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Musician by choice

On song: Carnatic vocalist S. Sowmya says her dream is to set up a digital library.

She has been at the crossroads more than once. Those were moments when she had to make those pivotal decisions in life. There were some that S. Sowmya found painful, like choosing between chemistry and a career in music. But deciding on an offer to sing in films was quite easy.

“When I got an offer to sing in films I looked at it this way. There were two reasons to tread that path – fame and money. And I was not interested in both. If I had to be a well known name, it had to be through classical music,” says this top notch Carnatic vocalist.

Sowmya is perhaps one of the few young Carnatic singers who has conscientiously kept away from the glare and glamour of films.

“The first offer to sing in films came from music director Deva. He asked me if I would be interested in singing ‘Nagumo…’ in the film ‘Arunachalam.’ I was so naïve that I thought it must be that krithi in Bhimplas or Arabhi. I even asked him if it would be set to traditional accompaniments. He must have thought I was dumb for he never called me again. When I saw the song in the film I knew my decision to turn down the offer was right,” Sowmya says with a smile.

Parting ways with chemistry was not that easy.

“Chemistry was a passion, it still is. I simply love it, like music. At that time I was into my third year of my research on ‘Synthesis of Anti-AIDS drug from glucose.’ Since research was not like the regular curriculum, it called for more attention. It was like a kutcheri, involving so much responsibility, so much of work. And if I had not taken the decision then, I don’t think I would have found a space in music,” feels this double postgraduate and IIT product.

Born into a traditional South Indian family, Sowmya was known to recognise ragas even as a toddler. A recording of her identifying ragas at the age of two exists at All India Radio, Kozhikode, a copy of which she treasures even now. Initiated into music by her father M. Sreenivasan, a chemical engineer and musician, Sowmya became a student of S. Ramanathan when she was barely six. She learnt further from T. Muktha.

“I was fortunate to study music from eminent teachers. I firmly believe that training under a guru is a must for an aspiring musician. This is what most of the young singers lack today. Sadly, there is a dearth of quality gurus.

“Most of those who are active performers do not want to divert their energy to teach. Majority of the performing vocalists are women. They need to juggle with so much of work and domestic chores that teaching becomes impossible. I had one student at home for some time, but not now.”

Aware of the changing needs, Sowmya has developed teaching aids available on the Internet, interactive CDs and cassettes. She, along with her friend and vocalist Sashikiran, has established Carnatica, an institution dedicated to music and dance instruction, talent search and archiving. Carnatica’s web portal ( www.carnatica.net) has grown beyond her dreams.

“Our music schools, Cyber Vidyalaya (online) and Gurukulam attempt to pass on all that we got from our gurus. It is traditional learning using the latest technology. At the Gurukulam in Chennai we have musicians coming in regularly to interact with the students.”

Sowmya has also produced and co-authored ‘Nadanubhava: The Horizons of Carnatic Music,’ which she says is “the world’s first interactive encyclopaedic CD-ROM on Carnatic music” and ‘Nadopasana: My Own Carnatic Tutor, an educational VCD, which is a self-help tutor with karaoke features.

“Two albums on the anvil are a private concert of Semmangudi, M.S. Subbulakshmi and veena maestro K.S. Narayanaswamy together and the other features Ramnad Krishnan. Apart from this, an album of mine ‘Maiyal,’ which is again a recording of a live concert at Coimbatore, will soon be released.

An avid reader and collector, Sowmya has an astonishing collection of books, magazines, manuscripts and recordings.

“My dream is to set up a digital library. Very often I have found relevant pages in reference books in libraries missing. Moreover, access to them is also not easy. I would like to digitalise all that I have got, put in audio tracks wherever needed, and open it to all those who are keenly interested.”

For the first time in her career Sowmya is part of a music reality show. She is one of the judges in Kairali Television’s ‘Ellarum Padanna’ and she is enjoying the experience. But she is not sure whether she would like to do it again. And she has always been sure of her decisions. “It’s funny. Long ago, I was offered the lead role in the film ‘En Raasavin Manasile.’ I said ‘no.’ That was Meena’s first lead role. Now they have sent feelers asking me if I’ll do a mother’s role. That’s become a huge joke in my family. Am I getting that old,” wonders Sowmya, in between peals of laughter.

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