As you veer left from the maddening traffic on Banjara Hills to go to Srinagar Colony, a different kind of quiet engulfs the place. The tranquil zone is nestled in greenery and has a calming effect. This silence helps young violinist Mallela Tejaswy to ponder and plan his future. With a bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering from University of Illinois and proficiency in Carnatic vocal and violin too, Tejaswi is a fine blend of academics and music.
As a child, Tejaswy began learning music from his peddamma , singer Kamala Ramani. “My mother was into music but later gave it up. She is a connoisseur of music now,” he says. His next vocal guru was Neti Sarala and he also picked up violin. “I never left any form but one got blended into another. Vocals took a backseat and violin moved forward,” he says. His violin guru was Komanduri Venkata Krishna and now he is a disciple of A. Kanyakumari. As his guru Kanyakumari lives in Chennai, his lessons are over the phone with her. “One of my friends is a relative of Kanyakumari garu and I called her. She heard me perform and accepted as her disciple,” he says. Talking about his guru, he says, “She has her own style and approach towards music but is appreciative of other styles. She gives a lot of freedom to her disciples to create their own niche.”
Academics and arts can be learnt without sacrificing one another, observes Tejaswy while giving examples of maestro Dr. Pinakapani who balanced multiple things besides music. “Sanjay Subramanium is another example of being both a professional and a Carnatic vocalist. In this generation one is expected to know a lot many things,” he says. Tejaswy has completed his graduation in the US and has taken a break to decide on his future course of action.
Tejaswy is also part of book clubs and watches football premier leagues regularly and stamp collection was a childhood hobby. He is naturally curious and wants to discover and explore. He engages in learning at Coursera, an online platform where various topics are offered by different universities. “I took a class on cryptography. Recently, I learnt how to sharpen a knife. Learning brings joy,” he says with a smile. The youngster says it is a myth that violin is not an easy instrument to like. “As a child, I liked mandolin. I liked the tone of the instrument. Violin is the best suited instrument for Carnatic and Hindustani music. Its screechy sound is hard to like initially. There is depth and limitations but one understands and likes the instrument for what it is,” he says.
Tejaswy, an A-grade artiste for Doordarshan talks about the role of his mother in his musical journey. “As a child I never liked classical arts. My mother would relentlessly take me to competitions and play an active part,” he recollects. On the trend of some youngsters getting alienated from classical music, he remarks, “For some, classical music might be an archaic form of music which is redundant and has no relevance. But classical music is all about introspection which helps you to dwell within. Europe has a lot of followers in Hindustani music. There is no racial, language or religion barrier. It is a myth that one gravitates towards poetry when one listens to classical music. One can appreciate its aesthetic beauty even without seeking to enjoy it for its words.” He adds, “One can listen to ragalapana which has no sahitya in it. One can enjoy classical music without gravitating towards the lyrical content of the song.”
