When a prodigy silenced sceptics with his music

Tripunithura N. Radhakrishnan recalls playing ghatam for Mandolin Srinivas, who passed away in Chennai on Friday, for his maiden concert in Kerala, three decades ago.

Mandolin Shrinivas during a concert in Kochi. Tripunithura N Radhakrishnan is to his right.

There he was, in shorts and T-shirt. He had in his hands an instrument that looked a bit like guitar. How on earth was he going to play Carnatic music on it?

That was the doubt expressed loudly by the seasoned mridangam exponent Mavelikara Velukkutty Nair to Tripunithura N. Radhakrishnan, whom he had asked to play ghatam for the boy’s concert.

The large crowd at the Ernakulam Shiva temple may also have been sceptical about the day’s programme during the Rama Navami festival. Once the boy began playing “Vatapi Ganapathim” in Hamswadhani Raga, the doubts began to be replaced by surprise, then joy and before long, awe. The audience was bowled over by the unfamiliar charms of mandolin.

Standing ovation

They gave a standing ovation to the prodigy, U. Srinivas. The year was 1983.

“I don’t think many people in Kerala had heard him until that performance in Kochi. I was convinced he was going to scale great heights in music,” Radhakrishnan told

The Hindu on Friday. “I remember that concert vividly now, especially the way he handled Hamsadhwani Raga.” Radhakrishnan accompanied Srinivas on several concerts since that day. “I find it hard to believe that he is no more,” he said. “He was such a nice man to work with, very humble.”

Carnatic vocalist Trivandrum Krishnakumar too has fond memories about Srinivas.

“I used to meet him often in Chennai, where he lived not far from my home,” he said. “I had spoken to him a couple of weeks ago, and he seemed alright.”

Krishnakumar never missed an opportunity to listen to Srinivas. “The first time I saw him perform was in Thiruvananthapuram in the early 1980’s,” he recalled. “I thought the way he played “Vatapi…” was extraordinary. The tempo was not like anything that I had heard before.”

Mandolin, of course, had never sounded the way it did till it found Srinivas. “He was a pure genius,” said Radhakrishnan. “He was born only to play mandolin.” Few would disagree.