Srimathi K. Meenakshi
A tribute to the award winning Ghatam maker from Tamil Nadu
by Aparna Karthikeyan
It is very sad news: Shrimathi K. Meenakshi, award winning Ghatam maker, died on 7th November, 2017. I met her in her house about two years ago. Valuthy Sir, a friend and contact in Sivagangai district told me about her, and one drizzly December morning, we visited Manamadurai.
How simple Meenakshi was! She had won the Sangeet Natak Akademi award.
She was the best Ghatam maker in the country. But she had no airs; she spoke little, worked more. She sat on the hard ground, her feet stretched before her. Her hands kept beating the clay pot, and her eyes were focussed on her job. She answered questions in a very matter-of-fact manner, gave herself no great credit, and rested very briefly even though – she admitted – her hands ached and ached from slapping the mud.
Now she’s gone. She’s taken with her her remarkable skill, that great simplicity, and the ability – quite literally – to shoulder the pain.
What a loss for the music world.
What a loss for the art world.
What a giant loss for all of us – we can never sit in the verandah outside a little house in a tiny village near Sivagangai and observe one of the greatest craftswomen of this country, quietly beating mud until it makes a beautiful music…
Now she’s gone. She’s taken with her her remarkable skill, that great simplicity, and the ability – quite literally – to shoulder the pain.
What a loss for the music world.
What a loss for the art world.
What a giant loss for all of us – we can never sit in the verandah outside a little house in a tiny village near Sivagangai and observe one of the greatest craftswomen of this country, quietly beating mud until it makes a beautiful music…
Read K. Meenakshi’s story here: When Meenakshi beats a pot 3000 times by Aparna Karthikeyan
