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The little drummer
Listen to Audio Clip of Drummer Siddharth
 Our Chennai Citizen is 6 1/2 years old and studies in class-2 in
Padma Seshadri Bala Bhavan. But he is better known as a prodigy drummer who has already bagged several awards and entered the
Limca Book of Records.
Little Siddharth picked up the drumsticks when he was just 1 1/2 years old. His mother Vidya narrates said one afternoon, when everybody was asleep, the baby crept into his father's room and started playing the drums. Wondering where the sound was coming from, Vidya was pleasantly shocked to find the little one playing his father's drum.
Today, Siddharth plays drums excellently, like a professional drummer. Those who listen to his music are fascinated by the way his fingers play with the drumstick.
His family has played an important part in his life. Siddharth's grandfather G Narayanan used to play tabla and other instruments for famous music director K V Mahadevan; his father Nagi alias Nagarajan composes rythm for music directors
Vidyasagar and S A Rajkumar. Siddharth's mother runs a music troupe, named 'Dhanurag' and his elder sister Dhanusri is an excellent
Carnatic vocalist.
 "We cannot still
believe it. Kids usually play with toys, balloons and such things, but Siddharth started playing with his father's drums. The incident is an unforgettable one," says Vidya. Nagi, who has a drum-making unit downstairs in their house, fashioned one just for his son. He was also the child's guru.
Siddharth's first performance took place on April 16, 2000, at Sri Devi Karumari Amman Temple at Tiruverkadu, near Chennai. He performed for nearly 12 minutes, fascinating the audience.
Siddharth's parents met world famous
drummer Sivamani in
Mumbai and arranged for a pooja Septmber 1, 2000, (Vinayaka Chathurti
Day). Now he is being coached by Gopal, who runs 'Drum Alayam'. His first major corporate performance was an all-India tour in May 2002 by
TVS Electronics for their product launches.
Siddharth is a favourite of famous
ghatam vidwan Vinayakram. He was captivated by the child's performance. He teaches him jathis and it shows in the fluency with which Siddharth recites
jathis.
Siddharth is now learning mridangam also from
Madurai T Srinivasan's son
Seshadri.
The boy wonder has received many awards. He holds the national record for the youngest drummer of India in the Limca Book of Records 2003, and received the prestigious
'Ugadi Puraskar' from the Sikkim Governor V
Ramarao.
 He has performed at many prestigious concerts such the spirit of unity concerts at the Rajahmundry-Godavari Pushkaram festival, performed for the Indian Film Festival in Malaysia - which he recalls as his favourite. Another memorable performance was on November 11, 2002, when he performed during
Kamal Hassan's birthday party and was appreciated by the actor.
Siddharth is fond of playing with cars and forming jathis. He invites his father to take part in the jathi composition and it becomes a beautiful duet, according to his mother.
His first recording took place on October 10, 2001, at Western Outdoor Studio for a South African cultural exchange programme. He has also recorded for All India Radio in 2002. According t Siddharth, his drum idols ar Eric Singer, Carmie Appice, Dennis Chambers, Tony, Mike Portnoy, Jamie Borden and India's great Sivamani. His dream is to learn from Eric Singer.
His other records are:
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The only record holder from Tamil Nadu to receive the Bharatiya Gaurav award of excellence at the Siri Fort Auditorium, New Delhi, on October 16, 2003, from Madanlal Khurana, former chief minister of Delhi and present Governor of Rajasthan.
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Siddharh was felicitated by the Royal Maharaja Club as the wonder boy of the year for 2003.
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He was confirmed to be continued to be listed in the Limca Book of Records 2004 as the youngest drummer of India.
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Performed at the Sacred Rhythm Festival conducted by ghatam vidwan Vikku Vinayakram at the
Music Academy on March 13, 2004.
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Gave solo performance for FMCG awards 2003 at Siri Fort Auditorium on May 28, 2004.
Siddharth Nagarajan can be contacted @ :
23, Gnanamani street,
Sathyamurthy Block,
Jafferkhanpet,
Chennai - 600 083.
Phone: 91-44-2489 0010
Mobile: 98400 27 169
E-mail: vidyanagi@yahoo.com
K
T Sri
Translation by N Arun Kumar
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