Musician sisters, Ranjani and Gayatri, were conferred the title ‘Isaijothi’ and the ‘D.K. Pattammal Award’ to commemorate the 98th birth anniversary of Carnatic music legend D.K. Pattammal by Aanmajothi, the cultural wing of Saraswathi Vidyalaya School and Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan.
Ms. Gayatri recollected playing for Ms. Pattammal when she was a teenager “Initially, the idea of playing for her was intimidating but she exuded so much warmth and generosity of spirit,” she said. “There may be a handful who may get a chance to perform easily but to continue in this art, one needs to be consistent and put in extraordinary amounts of hard work,” Ms. Gayatri said.
Musician Nithyasree Mahadevan recalled how her grandmother Pattammal would rave about the performance of duo when they were violinists. “Several years ago, they played violin for my grandmother and for them to get this award today speaks volumes of their potential. Both their voice quality and style are different, yet they beautifully sing in sync,” she said.
Aanmajothi director K.S. Natarajan said they conduct about 30-40 concerts every year at various Corporation schools. “Apart from that, T.M. Krishna and Sangeetha conduct regular classes in music for these children. Nithyasree too has been extremely supportive,” he said. Chairman of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan L. Sabaretnam and musician Geetha Rajasekar also spoke.
