Charge of the young brigade
RANJANI GOVIND
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What makes prodigies? Does talent always translate into achievement?
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PRODIGIES ALL: K. P. Nandini, N. C. Bharadwaj, Bharat Sundar, K. Dharini, Anantharaman and Rajna Swaminathan. Photo: K.V. Srinivasan.
Movies don't excite them. Nor do they rush to join their friends at play after school. Books? Not really... These children, in the 9-16 age-group, are in a different league altogether.
Their passion for Carnatic music is unbelievable! Imagine a nine-year-old sitting in the front row of a sabha, nodding his or her head in appreciation, absorbed in keeping the talam! The venue is Sivagami Pethachi Auditorium and says Abhilash: "Yesterday, I performed for Kapali Fine Arts and today I'm here to listen to my friend."
Prodigies have always hogged attention. They never cease to create a sense of awe in the rasika. E. Gayathri, Mandolin Srinivas, and Chitraveena Ravi Kiran (or the now popular Abhishek Raghuram and keyboard Satyanarayanan) were child prodigies who grew up performing on stage. But we never had so many of them performing at the same point of time.
What goes into the making of these gifted children? Is it the home environment or genes? Does potential always translate into achievement? Do parents chalk out the course for them? What exactly are their USPs?
"It's a combination of genes and speciality brains I suppose," says Ramjhi whose Isai Mazhalai troupe consists of 90 young talents filtered from across the globe. Some of them have been handpicked by Ramjhi himself from schools after tough selection rounds.
The Erode wonder, 12-year old Anantaraman, would stick to places where music was played while he was just a toddler, recalls his mother Latha.
Hooked to World Space
The eighth standard student listens to music even while studying, and is hooked to World Space radio. His Chennai Guru is Geetha Ramasubramaniam (one of the Mayavaram Sisters). Isai Mazhalai has organised 16 concerts for him this year.
Ask him what interests him more. Pat comes the reply: "Swaras and neraval." Overwhelmed by questions, Anantharaman simply says: "Amma decides what I sing in concerts."
Biology and Social Studies interest him as much as Hindolam and Kapi. "I have no idea about his academic interests, right now he is breathing music," says his mother. Anantaraman is the youngest to release a DVD brought out by Swati Soft Solutions in the Yuva Taara Series.
N.C. Bharadwaj of Class 8 keeps tapping his fingers in rhythm. This mridangist would crawl as a child, pick up a vessel and start tapping when his elder brother, vocalist N.C. Badrinarayanan, practised at home. "He is so consumed by his passion I see his fingers tapping even as he falls asleep," says his mother, Padmini Kannan. Bharadwaj, who began with half-hour sessions, now accompanies artistes. Isai Mazhalai also conducts Kutcheri Patantharam classes on nuances of concert presentation. What about hobbies? "I like drawing, watching Pogo channel and practising with my brother at home," says this student of Nanganallur Sriram.
Rajna Swaminathan, Ninth Grade student from the U.S., is a disciple of Umayalpuram Sivaraman. Isai Mazhalai has brought her here for the season. "My master teaches me four months a year in the U.S. and I also make several visits here," says the confident girl. Rajna has stopped playing basketball as an injury can interfere with her mridangam practice. "Her guru wants her to become an ethno-musicologist or a professor of music so that she can carry his message across," says her mother Latha Swaminathan, who sings for dance programmes. "I was inspired by my uncle Vikku's beats on the ghatam as a three-year-old," says Chandrasekhara Sharma, son of Gurumurthy, violin professor and Vikku Vinayakram's brother.
There are about a dozen percussionists in the family. Sharma recently took part in the Spirit of Unity concerts in Shirdi. His dream? To emulate uncle Vikku of course.
Vocalists Bharat Sundar and K. Dharini, and violinist K.P. Nandini (daughter of Uma Prabhakar, one of the Mayavaram Sisters) are in their teens. Old enough to make up their minds on studies, their choice is commerce. "It will give us time to pursue our passion," they say in unison.
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