Music defines him

The music class is beginning, and the computer screen is filled with little windows revealing bright, smiling faces young and old, waiting to greet their guru. "Good morning, Sir! a young boy is the first one to begin the series of greetings. Even as the greeting is reciprocated, "Good evening" says an older voice joining the class from another time zone. "Namaskaram" says a little girl in a feeble, sleepy voice and finds her greeting repeated in an imitation of her voice with the question "Are you just waking up?".

"Namo Namah" comes another unusual greeting with the guru responding with a laugh "Ah! I was waiting for this Namoh Namah, before the session commences in earnest and each student chosen by the guru is asked to sing a song taught by him in an earlier session. Students are appreciated, corrected and taught the finer nuances of each song, with extreme patience in a fun filled session where soulful music transcends boundaries and limitations and forges powerful bonds of friendship that add depth and purpose to life. Peppered with anecdotes and life lessons, the importance of sahitya, and right pronunciation, online teaching sessions conducted by Prince Rama Varma have helped people all over the world get through the pandemic with a smile on their lips and opened up opportunities for new ways of teaching and learning that are here to stay.

Prince Rama Varma, an eminent Classical musician from the erstwhile Royal family of Travancore is a worthy descendant of his illustrious ancestor Maharaja Swathi Thirunal, and is known for pure, refined singing sans exaggerated facial expressions and unnecessary ornamentation that instantly strikes a chord with listeners. He is an eminent vainika, music teacher, musicologist, writer and orator whose versatility, rich repertoire and melodious singing have won him a large fan following all over the world. Capturing the soul of each composition, explaining the greatness of the composer and giving the context and meaning of the song narrated with stories from the puranas wherever required, he is clearly a musician who cares for his audiences and helps them understand both the swaram and the sahityam without which there can be no true appreciation of music.

Sharing in-depth knowledge both as a performer and a teacher places him in a different league altogether with excellence in whatever he does being the hallmark of his personality. A self- made musician whose rise in the world of Carnatic music was propelled by the videos that he uploaded on Youtube beginning around 2010, Rama Varma is a shining example of talent reigning supreme without the support of the traditional Chennai based music ecosystem. When circumstances made physical concerts and teaching sessions impossible, Rama Varma began posting videos with useful tips for students from which he graduated to holding online teaching classes and concerts. His online teaching sessions have students from Hyderabad, Chennai, Bangalore, Kerala, Mumbai, London, Singapore, Japan, Australia, UAE and Tanzania learn many beautiful compositions in Tamil, Telugu and Kannada and help even the uninitiated connect to music and understand it from multiple perspectives.

Music classes conducted by Prince Rama Varma are life-lessons opines Haritha Hariharan, a finance professional from Hyderabad who is leading a group of online students from Hyderabad who are organising a concert in honour of their guru. With no barriers of age, location or stage of learning, serious music students and beginners who became good friends sharing information and music related knowledge, are keen to hear him sing in person and show their gratitude to their guru according to her. The chorus of voices that join Prince Rama Varma as he sings in concert are a reward that the gifted musician cherishes and are his enduring legacy to lovers of music who are aware that it is indeed the language of the soul.