INTRODUCTION
This is a peer reviewed long time waiting feature, and a superb talent on Smule. Thanks to our esteemed peers for their endorsements. This feature had been delayed more than a year time to materialize. Happy to feature some strong women singers in preparation for celebrations on the upcoming month of March, Women’s history celebrations and International Women’s day on March 8th of this year. During this process of writing features on great talented singers from Smule, one outstanding theme is that we had the pleasure to tell the stories of some outstanding strong women singers from Smule India. Poornima is no different, very talented, highly coherent in her approach to singing with very clear thoughts and highest intelligence displayed throughout.
Please introduce yourself briefly with special references to your music
I am Poornima Sekar from Bangalore, India. I am a software engineer by profession, singer and storyteller by passion. I am a Tamilian brought up in Thiruvananthapuram Kerala, now settled in Bangalore. Living in different states has given me an opportunity to be multilingual and exposure to a lot of different language songs in Tamil, Malayalam and Kannada. From my school days I was also fascinated by Hindustani Classical music and Ghazals. My parents are settled in Thiruvananthapuram. I have one younger brother who is based out of Cochin, Kerala. I am currently settled in Bangalore with my Husband – Karthik, who also is a software engineer, with our two daughters Harshini, Janani and my in-laws.
Please walk us through your childhood and all details of your earliest interactions with music
“My inclination towards music started at around age five, when I used to sing songs that I listened to from ‘then’ tape recorders. My parents were hardcore film music lovers. We used to have the entire collection of the Maestro Ilayaraja’s songs and the legends of the yesteryear Viswanathan and Ramamoorthy‘s songs. I was introduced to semi classical music by my maternal grandmother and aunt, who used to sing lot of Soolamangalam sisters songs. Being born into a family with no classical music background, I owe my Carnatic musical journey entirely to the “Land of Anantha Padmanabhan” – Thiruvananthapuram, which opened up immense opportunities to learn and showcase Carnatic music – be it gurus or platforms to perform. Though, I had to switch between multiple gurus, my strong foundation in music was laid by my Guru Smt – Sudha Easwaran, Later on I was groomed by Vidushi late Smt Sharada Kalyanasundaram who prepared me for my arangetram (the very first performance on a stage). I was fortunate enough to accompany her in multiple musical kutcheris (concerts) and TV shows. I fondly remember the time I performed during the functions in the local Vinayaka temple, where I used to get a lot of encouragement from members of the community.”
“ I must also say that my school as well played a very important role in my musical journey. It was at my school that I got introduced to Bhajans and padhyam chollal (poetry recitation in Malayalam).”
A line of Illustrious music gurus guidance
“Apart from the formal Gurus, I was blessed to have several family friends who have helped me go to the next level in music. One such person is Prof. Rama Sarma who provided introductions to a lot of musical veterans by sharing their records and encouraged me to learn new songs. He would also take me for sangeetha kutcheris in the city. He would urge me to guess the ragas and attempt manodharma, swaras and aalaaps. It was again through Sarma Sir I was fortunate to Ajith Namboodiri, who himself is a renowned musician who also was a great source of encouragement for my music. I fondly remember the music room sessions that we used to have in Sarma Sir’s home with talented musicians like Ajith chettan. It was Ajith Chettan who referred me to AIR for my first Carnatic performance. He also gave me a chance in the Carnatic raga based program called ‘Ragolsavam’ that was aired on Kairali TV.”
Other mahaanubhaavas (as I like to mention them) were a Sanskrit Scholar, a teacher of mine who taught me Bhagavad Gita and small slokas and there was also Mrs Parvathy Suryanarayanam (Baby mami as we fondly call her), who used to give Tamil programs in AIR, who gave me lots of chances to sing Tamil songs at AIR.
After several years gap, I have now got back to my Carnatic music classes with Vidushi Sudha Easwaran whom I met again through Facebook.
Who influenced you the most as a child as far as your music interests and talents?
“It is hard to specify one; yet It is my parents, school, all my gurus and the opportunities that were widely available in the city.”
Please take us through Schools colleges etc activities major music achievements etc
My musical journey started at the age of seven when my mother taught me “chethi mandaram thulasi” for a school program. From there the teachers took over, I was made part of the school music group and represented my school in inter school competitions. The school had a great support team for music at an extracurricular level. I was also introduced to group bhajans, gita chanting and akshara slokam in the school. Apart from the training in the school, I was trained by my music teacher Vidushi late smt Sarada Kalyanasundaram in carnatic music and encouraged me to participate in music competitions that were held outside the school (like Rotary club, Kerala Tamizh Sangam, etc). I have around 120 certificates for various music competitions.”
