The story of his life reads like a blockbuster.

He was a man of many accomplishments: a university rank-holder, ICS aspirant, film actor, music teacher, performer and composer. However, the mystic in Veeravanallur Vedantam Sadagopan, better known as V.V. Sadagopan, chose to give up all quests and simply vanished into the night. His birth centenary falls on January 29.

“He got off the train at Gudur [in Andhra Pradesh] on April 11, 1980, on his way from Delhi to Chennai. Afterwards there was no information about his whereabouts. His family still believes that he lives somewhere,” said T.K. Venkatasubramanaian, retired Professor of History of the Delhi University, who had also accompanied V.V. Sadagopan on the mridangam .

Born in Veeravanallur, a small town in Tirunelveli district, on January 29, 1915, Sadagopan, son of an insurance agent, Vedantam Iyengar, stood first in English, Maths and Sanskrit in 1934 and came to Chennai to prepare for the ICS examinations. Instead his association with Tamil writer Va. Ramasamy alias Vaara, first landed him in the world of journalism and later films. He has written for Ananda Vikatan .

“He was a star, handsome and charismatic. He was a graduate and an acclaimed Carnatic musician. When I learnt that the producers of the new film were planning to have him as the hero, I knew that I stood no chance of being considered for the role,” wrote MGR about V.V. Sadagopan, and the words of the former actor-turned-Chief Minister speak volumes for his talent and personality.

After acting in a few films including Navayuvan , Athisayam and Madanakamarajan , he returned to the concert platform.

When Soundaram Ramachandaran, a Minister in Jawaharlal Nehru’s Cabinet, launched the Gandhigram Rural Institute (GRI), she appointed Sadagopan as the director of Music Studies.

“When Nehru visited the institution in 1959, he got a chance to watch the Kuravanji dance-drama of Sadagopan. So impressed was Nehru with Sadagopan’s talents that he appointed him as Professor of Music in Delhi University. He continued in the job till 1975,” said Mr. Venkatasubramanian, whose father T.V. Kuppusamy was also a student of Sadagopan.

He delved deep into Vaishnavite literature and had given full-fledged concerts comprising verses from the Kambaramayanam .

Teaching music to children was a subject close to his heart and he launched the Tyaga Bharathi, a movement to carry out his mission.

“An ardent devotee of Thyagaraja’s music and admirer of Subramania Bharati’s ideas, he combined both to teach values to children. We used to visit schools and would sing and dance with children. They are not nursery rhymes, but penned and tuned to Carnatic music with the objective of moulding children,” said Devika Raman, daughter of Sadagopan.

While his family released two CDs of the songs of Tyaga Bharathi , his student Srirama Bharathi built a temple at Jalladaiampet on the outskirts of Chennai and propagated his ideas through music.

The tradition still continues.

Admired by MGR and Nehru, V.V. Sadagopan loved to impart values through music to children

source:http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Chennai /by B. Kolappan / Chennai – January 29th, 2015