Our Parents

We were fortunate to be born to parents to whom music was the very breath of existence. Music was an integral part of our lives right from our infancy. One of the greatest influences on our life and music has been our father, Sri. N.Balasubramanian. Our father still is our main guiding force and has instilled in us the right values. He would always say that the real pursuit of a musician should be excellence and perfection and not fame or money which are transient.

Our mother Smt. Meenakshi is an accomplished vocalist herself, endowed with a crystal clear, ringing voice - richly resonant and expressive. We learnt vocal music from her and still continue to learn from her. She learnt under Sri S. Ramachandran at the Shanmukhananda Sangeetha Vidyalaya in Bombay. She has also learnt a number of compositions and javalis from Smt.T. Mukta.

Sangeetha Bhooshanam Sri.T.S.Krishnaswami:

We came together under the tutelage of Sangeetha Bhooshanam Sri.T.S.Krishnaswami when we were nine (Ranjani) and six (Gayatri) years old. He learnt directly from the legendary Sangeetha Kalanidhi T.S. Sabesa Iyer, Tanjavur Ponniah Pillai, Madurai Subramania Iyer and Madras Balakrishna Iyer. Our revered guru had developed an advanced fingering technique, one that was logical and scientific in approach. Such was his dedication to his work that we don't remember a single occasion when he missed his class, due to any reason, personal, social, health or any other.

Highly principled, honest and yet gracious and humble, he is a true karma-yogi whose life is a shining example of following the 'chakkani raja margamu' of music and life in entirety.

We were blessed to have received his guidance and teaching right until he passed away on August 28, 2003 at the ripe age of 94.

We have also learnt a number of bhajans from Smt. Seetha Narayanan of Chennai, a senior, accomplished musician.

"Padma Bhushan" Sangeeta Kala Acharya Sri.P.S. Narayanaswamy

Sri.P.S. Narayanaswamy, popularly known as 'Pitchai' or 'PSN' is an eminent artiste of high calibre with an experience of over five decades in the field of Carnatic music. His coming together with Semmangudi, the doyen of Carnatic music, is the beginning of a glorious chapter in the musical career of PSN.

During his tenure with the All India Radio in Madras, PSN has produced several symphonies and orchestrated musical presentations. Equipped with a very large repertoire of a various composers and with an unimpeachable sense of aesthetics, this gentle and generous teacher has come to be the most sought-after guru today.

PSN has that generosity of spirit which is so rare to come by - a natural and sincere desire to share, give and impart knowledge, in the most unassuming manner. He possesses an uncanny ability to assess the capability of his student and tailor his class accordingly. He is always ready to teach any composition that a student wants and never one to hold back anything from his disciples.