Sa Ni Dha Pa Live - Sur Sangam in Your Living Room

from Desh Videsh Magazine India's Turn on World Stage June 2020

Get to Know: Sudhir Limaye

In less than two weeks, Desh Videsh Media Group and Florida Fine arts came together to create a music series to alleviate some of anxiety and stress caused by the COVID-19 shutdown. Sa Ni Dha Pa Live - Sur Sangam in Your Living room, a webbased music series, is a true community project, and we are grateful for the support from volunteers and viewers alike.

The weekly performances include diverse Indian music genres such as Hindustani Classical, Semi-Classical, Bhajans, Ghazal and Gurmat Sangeet. Each week, the episode will each feature a different musician or a group of musicians presenting their vocal, instrumental or percussion talent.

The first episode aired on April 18, 2020, and was a big success. Two weeks later, Sa Ni Dha Pa Carnatic Live launched. Both programs serve as a platform for a diverse group of musicians and provide the community with some muchneeded moments of joy.

If you missed any of the episodes from either show, please visit www. SaNiDhaPaLive.org to watch past performances.

Read below to learn more about the talented artists who performed in May 2020.

Alka Jupudi, Playback Singer Hindustani Classical/ Semi Classical

Alka Jupudi is from Canton, Michigan. She has done playback singing for South Indian films along with singers like Hariharan, and she has rendered her voice for over 25 television serial title songs. She is a winner of the Telugu version of Sa Re Ga Ma Pa hosted by renowned playback singer S.P. Balasubramanyam. She also received the Best Female TV Singer Award in 2012 in India.

She is also an accomplished classical dancer. She trains chilren and adults in classical music and dance and gives voice lessons for those wishing to sing Bollywood music. She recently finished working on her original music video in Hindi and is waiting for the release.

For more detailed information on this article or to view additional pictures, please visit www.sanidhapalive.org

Deepti Pappusetty, Sitar Hindustani Classical/Semi Classical

Dr. Deepti Pappusetty began playing sitar at the age of seven. She got her training under the guidance of Basheer Ahmed Khan ji, disciple of Vilayat Khan ji. She has won several national-level competitions in India and received a scholarship covering her entire educational expenses until her high school studies by IFFCO organization. She played for Hyderabad B radio station and Doordarshan TV channel regularly in India. She gave several concerts in different parts of India. Deepti is an FAU alumnus, having received her Ph.D. in Computer Science. She currently works as a Software Engineer for LexisNexis Risk Solutions. In Florida, she performed at events organized by FAU, PBIA and South Florida Hindu temples and also teaches Sitar. She thoroughly enjoys music, and she believes music has magic to be a great distraction from petty thoughts and bring happiness to you.

Sudhir Limaye was born and raised in the culturally vibrant city of Pune, India. He received formal training in Delhi and Farukhabad gharana of tabla from Late Pandit Suresh Samant from Pune, India. Limaye is a versatile tabla player with the unique ability

Mamta Yadav, Vocal Hindustani/Gurmat Sangeet

Motivated by her mother’s passion for teaching her music, Mamta Yadav received a “Sangeet Prabhakar” in vocal music, tabla, and Kathak dance before the age of 16. Prior to moving to the West, she was a television anchor on Doordarshan TV and a host on All India Radio. While living in Scotland for over a decade, she sought to bring Indian Subcontinental music and arts to Scottish communities, working as a policy coordinator for Indian arts and culture, and serving on the Ethnic Minority Arts Committee and the Dance and Mime Committee of the Scottish Arts Council for several years. She has also given a large number of

to accompany Hindustani classical, light Indian and fusion music formats. An active performer, he accompanies various Hindustani classical, semi classical and Bollywood artists who are visiting the United States. He has been actively collaborating with local Jazz artists in the area and was part of a “Metaphysical Jazz” ensemble that recently released a fusion album online called The Third Alignment.

A resident of Boca Raton, Florida, since 2001, he has not only been actively performing at various local events, but has also been teaching tabla for over 15 years in the area.

public performances as part of both solo and ensemble productions in virtually all the major theaters in Scotland, and in concerts in New York, New Jersey, and Oklahoma, where she currently lives. These have included opportunities to perform with Pandit Ravi Shankar, Allah Rakha, Hari Prasad Chaurasia, Jagit Singh and Anup Jalota. She has been awarded numerous grants and awards by public bodies to bring Indian music, dances and performances to the public. Her career also includes two decades of teaching classical singing, harmonium, and tabla. In addition to music, she is a trained lawyer with an LL.B., and Masters degree in Oil and Gas Law from Oklahoma University. She loves writing and composing songs. In her spare time, she enjoys being a part of the vibrant South Asian community in Oklahoma and taking part in regular music evenings and competitions that keep excitement for Indian arts alive in the Midwest across different generations.

