Introduction

A series of very few selected 10 to 15 singer profiles from Smule India will appear here this year. The series kick-start here with an absolutely fantastic talent from Tamil Nadu Divya Ramesh. The major motivation behind these efforts is to bring talented career-oriented singers from the Smule India community. These are profiles suggested by the community, selected through a rigorous selection process of screening more than 130 Smule profiles. There will be one or two profiles presented like this each month spanning over the next 11 months. 

Divya is a great friend to the blog team, had been a talent we long-awaited to bring here. Divya’s high caliber of singing had been recognized by her peers and it is a pleasure to have known her music through Smule. Divya’s story goes like this… Coming from a traditional Tamil family, it was customary for her to learn one or two forms of arts. In her case also came to start learning Classical vocal singing along with her cousin-brothers. During the early stages, the role played by her grandmother in bringing music to the family by playing various classical stalwarts performances in the house is where all the initial hearing and learning started. Keep reading more details about that journey as she told us below.

Please introduce yourself briefly with special references to your music.

“My name is Divya Ramesh born and brought up in Virugambakkam, Chennai. My parents are natives of Tanjore. I started learning music very early from about age six. I have been learning Carnatic Music for more than eight years now under various gurus. I also have done my Advanced Diploma in Carnatic Music. 

Your earliest memories of interactions with music, tell us about all those small things that made you start singing.

I used to sing in my school Prayers/Bhajans. My parents and teachers’ encouragement, made me take this up professionally. She continued “It was until quite late that I started learning about what Chennai had to offer musically. Like Margazhi festivals etc.” Once came to know about it, she kept a very important emphasis on listening to music recordings with a lot of patience and time spent.”

Who influenced you the most as a child as far as your music interests and talents?

“My Grand-Mother was a big fan of Indian Classical Music. She was a strong critic and used to push me at every point to elevate and improve my singing.” Divya comes from a proper training background in Carnatic music. Her Gurus had imparted a great influence on her music.

Her very first guru in Carnatic music is Sri. Kallidai Kuruchi Sankara Narayana. He was a disciple of GNB. “He was my first guru and it was him who taught me all the basics of Carnatic music for a period of two and a half years (1998 – 2001)”.

“When my first guru moved to a different city, I had to find a new guru. Smt. Saraswathi Narayanan. She was the first disciple of MLV amma. I have learned Carnatic music from her for more than 3 years (2004 – 2008)”. If readers want to know Smt. Saraswathi Narayanan is the known first disciple of MLV who had sung on stage with MLV amma on her very famously recorded kacheris. (references: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M._L._Vasanthakumari) and (https://www.rasikas.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=509&start=50).

Later I was also fortunate to have got trained under Smt. Balasaraswathi. She was my professor at the music college. It was her persistence that helped me take my training levels to the next level in classical music.

For the past year, I am learning music from Smt. Rukmini Krishna Sundar. She is an All India radio artist and I must say this learning process will continue wherever I am going to be.”

Divya started talking more about her gurus in detail, “I adore my first guru a lot. He was the one who taught me all the basic lessons from the very young age of six or so. Divya used to teach others and perform here and there. Sri. Kallidai Kuruchi Sankara Narayana sir pointed to my shortcomings as far as doing a mature stage performance and making me think about music seriously.”

Unfortunately, her first guru transferred so had to move on to her second guru. Smt. Saraswathi Narayanan. In a way that is where she happens to mature more knowing what a stage performance is all about. It was properly like a Gurukulam style learning. She was a student of MLV and had such a great lineage. It was during this stage Divya had her proper Arangettam along with all Pakka vadyam all accompanying. 

Describe in detail all your stages from School to college and how your music evolved? and all details and memories, activities, etc

In school, I was leading a bhajan group. As part of this, we used to perform for competitions and in various Chinmaya branches. I was given a chance to sing “Kurai ondrumillai” and a popular Meera bhajan to voice for MS Subbulakshmi in a skit.

Divya continued “Although, I was a part of the bhajan groups at my school and won many prizes in group competitions as well as solo at inter-school events. My very first concert was in a temple in the presence of my guru Bala Saraswathi when I was in high school.

The music academy in Chennai used to conduct competitions and her guru Smt. Balasaraswathi encouraged her to participate in music competitions that gave them a lot of good exposure to many stage singing techniques. Divya still remembers one such prestigious one called the Papanasham Sivan competition Aruna Sriram was the judge. Divya still remembers the praises she got for her performances from such great judges. Divya had performed in a few temples after that. Divya still trying to attain that maturity by singing in public. She went on to describe where she wants to mature to be a stage singer who can bring ‘manodharma’ and not just sing a Keerthana with all technicalities in place. Divya says “It is something more of self-expression and bringing your own way of interpretation of a song on stage is what makes a good musician. Divya was very excited about the knowledge she can display on a stage and the need to reach that maturity. Divya looking at Sudha Raghunathan, T. M. Krishna, Ranjani /Gayatri duo, and such as current legends, and want to mature to be on stage singer. 

To say some significant achievements, In college, I was one of the top 5 finalists in a competition conducted by Shringeri Sharadha Peetam all over the state. I had the opportunity to sing in front of Carnatic musicians like Umayalpuram Sivaram, K. Sivaraman, Amrutha Murali, Sangeetha Sivakumar, and R. K. Shriramkumar.

How does the transition from Classical music singing to pop music to playback happen? If so, what influences?

I am a big fan of IsaiGnani Ilayaraja sir, and I always wanted to try out his tricky compositions. Smule is a great platform that helped me to showcase my film singing to the outside world. 

A most memorable moment in your music life

I performed a devotional music concert with the playback singers Harini and Tippu in Kollur Mookambigai temple when I was in my teens. That was a great experience rehearsing with such talented people where u can learn the nuances of performing on stage. 

