With 78 years of music and hosting a festival, the records of Sree Ramaseva Mandali can offer you and me a huge volume of anecdotes and events that make cultural history.
On the sidelines, the Varadaraj father-son duo who manage the mandali can share a few as can some senior team members.
Of that occasion when flutist Mali conveniently failed to take the train to Bangalore for the Mandali concert and Varadaraj's father sent a taxi and an aide to Madras to bring the maestro to the venue; the arrival was very delayed, a stand-in artistes performed and when Mali finally took the stage it was 10 p.m. and Mali played till dawn and many rasikas stayed on.
Or of the time when pro-Kannada supporters opposed the concert of MS and the Kannada poets expressing their support for MS. A huge continent of police had to be called to the venue as tempers boiled. MS though performed quietly and there were no nasty incidents. Later, it was found that the issue was blown up merely due to personal egos that involved the mandali's head!
Or the time when Semmangudi Srinivasaiyer threw a tantrum when he was paid less than agreed and he walked away in a huff. The artiste is said to have had a voice problem thence and was told that it would be good to say sorry to the mandali hosts. He did and soon, he regained his voice!
Photo featured here is of a display at the Chamarajpet venue
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