Dexter and DeeDee of music

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM :  The talented pair of siblings, Hrudaya R Krishnan and Hrudayesh R Krishnan, proved their mettle at the Thiruvananthapuram Revenue District Kalolsavam by winning first prize in veena and classical music respectively. Both of them began learning music from a very young age. While Hrudayesh focused on Carnatic vocal, Hrudaya opted for veena. “Both of us learned music from the age of three. We belong to a Bhagavathar family where our maternal relatives are all musicians. Even though I learnt vocal music, I have always loved veena more,” said Hrudaya R Krishnan. For Hrudaya, her Saraswati veena is her second voice. 

She believes it was her parents who discovered her talent and nurtured it throughout the years. “My aunt was my first guru. Later, when we started taking it with ease, my mother took me to learn formal veena lessons outside the home. I fell in love with veena eventually,” said Hrudaya. Acquiring mastery over veena is not easy and has strict practice routine, focused hard work and immense love for music is essential to becoming a pro, she said.

Hrudayesh and Hrudaya made their debut in the state festival last year. 
While gearing up for their second state-level participation, the siblings couldn’t hide their excitement. “I am so excited to go to the state-level competition with my sister. We are blessed to be born into a musical family. We used to take our music lessons together, and now it has become difficult for Hrudaya as she is in class X. Hopefully, we will both make our parents happy by winning the prize this year too,” said Hrudayesh. 

The siblings learned music and veena lessons under several talented artists such as Jayalakshmi Sreenivasan, Venketaramanan, Aleppey Sreekumar, Rugmini Gopalakrishnan and Bhama Krishnan. 
Hrudaya has received a scholarship from the Centre for Cultural Resources and Training (CCRT) under the  Ministry of Culture of Government of India. She also has won Ujjwala Balyam Award initiated by the State Women and Child Development (WCD) in 2017. 

Hrudaya was invited to play the veena at the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi at Raj Ghat. 
“It was a surprise invitation for me. I got to play the veena in front of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other ministers. There were a total of 100 children from all over India, we also received training for 13 days at the camp,” informed Hrudaya. 

Their youngest sister Hrudashree is into playing violin. “My youngest child Hrudasree is currently learning violin. She won first prize in a competition organised by the Child Welfare Committee,” S Mangala, their mother said. Even though they belong to the music family, Hrudaya and Hrudayesh plan to become doctors in the future and follow their father’s profession along with music.