Monday, December 7, 2009

Commemorating a Great Man..

Paying my Respect and Homage to Prof. HV Krishnamurthy
It was sad news when I heard the demise of our respected teacher.
I was introduced to HVK sir when I was five years old. My mother thought I can sing and she took me to Vijaya School of Music (VCM) in Bangalore. HVK sir asked me to sing a song to see if I had what it takes to be part of VCM.
I sang the only song I knew at that time - Sri Chakra Raja (both my grandma and my mom used to sing this as my lullaby). He then introduced me to one of his students, Mr. K. Ramesh, who then became my music instructor for the next 15 years, up till this very day. That’s how my music journey began.
There are some great things people know about HVK sir, but he was also a very simple and a nice man.
HVK sir used to be either standing at the top of the stairway, or near the gate at VCM. He’d always pat my back every time I went in to the school and asked if I practiced that day.  My mom was (and still is) a busy executive and we had to improvise our music practice time. Most of the time, she will rush in from work, go through the lesson for the day, and will make me practice and sing on our way to VCM.
How?
We had a two wheeler moped. People on the road thought we were crazy. These were during times where the Bluetooth headset was unheard of.
..Yeah. People definitely thought we were insane.
But, neither my mom, nor I, for that matter, cared about what others thought. This is how I got most of my practicing done! The wind blowing used to actually fit the shruthi (pitch). 
After we moved to the US, I have visited VCM every time I have gone to Bangalore. I am sure I will miss the quiet, sincere musician and a great teacher in HVK sir.
Yesterday, all of his students, myself included, from around the world logged on to Skype and had a massive conference call. We connected with some of HVK sir’s family now staying in California, where they were holding a Bhajan session, singing all of the tunes that we grew up with during my times at VCM.
This was the only way we, as students, could have respectfully commemorated this great man. Yesterday: a day that I will never forget.
I sincerely hope his legacy stays on through our continuous singing. This will provide opportunities to up and coming new artists in the music field not just in India, but in every single corner around the world.