Fond memories of a venerable guru

Sangita Kalanidhi Sri T.M. Thyagarajan, fondly called TMT sir by his friends, admirers and students, was a storehouse of knowledge. He would never flaunt his vidwat nor speak condescendingly of other artistes, be they established or just gaining entry into the fold. Many students have very happy and fond memories of TMT sir as a guru. This writer had the good fortune of being under his tutelage for three years while she was a student of the then Central College of Carnatic Music, Chennai. Whenever a new composition was taught, he would ask everyone to sing individually so that he could correct each one and see to it that everyone had internalised what he had taught. When a student kept making the same mistake or was not able to reproduce the sangatis or the raga bhava correctly, he would repeat the same phrase or line innumerable times. Never once had he been seen losing his cool or getting irritated. The only word, of perhaps a little impatience on his part, is the Tamil word “ Ara Nai ” (the forgetful one). Whenever he set to music a new composition, he would teach it to the students in the class. That way, he would be able to appreciate and assess the aesthetic beauty of the composition in terms of raga , tala , and sahitya . He set to music many of the compositions of Vallalar, the ashtalakshmi stotrams in eight captivating ragas, and many a composition in Tamil of other less-known composers. Many of these have been sung by his students and recorded on cassette tapes and other aural media. It is learnt that many popular vidwans and vidushis in the concert circuit used to approach him for learning a particular item, before they performed it in a concert. For all his vidwat and competence, he would always be in the background and never show off his scholarship. He was indeed a true mentor. That is TMT sir. alamelu.rama@gmail.com Published - December 28, 2025 03:25 am IST

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