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A strong passionate advocate of Carnatic music is how Sri. Shashikiran comes across as he sits cross- legged in a traditional style , in tune with the traditional ambience around his gurukulam.. The gurukulam is quiet and one can see a shruti box ,a Tambura, and a few books on Carnatic music and a picture of the saint Sri Thyagaraja . Charpoys are spread on the floor for the students and the quiet atmosphere is interrupted only by the sound of his music as he teaches his student. It is easy to see that tradition and culture are his watchwords.

K.N. Shashikiran a professional concert vocalist is the Founder and Managing Director of Srishti's Carnatica Private Limited, and the Managing Trustee of Carnatica Archival Centre He is the Designer of one of the first websites on Carnatic music - http://www.clickcarnatica.com and http://www.carnatica.com. The producer, author and the brain behind the world's first interactive and encyclopaedic CD-ROM on Carnatic music titled "Nadanubhava - The horizons of Carnatic music”, he has also been the joint creator and developer of the world's first twin-pack VCD on Carnatic music titled "Nadopasana - My own Carnatic tutor", a self-help guru with Karaoke features and a pioneer of a Mobile Gurukulam which offers music lessons, the world over. At present Shashikiran is working towards documenting Carnatic music through the Carnatica Archival Centre in Project Carnatic music - 2010.

Here are a few excerpts from a conversation with Padmasini on his views and passion for Carnatic Music and its state visa –a- viz our times .

V.P.: How did your induction to classical music begin?

Shashikiran: I started to sing even before I knew I was singing. Music was there in the family and my brother was singing, and my father was teaching. I started at the age of 3 under my father and began giving performances at the age of 9. I was fascinated by the sound of the Mridangam and learnt to play it from Palghat Sundaram. I wanted to be different in my family. Everybody started out to sing and then shifted to the Chitra Veena. I liked vocal music and continued to sing. I played the Mridangam for sometime in public but wanted to focus on singing. The Mridangam has helped me in perfecting laya.

I learnt from Smt. T.Brinda as my brother was learning from her , and then I secured a fellowship and continued my tutelage under her. I used to sing along with my sister Keernavalli and Ravikiran has also played the Chitra Veena for some of the concerts. That is how the whole family was on stage.

V.P.: Your career as a vocalist has taken a back stage in recent times?

Shashikiran: My career has been different, not focussed on Chennai alone.

It is all round When I took over the responsibility of Carnatica , I thought there are so many people who just perform, for whom music is just performance. Career starts and ends with performance. I thought that there was something more like a value addition we need to give back to the music field. Wherever I sang I had the feeling that the number of people who came for the concerts had not increased, the same kind of traditional crowd which you find when you perform anywhere. The hype at the government level is not high for this art. The science behind the art is so fascinating to me. Personally I thought it is one of the ultimate systems in the world, in terms of music, and so I thought there was no reason across the world why it should not reach out to more people. There was something in me telling me that I was going to work more towards that other than my concerts. There was a time when I had to decide to give lesser weight to my personal career than this.

V.P.: What is music to you?

Shashikiran: My passion for music is not performance. Music is beyond self glory although many of our musicians have worked towards it. My aim is to make music greater than all individuals. People should appreciate music for the value of music . They are still appreciating it for the sake of the individual. They are not going to a concert irrespective of an artiste are they?

V.P.: A small crowd is an insult to an artiste?

Shashikiran:I don’t think. An artiste is above all this. Stage music is not ultimate. If I have sung to just four people in a sabha it does not mean I have to dilute my standards! Out of the four one might be a critic writing for the Hindu, another a sabha secretary from USA ! Personally onstage all artistes want to give their best. If they do not it might be due to strain or ill health.

V.P.: The fare you offer depends on the audience?

Shashikiran:It depends on one’s ideas. Audience are important from a different angle for me. They keep the music community,art form and culture alive.

V.P.: Define the parameter of Carnatic Music from your view?

Shashikiran: For me it is something which has a tradition, preserved over so many years, where fundamentals have been kept intact through oral teaching and passed on from generation to generation, practised and propagated. Any art form has 2 dimensions i,e, static and dynamic. For eg. Take Bhairavi, the key phrases have to be there. It is static. Dynamism is shown in the sequence of joining these phrases; where I do it and where somebody else does it. My punch points and space may differ from others. I have to point out the life and feel a freshness to the phrase. Otherwise it will fall flat on the ears of the listener. I should interpolate everything I sing .

V.P.: Is criticism a healthy trend?

Shashikiran:Critics who say the right things and are knowledgeable! All good things said are not right! We need constant criticism. I am not in support of artistes who say they want only good reviews. We do tend to react to reviews when we get a negative one. If we get a positive one the rasikas and sabhas also over react to it I do feel some points of review are wrong. For e.g. Pointing on the choice of one song instead of another one. This is the internal decision of the artiste, or it may be the choice of a member of the audience. That a critic may not know! I would appreciate a critic who points out a technical mistake in a concert like a tinge of Yadukula Kambhoji instead of Sama.

V.P.: New innovations?

Shashikiran:Most people do not notice what we do innovatively. Suppose I sing a pallavi differently, do you think many of the audience know what we are attempting? I have personally faced complications because our crowd already comes with pre- conceived notions and are already having something called ideal music.

V.P.: What is your concept of an ideal concert?

Shashikiran:A concert can be filled with one main raga like Kalyani or Kambhoji and also with the likes of Durbar, Yadukula Kambhodi etc. I am trying out more of the latter. Mostly in a concert a multidimensional feel of all ragas is not given. There are so many ragas that are innate. Can we find an equivalent scale to Atana, Balahamsa or Jayamanohari in Western music? Can’t we sing more of them?

V.P.: What about incorporation of western phraseologies in alapana?

Shashikiran:The Chennai crowd will right you off as a musician. (Laughs). An artist has to be a good psychologist. Even in marriage concerts I sing main ragas when the crowd is off to dinner. That is when I can experiment what I want!

V.P.: Can Carnatic music be appreciated by a layperson?

Shashikiran:It is not difficult to appreciate. Lack of exposure and marketing are the causes. It needs a strategic positioning. There is no need for dilution. Many people cannot appreciate it straight away as they have a negative mindset, to anything that is Indian!

V.P.: Position of upcoming artists?

Shashikiran:Personally. I feel that there should be a neutral panel, a structure to evaluate an artist’s potential a panel consisting of rasikas, critics and artists and they should also be thrown open to the audience. Then they should be given a platform. If you participate in a world cup match and play without any preparation can you get an easy position?

V.P.:A few words on ‘Carnatica’?

Shashikiran:I wanted to do something revolutionary. I worked on a CD Rom with Bharatanatyam, and so I thought the same could be done with Carnatic music. Carnatica was initially started with no finance and infrastructure. It is doing well and has come up because of the rasikas and is still evolving.

V.P.:Can world harmony be established through music?

Shashikiran:There is no module or model. Seven notes, across the world, in different systems. Don’t you think that itself is harmony!

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