September 2nd: Wednesday - Music Academy (Spirit of Youth)
Time: 6:00 pm to 7:15 pm
Accompanists:
Shyam - Violin
V.S.Raghavan - Mridangam

September 24th: Thursday - Bharat Kalachar (Yuva Utsav)
Accompanists:
Sudha R.S.Iyer - Violin
Calcutta Karthik - Mridangam

September 27th: Sunday - RmKV Navarathri Music Festival
Accompanists:
Shyam - Violin
Prapancham Surendran - Mridangam

This Sunday, the daily Tamil newspaper Dinathandi carried a full-page interview of me. The sub-editor of the newspaper had read the earlier write-up in Aval Vikatan and wanted to do a cover story for his paper.

Here's the interview from the online version of the paper. Click on the image to read the interview.



The ICFAI Business School Alumni Federation (IBSAF) Chennai representatives wanted to publish the English translation of this interview in their magazine. So here's a rough English translation.

First place…not impossible!

“I wake up at 4:30 am and do yoga for an hour. Then I practise music and leave for college. Once I’m back home in the evening, I prepare for my TV show’s shooting or for my music concerts. If I have a concert in the evening, I have to ensure that I perform well!” says 22 year old Nivedita Narayanan, all in one breath, bubbling with energy and enthusiasm! “These days I sleep only three hours,” she says, leaving us amazed!

“But isn’t it necessary to sleep eight hours every day to be able to work well the next day?” we ask her. Nivedita bursts out laughing, her cheeks dimpling!

“Many people say that they sleep 8, 9 or 10 hours everyday. But if you’re obsessed with excelling in all the activities you do, 3 hours of sleep will suffice! I get all the energy I need to work non-stop on all my activities, with 3 hours of sleep!” she says.

As we talk, we notice that Nivedita uses the term “first place” very often. Oh, there seems to be something with this young lady and “first place”! She is a gold medalist in B.E. Currently pursuing her M.B.A. from the ICFAI Business School in Gopalapuram, Chennai, she has been awarded scholarships for her first two semesters already. She is also a recognized Carnatic vocalist.

You’ve already secured quite a few “first places”. What next?

“I’m involved in a number of fields and I want to be the best in all of them. To be able to achieve that, I’ve decided not to shift out of Chennai. After my M.B.A., I want to shine in the corporate world and also become a great and respected Carnatic musician.”

A number of newspapers have recognized her as an excellent writer and reporter. She has written two books with her Carnatic music guru and is also involved in music research. She also has her own prime-time show on Doordarshan’s Podhigai channel, featuring talented, up-and-coming musicians.

To be able to achieve so many firsts, one must be a good child to one’s parents. Correct?

“Well, a lot of young girls like hanging out at the movies. But I hardly watch them. My M.B.A. institute is just a few yards away from Sathyam Cinemas. About five months ago, my friends dragged me along to a movie…and that was one of my very few movie-watching experiences! I don’t really enjoy watching movies; nor do my parents. In several such issues, I see eye-to-eye with my parents. So I’m a good child, after all!

Everyone must chart out a timetable to work on their goals. Only after that is done should they allocate time for other things. Some young people believe that its ‘cool’ to do what their parents don’t want them to do. What I suggest is that all youngsters draw a balance between doing what they want to do and what their parents want them to do. That way, you please your parents!”

How does one become a ‘good student’?

“I’m doing my M.B.A. and I want to excel in it. Some professors believe that to excel or to be a good student, it is necessary to come to class on time, to not talk during lectures and so on. If we abide by these simple demands, life is a lot easier! Also, to be a good student, pick the right kind of friends, so that you don’t end up doing things you actually don’t want to!”

How does one allocate time efficiently to be able to excel in so many fields, like you are doing?

“If you are passionate about something, there is no way you will not find the time for it. If you don’t have a deep interest in something, you will automatically feel tired or not-so-enthusiastic about it. There are a 100 ways to get a job done. For those who are passionate about achieving their goals, finding one of those 100 ways and getting the job done is not difficult at all! Passion, in one word, is what is required to be able to excel in several fields.”

You sleep only 3 hours a day. Is that a sacrifice you’ve made to achieve your goals?

“It is not a sacrifice. I can make do with 3 hours of sleep…simple!”

Don’t you regret not being able to enjoy life like other young girls?

“Each person’s perception of ‘enjoyment’ varies. For some people, enjoyment is going to the movies or the beach. For me, music gives incomparable joy and happiness. In fact, I enjoy life much more than most people my age!”

At such a young age, you seem to be chasing a lot of goals. Looking back at it later in your life, how do you think you will feel?

“I’d feel good! My elder brother Arvind Narayanan, stood first in India in the Indian Mathematics Olympiad , represented India at the International Mathematics Olympiad in Romania and won the silver medal, when he was in 12th standard. He graduated from IIT Madras and did his PhD from the University of Texas at Austin. He has now been invited by Stanford University to do his post-doctorate and he has taken up the offer. He was able to achieve all this only because he worked hard on his goals. The one-movie-a-week attitude isn’t of much help in achieving goals! I’m chasing my goals too…with determination…and I will achieve them!”

