As a Teacher

Knack of Teaching

Above all, GNB had a knack of making difficult passages applear simple and thereby inspiring confidence in the disciples. He used to split the passages in the most natural fashion and teach these in a way that the disciples had no difficulty in following them. Most. of his rasikas used to learn many of the recast compositions as well as the brand new ones popularised by him, just by listening to his prformances. This was due to the inherent charm and compelling rasa bhava which permeated his kritis that the effect not only soothed the ears of the listeners but went straight into their " Anthakarana ". His raga alapana neraval and swaraprasthara also exuded the same charm and rasa to an extent that whatever ' prayoga ' he made in a concert used to become at once popular and one could hear rasikas humming such ' prayoga ' or sangathi involuntarily while travelling in a bus or train.

When such was the mood GNB was able to create among his lay rasikas, the effect on his disciples who had already received sufficient grounding could not put be much more profound and deep. Following GNB was by 110 means laborious; on the other hand, it was a pleasant and rewarding exercise. That is why, the adherents of his school are even to-day swelling in numbers. Even those not belonging to the ' GNB School ' started introducing some of the" GNB touches" in their musical armoury, much to their advantage.

As noticed earlier, the uncanny capacity of GNB to convert any intricate musical passage into a swara matrix helped him in explaining his inimitable brikas and making his disciples grasp the ' swara korvais ' with great ease. The sangathis which he has woven into his kritis were full of  ' rakti '. Their sequencing was so rational and natural that no one had any difficulty in in reproducing most of these, excepting the enthralling flashes which he used to improvise spontaneously while rendering a kriti or indulging in swaraprasthara. These latter ones were really inimitable and as Madurai Mani Iyer rightly pointed out, " only GNB should indulge in such breath-taking exercises. We all should only enjoy such fire works. "

There was a high sense of aesthetics in any action or mannerism GNB indulged in, whether on the platform or at other places. Quite a large portion of his rasikas was so enthralled by his highly pleasing mannerisms that many of his disciples almost involuntarily started copying them, sometimes to their embarrassment.

Dr. M. L. Vasanthakumari, the outstandillg torch-bearer of the GNB School, used to go into raptures while recapitulating the inimitable way her guru used to untie some of the knotty propositions and make seemingly impossible glide and sweeps appear natural and simple. She has referred many time to the uncanny knack with which GNB used to split some of the complicated sangathis and teach them part by part whereby the sishya could grasp the turns and twists which in the first instance, appeared to be irreproduceable.

Style lnact

All these have enabled the members of the GNB School to faithfully reproduce his style and brand of music and provide supreme satisfaction to their audiences. Dr. Vasanthakumari and Srimathis Radha and Jayalakshmi, among the ladies, have been able to sustain their extensive popularity for over 3 decades and sishyas, Sri S.Kalyanaraman, Sri V.Ramachandran and the second generation disciples like Smt.Charumati Ramachandran, Smt.Sudha Raghunathan are having a fine vogue, with the listeners. The fact that two decades after GNB's demise, there is still an enthusiastic response for his style, while the styles of his contemporaries have already become or are becoming extinct, amply shows its innate stength and aesthetic appeal. The ' GNB touches' when inbroduced by other musicians instantly evokes appreciation from the listeners. As long as he was alive and in the plenitude of his powers, GNB was " the monarch of the musical Kingdom ", as Beethoven hailed Handel. " To live in hearts we leave behind is not to die" said the poet. GNB ' thus lives on in our minds and in the music of his, disciples and followers.