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| 6.9.1940-13.11.2010 |
Birthdays & Anniversaries
With flute genius T.R. Mahalingam and his remarkable sishya Sangita Kalanidhi N. Ramani for close relatives on their mother’s side, the sangeeta gnanam of the renowned Sikkil Sisters, flautists, has been no surprise. Probably the only successful flute duo of their time, certainly the first female pair of instrumentalists in Carnatic music, Sikkil Kunjumani and Neela have continued the vocal style of flute playing that Mali (Sruti 24) launched so memorably during their lifetime, changing the history of the pullankuzhal irreversibly.....
With flute genius T.R. Mahalingam and his remarkable sishya Sangita Kalanidhi N. Ramani for close relatives on their mother’s side, the sangeeta gnanam of the renowned Sikkil Sisters, flautists, has been no surprise. Probably the only successful flute duo of their time, certainly the first female pair of instrumentalists in Carnatic music, Sikkil Kunjumani and Neela have continued the vocal style of flute playing that Mali (Sruti 24) launched so memorably during their lifetime, changing the history of the pullankuzhal irreversibly.....
The age-difference is almost eleven years between Kunjumani and Neela, the younger of the two sisters. For Neela, the journey was more strenuous. “I learnt with difficulty, I must confess,” Neela said. “You know, a girl child normally begins to speak when she is less than a year. I started to speak only when I was four or so. There was an idol of Krishna in our house which I adored. When I wanted someone to fetch it for me, so I could play with it, no one understood my prattle. I then sang “uttani begene baa o.” Even if the words were not clear, my audience recognised the song Krishna nee beganeyas I got the tune right. I already loved the flute.” Neela recalls, “I was seven years old when my sister Kunjumani initiated me into the flute. I took a good year and a half just to learn the sarali varisai. Since my fingers were very small, I had a problem holding the flute. I had no grip. The guru would prod me, ‘Play, you can easily do it’. Luckily for me, I could effortlessly remember my everyday lessons without having to write them down all the time.” “It was 1946 or 47. My arangetram was in the Sikkil Singaravelar temple. Ramu Bhagavatar accompanied me on the violin and my father gave mridanga support, so uplifting to the performance of a small girl! Then I started participating in small events and school functions. In the Krishna Jayanti Utsavam at Thiruthuraipoondi conducted by the local mirasdar I was honoured in a separate function with a gold medal, and the title Apoorva Venugana Balakrishna Avatara.”.....
Kunjumani and Neela played the flute as a duo for the first time in the Kasi Viswanathar temple at Tanjavur. Their first major concert together was in 1953. Then, as the demand for performances gradually grew, Kunjumani’s husband allowed her to perform regularly with her sister. There was no looking back after that.