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Young and honoured
 Vasudha Ravi is just out of school and it is not surprising that she is already an accomplished Carnatic music singer since she was a child prodigy. She began singing at the age of two and came under the guidance of a guru at the age of six. She gave her first performance at the age of 10!
"Vasudha is studying B.Sc. Nutrition & Dietetics (first year) in MOP Vaishnav College, Nungambakkam, Chennai. She has good time management, hence, she is able to allot time for studies and music. She adapts to new techniques and ideas easily. I like music very much, but after my marriage I was not able to continue learning music. Now I fulfil my dream through my daughter," says her mother.
Vasudha started learning music formally from Mysore Gowri Kuppuswamy's disciple Manjula Sriram at the age of six.
"When we took Vasudha to Manjula Sriram first, she asked her to sing a song. She immediately sang 'Mahaganapathim' in Nattai ragam. Manjula was very happy to hear a child sing that song without any mistake. She agreed at once to take Vasudha as her disciple," Vasudha's father reminisces.
Vasudha now practices two to three hours with her guru.
Vasudha's grandfather N Nagasubramanian was the internal auditor for actor Sivaji Ganesan. He has also produced films like 'Gallata Kalyanam', 'Sumathi En Sundari', 'Thikutheriyada Kattil'. But he was basically a singer and was conferred the title 'Sangeeta Bushanam' by G N Balasubramaniam for singing like Tiger Varadachariar. He has also sung in All India Radio (AIR).
His granddaughter Vasudha has proved that she carries his genes. Her arangetram took place when she was all of 10 years, on a Saraswati Pooja day. Though she was singing at a concert for the first time - at the Moolaprakruthi Amman Temple in Chennai - she showed no stage fear. There was loud applause at the end of the two-hour concert.
From then on, Vasudha started performing in various places.
An alumnus of the Padma Seshadri Bala Bhavan school, she was its 'asthana vidwan'. She was invited to sing for all occasions while studying there and became one of the most recognisable faces in the school.
Vasudha says has received good encouragement from her school management, staff and students, and the trend now continues in her college.
Srinavasa Ramanujam, an old student of Padma Seshadri Bala Bhavan, said he used to be astonished to see Vasudha sing whenever she was called upon to, without any preparation or hesitation.
Vasudha was awarded Bharath Kalachar's scholarship for the past nine years and the Tamil Nadu Iyal Isai Nataka Mandram scholarship for 1997-98.
 She was awarded the child prodigy award by Lions Club in 1997 and won the title of 'Bala Bhaskara' by VDS
ARTS academy (Arts Wing of Muthu Krishnan Memorial Club) in 2002. Vasudha also stood first in the all-India Carnatic classical music competition conducted by Acharya Viswanath Dev Sarma Arts Foundation in Mumbai in 2001.
At the function where he was conferred the title 'Swati Ratnam' by
Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer,
K J Yesudas conferred the title of 'Swati Kiranam' on Vasudha! That is a rare honour for any budding artiste.
Says the young singer, "My guru Manjula Sriram has played an important role in my development and success. She is like a mother to me. Not everybody gets the right guru. But in my case I have been blessed with Manjula
Sriram."
Sun TV and Raj TV have aired Vasudha's performances. She stood first in Raj TV's Ragam Sangeetham programme
in 2002.
Manuja Sriram says Vasudha has the desire to learn and learn quickly. She works hard to gain perfection in whatever she does, says her guru.
She took part in a 45-minute live phone chat with her fans on AIR's Chennai Rainbow FM channel on March 9, 2004.
Here are some questions we shot at her:
Who is your role model?
My guru Manjula Sriram.
You get an invitation to perform in a music concert and your friends call you out for a cinema. Which would you choose?
 I consider music as important, so I will ignore the cinema.
Have you been invited to sing in films?
No, I have not got a chance to sing in films and nor do I intend singing in films.
Do you do any special exercise to maintain your voice?
My daily practice is itself good exercise.
God gives you a boon to chat with a person dead or living. Who will be your choice?
My grandfather Nagasubramanian will be my first choice, then
M L Vasanthakumari, G N Balasubramaniam... the list goes on.
Education, music: which do you consider important?
Both are important to me. But now I concentrate more on music.
Vasudha Ravi can be contacted at:
Old No 11 A, New No: 7,
Saradambal Street,
Gokulam colony,
North T Nagar,
Chennai-17.
Phone: 2834 30 40 / 2834 31 32
email: vasu_shaira@yahoo.com
KT Sri
Translated by N Arun Kumar
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