About Me

Born into a family of music connoisseurs, I started my training in Carnatic Music at the tender age of 6, under the able guidance of Smt. Raji Gopalakrishnan, a senior musician in Bombay. I later trained under the well known Carnatic musician and teacher Smt. T.R.Balamani (Bombay). Mellifluous and melodious voice, is one of my greatest assets.

Later I moved to Bangalore and continued training under Smt. Seeta Rajan (a senior disciple of Sri Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer). I also had the opportunity to learn from Smt.Neela Ramagopal and Nedanuri Krishnamurthy for a short span. I started giving fullfledged concerts since my 17th year. My graduation in Mount Carmel College, Bangalore followed and during my second year B.A., I won the first prize in the whole of South Zone,which gave me the opportunity to represent the South Zone at the NamFest ( Non Aligned Meet) at Delhi in the year 1985. After graduation, I went on to do Masters in English Literature from the University of Madras. Later completed Masters in Indian Music also from the University of Madras. A rank holder in M.A.Music, I was soon absorbed by the University of Madras, Department of Music as a Guest lecturer. It was in the University of Madras that I met my present Guru Smt. Suguna Varadachari, an eminent musician and one of the senior disciples of the legendary Musiri Subramaniam Iyer. Smt. Suguna has been a teaching faculty in the University for over 20 years and a pillar of inspiration for me. I completed M.Phil in Indian Music and am presently doing Doctorate in Indian Music from the Mother Teresa University, Kodaikanal. My topic for Research is "Niraval - the Backbone of Manodharma Sangeetham".

Among other things , I am also a diploma holder in Journalism and Mass Communication from the Indira Gandhi National Open University.

I was later appointed as Guest Lecturer in Queen Marys College, Chennai in the Department of Music. I am a very sincere and committed teacher. I have also served as training cum research fellow cum coordinator in Institute of Distance Education, University of Madras, Chennai. I have many students in India and abroad. In 1996 I got direct 'B high' gradation at All India Radio, Chennai, which is a rare feat. I have been regularly performing in All India Radio since then. Now I am an A grade artist to sing in the prime slot of AIR. I performed concerts all over India namely Delhi, Bombay , Poona, Bangalore, Mysore, Hubli, Calicut, Palghat, Coimbatore, Hyderabad and many concerts in well known Sabhas of Chennai. Being an Academician, I have presented Papers at International and National Seminars on Music. I have conducted workshops and also performed at the Sahithya Sruthilaya School of Music, Denmark for the year 2007.