Sowmya at Cleaveland Music festival..

Sowmya is back in form, heard her today at Cleaveland Tyagaraja Aradhana in Cleaveland,am simply amazed by the presence of Carnatic music in the US,am so glad.. The programme being telecast on Jaya TV daily at 6.30AM, wih the usual RMkv silks and grandeur, it feels nice.

Coming back to Sowmya's kutcheri, I must say, I heard the "Sowmya of the early nineties" today, after a reeeally long time. Of late, for whatever reason,which I dont want to judge, I used to feel she had lost interest. Her singing had reduced from a once-all-powerful husky nature to a boring,sluggish one. It hurt me a lot. Because Sowmya is my all time favourite in the new generations. Her classisicm stands out and her no-compromise way of handling ragas like thodi,bhairavi, kalyani and the other rubber-stamp ragas of Carnatic music makes me feel as if am listening to someone from those days....

Maybe it was voice abuse,fatigue or too many concerts, she just wasnt the same, for about a couple of years now. Today, it seemed changed. A briliant neraval in Dhanyasi followed by a kalyani in the 30 mins of glory that JayaTV brings daily was how my day began...

Sowmya stands out because of her commitment to Carnatic musc, I have heard from music circle friends that she works hard at her music even now. No wonder.. She is also singing at a slightly higher pitch with good clarity too... Is this the effect of voice culture ? Constant akaaara saadhanam ? Humming ? Not talking too much ? What could it be ? Am still struggling.. but am not anyone in Carnatic music.. am just a small fish, a reealy tiny one in this great universe of carnatic musicians... but am blessed to be there...

Whatever it is with Sowmya, am glad she is back in action. Am waiting to hear more of her back home, maybe a brilliant kamboji would do justice to all these years of lacking ??

Back in nineties,Sowmya used to be for me an icon - an IIT gold medallist,a post-graduate in Chemistry from IIT,an all-rounder who sings Carnatic music too.
Today, Sowmya is to me an icon of a different nature - a fighter,a phoenix in the field of CM who has come back to form in style and grandeuer, and she also happens to be an IItian,a gold medalist with a postgraduate in chemistry too..

Sometimes it is worth turning the perspective by 360 degres what ?