A pioneer and an immensely gifted guitarist, lost in an era of restrictions, before the Internet made us omniscient, Sukumar Prasad was the first to play Carnatic music on the guitar. He now remains a part of a small group’s collective memory in the form of recordings strewn all over the Internet with frantic attempts in the comments section of blogs and sound recordings by fans and old friends, all trying to trace this enigma.
Guitarist R. Prasanna, who has himself been a torchbearer for the innovation over the last few decades, says, “I first attended Sukumar’s concert when I was 11 years old,” and adds, “I had heard a cassette recording of his and by this time I had already started playing Carnatic music on the guitar myself.” This was also the time when people continued to discourage Prasanna’s efforts and he was mostly fascinated by the fact that someone else was successfully experimenting. “I was not used to looking at it critically then. My influences have been more from U. Srinivas (who plays the mandolin) and vocalists M.L. Vasanthakumari and D.K. Jayaraman,” he adds. When asked what might have led to Sukumar’s disappearance, rather discontinuing, Prasanna, says, “I am perplexed at that question because I faced resistance too but I persisted.” Prasanna is also quick to acknowledge that whenever anyone calls him ‘the first person to play Carnatic music on the guitar’ he corrects them and gives credit where it is due. He adds, “When I had asked him to teach me, Sukumar announced that there was no way he could teach me this and that I had to have it in my family/genes.”
Mandolin U. Srinivas, who is also a fan of Sukumar Prasad is elated when asked to talk about the musician. “He was a great and talented musician, who was playing for a long time when I was young. I heard him first in the early 80s at a concert in Sri Krishna Gana Sabha, Chennai, and it was mind-blowing listening to him perform; it was a first-of-its-kind experience and I feel most saddened at the thought that such talent would go waste.”
“In fact,” Srinivas adds, “his entire family was talented — his brother and his sister too were talented musicians and my request would be that he come back and play more concerts.” But what was he like? “He was humble and polite,” comes the answer.