“I fondly remember the song that Sarada mami taught me “Mamava Meenakshi” in the raga “Varali” it is one of those heavy ragas that took time for me to master. But once it was perfected, it was a sure short prize winner in the competitions. I have participated in various other musical competitions like light music, malayalam recitation, group music (representing the school), group bhajans etc conducted by different organizations and also the school kalolsavam conducted by the state government of Kerala in Thiruvananthapuram. These competitions were nothing less than festivals in itself. It used to take the whole day with multiple events being conducted across different categories, followed by the prize distribution late in the evening. The participants shared a good rapport and we used to spend the time getting to know each other. So were the parents who accompanied the kids. They used to discuss gurus, upcoming events, how to take care of the throat and many such topics. A big shout out to my mother who tirelessly accompanied me for all these competitions.”
I was fortunate enough to share the stage with the now famous malayalam playback singers like Vidhu Prathap and Akhila Anand during these competitions. From my 10th class onwards, it was a huge gap in my musical journey. Music then became an occasional stress buster. Restarted my passion three years back again when I met my guru Vidushi smt. Sudha Easwaran in FB. I am continuing my carnatic classes online now.
Smule brought back the lost touch
Somewhere between the break from my music from college to now that I got introduced to Smule. Initially tried a few solos and then slowly started singing collabs and group collabs. It is a great platform for developing our singing skills. Initially was hesitant to sing high pitched songs. Singing in Smule, once a mere stress reliever, slowly became my go to tool for trying out different genres and singing styles. Though I have been in smule for around 4 years, I am a seasonal smuler. I am totally amazed at the talent pool here in smule.
I want to take this opportunity to thank my family – husband, kids and in-laws for supporting me in continuing my passion apart from my job.Sometimes the support is so huge that my daughter once said “Appa can you help me with my stuff as amma is busy singing in Smule.”
Describe all your Classical music expertise and detailed descriptions of your Gurus etc.
I have learned south Indian Carnatic music for close to 10 years. The journey started when I was in my second grade. Though, I had to switch between multiple gurus, my foundation in music was laid by Guru Vidushi Smt.Sudha Easwaran, from whom I learnt my initial lessons and a few varnams and keerthanams. My personal favorites from Sudha Akka’s teaching is a varnas “Entho prematho” in Surutti raagam and Muthuswamy Deekshithar’s Navagraha keerthanam “Ankaarakam Aashrayamyaham” in the same raga.
After my teacher had relocated to chennai post her marriage, I started learning from Vidushi late smt.Sarada Kalyanasundaram (Mother of Vidwan Kalaimaamani Dr. K. Krishnakumar and Mother-in-law of “rara” fame Vidushi Kalaimaamani Smt.Binni Krishnakumar). She was the one who prepared me for my arangetram and was instrumental in giving me opportunities in AIR and many smaller kutcheris along with her. I was accompanying her for a musical program series on ragas which was aired in Asianet’s morning program “Suprabhatham”. Sarada Mami (as we fondly call her) was an expert in Oothukkadu Venkata Subbaiyyar’s compositions.I have learnt lots of Oothukkadu songs from her which I treasure. She had also taught me heavy compositions like Swathi Thirunal Maharaja’s Navaratri kritis, Thyagaraja Swamigal’s Pancharatna kritis. My personal favourites from Sarada mami’s teaching are Neela vanam thanil (Oothukkadu kriti – Punnagavarali), Mamava meenakshi (Muthuswamy Dikshithar kriti – Varali)”
How does the transition from Classical music singing to pop music to playback happen? If so, what influences?
I always admired and learned semi classical and light music right from my school days. I was heavily influenced by 80s and 90s music from Tamil, Malayalam and Hindi. However, I did not get too many opportunities to sing those on stage. I just kept singing movie songs/pop songs with friends during school and college functions. However, I remember this one instance when I was ten years old, when I got an opportunity to sing in front of a fully packed Swathi Thirumal Sangeetha Sabha auditorium at Thiruvananthapuram. One of the famous light music troupe from Chennai was performing. Since one of my well wishers knew the troupe members personally, I was given a chance to sing – I sang the tamil song “Kanmani Anbodu kadhalan” from the movie “Guna“. This was my first experience singing a movie song on stage.
To be frank, It was in smule that I started experimenting western, hindustani classical and light music, high pitch and low pitch and different genres.
What exactly does your music mean to you?
Music is an awesome stress buster, my goto thing for any occasion. In short, music is an integral part of my life.
Your views about the general landscape of India’s classical music?
Indian music is as vast as its landscape. Apart from the major classification of music like Hindustani and Carnatic music, India is home to numerous forms of native music across the country.
