TOTALLY COMPATIBLE - THE BOMBAY SISTERS

Bombay Sisters - the Carnatic vocalist duo started their career in 1963, and have since been progressing steadily by giving performances in almost all the sabhas in the country, in music festivals, in All India Radio’s national programmes, in Doordarshan and other private satellite channels. Also the sisters are classified as ‘top grade’ artists by the All India Radio.' They have the distinction of having the maximum number of audio cassettes recorded for various companies on a variety of themes in Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Sanskrit and Kannada. The National Sangeet Natak Academy, New Delhi, invited them to research and record traditional and folk marriage songs for their archives, which were later recorded in audio cassettes for the benefit of Tamil scholars and music lovers.

We sit down for a tête-à-tête with the warm and homely C Saroja and C Lalitha.

We were born in Trissur, Kerala, but brought up in Bombay. We first learnt from our elder sister and then later went to Sri H A S Mani, also known as Chellamani Bhagavathar. My father was an active member in many sabhas. He used to take us to ‘kutcheris’ (concerts) of top artistes like M S Subbulakshmi, D K Pattamal, M L Vasantha kumari, who became our main source of inspiration.

C Saroja: We had applied for the All India Scholarship in music. I got the scholarship and had to shift to Chennai for my advanced studies. It was a two year course at the Government Music College at Chennai. Mussiri Subramania Iyer was the principal at that time. We were very fortunate to have learnt under him. A year later, Lalitha also joined me at the college. Sri Subramania Iyer suggested that since we were learning under a scholarship, we should undertake further training in music and asked us to go to Sri Govinda Rao.

He was a great motivation for us. We owe a lot to him for our successful music career. He was extremely involved and sincere at teaching. He would make us practice over and over again. He was willing to teach us anything that we asked him to teach. He was very flexible and affectionate. He would teach us subtle nuances in a song which would make the rendering more appealing and pleasing.

Saroja: We have perfect understanding between us. Both of us sing ragas, which we personally prefer alternately. For example, I like to sing ragas such as Todi, Shankarabharanam and Begad, while Lalitha likes to sing lighter ragas such as Kalyani, Shanmukhapriya and Simhendramadhyamam. So we balance it out equally.

What has been your most memorable moment?

Our most memorable moment was sometime in 1962-1963, at a Sai Baba Temple kutcheri. We were allotted the junior slot for a concert. Madurai Mani Iyer was to sing in the senior slot. He was not feeling too well, so he told the organisers to ask us to sing in his slot. That unexpected chance gave a real boost to our career.

There are plenty of new sabhas cropping up in various localities catering to the people staying in and around that locality, providing a lot of opportunities for young and upcoming artistes. The artistes get plenty of exposure through the media, thus attaining quick fame and fortune. Some of them sing very well. They are very talented. When we were young, the only way to let people know that we sing was through giving kutcheris. We could never imagine the kind of exposure that youngsters of today get.

Awards motivate the artiste to do better. But these days certain awards are shrouded in controversy. That we feel is wrong. They should have credibility. In our times the thought of receiving awards never entered our mind. We struggled  a lot to come up.

Having struggled a lot in our early years both of us took a vow that if we are successful in the music field then we must contribute to the cause of promoting deserving young talent from our earnings. Our parents also wished this and so we decided to start a trust, named after our parents called the Mukthambaram Trust. The aim of this trust is to foster, nourish and give proper exposure to young artistes in the field of carnatic music, thus enabling the youth to carry forward the torch of our traditional culture into the 20^th century. We are indeed proud to say that most of the youngsters, who are establishing themselves in the field, have in their initial stage had the support of our trust. This sponsorship is extended to all worthy organisations all over the country.

Lalitha: Our husbands have been very supportive. My husband manages the trust completely. Without their support it would not have been possible to reach where we are today.

Have dedication, commitment and involvement. Make use of the ample opportunities that the world is offering. Of course, luck and God’s grace play a very prominent role in one’s life and career. But we must always try to do our best.

We attend kutcheris and of course browse the Internet.

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