Madhu

 Dear Lakshmi Athai,

First, we all wish you a wonderful day and lots of happiness, contentment, good health, pleasant surprises and tons of good music (in person) in the year ahead!! You will remain forever young in our hearts, after all 75 is only a number.

I can recall in the 1970s your few oil paintings which were your initial foray into the arts, one of a village scene and a bouquet of flowers, I believe are still hanging in your home after 50 years. Since then, you have been always deep into the arts and music. I know you had a veena, but cannot recall if you had a teacher or taught yourself. The same with Carnatic music, which you not only know, but are sharing with the next generation; your knowledge of the structure of music and also of the ragams is simply amazing. Not only that, you have hosted dozens of artists at your home and drawn in tons of listeners for intimate small concerts.

We have spent a lot of time with you Bashyam Athimber and Arvind all the way from the Safdarjung Enclave days thru Haridwar and then Madras. During all this time, you stayed true to yourself and to your roots, and that is not that easy in this modern world. You have the ability to focus on the immediate & controllable world around you and have only a passing interest in the larger environment, which is largely beyond our control. You are always positive about life and softspoken; that indicates a deeper stillness and inner peace. 

We have always enjoyed coming to your home and having real conversations about the things that matter. Those visits are always special and there is something intangible and ethereal we take away that remains with us for a long time.

In my last visits, we joined Lakshmi Athai in seeing two performances: Abhishek Raghuram in a Mylapore kovil and Jayanthi Kumaresh in Alwarpet, both thrilling performances made all the more special by your immediate recognition of the ragas.

We are not there to celebrate with you in person at your birthday, but once this COVID gets done, we will wish you in person.

Again, dear Lakshmi Athai, please continue to be serene, generous, gentle and rooted. You are one of our favorite people in the world!

Lots of love,

Madhu

Austin TX