Thiruvanmiyur in Chennai is quite a crowded place. But enter flautist J B Sruthi Sagar’s apartment, and it transforms into a tranquil world of music. There are the tanpuras and the veena aligned against one wall. Keerthana, his sister and a vocalist, is all smiles as she welcomes me in. His parents play the veena. As Sagar makes himself comfortable on the swing, he reflects an aura of purity and spirituality around him.
“You are a child prodigy...” Even before I complete the statement, Sagar, who prefers to speak in Tamil, is ready to answer.
“I started learning music at a young age from my first guru Bala Sai. I developed a problem with my vocal chords and hence switched to playing the flute. I just got introduced to the instrument through a little self-learning. I don’t have a flautist as a teacher. My guru is S Sunder, a vocalist. He sings and I play the flute to his music. That’s why I have a Gayaka style.” The guru and the shishya have their sadhakam (or riyaaz) early in the morning, four times a week.
Season of awards
At age 10, Sagar won the Child Prodigy Award from the Rotary Club Besant Nagar. At 17, he won the Kuzhal Isai Selvan Award from the Kumararaja Muthiah Muttamizh Manram. He is also the winner of the AIR (2000) and Mylapore Fine Arts Club (2003) competitions. As a student of Chettinad Vidyashram, a school that actively promotes extracurricular activities, he won a number of prizes in many inter-school competitions. He has won prizes at the IIT Saarang thrice, and also the Kalki Krishnamurthy Memorial award. He is the recipient of M S Subbulakshmi Fellowship award from Shanmukhanada Hall, Mumbai. His arangetram, at age 16, was attended by musicians like Vedavalli, Ravi Kiran, T M Krishna among others.
I ask him why his playing the flute is often compared to Mali’s (T R Mahalingam). “No, no, he was a great person. There’s no comparison to that. It’s because of the sruthi — I use the 5 1/2 pitch, like him. Usually, most artistes use the 2 1/2 pitch.”
Sagar is a full-time musician now, which means he is busy throughout the year. Music season is full as he performs for dancers, takes part in kalyana kacheris (performances at weddings), kovil kacheris (performances at temples), and is part of several recordings. They are for “albums of devotional music and dances. Sometimes for musician Rajkumar Bharathi,” he says.
Not choosing any one kind of performance as his favourite, he swears he enjoys solo performances and accompanying dances in equal measure. “Classical music itself is devotional. So, both satisfy me.” His renditions have accompanied performances by great dancers like Vyjayanthimala, Alarmel Valli, Leela Samson, the Dhananjayans, Urmila Satyanarayana and many more. For an astronomical accomplishment at his age, the flautist seems to be consumed by humility. He doesn’t have to accompany the dancers to their practices at all times because he is allowed to “play freely. I get to practice with them during breaks.”
When travelling the world for performances has become a norm now, I ask him about his musical adventures. He says, “I used to. I have travelled to Europe, the US, London, Malaysia, Singapore. Not anymore. I have stopped because I miss out on religious rituals when I travel, and I believe in them strongly. Sasthras do not encourage crossing the sea.”
Hearty reception
But of course, he remembers the essence of those experiences. “Most of them had big crowds as the dancers I accompanied were well-established. In most of the places, the crowd was made of mostly Indians. In Europe, though, only foreigners constituted the crowd. Their way of appreciation is different. They have a rhythmic way of clapping. It suggests that they want more of music. I had that experience when I performed during the breaks; the dancers had gone for change of costumes.”
He appreciates that the dancers respect his sentiments. However, in India, “I have been to Delhi — again a big performance. In the South, once you are accepted in Chennai, you are accepted in many places, including Mumbai and Bengaluru. Only in Kerala they listen to your music during the season and then call you. I have also performed in Guruvayur, Thrissur and Trivandrum. I will perform at the Kuthira Malika (Trivandrum) for their next music festival.”
He picks up his flute and starts playing the shahana raga. I’m transported into a magical world of music.