Anuradha Palakurthi is India’s nightingale of New England. She is a student of classical Indian music – Carnatic and more recently, Hindustani with an extensive repertoire that ranges from singing at dance Arangetrams to Bollywood over the years. Anuradha is

proficient (and sings) in six Indian languages and is able to convey the composer’s intended emotions equally adeptly. She is a very sought after singer in the Boston area.  Be it a song laden with a Bhakti, an intricate Carnatic number or a fun item number, Anuradha delivers it with precision, feeling and ease. She has also recorded playback for South Indian films. Anuradha recently created the Anuradha Palakurthi Foundation that will contribute to organizations that promote Indian culture. She serves on the Board of MIT’s Heritage of Arts of SouthAsia (MITHAS).

She is the mother of three children and lives in Westwood, MA. She is planning to doing a show dedicated to the music of Madan Mohan. She talked to Lokvani about music and life.

Can you describe your early musical training?

My training began in kindergarten. Most early memories are filled with a grumpy 6 yr old being dragged by my mother, to music lessons and other social events where I would be forced to perform a ... 'Pattu'... Or a song!

My training at home was a fare more interesting experience – provided in the shape of an orthodox Tamilian Brahmin father (who also doubled as the art critic for The Hindu in New Delhi) playing Madurai Mani tapes;  Syrian Christian mother listening to Vividh Bharat’s Pakeezah/Mukesh/Saigal songs on radio; and my Classic Rock loving brother introducing me to Pink Floyd and Lynyrd Skynyrd/Southern Rock. Living at my home was a training school for many types of music.

I am forever grateful to my mother for pushing me to the weekly Carnatic lessons. I realized later how it made all the difference.

Despite having immense musical talent you decided to join the prestigious BITS Pilani to study genetics. What motivated you to pursue a career in the sciences?

Did folks of our generation have a choice Ranjani?

It did not matter what talent you had or what you really wanted to do; middle-class parents pushed children to ‘Science’ or ‘Engineering’ to ensure ‘jobs’ and ‘steady income’.

As a parent I am kind of sympathetic to their then-situation. Commercial success of artists was rare and art-world was infested with nepotism, sycophancy and overwhelming shadiness that scared middle-classes off. Also, there was no real democratization of talent discovery that Sa Re Ga Ma kind of TV programs now tries to bring about.

One only has to see the life of Bharat Ratna Ustad Bismillah Khan to understand the price a once-in-a-generation artist had to pay to chase dreams. 

Music was the main reason for my meeting and later marrying the senior-most student in Pilani. Within a few weeks of marriage, living in Bangalore, we met a then-rising Kannada movie star - Shivrajkumar. He and I recorded our first movie song ever for a Kannada film called Ranaranga in 1988. I was in the studios for Anant Nag & Shankar Nag’s next movie; and was getting multiple calls from music directors. I loved it!

But I loved my life as young bride even more. At the same time Prashanth had an opportunity to work in the UK for six months. Despite repeated requests from him to continue with a playback career in Bangalore, I rejected playback offers and decided to go to London.

Life took over. Prashanth’s entrepreneurial journey, three children (one with special needs), travels across the globe ended with Westwood, MA 1996. Musical journey was stunted during these years.

In 2002 I met Geetha Murali a brilliant Carnatic singer and teacher, who tutored me till 2011. She is a fantastic teacher and not only did I find my path back to classical singing, I also found a new friend, guide and mentor.

My first performance was at Phillips Andover School - thanks to our friend’s daughter Supriya Jain’s insistence - with Neena Gulati, a leading cultural light of our community. A couple of Arangetrams followed; also a couple of programs with Sreedevi Ajai Thirumalai for her magical dance shows. In 2010 I sang for a Telugu movie, Golconda High School.

More recently, I decided to learn Hindustani music because it improves a singer’s ability to understand the nuance, sentiment & expression that the composer/writer embeds. As luck would have it, I met Arati Ankalikar-Tikekar at Shekhar and Vanita Shastry’s home (Meru Foundation Chariman) after a LearnQuest event last year (Hats off to Pradeep Shukla-ji for conceiving and executing a phenomenally entertaining and educational festival for the last 9 years).

I am blessed that Arati-ji agreed to coach me after hearing me sing a couple of songs.

I find Hindustani music challenging but am absolutely at home with it at the same time.  Of course my Carnatic training rears its head every now and then, at  places where it shouldn’t. I love all the admonishing I get from Arati-ji and simply love the time I spend learning the nuances of Hindustani music. She’s a fantastic Guru and has been supportive and very very kind to a novice like me! I’m a strict believer in the saying ”Guru Bin Gyaan Kahaan se Payen”.

Talent always needs training to be structured & polished. It needs to be nurtured with formal instructions and discipline, which only a teacher and a Guru can impart. Once such a knowledgeable foundation is set, one can build anything on it. The grammar of Indian music is written easily in the classical form (yes, even my favorite Fevicol song can be constituted in grammar!).

When I met Dr Balamuralikrishna last year he made an astonishing comment - ‘All music is the same - it needs to be pleasant to ones ears’. For me classical music is as pleasant as is light music. I do not choose one over the other.  Whether it is purely filmi, classical or an amalgam I remember the only requirement - ‘pleasant’.

How difficult is that transition?

Very easy actually:)

Has your Carnatic training been helpful as you sing this genre?

Absolutely. Most Light music has its roots in the classical music - Hindustani or Carnatic.

My life is always unbalanced towards family, which comes first. Regarding my recent musical forays, I didn’t really start until one child was in college and the other was almost on his way out of the door.