Dr. Monica Shah, Vocal Hindustani Classical/ Semi Classical

Dr. Monica Shah is a well known Hindustani Classical and Semi-Classical singer from Ahmedabad, Gujarat. She is a prominent disciple of Thumri Queen Dr. Girija Devi, who earned a Padma Vibhushan, and Surmani Dr. Pradipta Ganguli. Dr. Shah has a Ph.D in Music and was first in her class. She is the founder and director of Aradhana Sangeet Academy, where more than 200 students are training under her guidance.

Dr. Shah has performed in more than 1500 classical music and bhajan concerts. She has earned many awards including the Gujarat Gaurav Puraskar, coveted SURMANI, Sangeet Shiromani, Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation award, Sangeet Ratna, among many others.

Her 30 classical, semiclassical, bhajan and jain stavans CDs are highly appreciated by music lovers worldwide. She has also written “Sangeet Aradhana” in 7 parts in English and Gujarati for students and music lovers alike.

Since 1980, Dr. Shah has been serving the music world with her melodious voice and gharana gayaki. Since 2005, she has been visiting the United States and Canada every year to conduct workshops, perform in concerts, and teach.

Rucha Muley Jambhekar, Vocal Hindustani Classical/

Semi-Classical

Nisha Kulk arni, Vocal Hindustani Classical/

Semi-Classical

Mumbai Shri Shankaranarayanan, Mrid angam Hindustani Classical/

Semi-Classical

Rucha is a Sangeet Upantya Visharad who started obtaining training in Hindustani classical vocal at the age of 7 from Shri Parulekar of Gwalior Gharana. She later took taalim of the Kirana Gharana Gayaki from Shri Appa Indurkar, a Ganda Bandh Shishya of Ustad Aamir Khan and was fortunate to get brief guidance from Shri Vijay Koparkar. She has been under the tutelage of Vidushi Arati Ankalikar for the past 10 years.

She recently recorded an original Marathi composition with Dr. Saleel Kulkarni, a well known music director. Rucha has performed at various places in the US and also had a successful India tour with six concerts in different cit ies.

Nisha Kulkarni began her Hindustani vocal training at five with Sri Manu Srivastava of Phoenix Gharana. She showed early promise and, at the age of 10, won the Swarganga Crescendo national competition in Atlanta for the age group 15 and under. Since then she has continued to learn from Manuji and has performed at many venues, including Pt. Kashinath Bodas Festival in Phoenix, Festival of Tabla in Los Angeles and Swarzhankar festival in India. She has completed her Visharad degree from the Indian Institute of Classical Music. She is a senior in high school. She is an advocate for educating and empowering women around the world, and is the president of She’s the First organization at her school. She researches honey bee neurology at Arizona State Univers ity.

A Desh Videsh Media Group and Florida Fine Arts Undertaking

Mumbai Shankaranarayanan began his training under Guru Shri. Ramanathan. He continued his training under Karaikudi Shri R. Chandramouli of Shri Shanmukananda Fine Arts and Sangeetha Sabha.

He has performed widely in India as well as abroad accompanying well known musicians. He has had the honor of performing at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in the presence of His Excellency President Shri. R. Venkataraman and at the Raj Bhavan, Mumbai in the presence of His Excellency Governor Shri. C. Subramanium accompanying Smt. Aruna Sai ram.

Sa Ni Dha Pa Live www.sanidhapalive.org www.deshvidesh.com

Vignesh Shankarnarayana, Vocal Hindustani Classical/ Semi-Classical

Vignesh Shankarnarayanan began learning vocal music at a tender age of five under Guru Smt. Vidya Harikrishna. Currently, he is also undergoing training under Shri Delhi P Sunderrajan. Born to a family of musicians, he is the son of Mridangam Vidwan Mumbai Shri. Shankaranarayanan. He is a B-GRADE Artist of All India Radio (AIR), Akashvani, Prasar Bharati. He was featured by Sankara TV Channel as part of the Sangeethotsavam programme in July 2019.

Vignesh was featured by Radio FM 93.5, along with his father to talk about Konnakol & Percussion in relation to melody.

