K J Yesudas calls her ‘‘my pet and favourite guitarist’’. After listening to her for the first time, Devarajan master made her play his composition ‘Sumangali nee ormmikkumo...’ some 25 times on her guitar.
Ever since she started playing guitar (her first solo performance was at the age of seven), K J Melisma has been used to accolades and appreciation. It is the verisimilitude she brings into the playing of the songs - be it Carnatic, Western or a film song - that has touched hearts. She creates the same magic out of veena too.
Now, as a first year degree student in Biotechnology at Government Arts College here, Melisma is busy with her studies and teaching guitar and veena at her music school, which she runs at her home at Sastha Nagar, Edappazhanji.
And thanks to Super Troupe, the reality show for ganamela troupes aired by Amrita TV, she has become a favourite with the television audience and the judges of the show too. She is a member of one among the troupes Melody Singers.
Her father Anchal S Kumar, an acclaimed guitarist and a music teacher with Carmel Girls HSS, has been her first guru. This father has been nurturing umpteen dreams about her daughter. There are enough reasons for that. ‘‘When I was just a few months old, my cradle caught fire. I was left with three fingers on my left hand and two on the right one. As I grew up, I was heart-broken that I cannot play the guitar. But it was S A Swamy of AIR who encouraged me to play with the remaining fingers. It is true that I can’t play all notes on the guitar. So when I see her doing all that I couldn’t, I feel fulfilled,’’ said an emotional Kumar.
Perhaps that’s why he named her Melisma (meaning ‘a succession of different notes sung upon a single syllable’). Kumar has named his second child Beethov, now a Class XI student of Chinmaya Vidyalaya.
Melisma was not born with a silver spoon in her mouth. However, seeing her talent, her alma mater, Carmel Girls HSS, sponsored her education. And she repaid it in the form of first prizes (guitar, veena and orchestra) at the 45th State School Youth Festival and again winning competitions at the Higher Secondary level too. Help has also come in the form of Pandalam Balan, an NRI, who gifted her a synthesiser.
For two years, the family was in Chennai, in search of better openings in the music field for Melisma. It was there that she got the most number of stages. She was part of ‘Ezhuswarangal’, an orchestra team. ‘‘Besides live shows, I have played for many films. Yesudas sir, Unni Menon sir, Vijay Yesudas... all were there to encourage me,’’ she says.
It was while in Chennai the family got a chance to meet Devarajan master, through Harilal, a tabla player. ‘‘He was unwell at that time. We asked whether she could bring her guitar also. He agreed,’’ Kumar remembered. And once she played ‘Sumangali...’, he called her near and said, ‘‘You play the instrument neatly. You should have come one month before. I would have given you a German guitar,’’ Kumar said. Master also told her that she could come to him whenever she had free time.
But the family could not stay back in Chennai, as Melisma’s mother Jayakumari fell ill. Once they were back in Thiruvananthapuram, she rejoined Carmel School and continued her music classes and shows. Now she is a student of Kudamaloor Janardanan and P Chidambaranath.
Whenever a new song is out, Melisma, an auditioned artist with AIR, takes pains to learn it and play on her instrument. ‘‘I listen to all kinds of music. I enjoy playing melodies and love Baburaj sir’s compositions. I want to become an acclaimed solo artist. That’s all I dream about,’’ says the prodigy.
Log on to Youtube if you want to watch and hear her play. For details, contact 9995176005.
m_athira@expressbuzz.com