<p>The city has produced legends in all walks of life. One of the greatest among them is violinist Mysore T Chowdiah. The violin maestro’s (popularly known as Pitil Chowdiah) 45th death anniversary was observed on January 19 in a quiet way. N Niranjan Nikam visited the home of the legend; one of the few heritage buildings beautifully preserved and spoke to his grandson M H Anand Kumar who shared his experiences about his grandfather.<br /><br /></p>.<p>T</p>.<p>he hairs stood on end and there were goose bumps as one entered the sanctum sanctorum of the violin legend Mysore T Chowdiah. This was the room where the maestro used to practice. There is still a photograph of another legend of Karnatak music M S Subbalakshmi placed in front of a mirror.<br /><br />“This is the mirror in front of which the great MS would sit and practice. She was told by my grandfather that the best way to avoid facial contortions while singing is to practice before a mirror. And being a student of Chowdiah, she followed his advise,” M H Anand Kumar, grandson of Chowdiah told City Herald.<br /><br />The homes of many legends have rarely been preserved. And it is also not expected that government should always chip in to preserve them. Believing in this strongly, Anand decided that the only way to pay a tribute to one of the greatest violin maestros was to preserve the building at any cost, where his grandfather spent his life.<br /><br />Unchanged Vaastu<br />“Years later, when I was trying to restore the building, a Vaastu expert came and said that if a few changes are made then there would be a lot of prosperity. But I told him, look this is the home where the greatest violinist lived and made his name throughout the country. This is also the home, where an actor who has made a name in the Kannada industry, M H Ambarish (my brother) was born, this is also the home where the great grandson of the violinist who is today making waves in the world with his wizardry in flute, A Chandan Kumar (my son) was born. All I want is to preserve this home without any alterations,” said Anand.<br /><br /> The uniqueness about the house where Pitil Chowdiah, as he was popularly called lived is each room has two doors except the puja room. “This is the house where Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavathar, a vocalist of great repute, used to come and stay. A Brahmin and a puritanical, he would cook his own food and drink water drawn from the well and not from the tap. There were also many Brahmin students of Chowdiah who came and stayed with him and learnt music. He had appointed a Brahmin cook to cook for them,” said Anand.<br /><br />Chowdiah’s wife Nanjamma who used to be called ‘Hitler Nanjamma’ because of her strict adherence to all rituals and practices would move around the house wearing jewellery studded with diamonds and gold, recalled Anand’s wife G C Rajeshwari.<br /><br />Narrating how music can play a role in one’s health or even it could make difference to plants or animals, Anand said, “There were two lemon trees one next to the window where my grandfather practiced, and the other a little distance away. The one close to the practice room would bear lots of fruits and was full of leaves while the other was not so fertile.”<br /><br />Chowdiah’s fondness for cars was legendary. The models he drove included Austin, Ford, Morris Minor, Prefect Ford, Chevrolet and Plymouth. “He would go to Bangalore in one car, and come back with another model. Once it so happened, that we were driving to Hassan for a concert. The car was giving lot of problems.<br /><br /> Finally we reached the place and then we had to drive to Bangalore from there. I teased my grandfather, ‘what is this Tatha, you are such a great musician but you do not have a good car. He was very upset with me. He gave me Rs 5 and asked me to return. After five days he came back in what looked like another car. To my surprise I found that he had changed the colour of the car and also the engine. He called me and asked me to take a drive and it was really moving as it had a bigger horse power,” said Anand.<br /><br />Chowdiah was a teetotaler and a non-smoker, but he was very fond of snuff and the ones he prepared were most sought after by musicians from Madras. He had a very hectic schedule. He would return from a concert late in the night and there were times when he would get a telegram for a concert and he would be up again at 5 in the morning getting ready for another one.<br /><br />For Pitil Chowdiah, the seven-stringed violin which he had invented was like Goddess Saraswathi. “One day after cleaning the violin, I packed into the box and brought it out. It accidentally touched a chair. He was furious; he slapped me on my cheeks. I was hurt with his sudden outburst. Then, while he walked out, he told me, ‘look this violin is like Goddess Saraswathi to me. You have to have the utmost respect and devotion for it,” said Anand, whom Chowdiah had adopted as his son.<br /></p>
