India, Oct. 8 -- Greatness is not measured by how many people applaud us, but by what we do with what we have been given.

M.S. Subbulakshmi, whose voice made Venkateswara Suprabhatam a daily morning ritual in countless homes, treated her music as an offering rather than a career. She sang for charity concerts across decades and is widely remembered for giving away much of what she earned to causes, hospitals and institutions. When Mahatma Gandhi asked for the bhajan "Vaishnava Janato", she sang it for him, and he is said to have remarked that he would rather hear her simply recite the words of a bhajan than hear anyone else sing it. Her voice reached the United Nations in 1966, yet she remained a devotee first and a performer second.

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