Hi Guys,

It is Christmas time and there is fun, celebration and joy in the atmosphere. The best part is that it is snowing heavily. A white Christmas is always a special one. What could I do other than listen to my favorite songs to pass my time. So, I decided to come again with a new post.
I am a big fan of classical Carnatic music even though I don't have any knowledge about it. Its my hobby to just listen to keerthans by various composers. I came across a complex keerthan a few months ago. It was Kurai Onrum Illai sung my the great MS Amma. The song gives me goose bumps every time I listen to it. It is amazingly different from all the other Keerthans I have heard before. The devotee has no regrets and accepts everything as Lord's Grace. The song got etched in my mind and therefore I tried researching on it. This post is therefore dedicated to the idea and the man behind Kurai Onrum Illai.
The song was written by Chakravarthi Rajgopalchari (CR). CR was a freedom fighter, politician, lawyer, writer and leader of Indian National Congress who served as the last Governor General of India (21 June 1948-25 Jan 1950). He served as the Chief Minister of Madras Presidency (14 July 1937-9 Oct 1939), Chief Minister of Madras State (10 April 1952-13 April 1954), Governor of West Bengal (15 Aug 1947-Jun 1948), Minister for Home Affairs of the Indian Union (26 Jan 1950-1951). He was the founder of Swatantra Party. I don't think anybody's resume would get better than this. Fittingly, he was the first recipient of Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian award. CR was an accomplished writer both in Tamil and English. He wrote the abridged versions of Mahabharata and Ramayana in English. In 1955, he translated Kambar's Tamil Ramayana into English. In 1965 he translated Thirukkural into English. Gandhiji once described him as"keeper of my conscience".
Kurai Onrum illai is a unique composition where the devotee has no regrets in his life. He accepts everything as God's Grace. Only a man with complete surrender and faith in God can pen anything like that. Truly, CR was a devout Vaishnavaite. Only a man who is completely contented and happy with his life can write about not having any regrets. But CR's life was far from happy. Death stalked him at all stages in his life. He was a widower by 37, lost his daughter aged 3, lost his son and both his sons in law. But even after experiencing so much pain in his life, he still penned the words Kurai Onrum Illai. It amazes me as what this man was made of ? Kurai Onrum Illai is a master piece from a complex mind, a mind which had its share of human sorrows but had the strength and wisdom to accept the higher truths of life.
There is another incident that happened in 1925 which might have triggered his mind to write the great song. The Congress had decided to boycott the British Courts. Rajaji was a loyal Congressman and there was no chance that he would take up any case. But a situation arose and CR responded. He acted according to his conscience and against the boycott. A person who was born in a lower caste was convicted by the sub-magistrate of Tirupathi for the man had entered the shrine of the Mother in Tiruchanoor. CR took up the case and fought for the man. The man was duly acquitted. Therefore, in my humble opinion Kurai Onrum Illai is a complex piece with more than one interpretation. Composed by Kadayanallur Venkatraman who set the song into three ragas namely Sivaranjini, Kapi and Sindhu Bhairavi and aptly sung by MS Amma, the song haunts the listener to this day. The last words spoken by CR at his death bed were "I am happy". It is almost impossible to emulate people like CR but we would do ourselves great favor by taking a leaf or two from his life and put that into practice. This post has come at the right time as Christmas also coincides with Rajaji's death Anniversary.
Signing off for now,
Krishna