Giridhar Udupa

Giridhar Udupa literally grew up surrounded by percussion as his father Ullur Nagendra Udupa was a mridangist who taught extensively. At age 4, he started learning mridangam and learned that exclusively until the age of 9. Then, at a concert organized by his father, Giridhar was roped in to play…

L. Ramakrishnan

This artiste was extremely clear that music was what he wanted to pursue and would have discontinued his studies after 12th Grade, had his Guru not persuaded him to complete his degree. “I had stubbornly refused to listen to my parents,” says L. Ramakrishnan who can be seen accompanying practically…

Vishakha Hari

Smt. Vishakha Hari, noted Harikatha exponent, concludes this podcast by bringing in a philosophical perspective. She talks of a ‘jvarA’ (fever) mentioned in Srimad Bhagavatam, and other anecdotes from the scriptures, to make sense of the malady we are currently amidst.  She suggests programs resume in green zones, with adequate…

Vidya Subramanian

Smt. Vidya Subramanian, rasika, entrepreneur and vocalist, gets into listeners and musicians, supply and demand, income streams and more, in this candid conversation. She says listeners and musicians fall in two broad categories and that, for the vast majority of listeners, physical concerts will take a back seat, for now,…

S. Mahathi

Smt. S. Mahathi categorically states that online concerts can never be a substitute for physical ones, making her point with a simple analogy and discussing the elephant in the room – artistes’ compensation. She thinks it is too early to get back to live performances, however, much as she would…

Ramanathan Iyer

“I feel this culture of the sabha-s themselves giving ‘All are welcome’ concerts should be gradually phased out.” Providing a listener’s perspective, Sri. Ramanathan Iyer says if all stakeholders do their respective parts, he would be eager to attend physical concerts now. As a curator of artistic events, in addition…

Ramapriya Arts Foundation

In this podcast’s second episode, Dr. Varalakshmi Anandkumar and Smt. Durgga Venkatesh of Ramapriya Arts Foundation provide the organisers’ perspective. They are ready to host concerts once the government gives the green signal. Besides clarifying that sensible precautions will be taken and listeners reassured, they explain why restarting artistic events…

Akshay Anantapadmanabhan

50 uniformed children, ages 5-10, happily clap their hands and recite konakkol phrases to a refrain of simple instrumental music from a cell phone. Just some twenty minutes earlier, their master of ceremonies had gently introduced the word ‘rhythm’ and got the children to chip in, conveying the message that…