He started learning Mridangam at the age of 10 from well known exponent Vidwan TAS Mani. Later he progressed to playing for bhajan and percussion ensembles when he was 14. On his Guru’s insistence, he started playing Ghatam too and since then, this ancient percussion instrument has been his inseparable companion.
S Srishyla is no stranger to the world of carnatic music. He still recalls his first concert with nostalgia, when he was 16, with the famous Bellary Brothers. Having played the percussion instrument for the last 35 years, he has earned the title ‘Ghatam Vidwan Srishyla’.
He is employed with Canara Bank as a clerk for the past 31 years. In all these years of service, he has given up promotions just to ensure that his music does not take a backseat and he does not consider it as a ‘sacrifice’.
“Those who love music never leave it. If you want to learn music, never think in terms of money,” he says in response to naysayers who feel that music is just remunerative for him.
“For me, it is not a profession, it is much more than that. It is divine.”
With a 9 to 5 job during the day which he takes great pride in, he is left with very little time for himself as he has to often rush off to a concert to accompany stalwarts of Carnatic music. He looks up to Grammy award- winning percussionist, Padmasri Vikku Vinayakaram amongst many others.
“Anybody can become anyone, but anybody cannot become an artiste,” says Srishyla, who believes he is the ‘chosen one’ and feels he is extremely lucky to follow his love for music.
Among one of the many memorable performances, he remembers and shows is a black and white photograph of him playing with saxophone wizard Kadri Gopalnath and the legendary actor Dr Rajkumar seated amongst them. When we ask him to narrate the story behind this, he says,”Rajkumar was so impressed with our performance that he chose to share the stage with us and also insisted to take a picture with us. That was a very humbling experience.”
His tour with Kadri Gopalnath involving a series of performances all over the UK and the South Asia Festival which was broadcast extensively over BBC. He was invited to perform in Jazz ensembles in West Germany, Switzerland and other European countries during which he accompanied the famous Jazz group ‘Embryo’.
A graded artist of AIR and Doordarshan, Srishyla has played in concerts all over the country and has also toured extensively abroad. He has also had the honour of performing at the SAARC summit at Rashtrapathi Bhavan.
When asked about about his musical journey, he gives a surprised look and says, “How can I sum up a journey of more than three decades in these few minutes?”
About the best compliment he received so far, he pauses for over a minute trying to recall and says,”This was long ago. I don’t remember the date, but after performing at a concert in London, one of the audience members came up to me and said ‘Is this pot (referring to the instrument) made of mud or gold? And are your hands real?’”
A science graduate from Bangalore University, he has also been a state level Basketball player. Srishyla’s wife, also a bank employee, is supportive of his passion. Both his children are learning music, one of them is a Captain in the Indian Army and the other, an engineering student.
Srishyla feels that no matter what genre, it is extremely important that youngsters today understand music, not just listen to it.
He wants to teach some day and dreams of opening a school after retirement.