Many young girls today work while they study. Will this not affect their academic career?

“If they can manage to do both well, that’s great! Work systematically and you will be able to straddle multiple careers; but don’t let your academics suffer!”

Girls who are focused on their careers get married very late, now-a-days. Your take on this?

“Well, some of my friends tied the knot at 21. Others have decided to marry late. It’s what they want to do…”

How will your achievements benefit our society?

“Whether it is through research or through my music, the society will be benefited in one way or the other. When I perform in public, the music gives happiness and peace of mind to a lot of people who listen to my concerts.”

Nivedita’s parents are Lakshminarayanan and Kalyani. Her music guru is Yuva Kala Bharathi K.N.Shashikiran.

My convocation photo from The Hindu newspaper. Stumbled upon it just now, six months after my convocation! :)

(http://www.thehinduimages.com/hindu/photoDetail.do?photoId=106631837)



-----

The Hindu Friday Review also carried a small news item about my music album Guru Kripa last week. Here's the link:

http://www.hindu.com/fr/2009/06/12/stories/2009061251340500.htm

From today's Aval Vikatan magazine:

(Click on the picture to read the article)

It started about a year ago. Everywhere I went, someone (say, A) would introduce me to someone else (say, B) as a Carnatic vocalist. B would look at me and his/her face would light up with instant recognition. "I've seen you on TV!"

The first few times I was amused. "No," I would politely say with a wide grin, "the last time I sang on TV was when I was 9 years old!"

Some of the B's (a small minority of them) would say "Oh, but you do look very familiar!" and move on to more consequential topics of discussion.

But a vast majority of them would persist. Relentlessly.

"Oh, but you sang in Airtel Super Singer, didn't you?"

"Are you sure? I'm verrrryy sure I've seen you on TV!"

"Really?! But I've seen you on Raja Geetham!"

Substitute Airtel Super Singer and Raja Geetham with all the other music-based reality shows and you pretty much have all the replies I got from the B's of the world.

And so it went for a few months. After the first few times (especially after one particular day when 3 people said the same thing within 2 hours), it didn't surprise me anymore. But I often contemplated sticking a label on my back that read "No, you've NOT seen me on TV!".

Then suddenly, this January, just when I'd almost gotten a designer label printed out for my back, I got a call from Doordarshan. In a week's time, I was the host of my own show 'Puduppunal' on Podhigai, Doordarshan's regional channel in TamilNadu.

In the next two weeks, all the B's of the world had actually seen me on TV. So now, when they say "Oh, I thought you looked familiar! Of course, you're the one that hosts Puduppunal. I saw the episode featuring Mandolin Sisters/ Keyboard Sathya/ Athira/ Iyer Sisters/ Jananiy/ Shruti Sagar/ Bhageswari/ Oxygen," I can't help but believe them.

But if you thought it ended there and that I've been living happily ever after, *sigh* nope! This is where it gets juicier.

Ever since Puduppunal happened, life has become much easier for the mamas and mamis of the world whose sons/ grandsons/ nephews/ neighbour's sons/ friend's sister's nephews are between 23 and 27. They don't have to bother coming home now - they see me on TV (the ponnu paathufication is done!), do some preliminary enquiries and...call my mom. Who, thankfully, politely tells them that I'm not interested.

And oh, please notice that age is the only criterion for the boy. He need not know music. He need not have a good academic background. He need not look good. He can even be unemployed ("He's looking for a job. He's bound to get one soon," a mami explained about her friend's sister's nephew.). I, of course, have to have this list of characteristics.

1. Fair
2. Good-looking
3. Must know music - that I perform is a bonus
4. Must be academically "well-qualified" 

But then, there was one mami who assumed I was in school and asked mom if I would marry her nephew who is currently doing his B.E. No, I didn't make this story up.

5. This is an unwritten rule - I must shift base to wherever the boy lives. (The fact that I'm building a career in music myself and that I'm not going to shift out of Chennai is trivial and need not be given any consideration.)

There was another mami who was campaigning for a boy who had no great academic qualifications, but whose family was very rich. "They've decided that their son should marry your daughter," she told my mom, with a beaming smile, indicating that the family was doing me a great favour by deciding that their son should marry me! Bah!

But there was one mami who beat 'em all, hands down. She got my address and phone number from a neighbourhood newspaper that carried a small article on me. She called me one day when I was going to music class. After the initial inconsequential banter, here's how the conversation went.

Mami: You've already done a music album...aren't you very young?
Me (Ok, she just wants my age): I'm 21...
Mami (jumps to the next question): Actuallllllyyyyy, I'd like to speak to your parents and congratulate them for having such a talllllennnnted kid. Are they around?
Me (Oh no, I know where this is headed. If a mami wants to speak to mom or dad, it can only mean one thing.): Ummm, I'm on my way to music class, so they're not here. Why don't you call home in about 2 hours from now?

