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Museek
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Selvakumar - Hi . Tell me about yourself .
Devi : Hi I ’ m Devi . I come from an aristocratic family from a very small village in Kerala . I started singing when I was 3 and I was sent for inter-school competitions from my school . I started winning prices for both classical and lite music . They selected me to sing in district level and state level competitions in Kerala . And , I was the recipient of first prize in both Carnatic and lite music for 3 years consecutively in state level . I was also selected by Akhila Kerala Balajana Sakhyam for the All India award and I was blessed to win first prize in nation level competition conducted by Doordarshan and All India Radio on a pan-India level . So , I started my musical journey at a tender age and I grew up listening to the music of great masters . Music was always a part of my life .
Selvakumar : Who was your first guru ?
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Devi : I started learning from a nadhaswaram vidhwan called Sri Vaidhyanathan . Being from an aristocratic family we were never allowed to go out to learn , so he used to come home to teach me . I learnt the basics under him . Since , being from a village , there weren ’ t much opportunities to learn further . I came under the protective hands of my guru , Padma Bhushan Dr . T . V . Gopalalkrishnan . In fact , it was P . Leela amma who brought me to appa , that ’ s what I call