As one enters Balasubramaniyam Street, just off PS Sivaswami Road, the sounds of a full-on percussion can be clearly heard.

Though it’s only 10.30 in the morning, work is on in full swing at this one-room manufacturing-cum-repair shop, where A Arogyam and others are busy with their work on mridangams and tablas.

This being Margazhi, he’s busy as ever. “We work on all leather instruments, but we specialise in mridangams.

We are originally from Thanjavur, but my grandfather came and settled here in Chennai because of better prospects as Chennai is the seat of Carnatic music.

During Margazhi, many people, including senior artistes, who come to Chennai from abroad, approach us for repairing the musical instrument they own, or buying new ones.

Also, those artistes give us bulk orders for their students abroad.

We export at least 50 mridangams every year,” shares Arogyam and adds, “Here, we’ve been repairing instrument for senior artistes like TV Gopalakrishnan sir (TVG) and Mannargudi Easwaran sir for quite some time. Staring with my thatha, we’ve been repairing mridangams for TVG. We have been doing it for the last 60 years.”

Ask Arogyam if it is important for a repairer to know how to play the instrument, and he replies, “It’s good if we know how to play, but the knowledge of tuning the instrument to sruthi is good enough for us to manufacture and repair them.”
Arogyam adds, “My son plays mridangam. So, when patrons want to buy mridangam, he plays for them so that they can judge the sound quality and it helps them choose what the instrument.”

According to him, the art of manufacturing and repairing instrument don’t come easily to everyone. “You need to have a sense of music for that, you have to appreciate music. It’s not something that can be taught; it has to be developed over years through practice. Though I started doing this in 1994, it took me almost eight years to gain the confidence to start making these instrument on my own,” he says.
Veena manufacturer and repairer, S Shankar, who has his workshop on Warren Road, in Mylapore, has been into this business for the last five generations. He says, “I belong to the fourth generation of veena manufacturers, and my son is also doing the same.” According to him, more than repair works, sale peak during Margazhi. “Artistes would have already repaired their instrument by end of November. But we sell a lot of instrument this time of the year because people from abroad come here to buy them,” he notes, “On the other hand, it’s during Navaratri that we get maximum requests to undertake repair work. People who keep these instrument at home just as showpieces want to keep them in good condition for puja.”
Shankar, who is also into manufacturing, adds, “We get the body from Thanjavur. We assemble veena here, including placing strings and frets. The cost of each veena ranges from `18,000 up to a lakh, depending on the finishing. Ekanda veena, which is made out of a single piece of wood, is quite costly.”
Arogyam also sources raw materials from different parts and manufactures mridangams at his shop. He informs, “I buy leather from Vyasarpadi or sometimes, it is brought from Ambur. The black disk at the center is made of a paste that’s made from stones that we buy from Thanjavur. And the wood for the mridangam comes from
Panruti.”
While some of them say that business has been on the rise, a few others beg to differ. Repairer M Navaneethakrishnan says, “My thatha and periappa were vidwans, but my father and I got into repairs as it was good business back then. But now, there are many who take up this job. Many of them go the artistes’ home to repair their instrument. But I find it comfortable to work out of my shop. So, business is not as great as it used to be earlier.”
Thiruvanmiyur-based D Udhayakumar, who undertakes repair work, says, “There was lull a few years ago because there was a strong inclination towards western music. It’s only now that things are changing in favour of Indian music. More youngsters are learning Carnatic music as it’s become popular across the globe. My father used to regularly repair violin for Kunnakudi Vaidyanathan sir. He has also worked on the instrument of several senior artistes, including Veena Gayatri and Kanyakumari.”
Meanwhile, M Govind Das, who has been in this business for the last few decades, says, “It is mostly students who come for repairs. For big artistes, their instrument are precious to them and they take care of them very well. Also, each artiste will have a repairer who he/she regularly goes to. A few of them come to me for repair. They send the instrument to my shop and I repair them and send them back.”

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News> City News> Chennai News / by Ashish Ittyerah Joseph / December 23rd, 2017