You are now doing a special on Madan Mohan. Could you tell us about the show, your motivation, preparation & challenges?

In my opinion, Indian Film Industry has seen no greater composer than Madan Mohan-ji.  His compositions are the best ever when measured by melody, construction or evocativeness (with no words!). As I practice his songs, there is hardly a day when I do not well up in tears. 

Recently I sought Pandit Jasraj’s blessings for the event. He remarked “You have put your hand into the mouth of a tiger”. As the great maestro implied, in flimi music, there is no challenge greater than singing Lata Mangeshkar-ji’s songs set by Madan Mohan-ji.

I’m trying to learn Hindustani. I am anxious and only hope to do 1% justice to the beauty of the original compositions. Happily, I am being accompanied by some of the best artists in the Bombay Film industry for the live band; Comfortingly the gracious male singers that agreed to participate in the show are our good friends and great local artists - Sankar Gangaikondan, Ujjwal Parikh, Raghu Saranathan & Mohan Subramaniam.

Flying from India for the event are a galaxy of National Award winners & the daughter of Madan Mohan-ji - Sangeeta Kohli Gupta.  Mohan Krishna Indraganti (Director), Kaushal Inamdar (Composer) and of course my teacher Arati-ji who has been everything and more that I ever want in a Guru.

This event will be a charity event where we are asking people to contribute to the White House’s Michelle Obama’s initiative for the Armed Forces.

The goal of the foundation is to nourish our Indian Heritage and Culture. I want our next generation to take great pride in our culture and heritage. As parents, we have a responsibility to transfer this pride down one or more generations.

The foundation will provide financial assistance to local organizations, schools and event organizers that promote the universal values of Indian culture. Successful Indian stories here focus on excellence in science and mathematics. However, a significant part of the success comes from being rooted to a culture that promotes tolerance, spirit of family/community, and doing good. Our successes in various fields must not blind us to the contribution made by Indian culture. I hope my foundation helps reset successes to a more comprehensive view.

From a distance, I have adored and admired many vocalists and at Goddess-level are Lata Mangaeshkar-ji and the Late MS Subhalakshmi. I grew up listening to these two angels.

My Carnatic mentor is Geetha and my Hindustani Guru is Arati-ji. 

I owe them a ton of gratitude for continuing to help me on my journey.

In life, my first life mentors were my parents. For as long as I remember, my mom taught me the values of patience, kindness and tolerance; and my dad everything else…from science, theater, film, art to what little I know about the scripture. Even today I consult him in matters of language, art, music and English translations of Lalgudi’s compositions or Bharathiyar’s poems for my daughter’s dances!

I’m shamelessly partial to all Prashanth has to say about everything.

Arya, my daughter is a natural dancer and she now leads the Dance group at Swarthmore. She enrolled to do a minor in Dance at her college.

Sridevi Thirumalai - an exceptional dancer and an even better teacher - was her Bharatanatyam Guru. From the age of 5 to when she completed her Arangetram (13) I loved every minute of accompanying her to her classes and watching over her home practice.

In 2006, Arya went on to tour India with Sridevi and other girls to perform in 4 cities in India, with the finale being at the Mecca of Bharatanatyam, The Kalakshetra Academy in Chennai.

It would be wonderful to see her do more in that field. Maybe one day!

Motherhood is challenging on it’s own. Period. The job description comes with guilt being it’s main characteristic. My youngest was diagnosed with autism in 1999. That threw a spanner into the works. We don’t get to choose our life’s challenges. It still is hard when I leave for rehearsals and shows, but I’m blessed to have access to a lot of help. My husband will not stop at anything to provide the support I need to focus on my music.

When the kids were growing up, my sisters-in-law would always be there for me whenever I needed them… in any which way.  That kind of love makes life much easier and the hurdles don’t seem many:)  My biggest motivators have been both my parents-in-law.  Without their unflinching support it would’ve been difficult for me to be a “stage singer”. My mother-in-law is a champion for woman’s education and independent achievements in life. She takes a lot of pride when she see her daughters and daughters-in-law go out of their homes and make their own marks.

All I can say is that embrace what is, wholly, and learn from the experience of being that special parent. We’re still learning everyday!  One thing I can promise you is that the other siblings will turn out to be extra-nice people with a greater appreciation of what makes the world a better place.

Are there particular charities you would like to support?

Two of them  -

Ekal Vidyalaya - When we attended the Ekal event last year it was easy to take a narrow view and see it as a support system for educating 1.6 million poor children in remote villages.

However, Prashanth & I were moved by the much bigger picture. We had no doubt that Ekal would transform villages by creating a highly energized and educated cadre of stakeholders, not just citizens, for the village’s success. Unlike in the past, we see a future where the village leadership is better-educated and better able to contribute to Indian democracy both politically and economically.  We would like to support this charity to the best of our ability.

Armed Forces - My brother was a Test pilot in the Indian Air Force and flew MIGs…he was really cool:) He lost his life in 1993 and left behind a shattered family that has never recovered from that tragedy. I empathize with the anguish that such families go through. We are coming to end of the longest war in American history. We hope to make it a little bit better for the returning veterans by finding jobs for them and are seeking your contributions at the Madan Mohan Event.

Any other comments?

I’m very proud to see so many young people in our community keeping their connections to our roots.  Boston is lucky to have organizations like MITHAS and Learnquest that foster and nourish these connections.

I would request the people in our community to support such organizations financially. 

Art needs patrons and cannot survive without it. Please call MITHAS and Learnquest and send them your checks.

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