My journey with music
Hi friends, #longread #longpostalert This is one area I was wanting to write for a long time. I am from a Tamil Brahmin family and it is common in our community to train girls in Carnatic music. When I was small, my dad arranged for a music teacher to come to my house to teach me in person twice a week. Those days, the music learning was more informal meaning that I did not pass certification courses of varied levels as is seen today. I learnt from basics up to keethanas for about 5 to 6 years and stopped when I reached 10th. My teacher or 'paattu vadhyar ' as we used to address her was short, soft spoken and simple and used to go to houses to make extra income other than from what she earned from a school. My parents did not have a musical background or knowledge and so I learnt just like a 'good girl ' without asking questions or doubts. We used to go to Chennai every year during our summer holidays to be with our grandparents and cousins. Our eld