Musings on Music and Musicians

K.S. Mahadevan (KSM) was born in 1913 and hails from Tirunelveli. After his schooling in P.S. High School in Mylapore, he joined the Presidency College (Chennai) and graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Science in 1933. He did his Master’s degree in Physics from Calcutta University and joined “Indian Finance” as a journalist. After another journalistic stint in “Capital” in Calcutta he moved to Bombay in 1941 to join the Trade Marks Registry (Govt. of India). He then moved over to the Forward Markets Commission in 1951 (Govt. of India) and retired as Secretary in 1971. While in Bombay, KSM was actively involved with the Shanmukhananda Sabha in the fifties and sixties, as Secretary and various other capacities. He started the Shanmukha magazine as Editor. He then moved to Chennai in 1978 and since then has been taking a keen interest in the Chennai Music and Dance Scene. His interests took on a more conspicuous role when he became a Music and Dance reviewer for the Indian Express. KSM utilized this opportunity to play a constructive role in the education and improvement of rising artists in the Music and Dance field. This in turn led to contacts with the Broadcast Media (Radio-AIR and TV-Doordarshan) in Chennai, which enabled him to play an advisory role in their various cultural programmes. During his long career, he has collaborated on a well-received biography on Sri G.N. Balasubramaniam (GNB), and has also contributed many articles, which have been published by the leading sabhas. Despite being away from the Bombay scene for over 25 years, he still continues to be in close touch with Shanmukhananda, participating in their Seminars and Symposiums and Maintains his relationship to the Shanmukha Magazine. KSM currently resides in R.A. Puram with his wife Narayani (Chinnani) and family.