Strains of devotion

Pattabhiraman, the founding editor of Sruti, the only magazine on Carnatic classical music and dance, died in Chennai last week, aged 70. Pa...

Pattabhiraman, the founding editor of Sruti, the only magazine on Carnatic classical music and dance, died in Chennai last week, aged 70. Pat-ji, as I fondly called him, lived the last quarter of his life in Madras. Having taken a golden handshake from the UNDP, Pat-ji left everything — including his Norwegian wife of many years — and moved lock, stock and boxes of jazz tapes to Madras. By his own admission, he had no interest in Carnatic music as jazz was his passion — but surrounded as he was by an overdose of Carnatic culture (his house was adjacent to the Music Academy), he succumbed to its native charms.

Not satisfied with merely listening to the music, he looked for some literature, and found Thyagaraja coming out of the woodwork but no notation or systems or supporting literature. As is the wont of retired men, he met and socialised with more retired men and, over several cups of coffee, this group of do-gooders decided to do the city of Chennai some good. Thus was born the idea of Sruti, a magazine devoted only to south Indian music, initially. This was in 1983.

Pat-ji worked like an ant and tried to make Sruti all-inclusive. Thus, if arangetrams (debuts) got enthusiastic parents to send photos of their wards, seminars on subjects like Bharatanatyam had scholars from all over India converging in Madras too. Pat’s home became a meeting point. His home was tasteful and comfortable and he was most hospitable. In S. Janaki, his deputy, he found a worthy support system and she helped him bring out issue after issue of Sruti. Over a decade it evolved to become a readable one too and it was then that the word “dance” was added to its masthead. It remained largely black and white, soon won a sizeable readership, and the credit for tight, purposeful editorial content lay with Pattabhi. It was mostly his magazine, even if the team boasted of several names, some mostly for decoration and others as advisors, including roving and raving ones!

Where Sruti made a contribution, and thus a difference, was that here at last was a regular magazine on music and dance. While there are several journals with self-indulgent literature palmed off as readable discourse on the subject, none came anywhere near Srutiand its committed readership, which grew steadily. Pattabhi too left no stone unturned and reached into the pockets of Chettiars and Marwaris alike and asked them to support this cause. To his end, he continued to valiantly raise monies for his twin interests — Sruti and Samudri, the resource centre he desired created — and leaves behind something his team can build upon, provided they have the same vision, passion and pride.