MS...

As I listen to MS during the scarce spare time I have these days, I remember her life. It was that of a simple housewife, a trailblazer who stormed into the male bastion of carnatic music(I think Pattammal was the first), popularised carnatic music in world. Whose voice Gandhiji loved so much that he wanted her to speak his favorite bhajan than some one else sing. And the nigthingale sang her song for father of the nation.
When she she recieved her bharata ratna, she said,"In Bharata our ancient homeland, everyone is a ratna. So there is not one ratna here and there but everyone is a ratna" Such humility...
Somehow, her looks attracted me...perhaps it was the bhakti that seemed to be reflected in her and her music or may be it was her uncanny similarity to my maternal grandmother. In the reports I read, she comes across as a strong woman who did what she believed was right..think of this, she married a widower from another caste some 60 years ago in chennai! She donated most of the proceeds from her concerts to charities, and to cap it all she said somewhere in an interview when asked what was the greatest achievement of her life (This was after bharat ratna etc); MS's words still ring in my ears whenever Iam hurt by others or I feel Iam taking undue pride in my work.She said,

"God has given us abilities some of them special to serve the world. It is nothing great if we use the talents that god has given us and achieve wealth and fame. But in my life I have never knowingly hurt anyone or thought of hurting anyone. That I think is my life's greatest achievement"
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