<p>The city has produced legends in all walks of life. One of the greatest among them is violinist Mysore T Chowdiah. The violin maestro’s (popularly known as Pitil Chowdiah) 45th death anniversary was observed on January 19 in a quiet way. N Niranjan Nikam visited the home of the legend; one of the few heritage buildings beautifully preserved and spoke to his grandson M H Anand Kumar who shared his experiences about his grandfather.<br /><br /></p>.<p>T</p>.<p>he hairs stood on end and there were goose bumps as one entered the sanctum sanctorum of the violin legend Mysore T Chowdiah. This was the room where the maestro used to practice. There is still a photograph of another legend of Karnatak music M S Subbalakshmi placed in front of a mirror.<br /><br />“This is the mirror in front of which the great MS would sit and practice. She was told by my grandfather that the best way to avoid facial contortions while singing is to practice before a mirror. And being a student of Chowdiah, she followed his advise,” M H Anand Kumar, grandson of Chowdiah told City Herald.<br /><br />The homes of many legends have rarely been preserved. And it is also not expected that government should always chip in to preserve them. Believing in this strongly, Anand decided that the only way to pay a tribute to one of the greatest violin maestros was to preserve the building at any cost, where his grandfather spent his life.<br /><br />Unchanged Vaastu<br />“Years later, when I was trying to restore the building, a Vaastu expert came and said that if a few changes are made then there would be a lot of prosperity. But I told him, look this is the home where the greatest violinist lived and made his name throughout the country. This is also the home, where an actor who has made a name in the Kannada industry, M H Ambarish (my brother) was born, this is also the home where the great grandson of the violinist who is today making waves in the world with his wizardry in flute, A Chandan Kumar (my son) was born. All I want is to preserve this home without any alterations,” said Anand.<br /><br /> The uniqueness about the house where Pitil Chowdiah, as he was popularly called lived is each room has two doors except the puja room. “This is the house where Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavathar, a vocalist of great repute, used to come and stay. A Brahmin and a puritanical, he would cook his own food and drink water drawn from the well and not from the tap. There were also many Brahmin students of Chowdiah who came and stayed with him and learnt music. He had appointed a Brahmin cook to cook for them,” said Anand.<br /><br />Chowdiah’s wife Nanjamma who used to be called ‘Hitler Nanjamma’ because of her strict adherence to all rituals and practices would move around the house wearing jewellery studded with diamonds and gold, recalled Anand’s wife G C Rajeshwari.<br /><br />Narrating how music can play a role in one’s health or even it could make difference to plants or animals, Anand said, “There were two lemon trees one next to the window where my grandfather practiced, and the other a little distance away. The one close to the practice room would bear lots of fruits and was full of leaves while the other was not so fertile.”<br /><br />Chowdiah’s fondness for cars was legendary. The models he drove included Austin, Ford, Morris Minor, Prefect Ford, Chevrolet and Plymouth. “He would go to Bangalore in one car, and come back with another model. Once it so happened, that we were driving to Hassan for a concert. The car was giving lot of problems.<br /><br /> Finally we reached the place and then we had to drive to Bangalore from there. I teased my grandfather, ‘what is this Tatha, you are such a great musician but you do not have a good car. He was very upset with me. He gave me Rs 5 and asked me to return. After five days he came back in what looked like another car. To my surprise I found that he had changed the colour of the car and also the engine. He called me and asked me to take a drive and it was really moving as it had a bigger horse power,” said Anand.<br /><br />Chowdiah was a teetotaler and a non-smoker, but he was very fond of snuff and the ones he prepared were most sought after by musicians from Madras. He had a very hectic schedule. He would return from a concert late in the night and there were times when he would get a telegram for a concert and he would be up again at 5 in the morning getting ready for another one.<br /><br />For Pitil Chowdiah, the seven-stringed violin which he had invented was like Goddess Saraswathi. “One day after cleaning the violin, I packed into the box and brought it out. It accidentally touched a chair. He was furious; he slapped me on my cheeks. I was hurt with his sudden outburst. Then, while he walked out, he told me, ‘look this violin is like Goddess Saraswathi to me. You have to have the utmost respect and devotion for it,” said Anand, whom Chowdiah had adopted as his son.<br /></p>