Rohit Prasad, Mridangam Hindustani Classical/ Semi-Classical

Kavitha Jayaraman, Vocal and Veena Hindustani Classical/ Semi-Classical

Kavitha was initiated into music at age five and since then has been on a relentless pursuit of this art form over the years. She trained under the Carnatic Classical style in both Vocal and Veena. She started her initial Veena tutelage from Smt Jayashree Aravind, Mumbai and currently under advance guidance from Smt. Meenakshi Somasundaram. She completed a Diploma in Vocal and Veena music under the aegis of Singapore Indian Fine Arts and was awarded the title ‘Sangeetha Visharad.’

Rohit Prasad started learning Mridangam under the tutelage of Guru Shri T.S. Nandakumar from Shri Shanmukhananda Fine Arts & Sangeetna Vidyalaya since 1995 until 2002. Later, he continued advanced training in mridangam under the same guru at TSN’s Percussive Arts Centre, Mumbai. He is a B HIGH grade artist in the All India Radio, Mumbai. He earned a Diploma in Carnatic Vocal Music (KVC) with A Grade unShe has won several awards at various institutions for music and fine arts. She has performed extensively in Mumbai, Chennai and Singapore including prestigious venues like Music Academy - Chennai, Esplanade Singapore etc . She has also been part of the music ensemble for various dance productions.

She was awarded the Cultural Talent Scholarship from Center for Cultural Resources & Training (Ministry Of Human Resources & Development, Govt. of India) for specialized training in Carnatic Music for 10 years.

Kavitha was selected as an IndianRaga USA fellow 2018 and since then has been part of various collaborations with artists from across the country. She promotes and practices the concept of ‘Seva through Vidya’ or ‘Teach to Reach’ – by teaching Vocal/ Veena to raise funds for various social causes.

der the tutelage of Sangeeta Kala Acharya Guru Smt. Radha Nambhoodiri and Guru Smt. Susheela Mani from Shri Shanmukhananda Bharatiya Sangeetha Vidyalaya, which is affiliated to University of Mumbai. Currently he is undertaking advance training for vocal from Sangeeta Kala Acharya Guru Smt. Radha Namboodiri. He regularly performs and accompanies various artists for mridangam since 2000.

Dhwani Karthik, Vocal Hindustani Classical/ Semi-Classical

Kavya Akkiraju, Vocal and Flute Hindustani Classical/ Semi-Classical

Archit Suresh, Mridangam Hindustani Classical/ Semi-Classical

Dhwani is a 7th grader at Rice Middle School in Plano, Texas. She started learning Carnatic music at the age of four from her mother, Smt. Sarada Karthik, a performing carnatic vocalist and guru in Plano. Since the age of eight, Dhwani has won top prizes, in various competitions by Sivan Fine Arts, Cleveland Tyagaraja Aradhana.

Dhwani has been an integral part of Cleveland Tyagaraja Aradhana production organized by Sivan Fine Arts over the last three years. She has been part of many productions and fundraisers as part of her music school including “Yuva Prathiba” by IFAA DFW. She has sung two short concerts at the DFW Temple and for Saptami Foundation.

She is passionate about all kinds of music. In addition to Carnatic vocal music, she pursues Carnatic violin and piano and plays saxophone in the school Wind Ensemble band.

Kavya Akkiraju is a 9th grade student from Pembroke Pines, Florida. At the age of 10, Kavya was initiated into Carnatic Flute by Guru Late Sri Chaitanya Kumar from Bangalore, who taught her well for four years. Kavya now continues to learn flute from Guru Sri Amit Nadig, Bangalore with whom she began learning last year. Guru Sri Sanjay Chandran, from Florida (Violin Vidwan), recently started mentoring Kavya coaching her in creative aspects of music. Kavya also learns Carnatic vocal music from Guru Sri Sanjay Subramanian in St Louis.

Kavya has participated in Advanced Level Carnatic workshops conducted by eminent artists like Smt. Shantala Subramanium & Smt. Dr Sudha Raghunathan. Kavya has been participating in cultural programs conducted at the Shiva Vishnu Temple in Florida for the past 10 years.

Archit Suresh has been learning mridangam from his father Sri K Suresh since an early age. For the past three years, he has also been taking advanced mridangam training from Shri K.V.Gopalakrishnan, popularly known as KVG.

Archit has been accompanying local artists on mridangam and kanjira for many years. He has also played kanjira for multiple dance arangetrams. Archit is the winner of the Atlanta Papanasam Sivan mridangam competition for the last two years, in the sub-senior and senior categories respectively.

