Tirelessly striving for perfection
G. JAYAKUMAR
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Playback singer Gayathri says she is still a student of Hindustani music.
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Listening to the performances of stalwarts like Parveen Sultana and Kishori Amolkar filled within me a deep urge to learn.
DEVOTED STUDENT: Gayathri
Gayathri's quest for excellence in Hindustani music began in her college days. That was the time she was passionately drawn towards Hindustani music.
"When I was doing my graduation in Literature at Vimala College, Thrissur, I would listen to a wide range of Hindustani music. I had a circle of friends who shared my interest," says this winner of the Kerala State award for the best playback singer in 2003.
Training
With music teachers as relatives, Gayathri was encouraged to learn music from a young age. For seven years she studied Carnatic music under Vamanan Nambudiri and Mangad P. Natesan.
"But I was not so serious about it. Carnatic music did not excite me. But with Hindustani music it was a different story altogether. Listening to the performances of stalwarts like Parveen Sultana and Kishori Amolkar filled within me a deep urge to learn."
After taking lessons from Ramesh Narayan for three months, Gayathri began the search for a `guru.'
"I made up my mind to go some place in North India and get trained in the gurukul way."
It was during this time that noted Hindustani musician Alka Marulkar, visited Kochi for a concert. Through a friend, Gayathri met her and expressed her wish to learn under her .
"At first she refused. After some persuasion, she asked me to sing. I sang a Carnatic kriti, and she agreed to accept me as her disciple."
Under the able guidance of Alka Marulkar, Gayathri spent the next three years in Pune assimilating the techniques of Hindustani music. When Alka Marulkar left Pune to take up an assignment in Goa, Gayathri returned to Kerala. In 2000, she got her first break in films, the song `Deenadayalo Rama' in `Arayanagalude veedu.'
However she felt she needed further training. Soon she found another teacher, Vinayak Torvi, based in Bangalore. Even now, every month, she goes to Bangalore for a few days, to learn a raga or two, in each trip.
Recently she started voice training after meeting Anand Vaidyanathan, an expert in voice culture, in Mumbai.
It was the song `Enthanee Kanna' in `Sasneham Sumitra' that won her the State award.
Her song `Ghanasyama' in `Kochu Kochu Santhoshangal ' under the direction of Ilayaraja is Gayathri's favourite.
An unforgettable experience
"Working under Ilayaraja sir was an unforgettable experience," she says. Other songs that have left her satisfied include `Chanchadiyadi' (`Makalku'), `Kannil kashi thumba' (`Dreams'), `Thumbapookalam' (`Naren').
Gayathri has also recorded a cassette of Hindi bhajans (`Anahath') to her credit. She has sung along with Shahbaz in a Malayalam ghazal album, `Neeyum nilavum.' She is also composing music for an album of Hindi bhajans scheduled for release in February next year.
Gayathri maintains that she is still a student of Hindustani music.
"The learning process has to go on for years," she says.
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