Vishakha Santhanam Hari is now an international Harikatha star, and
her fan following is incredulous. Yet, her thirst for wisdom remains
unquenched. Does she have a life beyond the composite art? How did
the girl-next-door, who now ceaselessly attires in madisar, reach this
high a pedestal?
Vishakha Hari looks back at her journey.
A full 35 years ago, in 1983, CA M Santhanam left his comfortable job
with the World Bank in Tanzania so he could raise his children in the
bounty of Indian culture. He and his wife Vijaya were enthusiasts of
Carnatic music and dance. When Vishakha’s maternal grandmother
cooked, it was not just enticing aromas that oozed out of the kitchen.
Soulful tunes of Thyagaraja Swami’s keerthanas too took over the
house. “Perhaps my love for music passed on through the genes.”
Vishakha came to India when she was five years old, and Dad
Santhanam immediately put her on to renowned stalwarts like
Srirangam Krishnamurthy Rao, Sudharani Ragupathy and Savithri
Sathyamurthy to learn Carnatic music and Bharatanatyam. Vishakha
excelled at both. But she chose to delve deep into singing after
Padma Bhushan Lalgudi Jayaraman, at sixty-four years, agreed to
train her! During her introductory music classes, Vishakha’s brother,
Saketharaman, would sit under the table and repeat after the teacher.
“That was how we found out about his interest in music. He was shy
at first, but soon turned out a prodigy.” Like Vishakha, Saketh, now
a vice-president at Goldman Sachs, learned at the feet of Lalgudi Sir.
