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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. To him, music was
simply his life. As a child, he was irresistibly drawn to
music, and would never miss a single concert. Though he had
his formal training in violin playing in his twenties, his
knowledge of music, which was gleaned from decades of listening
to concerts, is very deep and profound. He was very close
to many musicians, and many of them used to frequently visit
our home. He was very conscious of the importance of "kelvi
gnanam"- that is knowledge obtained from listening. 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. Family responsibilities and a busy schedule
did not permit her to pursue music full time. We learnt vocal
music from her and still continue to learn from her.
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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.
We were taken to music concerts, even as babies in arms.
In Bombay, the city we were born and brought up, distances
are long. Yet, such was our father's passion for music, and
his desire to instill in his children the same love for music,
that he carried us to far flung places, mindless of the distance
or trouble. One of the earliest memories is listening to Semmangudi
Thaatha, with the unique nasal twang of his voice as he sang
Deva Deva Kalayaamite in Mayamalavagowla!
What made us sit in the auditorium was the incentive of samosas
and ice-cream before the start of the concert, besides a liberal
supply of chocolates as the concert progressed! When our father's
friends sometimes chided him, "why do you bother getting your
children all the way to concerts? They are restless, why not
leave them at home or at a playground?", my father would quip,"
it doesn't matter that they don't sit at a place and listen
attentively like you and me. What matters is the fact that
music flows into their ears, and it won't be wasted".
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