What exactly does your music mean to you?

Music is something which is very important to me than just a source of entertainment. It is a  part of my routine and acts as a catalyst for my other day-to-day work. 

Your views about the general landscape of India’s classical music?

Indian classical music is so deep and has its own powers that make the musician keep exploring endlessly. 

Your thoughts about popular music or film music or generally Tamil regional music?

Film music evolved from MSV through Ilayaraja to the A.R.Rahman era. As we all know, a heavy concentration of classical was there in the 70s, bringing western styles that happened in later stages which added dynamics to film music. Having said that, a few Carnatic-based kinds of music come in films depending on the nature of the movie. From my perspective, without changing the structure of the raga created by our ancestors and not affecting the sanity of the notes should be of utmost importance to a musician.

World music and other language music of India.

I am not qualified to comment on such things since my experience with it is little that I know doesn’t contain much world music. So I stop there my comment.

Social responsibility for an Artist, what do you think about it

I will definitely have my own views and will take a stand. I will not be fearful to explain the reasons behind it. But at the same time, I will not be forcing anyone to accept my views. 

Do you pay attention to the lyrics and meaning of songs? Do you think they are important for music? If yes then why?

Yes, lyrics are the most important part of the music. A layman can easily connect with the lyrics of a song more than the tune involved. Also, the sound of words and the way you pronounce them while singing give a different flavor to the song. 

What career ambitions do you have in music. Then how are you planning to achieve it?

I would like to teach music in a larger group setting. Performing concerts in ‘Sabhas’ is my long-term goal. I am working slowly, but steadily. 

How are you planning to manage family life and a very prospective career in music?

I spend a couple of hours practicing daily without fail and am planning to do the same going forward.  

Where do you see yourself five years from now in your music?

I want to achieve a much deeper understanding and more improvement in my singing generally.   

Now it is time to list all your favorite musicians

In film music, I adore P. Susheela madam, K.S Chitra, SPB, and Hariharan a lot. In Carnatic although some viewpoints of T.M Krishna are not my style, I like him as a musician and like his performances. I also adore the performances of Sanjay Subramanian. The specialty of Chitra amma’s singing in my perspective is one cannot figure out any differences between live singing and recorded one, in addition, that her voice remains the same throughout the year. P. Susheela amma’s usage of nuances is hard to replicate when I sing which made me listen to her more and more. 

We are adding a few of her hand-picked songs here. The very first one is a Malayalam song very male-centric originally Devasabhathalam/ Aanandham -Malayalam -His Highness Abdullah Film: His Highness Abdullah, Lyricist: Kaithapram, Music – Raveendran Master. An excellent rendition by Divya. She owned this. Do listen.

Song: Sawaar Loon; Singer: Monali Thakur; Music: Amit Trivedi; Lyrics: Amitabh Bhattacharya. A song of great lyrics and such is Divya’s taste for songs.

Ninnaichcharan Music: Ilayaraja
Lyrics : Bharathiyar, A poet who knew Heart of Tamil and unmistakable cultural iconic song in Divya’s beautiful voice.

ARR Song: Boom Boom Artists: Udit Narayan, Sadhana Sargam. With Abhishek Menon (Featured artist/ great friend peer to the blog pages).
Album: Boys

Divya and Sangeetha | sankarabharanam swaras – when 2 became 1; With a great friend and a peer.

Andolanam dolanam Movie Sargam with Sangeeth an amazing talent featured artist joins Divya.
KJ. Yesudas & KS. Chithra, Yusuf Ali Kechery
Music: Bombay Ravi

Song: Nathiyl Aadum with Shankar a peer.
Music -Ilaiyaraaj, singers: S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, S. Janaki, Deepan Chakravarthy
Album: Kathal Oviyam

Five Star | Engirinthu song Music: Parasuram Radha Lyrics : Thamarai

A song probably Divya relates well. As you may have seen in the write-up, Divya watches and listens to modern-day Carnatic artists like Sudha Ragunathan. Divya aspires one day to be like one of those legends.

Track: Thaye Yashoda Album: Morning Raga – A Meeting of Worlds Artist(s): Sudha Ragunathan, Ranjani Ramakrishnan Director: Oothukau Venkatasubbaiyer

ENDNOTES

Divya is an absolute pleasure to know and write about here. Her music comes from a lot of mature thoughts from her vast training in South Indian Carnatic music. The influences she imbibed from her various gurus are what Divya’s music that we hear today. Her very unique style of singing sometimes reminds all of her listeners very akin to playback singer K.S. Chitra. Her collaborative efforts with her peers on Smule is an absolute reason why we think Divya has a bright future to develop a career in music.

Carnatic music has seen many phenomenal woman singers from the time it existed to the modern-day. The female Trinity of Carnatic music M. S. Subbalakshmi, D. K. Pattammal, and M. L. Vasanthakumari, who are Carnatic musicians of the 20th century are the three best examples in front of Divya. She as exemplified through her profound thoughts, is looking forward to a bright singing career. Her modern-day idols like Sudha Ragunathan, Ranjani/ Gayatri duo, T. M. Krishna, and Sanjay Subramanian are excellent examples who made Carnatic music such a popular and thriving form of music. It is not a form of music, that is so easy to be brought to popular singing; one needs some real effort to know the heart of it. Divya is a singer who understands the heart of Carnatic music and is also ready to experiment with learning popular music. A great singer from Smule we are looking forward to the coming years to be a major musician. Really happy to introduce this singer here. Do visit and listen to her music on her Smule profile and follow her. https://www.smule.com/divya2008

Come back in a week’s time to listen to the second singer in this series.