Integrity Score 120
No Records Found
No Records Found
Love this post, looking forward to your future ones!
My life with my passion, Mridangam, the majestic South-Indian drum started at the age of 4. Well, how it had happened? My parents told me I was a mischievous kid. Whatever came my way, I was told, I did try to knock at it to find a rhythm. Tables, chairs—none was an exception. I had a thing for rhythm.
Comparing the early behaviour of a kid with liking for Mridangam anyway could be far-fetched. But that could be enough to establish that as a child I had a thing for rhythm. There was a musician where I grew up, his name was Krishnappa Bhagavathar. He was adept at singing and playing Harmonium and Mridangam. He used to ride pillion on a bicycle and come home twice a week to teach my sister singing and me Mridangam.
I was his student for six years, and we also did our first public performance during this time. Those days Harmonium was part of the ensemble, so it was like my sister was the singer, Bhagavathar played Harmonium and I played Mridangam.
Krishnappa Bhagavathar was getting older and unable to teach us anymore. By that time I was under the training of Haripad M S Raju (Haripad is a place in Alappuzha district of Kerala, southernmost state of India). It was at high school—St Thomas High School Karthikapally-- I got a chance to come to limelight by winning prizes in festivals for school students in the state.
Meanwhile, my sister stopped music in high school to focus more on her studies. But I stayed on. It must be said that there is no musician in my family. So, I am the first-generation musician.
I started playing for musical concerts in temples. I never missed an opportunity to be present in and around my area. By the that time my interest in Mridangam grew and my so was my liking to the style of eminent Mridangam exponent Mavelikara Velukkutty Nair. I was determined that I will learn Mridangam under him. My father told me to wait till I pass my class 10. I will continue talking about my journey in my next post.