How did you get introduced to violin?

Varadarajan: No one in my family had learnt violin. I just started. I have an elder brother Raghavan and elder sister Vasumathi. My brother had learnt Mridangam. My sister had learnt vocal music. My father Santhanam just like that had asked me if I could learn violin, I said `okay’. I started learning violin when I was seven. I felt then that I should do something other than doing normal schooling. So my father put me to violin.

My mother Rukmani had listened to a lot of concerts. We come from a place called Padur near Villupuram.

Who was your first guru?

Varadarajan: From seven years to nine years, we were staying in K.K.Nagar. I started learning from K.Sivaraman. Then, we had to shift to Chromepet. At nine, I started all over again under Kanchi Janardhanam who began from the basics. In all fairness, I should assume that I had begun to learn properly from the age of nine. The earlier two-year learning had made things easy for me, nonetheless.

Why violin?

Varadarajan: There was no reason. My father always pined that his three children should jointly give a concert. My brother was playing mridangam. My sister was singing. It just happened that I learnt violin.

What is your father?

Varadarajan: He retired from LIC. He does not know anything about music. My brother and sister used to practice at home. So I said I would also learn something. That was how it all started.

What is your academic qualification?

Varadarajan: I am a physics graduate from Loyola College. Since I got involved in violin, I had to end studies.

When was your maiden concert?

Varadarajan: My first one was in 1985 at the age of 12. It was through the Children Academy that I came into the field.

How do you balance as a full-time professional musician and a regular employee at LIC?

Varadarajan: I am a clerical staff at LIC. It is just the job security. I will continue as long as I could. It is more due to compulsion at home. My mother feels that life is more secure with a job at LIC. Before joining LIC, I had been to T.V. Gopalakrishnan for advanced training. Ford Foundation had given his Academy sanction to put me under a proper violin master. They insisted that I should be a full-time violinist. I am still learning from him. I have been learning from him since 1987.

What kind of a relationship do you have with your teacher?

Varadarajan: Up to a level, I was going to him for training every week. Now, it depends on his free time.

When you were learning from Janardhanam, what kind of a studentship was it?

Varadarajan: It was never a kind of gurukulavasam. He used to come home twice a week to teach me. He was very systematic He was a disciplinarian. He worked in the Railways. He used to play for D.K.Pattammal and the like. He is still taking classes at Chromepet. He taught the basics very well.

Are you doing full justice to your official job?

Varadarajan: No. I am concentrating more on my violin. In case there should be clash between the violin and the job, I will quit the job.

What is your wife?

Varadarajan:She is a housewife.

Do you find the office atmosphere accommodative?

Varadarajan:Yes. They are very much helpful in my office. Sometimes I used to sit late and compensate whenever I get more time and complete my job.

Are you a professional artiste?

Varadarajan: Yes. I am very much a professional. Since the expectations are not much over here in LIC, I am continuing here. Other wise, I would have quit the job.

Is it possible to be a professional artiste from the angle of security?

Varadarajan: Yes. It is absolutely possible in this day. We can take care of the house. If you have scaled a certain level where you have sort of accepted, you can surely lead a successful professional life. You can live a decent life. In fact, you can some time allow the freedom of luxury as well. As an accompanist, I can earn decent money to sustain my family every month. For a main artiste, it should be comfortable. Ultimately, however, it all depends on what kind of living one yearns.

You have reached the stage by chance. Now that you are there, do you perform by choice?

Varadarajan: I have developed a liking for violin. So I will never quit violin. I will never stop playing it. My passion is only this – music and violin.

0 Do you sing?

Varadarajan: No.

How important the knowledge of Sahityam is for an instrumentalist?

Varadarajan: I have to know it. To employ the bow in a fine way, one has to know the sahityam. When you know it, it does add colour to your play. I don’t sing much. But I have to know the words and sing the song properly. I go to TVG. He is a vocalist by profession and plays the violin as well. He can play mridangam. He teaches through singing. If I can’t play certain phrases, since he knows the technique of violin-playing also, he will teach me how to go about playing them.

How did you go to TVG?

Varadarajan: In 1987, I was playing a YACM (Youth Association for Classical Music) concert. Tanjavour Upendran, the mridangist, was the chief guest of the concert that day. After the concert was over, he told my mother if she could give me to him for adoption. He said he would bring me up in the music line. Within a week, he fixed a concert with TVG as the vocal singer, me on the violin and he himself on the mridangam. It was a full bench concert with ganjira and the like. Since TVG was a great musician, I went with my father to see him. When I went there, he asked me to play the violin. Then he enquired about my family. He then asked me to come for the class. Till today, I have not given a single pisa for his teachings. He was so nice to take me under his wings. I joined him in 1987. In 1988, he made me play at Music Academy in the junior slot. By playing to him, I learnt to play a perfect accompanist.

How do you repay your debt to him?

Varadarajan: Whenever he calls me for a concert, I go there. Any way, he has taught me so much and every thing. If I can claim I am a successful accompanist, it is because of him.

How long can you be an accompanist?

Varadarajan: I don’t want to become a `soloist’ in the near future. I want to play for everybody. I want to play for different varieties. Ultimately, a violinst ends as a soloist after a stage. If I can push it for some more time, I will be glad.

How does it mean to be an accompanist? Varadarajan: It is just challenging. I play for different people. Each one is different.

I regret that I could not play for legends like D.K. Pattammal, M.S.Subbulakshmi and the like. Among the female artistes, I had played for Bombay sisters. I had played for Sowmya. However, I played a lot for Bombay Jayashri. I played a lot for Sanjay, Unni and T.N. Krishnan. I had gone on several tours with Seshagopalan. I went with him to the U.S. in 1998. I like to play for Sanjay. It is a real challenge to play for Seshagopalan. To play for people like him and T.V. Sankaranarayanan was like a dream come true for me.

Who is the toughest among them to accompany?

Varadarajan: Seshagopalan. In a different way, T.V. Sankaranarayanan, too, is tough to play.

What is tough about them?

Varadarajan: The way they sing. The 1998 tour with Seshagopalan was for a span of two months comprising some 20 concerts. He used to play four to four-and-a-half hour concerts. To play up to ragam, tanam and pallavi for an artiste like him – surely you get the confidence. After that I started feeling relatively easy.

What are the core qualities of an accompanist?

Varadarajan: Basically, he should have the capacity to play individual concert. He should know the kutcheri format. He should at least have a slightly higher knowledge than the vocalist. Most of the time you don’t know what he/she will sing. You should be able to fathom what is coming and play accordingly. An accompanist usually plays in a subdued way. I want to play subdued all the time. I like playing ragam in the same style as a vocalist sings. It gives me a lot of satisfaction if I improvise within a vocalist’s style.

Who is easy to play?

Varadarajan: It gives me pleasure when I play for Sanjay. He is a creative artiste. It is pleasure to play even Krishna, for that matter. I always liked to play for Sanjay.