Meeting Vishwanath Parsuram, one of the master-minds of the audio-book phenomenon, Karadi Tales, and one-third of the band, Three Brothers and a Violin, is a pleasant experience. This outwardly easy-going man, with his classic Tamil looks, becomes quite animated while speaking about his creative ventures.

Tell us about your musical family.

Vishwanath Parasuram:

We grew up in a tiny flat in Chembur (a suburb in Mumbai). At home, the atmosphere was always musical. We listened to all kinds of music-carnatic, Hindustani and Western. My father was a stenographer, but spent half his salary on providing musical education for his children. What we are today, we owe to his dedication and determination to make us musicians. I learnt to play mridangam, my middle brother, Sriram, learnt violin and the youngest, Narayan, learned ghatam and mridangam. We also learnt Carnatic vocal music. Even as children, we used to perform publicly during our vacations.

How did 3 Brothers and A Violin happen?

As we completed our education, life took us in different directions. For many years, we pursued careers in different parts of the world. I guess, eventually, it was our musical bond that brought us back together. We decided to create our own group. Those were the heydays of Indipop and we decided to enter the fray. When we wanted to launch our first album, Saavariya, in 1999, we decided on the name Three Brothers and a violin, since Sriram?s violin was an integral part of our compositions. It was a spur-of-the-moment decision, but the name clicked with fans.

Despite the success of Saavariya, what stopped you from further pursuing a pop career?

We enjoyed the success and fame that came after Saavariya. Being pop singers means we are obliged to be in the public eye, to perform in various concerts and to play to the gallery. That didn?t suit our temperaments. We think of ourselves as serious musicians and we thought that we were not doing justice to our music by creating this ?pop? image.

Was the music on Saavariya influenced by Colonial Cousins?

The English-Hindi fusion lyrics in Saavariya was similar to Colonial Cousins and perhaps, as Hariharan (the lead composer of Colonial Cousins) is also trained in Carnatic classical music like us, the music might have shown some similarities. I would say whatever influence they might have had over us, was at the subconscious level. Consciously, we have never tried to imitate anybody and I feel our tunes in Saavariya were different. Regarding the Hndi-English lyrics, I would say that as Tamilians born and brought up in Mumbai, we automatically think and speak in a mixed lingo ? a combination of Hindi, English and Tamil. So, singing in dual languages was just an extension of that natural thought-process.

What is the group doing now?

We recently composed music for the children?s film, Jjantaram Mmantaram, and are doing the music for another children?s film for director Sai Paranjape. We are not too keen on doing run-of-the-mill bollywood films. We?ve even refused a major offer as we felt that there was too much interference, thus stifling any attempt to be creative. We are now extremely busy with our new projects for Karadi Tales.

How did the concept of Karadi Tales originate?

Audio-books are a popular concept in the West, but they are made in straight narrative fashion. We wanted to create audio-books that would also incorporate our musical acumen. Providing edutainment to kids through quality products and making them aware of India?s rich cultural heritage were our primary goals. We started off in 1996 with a Panchtantra tale ? The Blue Jackal ? and till now have come up with 32 titles.

How did you manage to rope in so many celebrities in this project?

I think getting Naseeruddin Shah to narrate the first Karadi Tale was the real challenge, because at that time no one knew us. But once the first project succeeded, then roping in people like Gulzar, Nandita Das and Usha Uthup was not much of a hassle. They all did it willingly.

Tell us about Wings Of Fire, your latest audio-book project.

It is an autobiography of President A P J Abdul Kalam turned into a musical audio-book. It was our most difficult and ambitious project to date. The President was initially very enthusiastic about the project, but later he was hesitant about its success. Even we were not sure, as it was aimed at an older audience and it was a new thing for us. When we presented the President the first copy, he played the CD to a select audience and was touched by their response. He then jokingly told the publisher, ?Now I am worried who is going to read your normal paper-books!?

[Top]