Ramakrishnan Keerthy
Ramakrishnan Keerthy Some years ago, when the opinionated music goers were raving about this young lad who had left the USA to come to Chennai wanting to make a serious career in Carnatic music, I was initially skeptical. The reason being that I have noticed that here in India, among the TamBram community, they are very impressed with anyone who has an academic background, has lived in America, has strong Indian values, chooses to pursue Carnatic music in some form and even excels in it. For an average upper middle class TamBram, this is an irresistible combination! Another reason for my skepticism is that, they glorify somebody too soon and too much, not allowing them to go through the natural process but instead adding so much stress that it may impact their growth, also creating an unreasonable expectation from the ever demanding audience. I felt that this young man Ramakrishnan Murthy certainly had much promise but we need to be patient to ensure that the spark becomes a glow ! T