At weddings, she noticed that the normally restless child never asked to be taken home – he would run around and stand happily by the nAdhaswaram ensemble. Taking this as a sign, Vignesh Ishwar’s grandmother, Sarada Krishnan, enrolled him for vocal lessons at age 4. The teacher was recalcitrant initially,…
As the rain keeps pelting down in Madras from Cyclone Nivar, with bursts of hyper loud thunder and incredible flashes of lightning, looking at my waterlogged street and my semi-inundated yard with the ever looming threat of a power outage, I get a few distinct memories, all associated with water.…
Most know Anantha R. Krishnan (Anantharaman Krishnan) as a skilled mridangist and the grandson of Sangita Kalanidhi Palghat R. Raghu. However, the Ivy League educated Anantha cannot be encapsulated in a single sentence. He is an artiste who looks at art itself with broad horizons – well beyond the mridangam…
COVID-induced travel restrictions meant that my daughter and I spent 6 months continuously in Pennsylvania with my husband and son – the four of us have never been together for so long a stretch in over 9 years. An additional happy side-effect of this stay has been my son’s attempting…
Note: I normally edit after I write but it seemed appropriate NOT to do so in this case. So, please excuse all errors. Every now and then, I get asked if I am jobless. There are those who camouflage it in the seeming courtesy of “so, what DO you do…
Though most composers of Indian Classical Music have historically identified their works with a recognisable watermark, nowadays, the act of claiming credit in this art form is frequently construed as mercenary and disrespectful to hallowed tradition. Given the highly commercial nature of music dissemination now, performers’ rights is a topic…
A good friend sent me this yesterday. The timing was appropriate. Later in the day, my son called me, feeling most down. “I have been working on a written summary,” he said. “When I look at what others have done, I realise mine is awful.” I reacted calmly but was…
If one has to be recognised in Carnatic music, one just HAS to relocate to Chennai, it is said. There can be no substitute for listening to live concerts is also oft-heard. This respected violinist, however, has put paid to both the above statements. Charulatha Ramanujam is appreciated not only…
On Tuesday last week, my daughter and I decided to look at returning to India at the earliest. An intended six-week sojourn had extended to almost six months. It was a really tough decision to split up the family back again at this time of a pandemic – and frankly,…
A consummate performer rarely makes a good teacher, each requiring different skill sets. Imparting knowledge to those far less conversant requires assessing and customizing instruction for each student, simultaneously motivating and pushing and, above all, zero insecurity to demystify what seems opaque and frequently shrouded. Lalgudi Jayaraman, whose 90th birth…