Few expected that Mandolin Srinivas would leave for heavenly abode at such a young age leaving his admirers shell-shocked. The news was hard to digest for music lovers in Vijayawada who witnessed him performing live late last year.
His gentle movements of fingers on the fret of the tiny string instrument and the melodious tunes that it produced are still fresh in their memories. Fortunate were the audience at Sri Ghantasala Venkateswara Rao Government Music and Dance College to listen to a spell-binding concert by Srinivas in November 2013 organized by Sri Sadguru Sangeeta Sabha.
Rare opportunityRecollecting that fine moment, College Principal K.S. Govindarajan told The Hindu that it was a rare opportunity to listen to the ‘divine music’ that Srinivas started presenting since his childhood under the tutelage of Rudraraju Subbaraju, an accomplished Carnatic vocalist who also hails from Palacol in West Godavari district where Srinivas was born in 1969.
Srinivas was so dedicated to learning new things that he had once insisted that his guru (Subbaraju) stay with him forever but the latter was not inclined to oblige his disciple for obvious reasons. Subbaraju went on to groom many outstanding artistes like U.P. Raju, also a native of Palacol and a cousin of Srinivas and Srinivas’s own brother Rajesh.
“I knew Srinivas since he was an 11-year-old boy. He used to watch his father Satyanarayana play the instrument and was initiated into the field at the tender age of seven. When he came for the concert at our college, Srinivas touched my feet and paid his respects even as I wondering whether he would recognize me,”said Mr. Govindarajan. Mr. Govindarajan belongs to Gutala village in Polavaram mandal of the same district as Srinivas.
Noted music critic and an award-winning performer Pemmaraju Surya Rao, a native of Narsapuram, recalled how Srinivas shot to fame after catching the attention of M.G. Ramachandran during a concert in Chennai.
Concert was planned in citySrinivas was a child prodigy who played Mandolin, which is a foreign instrument, with ease. Discovering the young boy’s talent, his father bought him a mandolin which only a few could adapt to Indian music. “I spoke to him a couple of months ago to invite him for a concert planned by Siddhartha Academy but fate snatched him from music lovers who may not come across such a talented artiste again,” regretted Surya Rao, a close friend of Srinivas’s family.
