Echoes of Tradition
UNVEILING THE MELODIC ODYSSEY WITH SRIVATHSAN
Can you share a bit about your musical journey and what drew you to Carnatic music ?
I was first exposed to Carnatic music as a kid through my father ’ s roots in a temple town in Thanjavur . There were full-length nadaswaram concerts and the sound of the instrument really caught my attention . None of my family had any music training or background , but they were massive fans , and there used to be a plethora of casettes playing at home . From there I joined a small music school - As many before me , I was a difficult kid , and my mother had to bribe me with ice cream to sit through classes , but I was eventually bitten by the bug !
How do you balance your schedule as a Carnatic artist , considering the rigorous practice and performance demands ?
I also work in a full time role as Management Leader at an Analytics consulting firm , so prioritisation has been a key theme . It helps that we have a management and board that backs my parallel pursuit and encourages it actively ! Mostly it has been a case of making sure the area that needs attention gets the most attention . There are times of the year where performance & preparation is top of the head , some times where learning and setting up new compositions is the priority and times when voice management is the priority ! Being aware of what needs work when has helped . It is definitely challenging , but the intent to make it work against the odds gets us through !
Could you shed light on your practice routine and how it has evolved over the years ?
In the early days it was about learning as many new compositions and refining them , and the practice methods were all centred around that . Over the course of time , you learn to identify weaknesses and work on them and that takes up a large part of the practice routine . Each one has a time of the day and a context that works best for practice , and arriving at that is the
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