When I recorded at AIR, I would visit Marina beach

Egmore Museum, Connemara Public Library and Rajarathinam Stadium — these were some of the places where I hung out with my friends. I was born in Bengaluru and spent the first 10 years of my life there but kept visiting Chennai as we had relatives here.
When we moved to Chennai, we lived in Montieth Lane, Egmore, and I would walk to Good Shepherd Matriculation Higher Secondary School. I have lived in several neighbourhoods — in Egmore till I got married, then Bhaskarapuram in East Abhiramapuram, for four years in T Nagar and for the past 10 years in my present house in Alwarpet.
Over the years, the crowds have swelled, many malls and office buildings have come up and I feel there is no breathing space.If I were a bird and wanted to perch on a tree or rooftop, it would be difficult to find space. That’s why I chose to live on Cenotaph Road as it is close to Mount Road but quiet and peaceful.
I owe my career graph to Chennai. The city gave me wonderful gurus — my mother, Choodamani Venkatraman, from whom I began learning music; then T V Viswanathan, B V Lakshman, and the guru who really chiselled my career, M L Vasanthakumari. She was a perfect example of what a musician should be — from the way she conducted herself to how she interacted with rasikas and captured their hearts with her impeccable, inspiring and creative music.
I am a good cook because of her.
She said cooking is an art.
When we went on trips, she would make me enter the kitchen and make a kozhambu or some other dish while she gave me instructions. I am known for my golden potatoes, and some friends who have tasted it have saved my recipe as ‘Sudha aloo’. I find cooking relaxing; it gives me happiness when people like my food and eat heartily. It gives me the same feeling that I get when I have done a good kutcheri. I have many fond memories of Chennai. I have always loved the beach and, whenever I recorded at AIR and Doordarshan, I used to go to the Marina beach with my friends. I was part of All India Radio’s choral music group, and we had rehearsals 15 days a month.
I was also a part of many youth programmes so it gave me plenty of opportunities to spend time at the beach. I often visit the Shirdi Sai Baba temple in Mylapore. I am a Sai devotee; the Puttaparthi Sathya Sai Baba named me, did my ear piercing, and also my ‘akshara abhyasam’.
I also go to Kapaleeswarar temple in Mylapore, the Vinayakar temple in Bhaskarapuram and Anjaneyar temple on Luz Church Road.
Chennai is the hub of music and culture. There are music programmes in every city but nothing compares to Margazhi. While there are other festivals that run over a month, they have breaks in between. Here you have a festival, which runs for 30 to 40 days continuously, featuring artists every day, almost from morning to night.
Margazhi has also grown. It used to be five sabhas and 200 to 300 performances, and now we have more than 80 sabhas and 3,000 performances, with rasikas coming from across the world. No wonder Unesco has included Chennai on its list of creative cities for its contribution to music.
The music scene has changed over the years. The city is welcoming of music orchestras from different parts of the world, and institutions such as Max Mueller Bhavan and Alliance Francaise have played a big role in it.
There is more fusion music, with Carnatic musicians collaborating with different groups, as well as jugalbandis and thematic concerts.
I love listening to A R Rahman and Ilayaraja’s music but the song that reminds me of Chennai is Ilayaraja’s ‘Panivizhum Malarvanam’ from ‘Ninaivellam Nithya’. Somehow, it has a Chennai feel.
The city is a tourist attraction, as Mamallapuram and DakshinaChitra are close by. It is also the perfect place to base yourself if you are on a pilgrimage as it is connected to all parts of Tamil Nadu.
Chennai is a safe metro where you can get to any place without travelling too much and it still has an old-world charm — from the mallipoo to saris and sabhas. The only changes are the flyovers, highrises and crowds.
As I travel so much, when I am in Chennai I like to spend time at home. The outdoor space with an ‘oonjal’ is where I sit when I have to trigger my imagination and create something; the room upstairs is where I go to when I am learning something new; and the terrace with its small, tent-like structure is where I sit and chat or dine with friends and family. It’s beautiful on a full moon night, as you can sit there watching the trees sway.
By Sudha Ragunathan