Archit is currently a sophomore at Parkview High School and has been a member of the school varsity tennis team since his freshman year.

We hope to brighten your days by bringing Sa Ni Dha Pa L ive - ur Sangam directly to you in your living room.

Harish Poojari began learning Carnatic Classical Saxophone under Udupi Alevoor Shri Sundar Sherigar, and then later from Madurai late Shri Sevucaperumal Pillai. He currently learns under the guidance of Smt. Prasanna Warier.

He has nearly 20 years of experience playing professional saxophone at special events and national venues such as Thiruvaiyaru Thyagarja Swamy Utsavam, Vellore Sripuram Golden Temple, Udupi Shri Krishna Mutt, Kollur Mookambika Temple, and more. He has also received various awards such as Puttaraja Gavai Yuva Puraskar 2009 in Gadag Karnataka, Vadya Naada Vaibhava by =by Saxophone Chakravarthy Padmashri Dr. Kadri Gopalnath. He also teaches Carnatic classical saxophone to students in Mumbai.

Abhishek Balakrishnan, Violinist Hindustani Classical/ Semi-Classical

Abhishek Balakrishnan is a Carnatic violinist who plays regularly in the U.S. and India. Abhishek is a disciple of violin/ vocal virtuoso Delhi Sri P. Sunder Rajan. Growing up in Houston, he was initiated into Carnatic violin by Sri Vittal Ramamurthy and Smt. Rajarajeshwary Bhat, and Sri Mahesh K. Iyer. From several years, Abhishek received training from AIR violinist Kalaimamani Smt. Usha Rajagopalan. Abhishek has been presenting concerts

Sindura Sridhar, Vocalist and Violinist Hindustani Classical/ Semi-Classical

Sindura Sridhar, is a 7th grader and was initiated into Carnatic music at a young age, by her mother and father, who are a vocalist and violinist respectively. She is currently taking Carnatic vocal training with Srimathi in the Chennai December Music Season annually since December 2011. He has given over 300 violin performances around the world, both solo and accompaniment. In December 2014, Abhishek received the Lalgudi Jayaraman (Best Junior Violinist) Award from Sri Krishna Gana Sabha for his merit-worthy violin accompaniment. Abhishek was also selected to represent Carnatic music in a solo piece before 50,000 people and televised to the world as part of the 2019 Howdy Modi cultural show.

Abhishek currently resides in Houston, TX, and teaches Carnatic music through his school Roopa Fine Arts. Under the auspices of his guru, Abhishek founded MaargaUSA’s Houston Chapter, which is dedicated to giving upcoming youth performers a platform to give quality concerts.

Padma Sugavanam. Sindura has competed and placed in multiple competitions with organizations such as SAPTAMI, CMANA, Sivan Fine Arts, and the Cleveland Thyagaraja Aradhana Festival where she also participated in the Sustaining Sampradaya concert. Sindura is also pursuing Carnatic violin lessons with her father Dr. Gopalan Sridhar.

Outside of Carnatic music, Sindura enjoys learning and performing western classical voice, violin and piano, as well as bharatanatyam. She also presides over a speech club at school.

Ranjana Warier, Indian Classical Dance Artist

The sound of ghungroos ringing, feet stomping, and tabla beating are sounds that have been deeply ingrained in Ranjana Warier’s daily routine since she was six years old. Born in Thirunavaya, a small village situated on the northern bank of the Bharathapuzha (River Nila) in Kerala, Warier now resides in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, where she spreads the love of dance amongst her students and the broader community. Founder of Rhythms School of Dance, Warier brings the beauty and history of Indian classical dance to life for students and dance enthusiasts in much the same way her own gurus did for her at a young age.

Warier grew up in an art-loving family, and she began taking Bharatanatyam lessons from her gurus Kalamandalam Devaki and Kalamandalam Indira at the age of six. When she was 10-yearsold, she also began learning Mohiniyattam. Under the guidance of her gurus, Warier performed at several festivals, which served to enhance her present commitment to promote the Indian culture and art forms. Warier credits her gurus for strengthening her passion, and over the years, she has progressed from an avid student sitting in her teacher’s lap to a teacher herself. “Because of the efforts of my gurus, I feel committed to promoting priceless artistic treasures of India, through traditional and cross-cultural collaborations,” reflects Warier.

Warier is currently working on hosting an “International Dance Day” in association with the International Dance Council (at UNESCO) to educate and engage the community on our art forms.