But this mami was so excited at having found the *right* girl for her son that she called home immediately. My grandmom told her in no uncertain terms that I'm still too young for marriage. But the mami wouldn't give up. "Why don't we get them engaged now? They can get married three years later." Even my grandmom was stunned. "No," she said. And hung up. 

But the mami would still not give up. A month later, she and her husband came home, unannounced! I was sitting on the sofa in my nightdress, working on my laptop. "My husband thought we should call you before coming. But I told him that we're not thieves after all, so we can go unannounced," she declared, grinning at me and priding herself for such a brilliant explanation. "We just came to see you."

Oh, great, I thought, this was the official ponnu paathufication! My mom made polite conversation with them, in the course of which we learnt that the mama knew Carnatic music. Just when we were hoping they'd leave, the mama asked me to sing. Now, that's something I never decline, so I promptly sang a kriti. At the end of it, the mama mumbled a "nice". Mom was surprised, but obviously she didn't let it show. For the next 10 minutes, while my mom politely refused their offer, the mama went on humming, non-stop, weaving seemingly complex sangathis with his hands, loud enough to disturb the conversation. After they left, we realised that the mama had asked me to sing because he was hoping that I would ask him to sing! :D

My mom is still getting calls from mamis she's never seen or heard before. So to the mamis of the world - I'm still single (the fact that I'm not interested can be overlooked, can't it?). Start by tuning in to Doordarshan Podhigai every Wednesday at 9 pm and every Thursday at 11 am. And if the boy has no knowledge of music, hasn't studied much, is unemployed and does not look good, but has lots of money, search no more - I'm your girl!

My cousin runs a huge sports academy called S.R. Sports Club in Nanganallur, and along with it, a school called Kidzzone Kindergarten. The annual day of the school was held last sunday and well, I was the Chief Guest :D

Here're some pics. The expressions on the kids' faces are priceless.

(Click on the pics for bigger versions.)

Yesterday I performed for 40 minutes at a festival called the Manavar Kamban Vizha. Two days before the concert, someone from the organization called and asked if I would be able to tune and present verses from the Kamba Ramayana as a concert. I said I would and they sent the verses over. The tamil in the Kamba Ramayana is very different from the kind that we're used to, so I took a Tamil poet's help to understand the meaning. There were 8 songs, which I tuned to Arabhi, Hindolam, Mohanam, Kurinji, Pantuvarali, Bilahari, Revathi and Madhyamavathi.

A day before the concert, the organizers wanted me to do a rehearsal. I did and they said they were "stunned". Now, that had me stunned. But I was happy anyway.

Yesterday, I thought the concert went smoothly. But as soon as I finished the last piece I was stunned again when the entire audience of about 250 people rose in unison and clapped for a full 2 mins! The audience consisted of Tamil poets and scholars including a Kalaimamani! Yay! :)

The Youth Association for Classical Music (YACM) asked me to write an article for their magazine Dhwani. I wrote what I've posted below. It is a topic I feel very strongly about. But I guess it came out too strong for publishing, so I had to edit it. But here's the original.

Rasika Leela
They’re the show stealers. One sees them in dozens, even hundreds, in every concert hall. They’ve discovered a 101 ways of using concert time effectively, only one of which is listening to the concert – which leaves us with no doubt that they, the rasikas, are the real show stealers in any concert!

But sometimes, the show-stealing isn’t restricted to the concert hall, as I learnt a month ago. At a musician-rasikas chat show with a famous vidwan who plays the Chitravina, a mami asked the maestro if he only sings or has also learnt to play any instrument! Understandably, it took me a great deal of effort to keep a straight face. The vidwan, try as he might, couldn’t!

Inside the concert hall, the scene is nothing short of spectacular – what with glittering silk sarees, dazzling jewellery and shining veshtis and jibbas on display from the audience. Some rasikas staunchly believe that all talams are two counts long and consist of only a thattu and a veechu. So they demonstrate their superior talam-keeping skills proudly to the rest of the audience - thattu, veechu, thattu, veechu and nothing else but thattu, veechu - even when the artiste is singing or playing in Sankirna Chapu. There are others who give every artiste a small, neatly folded chit that invariably reads ‘kurai onrum illai’. Obviously, Carnatic music = kurai onrum illai, for a significant proportion of the audience!

While these quirks are amusing, there are some things that downright smack of disrespect to the artistes. The ubiquitous mobile phone, for instance, that rings when the vocalist is singing a breathtaking karvai at the mandra sthayi shadjam and the entire hall is listening in awed silence. Or the mama who talks into his mobile phone at regular intervals, loud enough for the performer to hear. Or the gentleman who finds the concert hall the best place to read and re-read that day’s newspaper and rustles it so loudly that even the snoring mama next to him wakes up. Or the mamis who chatter away endlessly with one another because they’ve come to hear the next concert and are not in the least bothered about the current performer. Or the section of the audience that walks out as soon as the tani avartanam begins.

Yet it’s the rasikas who decide every musician’s career graph. It is they, with or without their idiosyncrasies, who decide who gets the prime slot and who gets the afternoon slots. Consciously or sub-consciously, it is the rasikas that most musicians hope to please. And so, with due apologies to Tygaraja Swami, “Endaro rasikajanamulu, andariki vandanamu”.

