Veteran Nedumangad Sivanandan, an accomplished accompanist, is a consummate teacher and musician.
He has been wielding the bow for about six decades, imparting the nuances of playing the violin to many students.
His disciples and their students have gone on to make a name for themselves as violinists. The musician, who completed his Ganabhooshanam in vocal, with veena as a subsidiary, at the age of 19, went on to learn in depth the art of playing the violin, the basics of which he had already learnt right from the age of seven from his father, Vasudevan Pillai.
He received further training from Virudhunagar Ganapathi Pillai of AIR Trivandrum, who himself was a disciple of Kumbakonam Rajamanikkam Pillai. Around this time, he received a government job as a school teacher and was posted at Paanavally near Cherthala.
He was asked to accompany vocalist Mavelikara Ramanathan at a music fete organised in connection with Vaikathashtami that year (1955).
“That was a turning point in my career,” says Sivanandan. Over the years, the veteran developed an inimitable style of teaching that imparts a thorough idea of the techniques of playing the instrument.
“Punctuality is his forte. No one else can match his ability, style as well as the methodology with which he teaches,” says Thiruvizha Sivanandan, violinist and a senior disciple of the master. Sivanandan adds: “He develops a rapport with the students and they are like friends to him. Nobody will forget the lessons taught by him so patiently and diligently. ”
The veteran says the the secret of his success is “a maximum of two students who will be taught at a time. Different colours are used for sahithya, its sangathis, chittaswarams and so on, while giving written notes so that it will get etched in the mind of the students like a picture.”
Apart from conducting music classes in various parts of Kerala, Sivanandan has kept himself busy with music concerts by accompanying both up-and-coming artistes and established musicians.
He even performed a few veena concerts during the early years of his career.
A recipient of the Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi Award, his legacy has been continued by his daughter Sindhu, a violinist and assistant professor at Chembai Memorial Music College, Palakkad, and grandson Adarsh.
