When I visit museums , I see different instruments safely ensconced in glass cases with no opportunity to even touch them . After going back home , I recreate the image in my mind and design the instruments . And I also redesign the instruments mentioned in ancient tamizh works , as mentioned earlier .
When did you know , for sure , that you were going to devote your life to music ?
At the age of 15 , when I was castigated by my teacher in the school , I decided that my line would be music and music alone . Now music is my career ; music is my passion .
Can you describe your ancestral community and the uniqueness of its music ? What are the parts of this discipline that we don ’ t know about ?
I don ’ t belong to the community associated with parai . I am the first person from my community to play parai . Music is universal and therefore cannot be confined to just one or two communities . Yes , when I took it up , initially there was a lot of opposition , but now that I have made a lot of progress , those voices have died down .
What have you been up to so far this year ? What can we look forward to in 2023 ?
I have traveled to 4 countries so far . As mentioned before , I traveled to France in 2017 . In 2021 , I travelled to Dubai and represented TN in the India pavilion as part f the ‘ Dubai Expo ’, I performed for 10 days .
I also traveled to Zambia to train youngsters . Recently , I travelled to Australia , was there for 3 months to teach the tamizh people- in places like Adelaide , Melbourne , Brisbane , Sydney and Perth- to play traditional instruments and also to teach traditional art forms .
Apart from this , I also recreated traditional instruments like malaioli moongil , idikuvalai , vattakkili , aimuga mulagu . I plan to teach young students in schools and colleges how to play these instruments .
What ’ s your message to new listeners ? Where can they find out more about you and your work ?
In the present day where there
is an invasion of technology , what we need is ‘ healing ’. And it is music , music from the native instruments which makes us calm .
Our ancestors saw music as a form of medicine and not as a form of entertainment . Even people who live abroad realize the healing property of music from traditional instruments and listen to parai when they are stressed .
Therefore , what I say to new listeners and new learners is this – Learn / listen to any instrument of your choice . At the same time , please do not forget our own traditional instruments .
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