BRC Iyengar:

I, to a very great extent, find similar qualities in Vinjamuri. This is the comparison, in fact I am calling so, the greatness was there, the depth in music. One's Sarirum may not be rich but the depth, the gravity that conveyed the Kriti that was something divine, which is not available with every artist. It is not available, I am sorry to say.  But the music of Varadaraja Iyengar was a sort of a chip from the block (called pure and real classical music), I should call it. I chip from a huge block that is very huge; no body can conquer it. This is a very valuable chip that he brought-in but, unfortunately, as the time passed, such music laid unattended. No body was there to take it. Unfortunately, it almost ended with Vinjamuri and people like that. That is the last generation which represented real classical music. Later on, it did not survive. Today it is (different), I don't want to talk about it.

I have listened to Vinjamuri's concerts. He was very special about Thodi. In Ghana ragas, he was as Ariyakudi was. Ariyakudi never accepted taking rare ragas for Ragam Tanam Pallavi; it was Shankarabharanam, kalyani, Thodi, Kambhoji and things like that. I tell you; the Thodi that Vinjamuri sang was a specialty by itself. Each day's Thodi was different from the other day's Thodi. You see, to day's Thodi is different from tomorrow's Thodi. If he developed the raga in Nishadam on a particular day, he would develop with Daivatham on another day. That is the greatness of the past music. It is not stereo typed. This is imagination. This is creating music. This is the creativity. It is Manodharma.

What is the use of singing the prototype of the same phrases? Manodharma music has become Kalpita music today. Swarakalpana has become Kalpita music today. Rehearsals are conducted in the house, again and again and again. The calculations, Korvai it is called, the Kannakku has become the password today. Without Kannakku there is no concert. What is Kanakku? An artist of Modicum, as they call it, can do it. There is no need for excellence to create this particular faculty. You can learn it. You can write it down, learn it and sing it. And people clap. To day, I don't want to pass comments but what is today's audience? Audience is a mass of humanity and I cynically remark that they applaud even the not so good. This is a tragedy. Everybody gets standing ovation, because they cannot distinguish the good from the not so good. It is very difficult, because they are not trained. Their ears were not tuned. This is one of the reasons why I made efforts to bring out my book. I thought people must be educated. They must be made to understand the basics. The more you know the better you can understand. The better you can understand the better you can appreciate. This is the simple equation.

I don't remember a particular Sabha (kutcheri of Vinjamuri). He was a good friend, apart from that. I remember very well, I feel so sad about the whole event. In one of the concerts I met him in Ravindra Bharathi. He said, Iyengar, why don't you come to my house? I want to sing before you. I felt so elevated, you know! I said I would certainly come. I couldn't make it some how and soon he was nomore. I felt so sad, you see, after all he extended that invitation to me and refused it like a fool. I felt so bad about it. That is something that has eaten up my heart, so to say. He was a great man and a great singer. Probably, he was the best (Person) that the Andhra Government had as an artist in the field of Music Education. We cannot think of a greater soul than Vinjamuri. I do find great singers like Nedunoori Krishna Murthy and Nookala Satyanarayana as Principals of the colleges. I know them personally also. They also recognize that they are small when compared to Vinjamuri, publicly. It is a great acceptance, you see, very few accept such things.