Like most musician memoirs, there is the overcoming of stage fear as a child, the first competition, the first concert, musical meetings with friends, etc. It is inevitable that we see a parade of famous singers on the pages apart from music composers like Sean Roldan, who was his student. In addition, he mentions how Unnikrishnan, a Carnatic singer’s shift to film music, made many change their minds.

Another feature of this memoir is that he never fails to mention each and every one who helped him in almost every concert. This generosity of spirit is evident as you read. No contribution by anyone is considered too small and they will find their names mentioned in the book. His special appreciation is reserved for his accompanists, Venkatesh and Varadarajan. His camaraderie with those who play instruments and how they challenge each other is something one needs to read or hear to understand.

This is the story of a violinist who became a conservative Carnatic musician, went on to become a music teacher, and later became a star performer and ended up getting the highest honour, the Sangita Kalanidhi award, from Madras Music Academy. The musical journey is continuing, though he quit his job as a chartered accountant 25 years ago. It was amusing to learn that what he hates most about himself is his voice, and he does voice exercises now to improve it with the help of Anjana Rajagopalan.

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