The last month saw a lot of M.S. Subbulakshmi in media. A biopic on her was announced and perhaps because of this, social media was flooded with reminiscences about her, some real and some imaginary. In the midst of all this we were delighted to find an issue of Madras Musings, dating to 2004, being circulated by a rare books collector. The cover story was dedicated to this national icon and great singer, perhaps the greatest of all time in Carnatic music, when she passed away. We reproduce the cover page as our tribute to the great lady.
Sometime after 1992, I remember piloting a sky blue car seating Sri Sadasivam, Smt MS, and their secretary Sri Atmanathan from their residence in Kotturpuram to a temple and Divya Prabandham Pathasala in Jalladian Pettai, beyond Velachery. The couple visited the temple because it has a shrine dedicated to Sri V.V. Sadagopan, a Carnatic musician and contemporary of MS. Atma clearly told me to just ride ahead and not look back and the car would follow.
MS Amma circumambulated the Vishnu deity and offered a banana to the cow in the small Goshala in the praharam of the temple. The older generation of the locals were excited to see her.