Trichy: When an 86-year-old man hurried on to the stage to receive his PhD at the Bharatidasan university convocation on Wednesday, many did not know that he had mentored renowned music directors like Ilaiyaraja and A R Rahman. He was none other than T V Gopalakrishnan, noted musician and mridangam maestro, who was the first to receive the certificate from Governor Banwarilal Purohit at the ceremony.In fact, it was a proud moment for TVG — as he is fondly known — who has been refusing an honorary doctorate from several renowned universities as he wanted to secure a PhD in music on his own. He had conducted his research work on “Layathwam in Carnatic music” at Tamil Nadu Government Music College at Thirvaiyaru. Terming it an important milestone in his life, TVG told TOI that he was the first musician from his family to get a doctorate though it had a legacy of producing musicians for over two centuries now. His family members had also acccompanied him to the event.Asked why he chose Thiruvaiyaru for his PhD, the maestro said no place would have been more appropriate than the land of Saint Thyagaraja whom he worshipped to undertake a study. “Tamil Nadu Government Music College gave me a conducive environment and Bharathidasan University is known for developing fine arts. Layathwam in Carnatic music was not taken by many for research. Since it is an integral part of music, I felt it necessary to share with others what I learned from my performances all these years,” he said.People would be able to understand music better and could perform Carnatic music with ease if they had command over Layathwam. Principal of Tamil Nadu Government Music College, P Uma Maheswari, who was the PhD guide of TVG, hesitated to be addressed as his guide for she said she could only assist him, which in itself was a wonderful learning experience.“He came to our college at the age of 80 for PhD with a lot of enthusiasm and all these six years he stuck to the PhD methodology while following all the processes without seeking any excuse. He attached audio visual content that runs into seven hours to his written thesis as part of the PhD work. He said music could not be fully explained in words,” said Maheswari.

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