The first time I came in close contact with Mani Iyer was in 1932. I met him in my uncle’s house in Tanjore. I was a high school student spending my summer vacation in my uncle’s house. Mani Iyer arrived in Tanjore one fine morning and he was not only received at the Railway station by my uncle, but was also given a very warm and affectionate welcome. I was wondering why a teacher had to go to station to receive a student. My uncle Tanjore Vaidyanatha Iyer was his teacher. this incident in later years revealed to me the student teacher relationship, how affectionate it should be. Who was greater, the teacher or the pupil, I still do not know.

Later in the day Laye Annaswami Bagavathar, the great Harikatha exponent called on my uncle along with his brother Krishna Iyer an eminent mridangam vidwan. the quartet started a discussion which was all Greek and Latin to me. But I still remember my uncle telling both Mani Iyer and Krishna Iyer about a Mohra which he had formulated and he wanted them to play on mridangam. The teacher’s brain was a research laboratory always indulging in permutations and combinations and he found in Mani Iyer the medium to translate his thoughts on the instrument. The teacher had a drawback. His fingers were thick and short so much so they did not cooperate with his ever-active brain always calculating various combinations of chollu-kattu. this Mani Iyer did very well with his long and nimble fingers and the great maestro found in Mani Iyer an eminent exponent of his research findings. the relationship they had can be compared to Krishna - Arjuna’s. the respect and reverence the pupil had towards the teacher and the warm and affectionate possessive love the teacher had towards the pupil are still fresh in my memory. Can we find such relationships today ?

Mani Iyer the Master

Among the countless number of students, who got trained under Mani Iyer I remember two. Late Kalpathy Ramanathan who accompanied famous Smt. M.S.Subbalakshmi in the forties and Sri Venkat Rao from Andhra. Kalpathy Ramanathan was senior to me in school by two years and was living nest door. Mani Iyer though very young himself, could spot the latent talent in Ramanathan and whenever he was in Palghat he used come to Ramanathan’s house at 5 p.m. on working days and at 8 a.m. on holidays, a teacher going to a student’s house to teach that too at a time when gurukula vasam was in vogue. Shri Mani Iyer not only visited Ramanathan’s house but also asked two young vocalists Messers C.S.Krishna Iyer and V.S.Chidambaram to come to Ramanathan’s house. He used to ask these two vocalists to sing and used to demonstrate as to how Mridangam should be played. while teaching Ramanathan he used to give advice to both Krishna Iyer and Chidambaram the subtle variations in ragas and how they should be presented. He took personal interest in his students and their welfare. Sri Venkat Rao belonged to a poor family in Andhra and he came to Mani Iyer to learn the art.

Sri Venkat Rao used to receive only Rs.12 a month from his parents in Andhra. He had to pay the room rent and meet the hotel bills also. Rao took a pledge that he would subsist on peanuts till he completed course and this Mani Iyer came to know. Impressed with his zeal, enthusiasm and sincerity Mani Iyer used to pay his hotel bills often and when Mani Iyer because of his concert engagements for almost 20 days in a month he could not give more time to Rao. Eventually he sent Rao to his master Tanjore Vaidyanatha Iyer for further training. such was his interest in his students.

Three years prior to his death I took one young boy to Mani Iyer. Mani Iyer accepted him as his pupil. After four months he told me in confidence that that the boy did not have aptitude and impressed by the boy’s sincerity and devotion to Mani Iyer did not have the heart to send the boy away. with his influence he found a job for the boy and he is doing well. How many teachers are there to take such personal interest in the welfare of the student.

Mani Iyer, the Artist

For over five decades Mani Iyer walked like a colossus in the arena of carnatic music. top front rank artistes like Ramanuja Iyengar, Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer, Chembai, GNB, Madurai Mani Iyer, Alathoor Brothers, felt elated if Mani Iyer accompanied them in concerts and they felt his very presence on the dias added luster to their performances. Mani Iyer was a puritan and he never compromised on ethics and scientific approach to music. His opposition to mike in performance made him unpopular but he ignored the criticism and he had the courage to stand firm in his decision. He encouraged junior artistes and was very large hearted in giving credit to deserving performers. Mutual jealousy associated with musicians and artistes did not have a place in Mani Iyer’s career. His punctual approach and rigid outlook on traditions kept him away even in participating Thyaga Brahma Aradhana celebrations in Thiruvayaru but can anyone say that Mani Iyer was not an aaradhaka of Thyagabrahmam. Mani Iyer will always remain like a Pole star in the horizon of Carnatic music, shedding light and guiding young travellers in the never ending world of music.

Mani Iyer, the friend

Mani Iyer was one of those, rare persons for whom the friendship and loyalty had something like a religious fervor. though an highly honoured man, famous in India and abroad he used to find time to call on his boyhood friends and spend some time with them. His friend, once a rich hotellier lost everything he had, and opened a small tea shop in the village. Mani Iyer whenever he was in Palghat, used to visit his shop both in the mornings and evenings. His love and affection were infectious. A contemporary of Mani Iyer, another mridangam artiste, was struck with leprosy and was literally starving with a wife and three children. Mani Iyer used to give him financial assistance whenever possible. Rarely do we find an artist going to the aid of a brother artist.

Mani Iyer, the nationalist

When Mani Iyer made his spectacular entry in the early thirties, Gandhiji had started his Sathyagraha and Swadeshi movement. Mani Iyer started wearing khadhi from then on and he died with khadi clothes on. On his return from States, I asked to give his impression about U.S. and way of life there. His answer was "give me India, My India and the personal freedom, I enjoy here. I can roam about the streets with a dhothi and a small angavasthram where else in the world can I have that freedom." No more States for me. I am glad to be back in my native land.

Mani Iyer , the Man

Mani Iyer had his own experiments with truth. He used to sit with his friends C.S.Krishna Iyer and others on the sandy banks of Kalpathy river and discuss with them the truths underlying in the works of Thyagabrahmam, the ultimate goal in life. He never spoke a lie and he never compromised on values. His duty as a son to his parents, his brothers and sisters are worthy of emulation by others. Once on an afternoon he came to me seeking my assistance to cancel his engagements in Rajahmundry where he had committed to participate in three concerts. His father was indisposed and he was not willing to leave his father’s bedside though his younger brother was there. Such was his sense of duty. He nursed his ailing mother for nearly half a decade.

Mani Iyer was humility personified. His food habits, daily routine, spartan way of living are so exemplary that we rarely come across such qualities in a person of his fame and eminence.

More can be written on his professional brilliance and genius but I am the least qualified since I am neither a musician nor an artist. I wish to close this in one sentence. I found in Mani Iyer all the virtues that a man should possess.