CPI(M) General Secretary M.A. Baby, a connoisseur of Carnatic music, made a robust case for awarding the Bharat Ratna to percussionists in India, stating that percussion music had reached “Himalayan heights” within the nation.
CPI(M) general secretary M.A. Baby in dialog with Mridangam maestro Umayalpuram Sivaraman at The Hindu workplace on July 13, 2025.
| Photo Credit:
S. Shivaraj
“There is not only Umayalpuram Sivaraman. There were Kishan Maharaj, Alla Rakha, Zakir Hussain, and Samta Prasad. But the highest honour, like the Bharat Ratna, has gone only to Bhimsen Joshi, Bismillah Khan, M.S. Subbulakshmi, Ravi Shankar, and Lata Mangeshkar,” he stated throughout a dialog with Mr. Sivaraman at The Hindu workplace in Chennai on Sunday (July 13, 2025).
Mr. Baby’s friendship with Mr. Sivaraman dates again to a number of a long time. He has organised many live shows and even persuaded Mr. Sivaraman to carry out for Kathak dancer Birju Maharaj. He added that the Music Academy and The Hindu ought to play a job in advocating Bharat Ratna recognition for percussion artists.
“This is the most appropriate platform to raise the question: why has a percussion artist never been given the Bharat Ratna? No one deserves it more than Umayalpuram Sivaraman. He is already a Padma Vibhushan awardee. The music fraternity should raise its voice for the recognition that is long overdue. Why is the government not listening to such a sane voice in the field of music and culture?” he requested.
He additionally recalled an incident through which tabla maestro Kishan Maharaj criticised the Centre for its miserly angle towards conferring awards on musicians.
“Unless we live for 80 or 85 years, no national honour will come to us,” Mr. Baby quoted Kishan Maharaj as saying at an occasion in Delhi attended by Union Ministers.
The CPI(M) chief additional identified inadequacies and partialities within the number of awardees. “Of course, there are genuine North Indian artists, but genuine South Indian artists have not been sufficiently considered,” he stated.
Mr. Sivaraman stated that way back, he had advised to the Sangeet Natak Akademi that it institute an award in reminiscence of the legendary nagaswaram participant T.N. Rajarathinam Pillai.
“There is the Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar. Institute a similar award in the name of Rajarathinam Pillai,” he stated. Mr. Baby supported this demand, saying Rajarathinam Pillai was equal in stature to Bismillah Khan.
Mr. Sivaraman, who has carried out with 4 generations of musicians, stated he was able to accompany the subsequent technology as effectively. He additionally described the precise taking part in kinds required for accompanying nice musicians akin to Mudikondan Venkatrama Iyer, Ariyakudi Ramanuja Iyengar, G.N. Balasubramanian, Madurai Mani Iyer, T.R. Mahalingam, and M.D. Ramanathan.
Speaking with regards to creativity, Mr. Sivaraman cited poet Kalidasa to elucidate his philosophy: “Don’t think everything old is good; don’t criticise everything new as bad. People with wisdom will always select the best from the old and the best from the new. That is my motto,” he stated.
N. Ram, former Editor-in-Chief of The Hindu, who launched the 2, stated the occasion was meant to spotlight and rejoice an uncommon affiliation and a relationship that blossomed into enduring friendship.
He stated that Mr. Baby first encountered Mr. Sivaraman’s music in the course of the Emergency, when he was semi-underground and courted arrest. “His elder brother advised him to visit a temple and listen to concerts. That is how he first discovered the great music of Mr. Sivaraman,” he stated.