There are many waiting to greet and take selfies with young singer Rahul Vellal after his concert at Sri Parthasarathy Swami Sabha. Rahul, the prodigy, became famous after his soulful renditions in Carnatic musician and composer Kuldeep Pai’s YouTube production ‘Vande guru paramparaam’. “I feel very happy for all the love and support,” says Rahul, who hails from a non-music family. “My parents are ardent music lovers and listened to various genres of music when I was a toddler. Seeing my ability to identify tunes, they wanted to enrol me in a music class. Thus began the search for a guru.” Rahul initially learnt from Suchethan Rangaswamy and later from Kalavathy Avadhoot. He now learns from Ranjani and Gayatri.
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The other challenge he faced was getting a proper feedback. “I used to participate in several music competitions since the age of four. As my parents have not learnt music, the feedback from the judges mattered a lot.”
‘Kurai Ondrum Illai’ - Sooryagayathri and Spoorthi Rao
Sooryagayathri too shot to fame after her rendition of the ‘Hanuman Chalisa’ for mentor Kuldeep Pai went viral. “I started getting opportunities to perform in temples. The overwhelming response after every kutcheri motivates me,” says Sooryagayathri, who grew up listening to her mridangist-father P.V. Anil Kumar, who is an A grade artiste at AIR Calicut.
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Belonging to a musical family has stood youngsters like 10-year-old Soorya Narayanan in good stead. He is said to have had sruti-suddham even at age two. “I was always surrounded by music since my father would sing, my mother would play the veena and my brother, the mridangam,” says Soorya, who had his initial training under his father. He now learns from Neyveli Santhanagopalan.
Sooryagayathri | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Similarly, 15-year-old violinist Sivateja Mallajosyula could recognise ragas at the age of two. He is the son of vocalists and violin artistes Pavani and Srikanth Mallajosyula. Observing his inclination towards music and the mridangam, his grand-aunt, violin vidushi A. Kanyakumari suggested he start formal training at the age of five with mridangam vidwan Patri Satish Kumar. “My parents also started teaching me the violin when I showed interest in it,” says Sivateja, whose family has shifted base from the U.S. to Chennai to help him pursue music.
“Although I am her grandnephew and have been learning from her since 2016, my guru Kanyakumari ma gave me a chance to perform only last year in the Army Amrit Mahotsav at Ooty when she felt I was good enough,” he says.
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Seventeen-year-old vainika Charulatha Chandrasekar, the granddaughter of veena vidushi and scholar R.S. Jayalakshmi, is ready to handle comparisons with her grandmother. “While others came to paati only twice a week for classes, I had a stricter regimen. I did not enjoy this as a child, but now I see the benefit,” she says.
Mandolin artiste Vishwas Hari, who has been undergoing training under gottuvadyam exponent Allam Durgaprasad, recalls his mother, who has learnt the violin, taking him to kutcheris and enrolling him in keyboard class when he started playing rhymes on it. The shift to mandolin happened because she was a fan of Mandolin Srinivas. Finding a guru was challenging till they finally got in touch with R. Balakrishna.
How do these young artistes juggle academics and music? Rahul, who was the school topper in his Class X exams, says he has managed to strike a balance between the two. This balancing game has been the biggest challenge for Soorya Narayanan, who is also learning the veena from B. Srinivasan. Soorya, who has performed over 40 concerts in 2023, says: “My school supports my music and allows me to take leave for concerts as long as I submit the homework. I study at the airport, during a flight, and in the train.”
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Has this hectic schedule come in the way of leading a normal childhood? “When I am not travelling, I play cricket and football with friends. I miss family vacations though,” says Soorya Naryanan.
Spoorthi Rao, former winner of Airtel Super Singer (Junior) reality show, topped her school in the Class 10 board exam two years ago. After winning the show, Bengaluru-based Spoorthi, who began learning from her mother at age four, shifted to Chennai to train under Ranjani and Gayatri.
“I started performing concerts when I was in Class IX. When there are exams in school, I would reduce the number of concerts,” says Spoorthi.
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These artistes also get the privilege of sharing the stage with senior artistes. Vishwas, who is a Grade B artiste at AIR, Chennai, has accompanied Sikkil Gurucharan, Abhishek Raghuram, and Sriranjani Santhanagopalan. “They all make us feel comfortable. The best part is that we learn a lot from their feedback,” he says.
Spoorthi echoes a similar view. “During my tour of the U.S., mridangam vidwan K.V. Prasad accompanied me. He shared his expertise and also inspiring anecdotes about legends such as M.S. Subbulakshmi, Mandolin Shrinivas and Balamuralikrishna.”
Thanks to social media, these budding stars also have a huge online presence. While Rahul and Soorya Narayanan’s parents manage their social media pages, Sooryagayathri’s YouTube channel and pages are taken care of by her manager. The others handle their pages themselves. Spoorthi has over 215K followers on Facebook.
When he was a toddler, Sivateja’s ragam recognition video went viral. Making the best use of technology, he recently recorded and edited the popular song ‘Mahaganapatim’, simultaneously singing, and playing the kanjira, mridangam and the violin.
Rahul, Sooryagayathri and Soorya Narayanan owe it to Kuldeep Pai for their online popularity. Vishwas and Charulatha featured in one of IndianRaga’s online productions also received good response.
These youngters, who have already won several awards, enjoy the reach of the virtual platform, but their heart lies in live performances. “Nothing can replace the timeless appeal of personal interaction in arts,” says Spoorthi.