KOCHI: Very rarely do you get to see a young girl belting out hit numbers from Malayalam movies on a violin standing in the middle of a group of male percussionists and that too for hours. The event, the video of which has gone viral on social media, was held as a part of a temple festival at Payyannur in Kannur and the youngster who has become a social media favourite overnight is 21-year-old Aparna Babu from Mulanthuruthy in Ernakulam district. The ease with which she plays 'Ramayana Katte' in tune with the chendas mesmerised everyone on the social media.
According to Aparna, who is a student of RLV College, Trippunithura, she was not the first choice of the 'shingarimelam' group called Thandavam. "They had been in touch with another girl. But when she didn't confirm her participation, they contacted me. Well, they went to a great deal of trouble to get my number," she said. The young violinist, who began learning the instrument since she was three, had only an hour of practice before the event.
"It was a rush. I was meeting the team for the first time right on the day of the event and got to practice the songs for just one hour," said Aparna, who is doing her MA in Violin. "I was told that I won't have to play a series of songs. But once the event began at 10 pm, I ended up playing through the night till 2 am," she said. According to her, in Payyannur, the shingarimelam is organised at various junctions on the road to the temple.
"So, we had to play all along and once we reached the temple, the crowd kept on asking for more. Hence, instead of a few, I had to play many songs," said Aparna, who is into fusion music and has been performing on stage for the past four years. According to her, it is a wonder that both she and the percussionists didn't muddle up.
"Due to the sound of the chendas, neither I nor the Thandava team members could hear each other. But everything went smoothly," said this fan of Balabhaskar. Even though it was her father who enrolled for violin classes, it was Balabhaskar who made her learn the instrument.
Even though I am learning the Eastern Classical version, I also play the Western Classical, she added. According to her, the fusion music that Balabhaskar played attracted her to that stream. "He is my inspiration and it is very sad he will be no more regaling the audiences with his beautiful music," said Aparna, whose father is a newspaper agent and mother is a homemaker.