It's Me! (Vadivelu fans, anyone?)
"There are things we don't want to happen, but have to accept; things we don't want to know, but have to learn, and people we can't live without, but have to let go."
Hi! My name is Srinivasan Raghuraman. Born on the 13th of December '93 in Bangalore, I have spent almost all my life there, barring my four years of Undergraduate studies at IIT Madras, Chennai. My family includes my parents, my elder sister, and as I commonly joke, my two fellow triplets (no where close to identical, by the way) - my home, which was built when I was born, and a Ghanera plant, which was laid outside home then. As for my school life, I completed all fifteen priceless years of my schooling from National Public School, Indiranagar, Bangalore - it would be an understatement to say that I owe a lot to my Alma Mater, for I met some of the most wonderful teachers and friends there.
Although she is no longer around, I cannot fail to mention my grandmother, who was instrumental in shaping several of my ideas and preferences.
I miss you Pattu!
Since my academic interests are present in other sections of my webpage, let's lay down my hobbies. The first choice is obvious. My heart, my soul, my music - they are all one and the same. I am a die-hard fan of Classical music - both Indian and Western.
I have been learning Carnatic Vocal music for around 13 years now under my guru Ms. K. N. Susheela, one of the first disciples of Sangeeta Kalanidhi Smt. D. K. Pattammal, one of the doyens of Carnatic Music and one among the Female Trinity of Carnatic Music. I also had the privilege of learning under Sangeeta Kalanidhi Dr. R. K. Srikantan for a while. For those who would like to know, I am not particularly partial towards any composer, however, I would be lying if I said that I did not enjoy Muthuswami Dikshithar's compositions a tad more, and now you realize why this line is in this page :P
I have had a relatively shorter but an equally exciting and enlightening stint with the Veena under one of our family friends, Mrs. Ratna Sachidananda.
Enter the world of Western Classical Music, and my association with it grew by means of learning to play the Piano under Mrs. Sangeetha Dhar - in fact, a lot of my time is (well-) spent in listening to or playing some of my favourite pieces. Again, I would like to mention my special fondness for Mozart's compositions - simple, merry, and yet intensely moving.
After joining MIT, I have been singing with the MIT Concert Choir and the MIT Chamber Chorus. I have been an Emerson vocal scholar for the past year. I also sung with the South-Asian A Cappella Group, the MIT Ohms for three semesters.
What else? I enjoy sketching and painting. One of my sketches of Beethoven is alongside. I also like cooking, reading and used to play tennis and badminton (it's been a while though). I've been spending time over the last year learning German with the Goethe Institut. I am a theist, extremely fond of Sanskrit, and am very affectionate towards the elephant-faced Hindu God, Ganesa.
I would also like to mention my mom. Underneath my jovial facade is a sensitive, highly attached kind of guy. And I many a time wonder how idiosyncrasies such as these can be passed on from her to me. It is surprising as to how many of our behaviours coincide. It is said that the highest form of possessiveness an individual can feel is that a that which a mother feels for her child. And I agree one hundred percent with it :)
Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That is why it is called the "present".
