What is so special about Semmangudu Srinivasa Iyer

Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer considered to be one of the greatest Carnatic vocalists of the twentieth century. He was the youngest recipient of the Sangeetha Kalanidhi awarded by the Music Academy in 1947 has received many awards including Padma Bhushan and Padma Vibhushan from the Government of India, Sangeet Natak Academy award (1953), Isai Perarignar from Government of Tamil Nadu and Kalidas Samman from Government of Madhya Pradesh. He was affectionately addressed as "Semmangudi Maama" (Semmangudi Uncle) by his disciples. He was also considered the "Pitamaha" or the grand sire of modern Carnatic Music.

If there is something that fascinates physician and neuroscientist V.S. Ramachandran as much as phantoms in the brain, it must be Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer’s music. His face lights up when he begins speaking about his favourite musician.

As a teenager, he went, with his mother, to one of the maestro’s concerts at the Mylapore Fine Arts Club and has been an ardent fan ever since. “His music has been a source of inspiration for the scientific, medical research I do,” says the Director of the Center for Brain and Cognition and Professor of Neurosciences and Psychology at the University of California, San Diego, and author of several acclaimed books about the human brain and mind. “Whenever I travel to give a lecture, I listen to a song by Semmangudi in my car. It elevates you to another plane and then the lecture goes off very smoothly. If you ask me why or what is going on in the brain, I still don’t know.”

From interactions with the great musician on different occasions, Dr. Ramachandran, who studied medicine at Stanley Medical College, Chennai and did a doctorate at Trinity College, Cambridge, recalls that Semmangudi’s perspectives exuded quintessential sarcasm, humour, and wit. “We spoke in Tamil and I’m afraid his humour will get lost in translation.” The neuroscientist, in the company of a few family members and friends, visited Semmangudi two years before he died in 2003. The maestro, who was born on July 25, 1908, was interested to learn that the neuroscientist was a grandson of Alladi Krishnaswamy Iyer (1883-1953) and they had a memorable chat.

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