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DR. M BALAMURALIKRISHNA - THE INIMITABLE MASTER, PART 1
Over to this master of all trades and jack of none! The interviewer is Lalitha Ganeshan.
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We heard that you recently got a major award in Visakhapatnam. Can you tell us more about it?
Yes. They wanted to give me the award on August 11th but I told them that it would not be possible for me to make it on that date. They immediately advanced the date for my sake. I was conferred the title of Nada Vidya Bharati.
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You must have received many awards in your long career. Can you tell us about some of the important ones?
I have no award that I think is different from another. Each and every award that I have received so far is equally important. If I treat some award as special then it means that I don’t treat others on the same plane. My website has details of all my awards.
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In general, what is your attitude towards awards?
I don’t really await awards. If people feel like giving me an award, they give it to me, and I take it if I am satisfied with it. If not I don’t take them. I don’t expect awards at all. If someone feels like honouring me with an award, I accept it happily. If not also I am equally happy.
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Who was your Guru? How many Gurus did you have?
I had only one Guru. You should have only one wife; similarly, you should have only one Guru. My Guru was Parupalli Ramakrishna Pantulu.
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When did you start performing?
I started giving concerts at the age of 9.
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You were hailed as a child prodigy. Did this make any difference in your learning? Did early fame affect you at all? Were you able to have a normal childhood - go to school, play with other children and so on?
I have never been to school. Others feel I am a prodigy, I don’t think so.
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When you started performing, great stalwarts like Ariyakudi, Viswanatha Iyer, GNB and others must have all been in their peak. How did you manage to make a mark?
Yes. I was hardly 9; they were all about 50-60 years old. I was also a top-ranking artiste then. I have actually provided violin accompaniment for them.
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To what extent did your parents have an influence in shaping you as a musician?
My parents were not intersted at all. They didn't support me either. They infact didn't want me to sing at all. It all just happened. They did not even encourage me.
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Who are the other musicians/people who have inspired or influenced you directly/indirectly?
Nobody actually. I was on my own and I was my own inspiration. Music was my inspiration.
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Today, many claim to be child prodigies. How would you compare the standards of today with that of yesteryears?
I don’t know much about today’s child prodigies. I am not even interested in them nowadays. The only child prodigy of yesteryears was T R Mahalingam. There may be many prodigies now, but those days were totally different from today.
Await Part 2 of this interview! Coming next week!
Posted on September 5, 2002
