Ace Carnatic vocalist Sudha Ragunathan recently added one more feather to her already colourful cap. Louisville in Kentucky state, the U.S., declared May 19 as Sudha Ragunathan Day in recognition of her service to the field of arts for the past four decades. She has been celebrated before in the U.S. — Memphis and New Jersey — but dedicating a day to her is a unique honour. Sudha received the Citation after her concert on May 19.
Currently on a tour of the U.S., Sudha Ragunathan is happy about the honour and attributes it to the reach of Carnatic music. The tour, sponsored by Sankara Nethralaya, is a fund-raiser for two causes — free eye camps, including cataract surgeries, and construction of a temple in Kentucky. Sudha’s U.S. tour in 2016 also grabbed attention for her performance at the United Nations on October 2. She presented a string of concerts, again courtesy Sankara Nethralaya.
A committed and sincere artiste, Sudha, hailed as the cultural ambassador, said over phone that she felt humbled. “This honour is different,” she observed and went on to explain why. “It is not uncommon for artistes, especially Carnatic musicians, to be awarded proclamations. The concert at Louisville was a fund-raiser for a temple. Ahead of the performance, the local organisers had requested a few minutes towards the end in order to thank the team. This is nothing unusual. So we paused when they took the stage. It was announced that they the concert had fetched $ 30,000 for the temple fund. What followed was totally unexpected. It was announced that May 19 of 2019 would be declared Sudha Ragunathan Day, to commemorate the special concert. I was speechless.”
In the absence of the Louiseville Mayor, who was away because of local elections, the Proclamation was handed over (in picture) to Sudha by Mr. Chandramouli, senior member of the Indian community and a visionary of the temple project.
Baton gifted
A visibly moved Sudha thanked everyone for their love and respect for Carnatic music. But she did not stop with that. “We suggested that this should be the beginning and every year, a Carnatic musician should be given this honour. A traditional lamp, kuthuvilakku , was handed over to the organisers, as a baton to be passed on,” said Sudha. Also she said that steps could be taken to reach Carnatic music to the local population.
“At a personal level, this unique honour gives me a great boost and satisfaction but beyond that it is a significant milestone in the collective journey of all musicians, who have engaged themselves for decades in the propagation of Carnatic music among overseas rasikas,” signed off Sudha.
A Fulbright Scholar — she completed her stint last year — Sudha is mentoring senior students, those in the Nova South Eastern University at Florida and neighbourhood benefiting from the sessions. Sudha conducts master classes and workshops around the world under the aegis of Sudhaarnava Academy of Excellence, launched with the objective of training senior level students and nurturing talent to produce high class performers.