It's been a very hectic one and a half months.

Some things I did:

1. Performed 5 concerts. Here are a couple of pics from my Chennai Sangamam concert at Tower Park, Anna Nagar. Thanks to photographer Nachiketha B.Phathanjali for the photos.

(Click on the pics for bigger versions.)





2. My album Guru Kripa was released and I've received a lot of nice comments. Thanks, everyone! :)

Listen to Appa Rama Bhakti (Ragam Pantuvarali) from the album:



3. Hosted a chat show from the 20th to the 31st of Dec, at Sangeetha Fast Foods, R.A.Puram. Interviewed Aruna Sairam, Unnikrishnan, Chitravina Ravikiran, Gayathri Venkataraghavan, Ranjani and Gayathri, Sangita Kalanidhi Umayalapuram Sivaraman, Priya Sisters, Sowmya ma'am, Anuradha Sriram and Sriram Parasuram, T.M.Krishna and Sangeetha Sivakumar, Sikkil Gurucharan and Anil Srinivasan, and Sudha Ragunathan. The audience response was absolutely overwhelming.

Here's a pic from Ranjani and Gayathri's interview:

(Click on the pic for bigger version.)



Some videos of the final day's show, featuring Sudha Ragunathan, for which Kavingyar Vairamuthu was the chief guest, are here, here and here.

4. Worked with Shashi sir on his Times of India articles. You can read them here.

5. Shashi sir's book Carnatic Fun-task-tic (about which I've written here), which was released in January last year, was completely sold out by the end of November! Thanks to everyone who e-mailed Shashi sir and me. :) We're working on the second edition, besides a couple of other books.

6. My B.E. convocation was held on January 10th. The Director of India's moon mission Chandrayaan - I, Dr.Mylswamy Annadurai, was the Chief Guest. He said that he used to walk 10 miles to school everyday, as a kid. I thought such things existed only in stories. It felt nice to get my degree from such a great man. Got gold medal, cash award and four certificates - two from the college and two from the university. :) Dinamani carried the photo:

(Click on the pic for bigger version.)


7. Will be hosting a new 1-hour show on up-and-coming musicians on Doordarshan from next week. I'm hoping the shooting schedule doesn't interfere with college.

Been doing a lot of other things too. These days, it takes me some time to even remember what day of the week it is. But oh, I love life and I love music! :)

P.S.: The album is available in music stores in Chennai. It hasn't gone to other cities or to the U.S. yet. So if you're outside Chennai, please drop me a mail.

...my music album 'Guru Kripa' will be released by the Additional Solicitor General of India, Shri Mohan Parasaran, and Cleveland Shri V.V.Sundaram, this Saturday morning at 10:30 am, during Carnatica's music festival Samarpanam. :)

Venue: Tattvaloka Auditorium, No. 76, Eldams Road, Teynampet, Chennai

Here's how the album looks:

Click on the image for a bigger version.



Upcoming Concerts:

Carnatica's Samarpanam - 21st Dec - 1:30 pm
Mridangam: Kum. Rajna Swaminathan
Violin: Kum. Srividya R.S.Iyer

Nada Sudha - 1st Jan - 4:30 pm

Chennai Sangamam - 11th Jan

Pictures of me, taken yesterday. Click on the pictures for bigger versions.

Shashi sir and I are in the process of creating a public database of Carnatic music gurus across the world, for the benefit of music students. If you know teachers who would like to have their names included, or if you're a teacher yourself, please mail me at nivedita.narayanan@gmail.com

We'd like to have the following details:

1. Name of the guru
2. Whether they teach vocal or instrumental music (if the latter, specify which instrument)
3. Whether they teach online/direct or offer any specialized courses
4. Address
5. Telephone number
6. E-mail address
7. Website (if they have one)

My mom's dad is Narada in human form. When he's not looking up a cow's backside or a dog's uterus (he's a vet), he likes getting people into trouble. This incident happened sometime in March this year, but to give you some background info, I'll take you back to 2002.

March 2002:

I was 14 years old and had been learning music for several years from a mama who used to come home every Saturday and Sunday and teach me. During those years, I hated music. I almost never practised. Sitting through a concert was sheer torture.

I remember that mama once taught me to tune and play the tambura. I never got the hang of it - so much so that _every_ time I tried playing the tambura, I would break a string! I would get the broken string replaced and promptly break the new one!

Every weekend I would hope that somehow, mama would not turn up. But he would. He would be late invariably, but he would always come. More info on how I learnt from him is here.

It was at this point of time that by a quirk of fate, I started learning from Shashi sir. But I had not yet quit learning from mama, because I didn't have the guts to tell him. But from the very first day of starting to learn from Shashi sir, I fell in love with music. I would pester him for class everyday. I would talk non-stop to my school friends about music. They only knew carnatic music as 'saami paatu'. They thought I was crazy, but they put up with me.

