Hyderabad: Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) working president K T Rama Rao (KTR) promised help to Padma Shri award winner and legendary Kinnera instrument musician from Telangana, Darshanam Mogiliah who is reportedly struggling financially to make ends meet.
Responding to a post on X by senior journalist Sucheta Dalal citing a newspaper article on Mogilaiah’s dire situation, KTR promised to “personally take care of Mogiliah’s family.”
“Thanks Sucheta Ji for bringing this news to my attention I will personally take care of Sri Mogilaiah’s family. My team @KTRoffice will reach out to him immediately,” he said.
According to a report by the TOI, Mogilaiah outlines the reasons for the descent from the stage of the fourth-highest civilian award in 2022 to the construction site in Turkayamjal.
“One of my sons suffers from seizures. For medicines (son and myself) alone I need at least Rs 7,000 a month. Then there are regular medical tests and other expenses,” Mogilaiah, father to nine children, told TOI. Three of his kids died from ailments; three are married; three others are still students and dependent on Mogulaiah.
The artiste’s wife passed away four years ago. “I tried to reach out to multiple people for work. People sympathised and politely turned me away. All hailed me for my glorious past and even gave me small amounts, but I got no employment,” said Mogilaiah.
After Mogilaiah was awarded the Padma Shri in 2022, then Telangana chief minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao felicitated him and announced a reward of Rs 1 crore and a house site in Hyderabad.
“I used that money (Rs 1 crore state grant) for my children’s weddings. I even bought a piece of land in Turkayamjal. I started building a house but had to stop midway as I ran out of funds,” the report quoted Mogilaiah.
Allotments pending
In 2015, the Telangana government awarded Mogilaiah the state’s highest honour, the Ugadi Puraskaram, and promised him a monthly pension of Rs 10,000.
The report further quotes Mogilaiah stating that things got especially tough when the Rs 10,000 monthly honorarium sanctioned by the state was discontinued recently, not sure why it happened.
“Allotment of 600 sq yard plot in Rangareddy district still pending. I have been making the rounds of govt offices and meeting public representatives for help. All respond positively but do nothing. What’s worse, many people click photos with me and circulate them saying I am begging for existence. It is very painful,” Mogilaiah said.
Along with the 1 crore grant, the state had also announced a 600-square-yard plot in the Rangareddy district for the artiste. The allotment is still pending.
The Kinnera player recently met with Telangana chief minister A. Revanth Reddy and deputy chief minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka. During the meeting, the chief minister directed Mogilaiah to speak with minister Konda Surekha and promised to address his concerns.
Mogilaiah stated that he is now waiting for a decision from the government regarding his issues.
Mogilaiah’s legacy
The 67-year-old Padma Shri award-winning folk singer is the last surviving artist to play and perform with the traditional two-stringed instrument called Kinnera.
Kinnera is an indigenous instrument made using bamboo, dried bottle gourd, honeycomb, bull horn, wax, beads, mirrors, and peacock feathers.
Mogilaiah comes from a long lineage of Kinnera players, with his ancestors playing the instrument for the past five generations.
He upgraded the traditional Kinnera by adding 12 frets instead of the usual 7-9 frets used by his ancestors and has also replaced the goat’s nerve strings with metal strings.
Despite financial struggles, Mogilaiah has dedicated over 50 years of his life to singing folk tales and heroic stories of local figures using the Kinnera.
He was awarded the Padma Shri, India’s fourth-highest civilian honour, in 2022 in recognition of his efforts to preserve this endangered art form.
The Telangana government has also taken steps to support Mogilaiah, including adding the contributions of Kinnera to the state’s school curriculum.
