Sir,

Apropos the letter “A unique tribute to Mysore Vasudevacharya” (SOM dated Mar. 27), I write this to inform about some of the initiatives taken up by a group of music enthusiasts at the house where the legendary musician lived, probably for over four decades.

It was in March last that I dared to enter into the house near Basaveshvara Circle on New Sayyaji Rao Road. It was indeed agonising to see the house, which I knew had been deserted by its owners for quite some years. Further, the structure was in a very bad condition, facing imminent disaster. After writing about it in newspapers and contacting a few people concerned requesting for help, I realised that this sacred place could not be saved unless it was attended to immediately and that there is no use blaming others. Hence, I talked to my friends and elders, and decided to take up the challenge.

We contacted the owners of the house and sent e-mails to many well-wishers. While the owners washed off their hands, saying they could not invest more on the house, many wrote to us extending their support if we were to save the house. Consequently we spent a few thousands to get the house relieved of a nearly lorry load of filth and a few loads of debris. We got the damaged compound wall repaired and the doors locked.  Later, a few others volunteered to join us to clean the house to the extent it could be used for some music related activities. Since then, we have kept the house quite active and a few musicians have performed there too. The gesture by Dr. Sukanya Prabhakar was indeed encouraging and has helped us realise our dreams, of which I have written to the owners of the house thus: “We wish to preserve its sanctity and make its walls reverberate again the music that emanated from the sacred place for decades in the first half of the 20th century,  till you are back here to live in it and preserve what you have inherited.”

As a result of the efforts put in and the cooperation of the musicians, the house has been relieved of its desolation. But, this is only a half (not even that) job done. It is logical that this heritage structure, where one of greatest sons of the land lived,  is preserved in its original form and developed into a centre for cultural activities.

It is necessary to impress upon the Government to buy this place and develop it on the lines of R.K. Narayan’s house or in the way the Kerala government has initiated action to pay tributes to its sons like Chembai and MDR.  On our part, we plan to keep up our efforts, and many musicians have come forward to help us.

– Prof. R. Yadupathi Putty, NIE, on behalf of the group, Krishnamurthypuram, 10.4.2018

You can also mail us your views, opinions, and stories to [email protected]