Sikkil Neela acting at The Music Academy’s 87th Annual Conference and Concerts in Chennai.
| Photo Credit: Ok.V. SRINIVASAN
Sometime in 1985, Baby was baby-sitting a bit of boy whereas practising one thing that got here naturally to her — music! And the boy responded by singing the tunes that she performed on the flute, earlier than launching into a movie tune that was in style then. She was visibly elated and made an emphatic announcement that this boy shall be taught to sing as an alternative of enjoying the flute, the instrument that the household is popularly related to.
Baby was higher generally known as Sikkil N. Neela, one of the crucial underrated geniuses. And the little boy was me.
Neela ma, for many who didn’t know, was the youthful of the Sikkil Sisters, in all probability the one feminine flautist duo within the nation. Her music was feisty and boisterous whereas her sister Kunjumani’s was somber and structured reflecting their personalities, making a complementing musicality that aligned completely . Mutual love, respect for one another’s music together with a wholesome com-petitive spirit fashioned the crux of the stable bond that enmeshed the 2 sisters in a profession spanning greater than 60 years as award profitable performers.
Sikkil Sisters, Kunjumani and Neela
| Photo Credit:
THANTHONI S
Engaging raga portrayals
Neela’s portrayal of ragas like Natabhairavi, Karaharapriya, Kanada, Kapi, Sankarabharanam, Khamboji, Kedaragowla, Sindhubhairavi and Kalyani had a tinge of journey with a singular aesthetic sensibility. There was custom written throughout, peppered with shocking sangatis and prospers that appeared unimaginable. It could be extra lakshya-based than lakshana, and that was one thing each sisters believed in. Whenever I requested her a few mind-boggling sangati she had performed at a live performance, she would shrug it off saying it simply fell in place (amainjidhu). She believed within the gospel ‘we are mere players on this grand stage of life’.
After a live performance early in my profession, I euphorically introduced to my household that I had sung nicely. She nodded and a number of hours later, gently grounded me saying, “Remember that the success of a concert is not yours alone to celebrate. Anything could have gone wrong today. Everything comes together by the grace of god. Your duty is to work harder and surrender to the music”. Realisation for me couldn’t have been extra hard-hitting and delicate on the similar time.
Having spent many afternoons together with her, I used to be blessed to hear anecdotes about yesteryear stalwarts. One that comes to my thoughts is her recollection of Semmangudi mama’s breathtaking rendition of ‘Mārubalka’, with a flurry of brisk sangatis within the anupallavi. The viewers was enraptured. She would say that an artiste ought to gauge the viewers and know their pulse.
‘Arangisai’ on All India Radio at 8.30 a.m. was the alarm clock for her when she was in Madras. If she missed the announcement to start with, the guessing recreation would start — first, the bāni that every performer belonged to and their musical background. She would intently pay attention to all of the programmes, follow more durable if it was inspirational and proceed to name the performers to convey her unbiased appreciation. A TDK 60-minute cassette could be readily positioned within the tape recorder by her bedside that will document contemporary concepts and ideas.
Favourite composer
Not simply classical compositions, our music appreciation classes additionally included songs by the Colonial Cousins (particularly the spin-off of ‘Parulanu’ by Hariharan), and movie numbers equivalent to ‘Varaha nadhikkarai’ from the film Sangamam, ‘Anjali’ from Duet and ‘Ennavale’ from Kadhalan. Ilaiyaraja was a favorite of each sisters, having carried out in his presence and additionally relishing a few of his creations equivalent to Salangai Oli, Unnal Mudiyum Thambi, and Mounam Sammatham.
Sikkil Gurucharan
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement
As considered one of my revered gurus, Neela ma all the time started notating a tune neatly on a contemporary, crisp white sheet of paper together with her signature hexes and symbols on the high. Later on, she took cost of my songlists for live shows. Matching melakartas was of utmost significance to her and I nonetheless cherish these bits of papers the place she has written lyrics, lists, korvais and tidbits of knowledge together with cute doodles.
Mala Chandrasekhar acting at The Music Academy
| Photo Credit:
K_V_SRINIVASAN
Her daughter, my guru and aunt, Mala Chandrasekar attributes all her success to Neela ma’s endurance in educating and additionally the dear classes she was taught on how to plan a live performance, work as a group and behave as a musician on and off stage. She strongly feels that the Sikkil sisters impressed many ladies, together with herself, to grow to be flautists.
Her enthusiasm to reside life to the fullest, zeal to proceed performing, thirst to earn applause from the viewers greater than awards, fame or cash, and craving to spend time together with her household and grandchildren watching motion pictures with bottles of sentimental drinks and cups of ice lotions. The previous couple of years have been exhausting on her due to well being points. We hope and pray that she is now in a greater place.
