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Being born and brought up into a family of musicians has its own advantages which no one can ever discredit from any musician. While there have been several examples of how many a noted maestro have the bad luck of no one, least their own children, inheriting their art, there are artists who not only inherited their music but also break new ground in their own careers. If there is one of the best living examples of such a successful model, it is the one and only Kala ramnath. The famous niece of violinist N.Rajam and sangeetha kalanidhi prof. T.N.Krishnan, Kala has proved to be more than the chip of all the illustrious old blocks put together.

Having born into a musical family kala started her training very early. ‘I was introduced to the violin when I was two years old. My grandfather vidwan narayan iyer was my first guru. He was a very strict disciplinarian and none of us dared to disobey him at any cost,’ she says. Vidwan Narayan Iyer was a legend in his times who not only mastered the violin but also the gotuvadyam and veena. While he was a purist when it came to classical music, he was not averse to modern music unlike many other of his contemporaries. He even scored the background music for ‘sakkubai’ a feature film made in 1935. Having her initial training under such a genius, violin thus came as natural as the alphabets of any language would come to little kala. This studentship continued under the mentoring of her aunt Dr.N.Rajam for a long time. ‘My aunt would gently remind us if we did not touch the violin for a week. Even after repeated reminders, if we did not practice one could rest assured that hell would break loose on us very soon. If my grandfather gave me the technique then it was my aunt who honed it to perfection and gave me my first introduction to audiences in India’ she adds. Under the guidance of her aunt, Kala blossomed into an independent full-fledged artist.

Other than these gurus, she has had immense musical influences in her life. Her aunt introduced her to the classical vocalist Pandit Jasraj of the mewati gharana, early in her career. Kala’s violin was so addictive that she not only accompanied the maestro in 99% of all his concerts but also became one of the flag bearers of his gharana in a very short span, considering his own children didn’t inherit his music. Senior music critics often commented how it was kala’s violin that often upheld an entire concert which would have otherwise been boring and repetitive because Panditji had long stopped giving pure classical music concerts and stuck to singing bhajans or playing to galleries. ‘My musical influences have been my grandfather, my aunt and Pandit Jasraj ji. I also love Vidushi Kishori Amonkar's music and the complete musicianship of Ustad Zakir Hussain. As a woman, I would like to conduct myself like my aunt, I want my music to be laden with emotions like Pandit ji and reach the almighty. I would like to show uncharted paths hitherto unknown to everyone when I explore a raga like Kishori ji does and be a complete musician like Zakir bhai as far as musicality, technicality and presentation goes. And above all be a person with goodness and a clean heart.

As a renowned artist in her own field, kala laments over the current state of Indian classical music. ‘Indian classical music's greatest problem is how it’s becoming popular today and facing the onslaught of all the reality shows which trivialize what music really is,’ she says. ‘Music is as difficult as any other profession like becoming a doctor or an engineer. It needs a lot of dedication and hard work to be a professional. But this vocation is also very creative and enjoyable. So you can enjoy what you do if you take this up as a profession. Yes! Music is a wonderful profession if you are talented and hardworking’, assures kala to the next generation of aspiring musicians.

 

 

Kala’s work, unlike many other artists has taken Indian classical music to new audiences across the world. Her musical collaborations with internationally renowned artists like jazz saxophonist George brooks, rock musician ray manzarek of the Doors, Latin percussionist Giovanni hidalgo and renowned drummer terry bozzio have rated her to be the new generation flag bearer of world music from India. Her project ‘raga afrika’ won her several awards. ‘Raga Afrika’ and ‘global conversations’ are both wonderful projects that are very close to my heart. Raga Afrika happened when I went to SA in 2000 with my good friend Nisaar Pangarkar. We came up with the idea of fusing Indian and Afro Jazz which had never happened ever and that’s how ‘Raga Afrika’ was born. Similarly Global conversation is a musical blend of Raga influenced American Jazz and Jazz inflected Raga’ she says. In fact, as recent as this year, when the world music academy did a rating of the top notch Indian artists who have contributed to world music in the last century, Kala’s name stands amongst the top five after the likes of pandit ravi Shankar and ustad zakir hussain. She has been rated as one of the 50 world’s greatest instrumentalists of this century. Now that speaks volumes for her contribution to music.

'If Mozart had been transported to the South Asian subcontinent this is what he and improvised Western classical music might have sounded like. The comparison is not thrown in to befuddle or impress. Kala Ramnath is a musician of giant - like qualities' reads a citation from the famous Jazzwise Review. Point noted. Kala’s music albums are highly wanted all over and sell out like hot cakes and there are several music companies laughing their way to the banks after bringing out multiple editions. Having toured over fifty countries and performed at all the prestigious music festivals, her performances have acquired her several awards. Amongst them is the coveted president’s award for being the best young classical musician. With artists like Kala, one can be sure that Indian classical music is in safe hands and does not have the supposed threat of an early extinction.

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