Your thoughts about popular music or film music or generally about Tamil regional music?
Film music is so versatile, this serves as a starting point for introducing varied forms and genres of music to layman. This is true with most languages. Tamil music in particular, There has been tremendous transition from the hardcore Carnatic based film music in 50’s to the lighter versions or mellisai introduced by mellisai mannargal to the beautiful blend of folk, western and Carnatic by Ilayaraja to the trending ganaa songs by Deva sir, to soothing melodies by Vidyasagar sir to the introduction of world music with varied voices and instruments by AR Rahman and the list goes on.
World music and other language music of India.
I was introduced to multiple languages through Smule. I don’t have much of an exposure to world music, But love listening to Mozart’s and Beethoven’s symphonies, Arabic music and a bit of western pop.
Social responsibility for an Artist, what do you think about it?
Social responsibility is necessary for any individual, especially artists whom people look up to. In my opinion, I would like to revive and help a lot of native arts and artists who are less known.
If you are a socially responsible artist will you take a stand if you can influence the decisions taken at political or other levels?
Yes I would, as long as it is relevant and related to music.
Do you pay attention to the lyrics and meaning of songs? Do you think they are important for music? If yes then why?
Yes, knowing the meaning of the song makes the singing more enjoyable. Bringing out emotion is one of the biggest factors in making a song appealing, and this can be achieved only if we understand the lyrics and its meaning.
What career ambitions you have in music. Then how are you planning to achieve it?
Although sounds cliché, music is like an ocean. There is a lot to learn and explore, I love singing and would like to learn and explore as much as I can. At this point, I haven’t thought of a serious career out of music. But would really work towards it.
Where do you see yourself in five years from now in your music?
I have a fixed plan as far as Carnatic music is concerned. I would love to prepare myself for doing a full-fledged kutcheri (concert) with manodharma swaras and ragas. I also want to integrate singing shlokas with their meanings and Indian folk music(in native indian languages) in the format of storytelling (trying to leverage my storytelling skills here).
Do you think it is possible in this time one can take classical music as a main career and survive?
” Yes, I think so. Though there are many established musicians out there, It is merely up to us to explore and innovate it in the best possible ways to stay relevant.”
What issues exist as far as you understand challenges as a woman in any profession, if you want to take music as a profession.
I do not think there is any specific challenge that exists as such. A good support structure in the form of family should be sufficient to achieve what we need. I think this holds good for all genders.
What is your opinion about a family life and pressures of womanhood and any special challenges?
Family life acts as a support to us to achieve our goals. I do not see much difference in my family life both as a working woman and as a housewife. All we need is a disciplined lifestyle which will help you achieve all that you need.
Now it is time to list all your favorites in music
1) Carnatic male / female – Ranjani/Gayathri, Sikkil Gurucharan
2) Playback – KS Chithra, SPB
3) Music directors- Ilayaraja Sir, AR Rahman Sir, johnson master and Raveendran master
4) which Genre of music – Carnatic classical music
Do you do any sports? If so which one? if not what other hobbies you have?
I like playing badminton and carroms, though I am not much into sports.
Is there anything we missed to ask you, that you want to tell us about, this is your chance
Yes, My journey on storytelling! This is a recent passion that I had developed apart from music. Bangalore is one such metropolitan city which is home to various contemporary art forms like modern theatre, music, dance and so on. While having a casual discussion on this with my colleagues, I came to know about an organization called KATHALAYA which offers internationally certified courses on Storytelling. Just out of curiosity I enrolled for their storytelling workshop conducted during November 2019 in Bangalore. Never knew there was so much to “storytelling”. Kathalaya and Geetha Ramanujam Ma’am – who is a doyen in storytelling, introduced me to various facets of storytelling like – Story telling with music, Storytelling with Dance, Storytelling with puppets and props, Storytelling with theatre elements to it…It is from here that I developed an interest in puppetry and ventriloquism and these along with music remain my favourite story telling aids that i use in my story telling sessions:). I also dabble with art – drawing and painting at times.
It is now time to listen to this awesome songs Poornima Prepared for the feature and some of them she picked from her Smule profile.
Malargal Ketten
Marghazhi Poove
ENDNOTES
When we are running towards the finish line and taking these few final steps to finish this esteemed line of singers from Smule, Poornima’s place here is a significant one. She is one of the finest musicians that we have come across with a lot of musical experience working alongside many prominent musicians. Poornima had a very active past in the music field and currently all the rejuvenated activities in music have made it a compelling case to present her along with some of the outstanding profiles from the India community singers. Please visit Poornima at her Smule profile and follow her and encourage this enormous talent that needs some recognition.
