It was a concert organised by Mudhra and the theme was Gowla ragas. Launching into an alapana of Kannada Gowla, Ranjani Hebbar made it clear that she had arrived. The delineation had such original phrases that one marvelled at the strides the artist had made in such a short span of time. To her, swara singing was never a mere mind-sport but an ideal way to etch the raga lakshana.
She had endeared herself to the lovers of Chennai, whose rasikas received news of her demise on Sunday last with shock. So promising and so young, she has left with dreams unfulfilled.
Ranjani’s commitment to Carnatic music made her family shift to Chennai from native Udupi and she made remarkable progress. Her mother was a constant companion at concerts. Husband Guruprasad did not lag behind in giving support.
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S. Sowmya, Ranjani’s guru says, “She was so committed she spent considerable time in getting the Tamil ‘zha’ right. The moment a class got over she would only get busy, making notations, generally be sure that she didn’t miss anything. Music was her breath. Yes. She was and continued to be innocent till the very end. And her sense of humour was also with her till her last moment.”
Ranjani did her Master’s in music from the University of Madras and was a regular performer for AIR and Podhigai. She learnt the art of pallavi singing from Chingleput Ranganathan. She taught at The Music Academy, Chennai, which must have helped her gain new perspectives.
She was given the “Isai Chudar” award by Kartik Fine Arts in 2009.
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