M S Subbulakshmi and her music - Part 13: Master of post tani pieces (Thukkadas) - Part 1
Thukkadas or post-tani pieces have their own fan base, and everyone from the past masters to the popular stars of today have their fans eating out of their hands for certain favourite pieces. Whether it be 'vellai tamarai' and the English Note of Madurai Mani Iyer, 'radha sametha krishna' of GNB, the slokhas and 'sapasyat kausalya' of Semmangudi, 'saranagan marugava' and 'srichakra raja simhasaneshwari' of Santhanam, all the way till the abangs of Ranjani-Gayathri and 'thunbam nergaiyil' of Sanjay Subramaniam, concert goers have enjoyed these pieces and associate them with the appropriate artist. While each of them had their own popular set of thukkadas, MS probably had the maximum number of post-tani pieces that were eagerly awaited by the audience. She was the undisputed Queen of the thukkadas. MS's thukkadas were soaked in bhakthi, and many of these pieces impacted people, not just due to the music, but because MS's personality...