By: Meena R Prashant
Asha Subramaniam has struck a chord with audiences thanks to her soulful, pliable voice. A gold medalist in Hindustani classical music from the University of Delhi, Asha is also one of thesenior faculty members with Shankar Mahadevan Academy in Mumbai. She is on a drive to promote and create awareness about Hindustani classical music and bhajans among audiences across India.
Inclination for Music
“Music was always a part of my growing up days. Although I don’t belong to a family from music background I was always surrounded with music as my family played both Hindustani and Carnatic music early in the morning. As a little girl I used to hum the tune and try to sing. Seeing this my parents thought of teaching me and that’s how the journey began,” recalls Asha.
Being a South Indian, she started learning Carnatic music from the age of 8 years. During these years she was treated to the music of great Hindustani classical maestros like Pandit Jasraj, Bhimsen Joshi and many more on the AIR and was deeply fascinated by their style.”Being in Delhi from 1975 to 1994, it was very easy for me to adapt the style and started learning this style of music. But my actual training in Hindustani classical music started under the tutelage of my guru Smt. Madhuri Dandage from 1990 till date and that’s when I actually understood the nuances in this style of singing,’’ says Asha.
Right Directions
Asha realized that her natural affiliation was for Hindustani music and therefore decided to take it up professionally and decided to further train herself. “I am a disciple of Smt. Madhuri Dandage, a well known and renowned classical vocalist from Kirana gharana, also a recipient of president award for music in the year 1959. In the year 1994, I received a gold medal in Hindustani classical music from the University of Delhi. Following which I have been performing in various concerts in cities like Delhi, Bangalore and Mumbai,” she adds.
Apart from being a performing artist, she has also been training many prospective children and adults in the field of music both classical and light music. “I have been an invited judge for many competitions for schools, institutions, and corporate sectors. I am presently working as a senior Faculty with Shankar Mahadevan Academy,” informs Asha.
Music as a profession
We find lot of good musicians nowadays with ample talent. However, there is also lot of competition in this field and the remuneration is also less. For main breadwinners of families, this also plays an important role in choosing music as a profession. “But I also feel that if you have passion and dedication for music and if you are talented, you can cross any hurdle and you will surely be successful and sky is the limit!”, stresses Asha.
18- The right age to hit reality shows
Asha strongly feels that children should get trained properly before participating in reality shows. “These days the parents tend to push their children into reality shows and the kids too get carried away with the glamour. So due to all this, music takes a back seat and importance is given to show and glamour. I feel that they can take up all this after the age of 18 years and till then they should just focus on their classical training,” she advises.
Still a student
Music is such a subject and at no point of time one can ever tell that he or she has all the knowledge, thus it is important to split practice hours. Advises Asha, “I have my morning voice culture for about an hour and then later part of the day I practice for 3 to 4 hours. In addition I also get to practice when I train my students. Apart from music, I love reading mystery novels, I do regular Yoga, watch TV.”
Practice makes a man perfect
Proper training in classical music- either Hindustani or Carnatic music- from a good guru is essential. In addition, rigorous riyaz daily is a must to be a successful musician.
