{"id":10,"date":"2016-10-19T04:35:41","date_gmt":"2016-10-19T04:35:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.kumarsfamily.net\/ananths-arangetram\/?page_id=10"},"modified":"2016-11-30T03:38:06","modified_gmt":"2016-11-30T03:38:06","slug":"my-story","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.kumarsfamily.net\/ananths-arangetram\/my-story\/","title":{"rendered":"My Story"},"content":{"rendered":"
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My Story<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>
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I have been blessed to be born in a family that is quite musically oriented. \u00a0Both my maternal and paternal grandmothers are good at vocal Carnatic music. \u00a0So, both my parents are also musically inclined; my mom had some extensive training in vocal Carnatic music.<\/p>\n

Although my parents say that they have taken me to Carnatic concerts since I was 3 years of age, the first concert I remember attending was when I was 5 years old. \u00a0This was a house concert by some of Bay Area\u2019s best musicians. \u00a0I was intrigued by the sounds and rhythm of the \u00a0mridangam<\/em>. \u00a0At the conclusion of the concert, when my dad went up to congratulate and wish all the musicians, I got a close look at the mridangam<\/em>. \u00a0The mridangist<\/em> let me touch the instrument and get a feel for it. \u00a0I think this was the beginning of my musical journey with the mridangam<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The following summer, when I was in India, my mom took to me a mridangist<\/em> in Mysore, who thought I could and should play the mridangam<\/em>. \u00a0He formally introduced me to playing the mridangam<\/em> that very day. \u00a0With this teacher\u2019s help, we purchased a new mridangam<\/em> and brought it with us when we returned home to Pleasanton. \u00a0I was very excited, I got a new toy, which was beyond my dreams.<\/p>\n

As expected, my mom did her due diligence and enrolled me in Ravi uncle<\/a><\/span>\u2019s school<\/a><\/span>.\u00a0 After the introductions, I still remember my first class. \u00a0I was in a class with 3 other boys. \u00a0They were all a year to two older and bigger than I. \u00a0I was a little intimidated. \u00a0However, Ravi uncle\u2019s way of teaching made me very comfortable, and I soon found out that I can play as well as the bigger boys.\u00a0 From then my parents and I knew I found the right guru in Ravi<\/span><\/a> uncle to teach me this ancient and divine art form.\u00a0 Until 2009, Ravi uncle<\/span><\/a> used to conduct classes in Fremont during weekends.<\/p>\n

Within a few years, Ravi uncle<\/span><\/a> allowed me to play in a group for two songs during our school<\/a><\/span>\u2019s (NAFA's<\/span><\/a>) Vijayadasami celebrations. \u00a0That was pretty cool. \u00a0Looking back, now I realize how significant that was.<\/p>\n

Around the same time, I started competing in local mridangam<\/em> competitions such as the Papanasam Sivan competition, and then the Cleveland Thyagaraja competition. \u00a0I came back empty handed at my first attempt at both these competitions. \u00a0However, this did not deter me. \u00a0I practiced better and went back with more resolve and ended up winning the next time I participated in these competitions.<\/p>\n

Ravi uncle<\/a><\/span> always included in me all the laya vinyaasam<\/em>s. \u00a0I lose count of how many I\u2019ve played in around the country. \u00a0The best was when our laya vinyaasam<\/em> was video recorded by CCI TV, to be broadcast and showcased in India.<\/p>\n

Over the last couple of years, thanks to Ravi uncle<\/span><\/a> and Padma Mohan aunty, I\u2019ve had several opportunities to play at the monthly CCC events. \u00a0This is where I was exposed to playing for instrumentalists, which led me to believe that I can do the same for my arangetram<\/em><\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n

More recently, I became and Indian Raga Fellow. \u00a0I was chosen as one of two percussionists and surviving 3 rounds of elimination and some very stiff competition from many others around the world. \u00a0I was also named the Indian Raga Ambassador for California.<\/p>\n

I was able to show off my talent as a percussionist by playing the mridangam<\/em> and ghatam<\/em>. \u00a0The talented group of musicians also admired the fact that I was able to provide a unique quality of beat for one of the pieces we produced by using just a rock and a stick.\u00a0 The rock and stick I used where the ones I use to tune my mridangam<\/em>s. \u00a0These tuning tools became the source of percussion for one of the Indian Raga pieces we created and recorded during our summer workshop.<\/p>\n

Our rendition of Sia\u2019s Cheap Thrills has won us many acclaims worldwide. \u00a0We won the first prize in CD Baby\u2019s competition. \u00a0We have been publicized by the press in India. \u00a0Sony India tweeted our video to show how well a pop song can be set to classical Indian (Carnatic) music and receive rave reviews. \u00a0All this happened over this past summer, while I was ramping up my preparations for my (mridangam<\/em>) arangetram<\/em><\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

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The Future<\/h4>\n

I will continue playing mridangam<\/em> and accompany artists of all ages and experience.\u00a0 I also plan to learn other percussion instruments, like ghatam<\/em> and kanjeera<\/em>, for Carnatic music.<\/p>\n

Also, with my guru<\/span><\/a>'s guidance, I will be teaching young kids (beginners) how to play the mridangam<\/em> up to the intermediate level.\u00a0 I live in Pleasanton; so, I plan to spread the divine art of playing the mridangam<\/em> in the East Bay and the Tri-Valley areas of the greater San Francisco Bay Area.<\/p>\n

If you would like me to accompany a vocalist or instrumentalist, or would like to be introduced to the mridangam<\/em>, you can reach me by clicking here<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n

If you'd like to see me perform live you can attend one of my upcoming concerts.\u00a0 I will be adding my performance calendar soon.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My Story I have been blessed to be born in a family that is quite musically oriented. \u00a0Both my maternal and paternal grandmothers are good at vocal Carnatic music. \u00a0So, both my parents are also musically inclined; my mom had some extensive training in vocal Carnatic music.Although my parents say that they have taken me […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":62,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-10","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","czr-hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kumarsfamily.net\/ananths-arangetram\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/10","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kumarsfamily.net\/ananths-arangetram\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kumarsfamily.net\/ananths-arangetram\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kumarsfamily.net\/ananths-arangetram\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kumarsfamily.net\/ananths-arangetram\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.kumarsfamily.net\/ananths-arangetram\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/10\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":292,"href":"https:\/\/www.kumarsfamily.net\/ananths-arangetram\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/10\/revisions\/292"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kumarsfamily.net\/ananths-arangetram\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/62"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kumarsfamily.net\/ananths-arangetram\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}