Peering through past issues of Music Season Souvenirs, one finds musicians endorsing brands, commercials for movies and restaurants, flashy illustrations and studio portraits.
The concept of the December Music Season Souvenir was probably pioneered by prominent lawyer KV Krishnaswamy Iyer, who published it every year after taking over as the President of the Academy of Music in 1935. Thanks to these publications, the Academy of Music has a constant record of annual festivals. The Indian Fine Arts Society, which came into existence in 1932, also followed suit, but sadly, the gathering has not maintained its archives, and few of its mementos have survived. Tamil Christian Sangam has a complete set, beginning with the first annual festival held in 1943.
Today’s mementos are pathetic enough – endless pages of ‘with best acclaim’, a few articles, then lists of songs for concerts of the year, shared by artists who care to do just that. But until at least the 1960s, these well-produced publications were a record of the time. They also scored high in aesthetics with illustrations, half-tone block images, and black-and-white photographs. Despite the poor quality paper and state-of-the-art printing technology, his materials were always interesting.
If Musiri Subramaniam Iyer endorsed the efficacy of Keshavardhini Hair Oil for the women of his family in an ad, Chittoor Subramaniam Pillai paid a touching tribute to a doctor whose patented drug cured him of tonsillitis. But all this is nothing in comparison to the paean that TRK Rao of Car Street, Triplicane has composed in praise of Dr. Naru, a sexologist at Naru Hospital, 24, Broadway, Madras. Just a few lines will give you a broad idea – “I was a constant nuisance to my wife, who could not bear to see me as her husband. The uplift brought by you today compels my same wife to kiss the dust under my feet as if through magic. The new strength that your treatment has given…” Perhaps Mr. and Mrs. Rao lived happily ever after.
MS, GNB and Gramaphone
Gramophone ads are next – the top-line names are MS Subbulakshmi (of course), MM Dandapani Desigar, NC Vasanthakokilam, Chembai and GNB. Movie advertisements are also interesting. The Sangeet Akademi, it would seem, was not so encouraging for him, but the Indian Fine Arts Society featured him on its cover as well. The 1944 number features Sushila Rani as Draupadi in a ragged key scene. That was for Hans Pictures’ Draupadi, directed by Rani’s husband Babu Rao Patel, known as the editor of Film India. You wonder what kind of reviews he would have written for his film, considering he trounced everyone else.
Tamil Isai Sangam was more discreet, devoting several internal pages to only the latest film releases. A cursory glance reveals the number of hits announced in theatres, but those numbers have never been higher. what happened, for example, to Bhakt Sabri Starring Vasanthakokilam? or Nakirar Will be shooting with Dandapani Desigar in the lead role? and his was Shiv Yogi ever released? The listed theaters are yet another set of lost sights – Odeon, New Elphinstone, Plaza, Globe, Princess…
Few ads give you an idea of how Corporate India, or at least the South Indian version of it, evolved. You see Rane Madras selling automobiles and typewriters, TVS mainly into vehicles and parts, and later the Murugappa Group, Ajax, becoming the first corporate entity to sell steel almirahs. Many of the others featured then have disappeared today – Binny, Best & Company, Gordon Woodroffe and Beardsell, leaving Parry as the sole survivor. So are the mills whose advertisements fill mementos – Pankaja, Vasantha (managing agent RK Shanmukham Chetty, later the Diwan of Cochin, independent India’s first finance minister and president of the Tamil Christian Sangam) and Madura.
The souvenirs of the Tamil Christian Sangam seem to specialize in lungi advertisements, only they were all advertised Palaikat, A word whose origin is now lost in time. Coffee then, like now, was a hot favorite. Following a complete list of famous restaurants – Everest Hotel, Shri Ram Bhawan (‘Try our refreshment counter at Beach Station’), Ramakrishna Lunch Home, Das Prakash and Woodlands. And then there’s the smell – all brands are advertised as rich in pungency, smell, and quality. Sniffing was something the musicians themselves were known for – even female artists of an earlier era were accustomed to it. If the smell has disappeared, keep steel trunks and iron safes. Who uses them now? However, the craze for jewelry continues – you find many advertisements with names like Vkumsee, TR Joshi and Vumidi Ramaiah Chetty Gurusamy Chetty being replaced by others.
Taking a closer look at some illustrations, S. The signatures of Rajam, ‘Oviyar’ Sama and Maniyam are revealed. All the famous names, along with Rajam, are spread across many fields including music. Going to the studio for formal portraits was in vogue at the time, and musicians were no exception. GK Welle regularly features his photographs of music personalities. MS Subbulakshmi and NC Vasanthakokilam were probably the most frequently published. And then there are the pictures of the cast and chief guests – all men in turbans, suits and boots, with walking sticks. It seems that women like to be photographed in profiles. Names are another matter entirely – everyone has at least three. My favorite hardware dealer is Chinni Yelamantha Chetty Anjaneyulu Chetty – try to say it quickly. And the titles – Mahakathak Kantirva Abhinav Bharatacharya Agra Mangudi’s name Brahmashree Chidambara Bhagavatar was as wide as in size. We live in Timur’s time.
Through all this, you have eternal – immortal ragas and compositions. You suddenly learn that the bicentenary of Shyama Shastri’s death is just five years away. It is astonishing that he, his contemporaries, and the great names before and after him have remained polestars through all this transformation. Truly, everything else is fleeting.
Historians from Chennai write on music and culture.
,