Kalki Sadasivam

Thiagaraja Sadasivam (4 September 1902 – 22 November 1997[1]), better known as Kalki Sadasivam, was an Indian freedom fighter, singer, journalist and film producer who was one of the founders, along with Kalki Krishnamurthy of the Tamil magazine Kalki. He is well known as the husband of famous classical carnatic singer M.S. Subbulakshmi.

Kalki Sadasivam
File:Sadasivam M.S. Marriage photo 1940.jpg
Marriage photo of Sadasivam and M. S. Subbulakshmi, 1940
Born
Thiagaraja Sadasivam

(1902-09-04)4 September 1902
Aangarai, Trichinopoly, Madras Presidency, British India
Died22 November 1997(1997-11-22) (aged 95)
Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
Occupationwriter, journalist, freedom fighter, singer, film producer
ChildrenRadha Viswanathan Vijaya Rajedran

Life

Kalki Sadasivam was born in a brahmin family[2]on 4 September 1902 at Aangarai in Tiruchirapalli District, the third of 16 children of Tyagarajan and Mangalam Iyer. Impressed by the fiery speeches and writings of Lala Lajpat Rai, Bipin Chandra Pal, Lokamanya Tilak and Aurobindo Ghosh, Kalki Sadasivam joined the freedom movement at an early age and being a disciple of Subramaniya Siva desired to kill an Englishman and court imprisonment for the sake of it. As a result, he quit school and enlisted in the Bharata Samaj, serving Subramaniya Siva who was afflicted with leprosy and ardent involving himself in the Swadeshi Movement.[3] On listening to speeches by Rajagopalachari and Mahatma Gandhi he later adopted non-violence.

Sadasivam had two daughters named Radha and Vijaya from his first wife, Smt. Apithakuchambal, who died in 1940. In July 1936, Sadasivam met M.S. Subbulakshmi, who subscribed to his ideological and political views. The two eventually married on 10 July 1940 after his first wife died. Radha later became a popular musician in her own right.

Sadasivam was also close to journalist and writer Kalki Krishnamurthy with whom he co-founded the popular magazine Kalki in 1940. Sadasivam's nephew (sister's son) Ramachandran, known as Ambi in music circles, married Krishnamurthy's daughter Anandi. [4]

Sadasivam died in 1997, at the age of 95.

References

  1. Rediff on the Net:Freedom Fighter Sadasivam Dead
  2. Iyer, Aditya. "MS Subbulakshmi: 100 years of a Carnatic legend". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
  3. Sadasivam was Spartan Gandhian,PTI, 21 November 1997
  4. https://www.rasikas.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=9871