by Rekha Baala

Simple, demure, she looks almost like the girl-next-door. And it's only when you hear her sing, you feel the power of the voice, which has made her a famous name in the world of music. Rekha Baala meets Nithyashree Mahadevan, Carnatic musician and playback singer who was in Muscat recently for a semi-classical music concert organised by the Indian Social Club (Tamil Wing).

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To say that music is in your genes would be a sort of understatement. The illustrious grand-daughter of illustrious grandparents, how did it all begin ?

I grew up in an atmosphere full of music. As a child, we used to have visitors talking about music. But nothing was really thrust upon us as children. It was my mother who found out about my inherent love for music and decided that I should learn music not for anything else but for art's sake.

With a lineage (maternal grandfather Palaghat Mani Iyer and paternal grandmother D.K. Pattamal, renowned musicians) as famous as yours, expectations must have been high?

There are always comparisons. The same goes for expectations. I realise that now people have understood my talent and accepted me in the way I am.

Your early memories of childhood

I was unfortunate in the sense that I didn't have the opportunity of honing my music skills with my grandfather. But my grandmother D.K. Pattamal more than made up for it. She taught me a lot of things among them how to carry myself as a musician. Her simplicity, her dedication is what I try to emulate to the best of my ability. I don't know whether I can really live up to her image.

What has been her special contribution ?

I've had the luck to watch her closely as a musician. I have seen her seriousness before a concert, her enthusiasm to learn a new song, how she would make it a point not to read from any paper

What do you think of the concert scene in India and abroad ?

Like in any other field, classical music has also undergone a lot of changes. The duration of the concert, the items presented, the type of singing. It has also become a little commercialised with media exposure and all that. Times are changing, and you can't expect people to sit for a five-hour concert comprising of raagam, thaalam and pallavi. So an organiser comes and tell us, stick to pieces, don't dwell on more and we are confused. It is difficult to decide whether to have some sort of compromise or stick to our principles. If we stick to what the organiser requires from us, we are perhaps losing a part of the audience who want to listen to a pure form of classical music. It is really difficult to find an optimum mix of everything.

Do you feel that the love for classical music is on the wane, especially among youngsters ?

The love is of course there. We cannot compare youngsters' interest with pop music or Carnatic music. That is a mass-media. But I am very sure of the future of Carnatic music, it will definitely not fade away.

How do you prepare for a concert ?

I practice generally. I don't plan strictly and if I do plan, I don't stick to it.

Can you recollect any memorable incident during your career ?

This one I will never forget. It goes back to 1992 when I had just started my career. N.M. Narayanan, a music critic of The Hindu attended my concert in Chennai. I never expected him there and was quite nervous as he was not only a no-nonsense critic but also a strict traditionalist. Generally, his practice was never to stay throughout the concert. But he was there throughout and after the concert was over, he came up to me and asked what my name was. I was surprised and yet managed to mumble 'Nithyashree'. To that, he said, 'Whenever somebody asks you what your name is, don't say Nithyashree, say Rani Nithya'. I was very happy. But the saddest thing was that he died four days after the concert. And his review was published a day after he died. In it, he had written three to four paragraphs blessing me and had mentioned 'before the concert, she was Nithyashree, now she is Rani Nithya'. It is a very touching memory.

You stormed the film scene with your very first song "Kannodu Kanbathellam" in A. R. Rehman's JEANS. Why the switch ?

Playback singing just happened. I never really tried for it. Not that I was not exposed to it. It was one Mr Kumar, a music critic who happened to mention my name to A.R. Rahman during an interview. Rahmansaar wanted to try out my voice. We went to his office and he just said: 'You've to sing a song'. I was just thinking whether I would be able to cope with the expectations. But I didn't want to lose the opportunity. It was a chance from a music director with such a great following and cinema itself was such a mass medium. I gave it a try and never thought I'd click in this way and proportion.

What are your favourite compositions?

All, especially monumental trinity compositions are a delight for everyone all the time. I also love to sing Tamil numbers as it is my mother tongue. I also like contemporary composers and love all ragas.

Do you listen to other forms of music ?

Though I have been trained solely in Carnatic music, I listen to both Hindustani and Western classical music.

And the person behind the musician is

One and the same. I don't show any differences. I like spending time with my family, shopping, trying out new recipes and some light reading. But music rules every part of my life.

Rekha Balakrishnan is a journalist based at Muscat and work as a reporter-cum-sub editor for the entertainment section of the Times of Oman newspaper. Rekha, who hails from Mattanchery, Cochin is married and is living in Muscat with her husband & son.