When I had exams in school, I would finish the paper early and then sit and write the names of the 72 melakartas over and over again in all my question papers, until the teacher let us out of the hall. In chemistry class, I would look at the teacher, nod occasionally and pretend to be taking notes, while I was actually working out combinations of shruti bedam for the melakartas.

In short, I was crazy about music - and I mean, good music. Which means that I did not like mama's music. So I mustered my guts and told him that I was quitting paatu class. There was no way I could have told him that I was quitting because I had found the best guru in the world, so I told him that my school work was taking so much of my time, that I couldn't concentrate on music anymore! (Ha ha!) Incidentally, mama started teaching my uncle (my mom's brother) after that.

March 2008:

It was a Sunday and I was at my uncle's house for a family get-together. We had just finished our lunch when the doorbell rang.

"That will be paatu mama." my uncle said.

"Wha...?!" I started, but even before I could finish, he had reached the door.

In that fraction of a second, I decided it was dangerous to meet mama, because if anyone in the family accidentally let it slip that I am now an upcoming vocalist, it would be too embarrassing!

So I ran. And hid. In the kitchen.

Then my uncle opened the door, paatu mama came in...and instead of heading straight to the music room, settled down comfortably in a couch in the living room! The kitchen is attached to the living room, so there was no way I could come out of the kitchen until mama left for the music room. But I didn't mind it; my aunt has a nice kitchen.

Now this was when my thatha decided to have some fun. He went and sat next to mama. Then, "Niviii, come out!" he called out, looking towards the kitchen. I didn't budge. Then he turned to mama. "You know, Nivedita is here. She is hiding in the kitchen because she doesn't want to meet you"

I fumed! Staying in the kitchen wasn't an option anymore, so I walked out into the living room. And exchanged pleasantries with mama as though nothing had happened! In fact, I managed to look like I was excited at meeting him!

Thatha's best was yet to come. "See, she is a performing artiste now." he declared. "She's a disciple of Vidwan Shashikiran. And she sings so well these days."

Ah, I thought, it couldn't have gotten worse than that. I looked at mama, wondering how he would take it. "She's MY disciple, that's why she's singing so well." he told my thatha.

I did the only thing that came to my mind at that moment. I fell at mama's feet and got his aashirvaadam.

Thankfully, the others realised what was happening and mama was soon ushered into the music room. And with the exception of my thatha, all was right with the world again.

Got the first prize in a paper presentation competition conducted by the Youth Association for Classical Music (YACM) last Sunday.

My paper was on 'The Tambura and its electronic counterpart'. The judges were historian V.Sriram and violinist R.K.Sriramkumar.

Got T.M.Krishna and Bombay Jayashri's book 'Voices Within' and free subscription to Shruti magazine for one year, from Sangita Kalanidhis M.Chandrasekharan and Vellore Ramabadran.

Have been working on the Carnatica Brothers' new website. It's now up at http://carnaticabrothers.com/
If you have any suggestions or queries, use the form in the Contact Us page (http://carnaticabrothers.com/contact.php).

Random facts:

1. Working 20*7 is totally exhilarating. I can't remember the last time I spent 2 minutes doing nothing.
2. I love life and the challenges it throws at me.
3. I wish I could work harder and be like the people I respect and admire. For now, I'm working on working harder.

From yesterday's Saturday Post:
(Click on the image for a bigger version)

Life has been very hectic for the past one month. Looking back, I wonder how I managed because everyday I had more work than one could do in 24 hours! The whole month seems to have gone by in a blur. Here are some things that I remember doing:

1. Performed three concerts - one for the Sakkarai Amma temple in Thiruvanmiyur (about which I have written here), one for a Sai Baba temple in a village called Krishnakaranai, near Mahabalipuram, and the last at the 100-hour marathon concert organised by the Global Carnatic Music Association.

2. Interviewed people and reported for Saturday Post. I've put up some of the articles below.

3. Attended college, of course - with numerous presentations, role-plays (see pics below), case studies and discussions every week.

4. Wrote my midterm exams. I was doing so many things at the same time that I forgot to see the time schedule for one of my exams. I missed that exam!

5. Helped Shashi sir organise the 100-hour marathon concert I've mentioned above and a campaign called "Power of Silence" to fight global warming.

I also did a million other things that I don't recall now, almost all at the same time.
Sometimes I do wish I could just laze around for a while. But even as I type that sentence, I know I could probably never do that. How I love multi-tasking! :)

A few random pics of me that my friends in IBS took, as I was explaining a role-play for a competition to the rest of my team: http://pics.livejournal.com/nivedita_n/pic/000415x7/g34

Here are a few articles that I wrote for Saturday Post:

Click on the pics to read the articles.

June 28 - July 4:




July 12 - 18:



July 19 - 26:





July 26 - Aug 1:



Aug 9 - Aug 16:

I have just started writing for a weekly called the Saturday Post. My first article, on the Sakkarai Amma temple in Thiruvanmiyur, was published today. Click on the picture to read the article.

