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Music from mridangam
 If one mentions Erode in the world of Carnatic music, the name Nagarajan immediately springs up in our mind. Affected by polio, his childhood was not a normal one, with his parents suffering due to his condition, his mother bringing him down to Chennai for three years for treatment and later on returning to Erode when facilities for treatment improved. But in spite of such traumatic experiences, he developed an interest in music, which has made him what he is now.
Nagarajan, an accompaniment artiste (mridangam) for many popular musicians, grew up and learnt music in and around Erode.
When he used to tap on the table involuntarily and sing along, it made his parents realise his interest in music. They sent him to Palladam Ramachandran to learn
mridangam.
"I was interested in playing mridangam and learning ragas right from my childhood. My parents encouraged me by sending me to Palladam Ramachandran, who was residing opposite to my house," reminisces Nagarajan, to whom those days are memorable.
 He learnt under him for eight years and because he wanted to learn more, he became a disciple of
Umayalpuram Sivaraman. He feels that a student can shine if the guru is an able one and that it is by the blessings of God that one gets such a guru. He turns emotional when he talks about his gurus, who he feels are the real wealth of his life.
His first concert was on a Vijayadasami Day and in the same year when Umayalpuram Sivaraman came to Erode in April to play in a concert, he was mesmerised by his performance.
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Erode
Nagarajan |
Umayalpuram
Sivaraman |
He wanted to learn from him somehow and so with the help of his father and his brothers, he approached Sivaraman. Their tireless efforts paid dividends and he became a disciple of Umayalpuram from May 1990.
"I learnt a lot from Sivaraman Sir and only through him learnt the minute details of music. He was the one who taught me how to play for vocal and instrumental music and I learnt a lot of talas from him," says
Nagarajan.
He is still learning from his guru and accompanies many musicians like P S Narayanaswamy, Calcutta
Krishnamurthy, Neyveli
Santhanagopalan, Sikkil Sisters, V V Ravi,
Vijay Siva, Sasikiran, Malladi Brothers,
Gayathri Girish and many others.
 Music is a full-time job for him now and is also working as a teacher at the Chennai Music Academy School. He is also a 'B' grade artiste at AIR.
He has received the President's scholarship for upcoming artistes, which helped him in his progress.
Kanchi Periyavar's blessings and grace encouraged to achieve more, he says.
Indian Fine Arts Society gave him the 'best accompaniment artiste' award in 1996 while Krishna Gana Sabha gave him the Kumbakonam Azhagu Nambiya Pillai and Chakkottai Rangu Iyengar award. He was also bestowed with the K R Sudaram Iyer Award and Vaikkom Krishna Iyer Award.
 Though he is still a disciple of Sivaraman, he teaches students how to play for various ragas using fingers and how to bring the layas out of the mridangam. In 2001, G K Foundation Trust invited him along with Sangeetha Kalanidhi K V Narayanaswamy and honoured him.
It should be mentioned that the European 'Tamizh Oli' network broadcast an interview with him and his mridangam concert. He is a natural singer and feels that every accompaniment artiste should know how to sing. He calls mridangam the 'vadhyadhriyam'. It is good, according to tradition, to see a veena or mridangam as soon as one wakes up, he says.
It is important that every artiste possesses more knowledge about ragas than music, says Nagarajan, who writes poetry and shows a lot of interest in reading Tamil literary works. Asokamitran, Jayamohan and Balakumaran are his favourites. According to him, literature should reflect the society of that period and also provide what is needed for society.
His poems have been published in magazines like 'Kanaiyazhi' and 'Arumbu', which he admits to coyly. His aim is to create an awareness about traditional music among the youth and encourage their interest.
K
T Sri
Translated by Radha N
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