CHENNAI: Ranjini and Gayatri
Two voices come together in perfect harmony, the lilts of one supporting and amplifying the dips of the other. The sounds of perfectly executed sruthis and complex musical patterns leave the audience weakheaded.
Any patron of the legendary Carnatic duo Ranjini and Gayatri will tell you that their common wavelength is what draws them back, again and again. But this homogenous co-existence has been a feature of their sibling relationship. As they began training under their father’s tutelage in their childhood, the two have been bound together with their love for each other and music. “All my memories, I remember, are of us together.
We did many activities together. We used to play house-house, college-college, and office-office together. We used to make a small hut in our house with bedsheets and stools,” says Ranjini. When they were younger, Gayatri says that they used to dance together, her sister choreographing steps for the both of them to twirl to. Their relationship was that of catch-up, but with the roles reversed. Ranjini laughs as she says that she used to try her best to keep up with her younger sister’s musical skill. “One memory I remember vividly was when we used to walk to music class together. I was supposed to hold Ranjini’s hand when we crossed a particular junction. She used to go on ahead, and I used to stay on one side of the road.
I was afraid of the cars, and I distinctly remember Ranjini calling out to me and asking me to cross, since the cars had stopped” says Gayatri, laughing. Now, however, the two sisters are wholly united by their music. Although their busy schedules are such that they are unable to spend a lot of time outside the stage, they make it a point to meet each other every day and talk about their lives. “Fame has never really affected our relationship. We leave the husbands and children have moulded themselves into their musical ecosystem. When they speak about mellowing personality. “We are partners in every sense of the word as we have shared so much together. The music we share means everything to us. It goes beyond what we can articulate. Music has unified us down a path, which perhaps, we were destined for together,” says Gayatri.