My final semester B.E. exams are over and I've joined the ICFAI Business School (IBS) here in Chennai for my Masters in Business Administration. The profs are excellent and college has been great until now! It's going to be a challenging task to manage my studies and music, but I'm totally up to it! :-)

Meanwhile, the other musician in the family, my cousin Viswa Subbaraman, is going great guns! Viswa is a Western Classical musician - a conductor and founder of Opera Vista, Houston.

This is his website: http://www.viswasubbaraman.com/

Watch him in action here.

Until I was fifteen years old, I didn't know what I wanted to be when I grew up. As a plump two-year old, I wanted to become a "weight-lifting champion" because my older cousins told me that I would grow up to be one! Later, my interests varied from painting to journalism to acting, but none of them were serious enough for me to want to pursue them. Singing never really figured in my list of interests. It was the last thing I wanted to do.

When I was fifteen, my mom took me to Shashi sir, hoping he would agree to teach me. I remember my first conversation with him went something like this:

Shashi sir: What's your name?
Me: Nivedita, sir
Shashi sir: Ok, sing something.
Me: Should I sing a varNam or a kriti?
Shashi sir: Sing anything

I sang telisi rAmA in pUrNacandrikA, which, after about seven years of learning music from mAmA, was the only kriti I was confident of singing in front of a musician! My mom promptly informed Shashi sir that I'd been singing the same song every time I was asked to sing!

After I finished singing:

Shashi sir: Hmm, what is your aim?
Me (It didn’t occur to me that anyone could possibly have a music-related aim, so I thought he’d asked me my name again): Nivedita, sir
Shashi sir (with a stare that I interpreted as are-you-musically-challenged-as-well-as-deaf): What is your aaaaiiiiimmmm?
Me: Oh, aim? Err...ummm...well...(quickly making up what I thought was a very clever reply)...maaaayyybe sing kutcheris...umm, some day.

I have no idea if Shashi sir believed me, but I started learning from him the very next day. In two days, I was head over heels in love with carnatic music. Since then, I have been wonderfully certain about what career I want to pursue!

The reactions I get from people to my choice of career, however, vary from hilarious to downright outrageous. But this reaction that I got from a total stranger wins hands-down:

About a month ago, a random person who I had never met before in my life, came home. His snail mail had found its way to our home and he had come to collect it. His conversation with me started like this:

Random Guy (RG): Are you working?
Me: No, I'm in the final year of my B.E.
RG: So you are going to work after that?
Me: No, I will be doing my M.B.A.
RG: But you must get married! But oh, it's alright, you can get married after your B.E. and study too. There are so many people out there who study after getting married.

Now, this was totally hilarious. I had known this person for exactly three minutes and he didn't yet know my name. But here he was, advising me to get married. I decided that I would not waste my time giving him a sane reply, so I merely nodded politely.

For the next hour, he talked about a number of inconsequential things, including my getting married. When he finally decided to leave, my mom happened to tell him that the primary qualification for my Mr.Right would be excellent knowledge of music. Random Guy gaped at me incredulously and then:

RG: Oh, come on now, don't tell me you're going to do kutcheris.
Me: I am performing.
RG (grabbing the door for support): Oh my GOD! (He stopped short of saying "abhishtu! abhishtu!") You mean you sing in public??
Me: Yes, is that a problem?
RG: Look, I'm sure your parents don't like what you are doing. You have to choose between music and marriage. You must give up music and get married.

He went on and on about how music can be nothing more than a hobby. He also gave me some brilliant ideas on what I could do with my knowledge of music, after marriage.

Idea #1: Sing in the bathroom, hum while cooking in the kitchen and doing household chores, so that I would have the "satisfaction" of singing.

Idea #2: Sing during my daily pooja at home, for "atma thrupti" ("satisfaction of the soul")

Idea #3: Form a "all-ladies choir" and sing in small functions, weddings, etc.

At this point, he stopped and earnestly promised me that he would give me more ideas to "shape my life" if I visited him. Oh, I can't wait to go.

Pictures from today's concert. Click on the pictures for bigger versions.



















Song List:

1. evvari bOdhana (varNam) - Abhogi - Adi - Patnam Subramanya Iyer
2. sarasIruhAsanapriyE - nATTai - Adi - Puliyur Duraisami Iyer (S at 'saraswati' and 'saritE sukhanuta guNashIlE' in caraNam)
3. tiruvaDi caraNam appA (kriti on Shirdi Sai Baba) - aTANA - Adi - Shankar A.Iyer
4. dayarAni - mOhanam - khaNDa cApu - Tyagaraja (R, S at pallavi)
5. dEva dEva kalayAmitE - mAyAmALavagauLa - rUpakam - Swati Tirunal
6. gurulEkha eTuvaNTi - gaurimanOhari - khaNDa cApu - Tyagaraja
7. rAmakathA sudhA - madhyamAvati - Adi - Tyagaraja (R, S at 'bAmA maNi jAnaki', followed by tani)
8. maragata maNimaya cElA - Arabhi - Adi - Oothukkadu Venkata Kavi
9. kaNNan kuzhalOsai - tilang - Adi - Ambujam Krishna
10. makuTakE mangaLam - madhyamAvati - Adi - Purandaradasa

...for the All India Sai Samaj, at the Sai Baba temple in Mylapore, from 3 pm to 5 pm, on 17th April, Thursday. Will be accompanied by Shri Raja Subramaniam on the mridangam and his wife Smt. Vidya on the violin.

