The first time I enjoyed flute was in my 12th standard, when I heard Shashank sir (Vidwan Shashank Subramaniam, the Carnatic Flute Prodigy) play live. I never imagined that I would get an opportunity to learn it myself. During the holidays from 12th to 1st UG, my father had got me a flute.

In our institute there is a lot encouragement given to music, and hence I started picking up pieces whenever I was asked to accompany singers. It was in my 2nd UG that a brother of mine had asked me to accompany him for a full 1 hour program. In this I had to learn many pieces in different ragas. Hence, I would say that experience exposed me to music. I learnt what to practice.

But even after that, since I stayed in a hostel I could not go to a guru and hence my leanings have come majorly when someone asks to play for a song.

– K M Sridhar