The Anril or Sarus, a bird celebrated in ancient Tamil literature, is known for its attachment to its mate.
Writing about it, A.O. Hume, one of the founders of the Congress and ornithologist, had said: “They certainly pair for life and palpably exhibit grief for the loss of their mate… on two occasions, I have actually known the widowed bird to pine away and die.”
In the world of carnatic music, A.O. Hume's description fits perfectly to Karukurichi M. Arunachalam, who accompanied nagaswaram player Karukurichi P. Arunachalam. He wrapped his instrument in the cloth bag and hung it up on the day Karukurichi P. Arunachalam announced he would never play the nagaswaram again.
“Since we were friends for years, I requested him to play with me. But he made it clear that he would not accompany anyone,” recalled clarinet maestro A.K.C. Natarajan, a contemporary of both Arunachalams.
Arunachalams belonged to a village Karukurichi and were performing separately when they started. “Elders in the village prevailed upon them to play together as they felt that they would make a good pair. Thus began the journey and continued until 1964, the year senior Arunachalam died of cardiac arrest at Tirunelveli,” said A. Krishnan, son of junior Arunachalam and a former bank employee.
“He even refused to play at home. We had some land. He concentrated on agriculture and nurtured a garden of flowers till his death in 1990. He said there was no point in playing after the great artiste had left us,” said Mr Krishnan.
While senior Arunachalam came under the tutelage of T.N. Rajarathinam Pillai for seven years, the junior mastered the instrument by following his friend like a shadow. Both of them learnt from Vilathikulam Swamigal, who stayed at the residence of senior Arunachalam in Kovilpatti.
“They used to practise for hours together. Vadakku Theru Mama, as junior Arunachalam was called by the family members of senior Arunachalam, used to say the practice would stop only when perfection was achieved,” said Pitchai, the son-in-law of senior Arunchalam. Any one who has listened to the recordings of their concerts--normally accompanied in thavil by Natchiyarkoil Raghava Pillai, Needamangalam Shanmugavadivel, Perumpallam Venkatesan, Yazhpanam Dakshinamurthu and Ambasamudram Kulandaivel--would wonder how the pair played the instrument in perfect synchrony to give the effect that there was only one instrument. “I have never come across another nagaswaram player who sacrificed his career to promote the music of his friend. Though there are many nagaswaram players who perform together, there is hardly any meeting of mind which is very important for an accompanying artist,” said A.K.C. Natarajan.
