SATHEESH RAMACHANDRAN

His Master’s favourite

By Asha P.Nair

26th September 2009 02:07 AM

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  Haritha, Krishnanunni, Nayana, Vidhu, Satheesh and Kamal.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: He was the man chosen by master musician Devarajan to lead his choir, Shakthigadha. At 33, Satheesh Ramachandran is living up to the expectations of his Guru and has earned for himself a bunch of students who are setting stages on fire in the field of music.
We met him at Benson Creations in the city, where he was joined by five of his students on the occasion of Navaratri. Time for music, gubshub and lots of blessings.
From inside the studio, we could hear Vidhu’s voice in tune with a beautiful melody. Vidhu Pratap is one of Satheesh’s earlier students who was sent to him for training by Devarajan master himself.
Krishnanunni, who has sung in Thakarachenda and in the forthcoming movie Pazhassi Raja, Nayana, who is a contestant in Star Singer aired in Asianet, Kamal, who had received great appreciation for his performance in the reality show ‘Voice of Kerala’ and Haritha, who is the state first in school light music competition- everyone had gathered to greet their Guru.
‘‘I used to go houses to take music classes. One day Master told me ‘you stop going houses, I will give you two students’. Vidhu was one among the first set of students that Master handed over to me. He was in his teens then and singing for Shakthigadha,’’ Satheesh recollects.
‘‘Satheeshettan had helped me grow with my music. The days at Shakthigadha with him had been enriching,’’ Vidhu says. At his young age, Satheesh began donning the role of a Guru.
Krishnanunni had come to Satheesh for music classes at the age of nine. He is the grand-son of M.Krishnan Nair, filmmaker. ‘‘I have got quite a few beatings from him for making mistakes in rendering. Maybe that’s what laid my foundation,’’ says Krishnanunni, who anchors Sing-n-win live musical show in Kairali TV.
Nayana, Haritha and Kamal are recent additions to Satheesh’s students’ gang, but they are excited to have found a great teacher in him. ‘‘His theory classes have helped me a lot in building up knowledge in music,’’ Nayana says. Durga Vishwanath, the winner of Star Singer two seasons back and now a playback singer, Anitha, the Chandamama fame, and the highly talented Madhusree who is Ramesh Narayanan’s daughter are all his students. He has a set of elderly students too, including a 70-year old granny.
It was Vaiyankara Madhusoodhan who trained Satheesh in Carnatic music, at the age of 17. But his talent was spotted by Devarajan master during an interview he held for selecting singers to Shakthigadha. ‘‘An interview which was more difficult than my interview to Music College,’’ he says.
In a few days, Satheesh was singing for Shakthigadha in a programme in Paravoor, Master’s own place. The bond was then cemented and continued for nine long years till Devarajan’s death three years back.
Satheesh has done 13 albums so far and is currently working on a project with singer Hariharan. If things go well, this singer-composer might soon be setting music for a couple of films too.
Satheesh is now Music Manager at Best FM, which means 24X7 into music. There is no missing the latest songs, new comers and hiphop trends happening. But this young Guru is all for the old times, when music was ‘real music for ears’ and not noise.
‘‘Master was a perfectionist, maybe it’s his training that has given this Guru status for me at such a young age. The way Master treated, taught and groomed me, I believe I am doing much the same with them too,’’ Satheesh says. His music classes are only on the weekends when he turns Guru from six in the morning to night. ‘‘I make sure it’s just not a class where they learn to sing, but they get to know all about music. On certain days, I simply talk to them about a raga or on the making of a song or my experiences under Devarajan master so that the student has an idea that there goes so much behind a simple song,’’ Satheesh says.
Haritha is the first student he begins his day with. Very shy but serious when it comes to music. On Navaratri day, she not only make sure she visits her Guru but renders her heart out in front of the Devi idol for blessings.
For Vidhu, this Navaratri is equally pious. He will be singing bhajans at Chottanikara temple. Krishnanunni and Nayana have their hands full with the shows. And for Satheesh, it’s the time when he becomes a student himself. ‘‘I had missed out on a couple of Navaratri keerthans, so now I am learning them,’’ he says. And adds that he is still a student which brings smiles to the faces of his own students.
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