Percussionist HS Sudhindra, principal and managing trustee of the Suswaralaya College of Music, has come up with his ninth edition of the Directory of Musicians and Danseuses (Karnataka) the only listing of its kind in Karnataka. “As a mridanga accompanist I used to note down addresses of my co-artists and one fine day I realised I had six fat diaries of contact details. I decided it was time to collate the information. That set the ball rolling for what became a massive project from 2002. I am glad my address-hunting habit has created an exhaustive directory, which has gone colour for the first time,” says Sudhindra who updates the addresses and has new categorisations every two years.
There used to be a time when the music and dance world felt like an inaccessible vast ocean. “Sudhindra stepped in to fill this void with the directory,” says vocalist TS Sathyavathi, who has written a foreword for the directory. The directory is a help for the musical fraternity looking for a single source for contacts, she says.
Vocalist Vidyabhushana, in the directory’s welcome address says, apart from artiste-contact details, information on a host of other categories related to music. “Contacts of anyone remotely connected to Carnatic, Hindustani and dance finds a mention in this comprehensive directory,” says Vidyabhushana.
Sudhindra’s latest version of 168 pages has 3,537 listings covering Carnatic, Hindustani and dance artistes. Spread over 67 categories, it took Sudhindra and his two students six months to put it together. “There is information on Karnataka artistes living outside Karnataka, vocalists and instrumentalists, CD and cassette dubbing venues, sound systems and music shops, libraries, websites and magazines; photographers and videographers; instrument dealers and repairers; critics and musicologists; concert halls and recording studios; competition lists and percussion ensembles and jugalbandis, concerts during festivals and even hotels and travel agents,” says Sudhindra.
A student of veteran percussionists M Vasudev Rao and Srimushnam Raja Rao, the busy mridanga artiste has been on stage from 1980. Sudhindra’s music college, Suswaralaya has turned 20 this year. The college was started with the intention of social service. “I wanted to reach out to connoisseurs in South Bengaluru and create a platform for upcoming and our students of Suswaralaya. We also help needy musicians through advertisements and corporate funds. Any musician in need can approach us,” says Sudhindra who has also published 20 books on music and 25 CDs through his school.
The 20th anniversary celebrations of the Suswaralaya College of Music is from November 1 to 4 at Pathi Sabhangana, Sri Rama Mandira, NR Colony and will feature 17 concerts and lec-dems apart from annual honours to senior artistes. Renowned vocalist RK Padmanabha will release the ‘Directory of Musicians and Dansueses’ on the inaugural day.
Call 080-26545655 or 9448059595, for directory / www.suswaralaya.org
