Imagine the ambiance of a house where flute melodies accompanied by the rhythm of Mridangam is a wake-up call every morning.
S. Sreerag and his younger brother S. Sandeep, who have been practising thus for long years, say such home concerts have helped them a great deal in earning laurels at the State School Arts Festival.
Sreerag, who won the first prize in flute with ‘A’ grade in the higher secondary category, is no more an unfamiliar face to instrumental music buffs across Kerala. The boy, a student of Mannar Nair Samajam HSS, has four first prizes to his credit with ‘A’ grade which he grabbed consecutively for the last four years.
This year, he won the prize by playing a Tyagaraja kriti ‘Jnana mosaga raada’ in Purvikalyani raga.
Interestingly, his younger brother Sandeep has played a crucial role in helping Sreerag win. Whenever Sreerag played a melody, his beloved brother gave him company on the ‘Mridangam.’
The young brother’s passion for accompanying Sreerag was rewarded at the festival when he bagged the second prize with ‘A’ grade for Mridangam in the high school section. It was the first time that the boy from SVHSS Pandanad, contested in the State-level event. Sreerag could not have been more pleased.
“Of course, we had been trained well for the festival, but the confidence we gained through the home concerts was really beyond all other preparations,” said Sreerag and Sandeep.
Music trainers Chengannur Subhash, Prapancham Mukhyaprana, and Thrikkodithanam Sreeraj, too, motivated us a lot in the field, they said.
