas at the American Consulate in Chennai. Those were the days of long waiting lines when applicants spent nearly a day to get their visas processed . One cannot even imagine today an undigitized world!
My mother was exhausted while waiting for the visa processing went on and on and on … !
She finally gave up the wait ! She told Kajyakumari and Eswaran that she was going to take a nap in the Consulate waiting lounge. If her behaviour made the Consulate officials cross with her and they refused her a visa … so be it ! She couldn’t care less !
The visas however were granted by end of the day … and the trio performed memorably on their concert tours of North America in 1979 !
Sudarshan Madabushi