The article first appeared in The Scroll on January 27, 2024
Even in a music community where young masters and child prodigies are now the norm, Ramana Balachandhran is a rarity. Something of a musical polymath, he chose to excel in the toughest and least popular of instruments – the veena. If you had dropped in at any of Ramana’s concerts this December music season in Chennai, you would have seen why rule-bound establishments like the Music Academy and All India Radio waived their age limits to get him on to their platforms. By age 13, it was agreed that he was a wunderkind with exceptional talent on stage.