It is a great shock and a permanent loss to many of us who are core volunteers of Chicago Tyagaraja Utsavam that Dr. S. Ramamurthy, a devout member of the organization right from its early days is no more with us. He passed away on March 9th at 7:08PM after a long terminal fight with some terminal disease. Such shocks are very hard to swallow for me. Without even checking whether he can, on many issues for CTU, I would always count on his instantaneous help in every possible way. Apparently, many other organizations and institutions around Chicago will also express the same way as I do for CTU.
My personal association with Dr. Ramamurthy and his family goes back to several decades. In the initial stages when he lived very close to Chinmaya Mission, himself and his wife Dr. Lalitha Ramamurthy would put their heart and soul into volunteering for Chinmaya Mission. He would take all the initiative to arrange for Chinmaya Mission hall for CTU concerts and the first ever concerts under CTU by Sanjay Subramanyam, Master Shashank, Mysore Nagaraj and Manjunath were made possible at Chinmaya Mission hall only thanks to Dr. Ramamurthy and his wife Dr.. Lalitha Ramamurthy.
He would call us exclusively for lunch to spend time on a one on one basis and such things are now a rare feature in our community and even among close relatives in India. In the Chicago area, (apparently it is so also in India), people tend to meet at marriage parties, at temple festivals, in concerts or in CTU rehearsals. When they moved to a much bigger house in Burr Ridge, it was not meant as a showpiece or a property to be boasted about, but was meant truly for running many organizational activities where he was just a member. He would happily use the house for many to visit, and have several programs of very distinct types. For all practical purposes, many visiting musicians to Chicago Tyagaraja Utsavam were happily hosted by Dr. Ramamurthy, who himself would cook for them even after his wife passed away. While many families hesitate to make an item for the Utsavam, single-handedly he would cook a major food item for the Utsavam.
Such commitments to CTU have always touched my heart with a deep sense of gratitude. He had varied interests besides CTU. He was a committed member to local Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam,: he was a true lover of light music and Tamil film songs; He loved to encourage programs by local talents in both classical and light music in his house under some pretext; he was able to quickly adapt himself to enjoying even modern Tamil films and their rhythmic contents. His conversations and Facebook activities connected him with the younger generations.
He will send occasional queries to me about the doubtful raga for any recent movie song that would certainly test me all the time. He had a whole dictionary of songs and ragas in his cell phone and in the middle of concerts he will convince his initial guess with the music dictionary and feel thrilled. His monetary contributions to CTU was always substantial and apparently he had similar commitments to many other organizations, say RR International, say new temples ( GG Temple for example), say Cleveland Tyagaraja Aradhana. Apparently he often took care of musicians with sudden health problems, and hosting issues etc. I have heard this from many visiting musicians.
I know personally that he hosted people like Akkarai Suubalakshmi and her sister, T.V. Gopalakrishnan and other pakka vadhyam artists for CTU. He loved to treat great musicians as though they are his own family members. Such an attitude requires tremendous magnanimity besides generosity.
He loved not only good music and hosting artists, he also liked the traditional food items and would not mind spelling out his desire for some. He loved Puliyodarai (with cashews and not peanuts, typical Iyengar style), authentic Kancheepuram Idli, homemade mixture, Avial and what not. During covid season, he would show up just outside our house to pick up some such item if we say we have made it specially for him.
His greatest asset is his instantaneous ability to connect with the people in the age groups 5-10, 12-20, 25-30. 35-50, 55-65, 70 and above and speaking in their language. His Facebook apparently is his hour to hour history. I know this only through my daughter Tara who could tell virtually his day’s activities via Facebook.
He was quite close to K.G. Srinivasan and Saroja Srinivasan and they even traveled together to several places in India as they had many common interests. He loved snacks from Jaya and Ramaswamy and moved with ease with many of his friends from Pondicherry Medical college. He was very close to his sister in India.
I have never seen him talking about anything about his sons or their families or their achievements. Often people can lose faith in their religious beliefs when they face unexpected catastrophe. He faced several personal tragedies in his life and never ever he lost his religious faith. He is a personality found one in a million, and to many of us it would be a great challenge to get anywhere close to his level of broad interests and soaked in a deeper sense of social commitment.
I can only say this: Me and my wife Usha and my whole family (including my two daughters and son) have personally lost a true friend. We have personally lost a true well wisher of CTU. Alas! The community has lost a noble soul.
Deeply upset and yet to recover
TES Raghavan