All are welcome! :-)

Here are a few pics taken by the organisers of a recent concert and lec-dem.Click on the photos for bigger versions.





Courtesy: YACM


Courtesy: YACM

Shashi sir is on his annual US tour now. This is his schedule:

Updated on: March 14

March 8 - San Jose
(http://rasika.carnatica.net/viewtopic.php?t=1640)

March 9 - 2:30 pm - Hindu Temple, Sacramento

March 8-9 (morning) - Workshop for Shruti Swaralaya, Fremont

March 14 - Chicago

March 15 - Raleigh

March 16 - 3:00 pm - Thematic program on Music & Spirituality, with Neyveli Santhanagopalan - Tri City, Tennessee

March 23 - Connecticut

March 24, 25, 26 - Boston

March 20, 27, 28 - Teaching at Cleveland State University

March 28 - Cleveland Tyagaraja Aradhana
(http://www.aradhana.org/schedule.htm)

March 29 - Indianapolis

March 30 - Fundraiser Concert with Subhashree Thanikachalam, V.K.Manimaran & Gayathri Venkataraghavan at Baltimore Temple

April 1 - Lecture Demonstration, Detroit

April 2 - Hindu Temple, Canton

April 2-5 - Workshop, Detroit

April 4 - Balaji Temple, Detroit

April 5 (evening) - Bharathi Kala Manram, Toronto

April 6 - 4:00 pm - South Indian Music Association (SIMA), Los Angeles
(http://www.geocities.com/southindianmusicacademy/upcomingevents.html)

For more details, contact 423-534-9724

P.S.: I miss paatu class :(


Update:

Details of workshop and concert by Carnatica Brothers on March 14th

Location:

Residence of Lakshmi Anandan
582 East Home Ave
Palatine
IL 60074
Phone: 1-847-991-3452

Programme:

5pm - 6:45pm - Music Workshop by Carnatica Brothers (Vocal)
and Mrudangam Workshop by Shri Mannargudi Eashwaran

7 - 9 pm - Concert by Carnatica Brothers
Accompanied by:
Master Sandeep N. Bharadwaj, Violin
Vidwan Mannargudi Eashwaran, Mrudangam

For further information, please contact Minu Kannan - 248-224-6694

Am singing at the Madhya Kailash temple in Adyar at 9:00 pm tomorrow as part of their Maha Shivrathri celebrations.

March 9th:

Update: The event was conducted by the Youth Association for Classical Music (YACM). Every artiste got thirty minutes to sing. My accompanists were Akkarai Swarnalatha on the Violin and B.Srivats on the Mridangam. Here's what I sang:

1. shri shankara guruvaram - nAgaswarAvaLi
2. kapAli - mOhanam
3. The viruttam 'Adi andamillA' that I've written about in my previous post, followed by nambik-keTTavar evaraiyA - hindOLam

The day was very hectic, but I really love being perpetually busy! :D At 9 am, I was at the corporate offices of Siemens India Pvt. Ltd., Nungambakkam (am doing my final year project for them), from where my friends and I went to ETA Techno Park at Navalur, in Old Mahabalipuram Road. We spent the rest of the day in a building being constructed for HCL, commissioning Variable Frequency Drives. Every inch of the place was covered with layers of dust and by afternoon, I had a very bad cold!

To use a restroom, we had to walk about a kilometer in the heat, then were subjected to a test to prove that we were indeed from Siemens and weren't there to smuggle toilet paper from their restrooms. When we were finally allowed to use them, we had a female security guard standing watch over us! The guys tell me the procedure was even more stringent for them! :D

We stood in the dust the entire day, with no place to sit, programming and troubleshooting drives. We were scheduled to stay there until 10 pm, but our guide let us go because I had a concert. When I came back home, it was 8 pm. I had a light dinner and rushed to the concert. Thankfully, my voice showed no signs of the cold when I was on the stage. :)

Today, I composed a viruttam in Hindolam, to sing before Papanasam Sivan's nambik-keTTavar evaraiyA. The lyrics go like this:

Adi andamillA ambalattOnE
IrEzhulagin IshanE - jagadIshanE
umai nambinOrkkaruLum umai nAyakanE
E.nginOrkku enDrum enDrenDrum
Oru (uru) thuNaiyAi ninrOnE
tiru mayilai vAzh umApatiyE - nin
tiruvaDi caraNam caraNam caraNam - umai
nambikkeTTavar evaraiyA

The kriti goes like this:

pallavi:
nambik-keTTavar evaraiyA umai nAyakanai tirumayilaiyin iraivanai

anupallavi:
ambuli gangai aNinda jaTAdharan anbar manam kavar shambhu kapAliyai

caraNam:
onrumE payanillai enru uNarnda pinbavar uNDenbAr
ovvoru manidarum oru nAL innilai eiduvadurudi idai marandAr
anru sheyal azhindala marupozhudu avan (shivan) peyar nAvil vArAdE
AdalinAl manamE inrE shiva nAmam shollippazhagu - anbudan

Rummaging through a battered briefcase a couple of days ago, I found this old newspaper clipping from The Hindu. It is a beautiful write-up in which Smt.DKP talks about her brother and disciple Shri DKJ, shortly after he passed away in January 1991. There are ink blots near the corners of the clipping, but I hope you will enjoy reading it as much as I did.

