20 month baby identifying Carnatic Ragams.

[Bhavana pradyumna]

I, Bhavana Pradyumna, am a disciple of Chitravina Ravikiran. Born in a musician family and married into one, my passion lead me to do masters in Carnatic music from Madras University. Best teacher awardee from Gayana samaj, my mother Vid.Padmamalini Raghunandan is my first guru. Even as a child my mother always made me listen quality music of stalwarts from the golden era of Carnatic music.
As I grew up and learnt more about musicians, that was the time when I came to know about the child prodigy Sri Ravikiran Sir. I always had a question as to how a 3 year kid could do so many wonders identifying Ragams and complex talams???!!! I always wanted to be his disciple.
In 2010 I along with my husband Pradyumna kandadai relocated to USA. In 2011, my dream came true. Yes, I am a disciple of Vidwan Ravikiran sir now.
In September 2012, I was blessed with a son, Aniruddha. As a mother I always sang for him and he was not eating his food without me singing Shankarabharanam. I started teaching him Ragams and it's scales in different methods possible for him to understand and one method happened to click with him!
He was 18 months when he first identified Ragams. I started singing Ragams in the same order. He told me the names. I slowly started changing the order and yes he had started understanding the structure and pattern of the Ragams.
To help me with the growing challenges, I always had my guru to guide me and Ravikiran sir made me realize what focus is to be! Sir regularly gave me inspiration and ideas to train my son.
We think music learning starts from singing! But no it's start from hearing. Listening to quality music is the key to develop the skills is what I understood from my Guru and also from my own experiences.

I got the answer for my question.
"Discipline Dedication and Devotion is the key!"

Aniruddha is now 20 months and can identify nearly 50 Ragams.
Here is a glimpse of Aniruddha identifying Ragams.
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XGzo2A-CxQ8

[rajeshnat]

Bhavana,
About 10 or 15 years there was this young girl kid 2 + years where Bombay jayashri keeps singing and the tiny tot keeps identifying the ragas even before BJ recoups to sing another raga. About 3 years back srkris put a clip of a cute kid singing bharathiar chinnan jiru kiliyE .Mohan put his son identifying ragas .

Aniruddha is just most mindboggling . Looks the gene effect is maximum to aniruddha .When was this video exactly shot and what was aniruddha age in exact months .

What is he trying to say in bhairavi , does he identify something else when he says bh bh.
I liked him asking you to repeat the desh again and second time he gets it.

Even desakshi he is identifying wow no clue of that . Sutthi pOdungO . Best wishes

[thanjavooran]

Excellent! My blessings to Chi Anirudha.
Thanjavooran
25 05 2014

[Bhavana pradyumna]

This video was shot a week back! He is now a 20 month baby. As I mentioned he was born in sep 2012

In bhairavi, he just learnt to say vi and so repeats vi vi vi vi vi!

[rajeshnat]

This video was shot a week back! He is now a 20 month baby. As I mentioned he was born in sep 2012

In bhairavi, he just learnt to say vi and so repeats vi vi vi vi vi!

He says perhaps symbolically victory victory victory that is cute .

[arasi]

Bhavana,
Your son can't even say words, but he knows his rAgAs and says their names, some of them in a lisping manner--bless him! Not only does he come from two musical families, his mother is learning from a musician whose family has owned music for generations (not only thus endowed, but by sheer sAdhanA of it)!

Then there are other parents who have no musical history about their families and yet they and their children are keen on music. They learn and work hard at it. You only have to see those hundreds of children at the Cleveland festival who are proof to this

All the best to your family which lives with music!

[vasanthakokilam]

Aniruddha is quite amazing indeed. Thanks Bhavana for introducing your son to us. You now have the pleasant and interesting challenge of feeding his musical appetite and curiosity. It is great that you have access to all the resources for that, within yourself and with your great guru and your musical family. Congratulations and all the best.

[VK RAMAN]

Bhavana: It seems you exposed your son to music and ragas from the time he was conceived within you. Most blessed are the parents.

[Nick H]

Young children, even babies seem to have the most amazing capabilities. They grow up multilingual, apparently, with as much ease as they they do speaking a single language. They are able to make all the sounds of all the world's languages, becoming set in their own only as they grow.

I don't know if it is a similar mechanism, or something entirely different, but it seems that, with the right kind of attention and teaching, they can develop amazing musical ability as well!

It is often said that youth is wasted on the young, but I always thought that this applied to teens ---the years of our life when we have so much energy but so often apply it to something stupid--- not to the early months of our life. Maybe we can say that, for most, infancy is wasted on the infant! But infants can't make the choice, and few are lucky enough to have parents to guide them in this way.

Bhavana: It seems you exposed your son to music and ragas from the time he was conceived within you. Most blessed are the parents.

Most blessed is the child --- to have such parents.

.

[mkal]

Impressive and so adorable! And he is nonchalantly solving a numbers puzzle on the side

Best wishes!!!

[maduraimini]

Bhavana,

I saw Your son, saying the names of the Ragas , which is amazing! He cannot even speak well, but identifies the Ragas. He sure has Music in him. Good luck!

[Bhavana pradyumna]

Thank you all for your wishes.
Gods grace and gurus blessings.

[sukumar]

All d best to Chi Anirudhdha