August 15, 1947 is a memorable day. It is India's Independence Day. For devotional music lovers, it is also memorable for the start of a non-political and noble activity by one of the independence fighters, which probably lives on to this day.

Narumanchi Subbarao, born 30 July 1902, was a student in Madras Christian College in the late teens of last century. Even as a young man, he was well read in Classical English literature and an excellent orator. He was going from college to college in Madras city and giving speeches, exhorting other students to boycott classes and participate in the Independence movement. Though they were opposed to the underlying message, even his British professors always loved and admired his speeches, sprinkled with quotations from Indian scriptures, the Holy Bible and classic English poets of the Shakespearean era. Every good thing ends somewhere; probably because of administrative pressure from above, he was eventually dismissed from Madras Christian College, before graduation. He completed his studies for an arts degree in Noble College, Masulipatam. Later went back to Madras for a law degree, when he worked closely with the local leaders of the independence movement, including luminaries such as Sri C. Rajagopalachari, who later became the first Indian Governor-General of India. His law practice, first started at Tenali, Andhra Pradesh was very lucrative. It is said that for some years, he was the preferred lawyer for one side for all the lawsuits, originating from some prosperous towns and villages. It is also said that people were even thronging to the courtroom he was arguing in, just to hear him speak. But continuous exposure to independence movement had its toll. He was arrested several times for his role in the movement. He had to relocate at least twice. Much later, after he quit politics, he organized, for a diversion, what he called ‘Tilak-Lajpatrai Parliament’ (named after two of his favourite orators) in Tenali, where social and political issues of the time were discussed by prominent national leaders of the day.

In 1947, with independence a reality, he quit politics for good. Not for him the plums of political power. He never once gave thought to benefit as a `political sufferer’, which was the rage after independence. He always had great love for devotional music. It is said that his grand uncle, Narumanchi Janakiramaiah, spent a few months with Saint Thyagaraja himself and, after His demise, continued under the Saint’s seniormost disciple, Veena Kuppayyer. His own father, Narumanchi Seetharamaiah, was a disciple of Sri Janakiramaiah and Sri Mutyalapet Tyagaiah and was a very gifted exponent of devotional classical music. With this background, he started, on 15 August ’47, Sree Seetharama Gana Sabha in Tenali, dedicated to devotional music. No political songs, no romantic songs, no social songs, no dances, just purely devotional music! Each program was to start with a recitation of Veda. Because there is no commercial element here, raising funds was difficult. It was equally difficult to attract reputed artists to a small ‘unheard of’ place like Tenali, except at exorbitant cost. But with an unusual determination, he spent all his energy and all his earnings as a successful lawyer and later sold off his house and other property also, but kept the Sabha going with strict adherence to his values. Eventually that crusading spirit got noticed. Musicians loved that they were encouraged to sing what they could best, as long as it was devoted to the Lord. Famous musicians of the era spread the word around and started visiting Tenali without much consideration for remuneration. Some benefit performances were held by musicians like Srimathi M.S. Subbulakshmi to keep the Sabha going. Many of the highest calibre musicians considered it a privilege to sing 'in Tenali', sort of a pilgrimage. Many famous musicians were even asking to stop in Tenali and sing there. In fact, it may not be an exaggeration to say that the doyens of Carnatic music of the 1940s, ‘50s and ‘60s sang more often in this small town than any place, other than Madras City, which is the modern day capital of Carnatic music. They enjoyed singing where there was appreciation for their music, not for their commercial value. Naturally they gave their best there. They even wanted to take that spirit back to their own backyard. They were arranging music concerts under the auspices of Sree Seetharama Gana Sabha in Madras City, where they realized commercialism was creeping in. Similar programs totally dedicated to devotional classical music were held at other places such as Tiruvarur, Tiruvaiyaru, Hyderabad, Bhadrachalam, Guntur and Vijayawada.

For many decades, Thyagaraja Vardhanti, the anniversary of Saint Thyagaraja leaving His physical body, was celebrated in Tiruvayyar, his birthplace. Narumanchi Subbarao felt that the birthdays of the saints are indeed occasions for celebration. For some years, he celebrated Thyagaraja Jayanti, the saint’s birth anniversary, in Tiruvayyar, with the local music lovers and musicians from Madras, participating and even making the arrangements. Similar celebrations of birthdays of other saints were regular features of his programs. He wrote some books on music, at least three of which were published, which were distributed free to musicians and at nominal charge to music lovers. Even though he was himself not a musician, some music Sabhas in Madras and elsewhere conferred on him titles, given only to musicians of highest calibre – among them, Sangitha Vidya Ratna, Sangitha Seva Rathna, and Sangitha Kala Poshaka. Many English, Telugu and Tamil newspaper and magazines (including the Illustrated Weekly of India, Bombay, in its most glorious days) wrote glowing accounts of him and Sree Seetharama Gana Sabha in those days.

Subba Rao conducted Seetharama Gana Sabha for nearly forty years through good times and bad, through good health and bad, through family tragedies and all. His crusade for devotional music and the dedication to the Sabha kept him living alone in Tenali even in his mid-eighties. One day in Aug 87, he slipped while walking and was transported unconscious to his son's place in Vijayawada. He never recovered from the injuries suffered and never returned to Tenali. He breathed his last on 22 August 87 in Vijayawada. Manuscript of another book he was writing at the time, his correspondence with the musicians and the national leaders of the independence movement were all lost to a burglary. A few musicians worked to establish a permanent fund in Tenali, so that the work he started and the Sabha he painstakingly built could continue even after him. A committee led by another lawyer and music lover, Sri T. Perayya Sastri, undertook that task. It is understood the tradition is still continuing there.

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