MeetThe Millennial Subramaniams

A heart-warming Sunday story about how the family of violinist L Subramaniam and singer Kavita Krishnamurti is marrying tradition with today and changing perceptions, one musical note at a time

Most people learn Indian classical music via the gharanas that support ‘pure forms’ of the genre. But Indian violinist, conductor and composer Lakshminarayana Subramaniam (LS) decided to teach his kids another way – by taking them around the world to perform at and attend concerts.

“You need to be practical. And to be globally successful, you need to know what’s happening in Western music to be able to collaborate. Collaborations are how classical musicians survive today,” LS, 73, explains how he raised Bindu (36), Narayana (32) and Ambi (29), first in the US and then in Bengaluru.

However, Bollywood playback singer and his wife, Kavita Krishnamurti, 67, who married into the family in 1999, was shocked that LS allowed the kids to skip school for four days at a stretch. “Then they topped their exams and I realised I was dealing with bright kids,” laughs Kavita.

Today, Bindu is a singer and music educator, head of the Subramaniam Academy of Performing Arts , a music school in Bengaluru, along with Ambi, a violinist. Narayana has taken after LS’s other passion – medicine.

“My father taught me that whatever you do in life, keep training in your art form. Art brings another dimension in your life and hones the creative, spontaneous part of your brain. Music is the art form I know, so I taught it to my children,” says LS.

“TO BE GLOBALLY SUCCESSFUL, YOU NEED TO KNOW WHAT’S HAPPENING IN WESTERN MUSIC TO BE ABLE TO COLLABORATE!” —L SUBRAMANIAM

“I feel like the black sheep; I knew I was never going to be a performing musician…” —Narayana Subramaniam, 32, Doctor “My father taught me that whatever you do in life, keep training in your art form” —Lakshminarayana Subramaniam, 73, Violinist “Indian children in the US are learning Indian classical more than in India…” —Kavita Krishnamurti, 67, Playback singer (From left to right) Dr Narayana, his son, Agni and wife, Dr Shabala Paul, Kavita Krishnamurti (seated), L Subramaniam, Mahiti (in front of him), Sandeep Nayak, Bindu (seated) and Ambi

“We got conned into way too many degrees… I have a BA, MA and MPhil in Cultural Studies” —Bindu Subramaniam, 36, Singer and music educator “The idea today is to groom musicians who are the best versions of themselves… not 100 musicians exactly like you!” —Ambi Subramaniam, 29, Violinist