AFVOA Newletter August 2020

Section 6 – eConnect Reviews CV 2 No. 02 / 2020 Page 212 of 237 To call Dr Sudha Raghunathan an achiever par excellence seems a gross under statement. The multi faceted persona that she is, readers will be wonderstruck to know her incomparable feats in Carnatic music are just the tip of an iceberg. A Fulbright scholar, a Padma Bhushan awardee, the second Carnatic musician to have performed at the United Nations in 2016 (after the legendary Bharat Ratna M S Subbulakshmi in 1966), a cultural ambassador representing India in many countries and the Founder and Managing Trustee of a philanthropic organization named Samudhaya that has so far disbursed funds to the tune of INR 50 millions for various causes focussed mainly on children. Her repertoire also includes fusion and film music. She is a popular play back singer in Tamil and Malayalm films and a composer of music for two Tamil films. Teaming with Jazz wizard Amit Heri, she has presented memorable performances in the United States and India as well. It will be easier to count the number of countries she has not performed rather than the ones where she has. The term ‘Lifetime Achievement’ fits her better than any other eminent artist in the performing arts domain. A prospective candidate for the Civil Services exam may face this question : What are the 6 top most awards for a performing musicians in India? While the answer may read something like this – “Sangita Kalanidhi (awarded by Music Academy, Chennai, which is one of the most prestigious institutions in the country), Kalaimamani (awarded by the State of Tamilnadu), Sangeetha Choodamani, Sangeetha Saraswathi, Sangeetha Visharaadh and Sangeetha Sampoorna, the fact that Ms Sudha Raghunathan has bagged all these awards within just about half of her lifetime speaks volumes about her oodles of talent and unswerving dedication to her chosen line. Added to these are the national awards of Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan (the third highest civilan award in India). By her own statement, she was well in line to choose Science as her chosen discipline, had initial dreams of becoming a Gynaecologist going by her record of impeccable dissections in science Labs during early education but the Divine will had ordained otherwise. A change of direction, but a spirited journey of excellence nonetheless! And how!!