Click on the picture for an enlarged version.

The Carnatica brothers performed for Hamsadhwani two days ago, on 21st Feb. It was a brilliant concert. Here's the song list.

Vocal: Shri K.N.Shashikiran & Chitravina Shri P.Ganesh
Violin: Shri M.A.Sundaresan
Mridangam: Srimushnam Shri Raja Rao
Ghatam: Shri S.V.Ramani

Song List:

1. nera nammiti (varNam) – kAnaDA – khaNDa aTa – Ramnad Srinivasa Iyengar

2. enta vEDu kondu rAghavA – saraswati manOhari – Adi – Tyagaraja

3. paripAlayamAm – rItigauLa – rUpakam – Swati Tirunal (S at 'tAmarasAyata lOcana cArutanO')

4. mAyammA – Ahiri – Adi – Shyama Shastri ( R)

5. samUkhAna nilva galgunA – kOkilavarALi – Adi – Tyagaraja

6. RTP (in memory of Shri Ramachandran, founder of Hamsadhwani) - “hamsadhwani pOshaka rAmacandrA – sundara janaka pAhi” - hamsadhwani – khaNDa tripuTa (2 kaLai)

I've notated the pallavi:

, , , , s , , , | r , , , g , p , | , , S , , , n , | p , , , p n g , | g , p , , p n , |
- - - - ham- - - |sa- - - dhwa- ni - | - - pO - - - sha - | ka - - - rA - - - | ma- can - - - - |


S , , , , , , , | , , , , n , n , | n , p , , , n , | p , g , , , r , ||
drA- - - - - - - | - - - - sun- - - | da- ra- - - ja- | na-ka- - - pA-||


s , r ,
- - hi - (hamsadhwani...)

anulOmam, pratilOmam and rAgamAlikA swarams in hamsadhwani, hamsanAdam, hamsavinOdini and hamsAnandi, followed by tani avartanam.

7. enna tavam seidanai – kApi – Adi – Papanasam Sivan

8. ranjani mAlA – Adi – Thanjavur Shankara Iyer

9. dhiranA tana dhImta dhiranA – sencuruTTi – Adi – Veena Sheshanna

10. makuTakE ma.ngaLam – madhyamAvati – Adi – Purandaradasa

I've written about the concert in this thread: http://www.rasikas.org/viewtopic.php?id=4909

When I went to my last music class, Shashi sir was guiding two other vocalists with a 4-kalai pallavi in Shankarabharanam. My class was after theirs, but I recorded their session too. After the Hamsadhwani concert, he asked me to learn the 4-kalai pallavi and sing it in my next class! It's a challenging task but I love challenges!

Today morning, as I walked past a house in Indira Nagar, Adyar, where I live, a music class was in progress. A group of students were singing the arohanam and avarohanam of Hindolam. They were singing every note with a gamakam - and every gamakam was the same! The gamakam resembled a kampitam - like, say, the 'ma' in Shankarabharanam. It took me a while to believe my ears, but as soon as I was able to, I walked away as fast as I could. It's been a long time since I listened to a bad teacher and it really pained me to listen to such music.

When I was a kid, there were other kids in my apartment that learnt from a mami. Her sense of shruti was abysmal and she never used a shruti box or a tambura. Quite understandably, none of her students had one, either.

I've come across many other teachers just as bad, but writing about them isn't a very pleasant thing. I hope that, some day, they will all find better professions, and their students, if they are truly interested in music, better gurus.

...with Kambhoji.

At Sundaram Uncle's place yesterday and today, I learnt Muthuswamy Dikshithar's Kambhoji Kamalamba Navavarnam 'kamalAmbikAyai...' from Ganesh sir (Chitravina Ganesh). Dikshithar uses jArus (glide from one note to another), stAna kampitams (oscillation of a note around itself) and karvais (elongation of a note) generously in the kriti.The karvais are very long, so it requires excellent breath control to sing the song well.

In yesterday's class, sir taught only the pallavi and the anupallavi. So, I had class from 5:30 to 7:00 in the morning today to finish learning it. Then I rushed home, had breakfast and ran to the bus stand and caught my college bus at 7:15. I've been practising the kriti since morning - in the bus and during lectures in college and I'm head-over-heels in love with the ragam!

Last week, I learnt the Ghanta Kamalamba Navavarnam from Shri T.K.Govinda Rao and the Anandabhairavi Navavarnam from Shashi sir. Sir's very busy these days and I miss class. :-(