Whistle wizard lets MS come alive

Tirupati: If he whistles, the melody queen MS Subbu Lakshmi comes alive. He breathes a fresh life into the mellifluous voice of MS through his whistle. Komaravolu Sivaprasad of Bapatla in Guntur district, known as Whistle Wizard, paid befitting tributes to Subbu Lakshmi on her 101 birth anniversary celebrations by releasing an audio and video album of celestial songs of MS sung by him with whistle. The album containing seven celestial songs was released here on Saturday at a function. Sivaprasad and the whistle are inseparable to each other.

It entered into his life right at the age of 10 and he continues to live with his instrument for over four decades. He made a debut (arangetram) in the field of music by giving a whistle concert in Hanuman temple at the age of 12. Komaravole takes pride in depicting his encounter with whistle as a `divine miracle’.

With an innate talent and undying passion for whistling, he scaled heights in music world. A small wind instrument catapulted him into fame and helped him partake in a number of national and international concerts. The keerthans that keep flowing from his whistle include those pertained to Annamacharya, Tyagaraja, Syama Sastri, Subramanya Bharati and Rabindranath Tagore. He whistles into remarkable tonal variations much to the delight of enthralling audience. He humbly attributes the accolades that came his way to the magical powers of his lovely instrument. He whistles the most difficult Indian Ragas with much ease.

All the members of his family were classical music lovers. He used to hum the songs through whistle since his early ages. At the age of 26, then Governor of Maharashtra Kona Prabhakar Rao introduced him to Classical music maestro Dr Mangalampalli Balamurali Krishna. In the presence of Mangalampalli, Sivaprasad in a humble manner whistled a song, which was originally sung by Balamurali himself. He practices his whistle music for four to five hours daily through which, he says, his lung power has increased enormously. This constant saadhana improved his abilities to give concerts for several hours non-stop.

There were many artists who whistle for cinema, Western music etc., But Siva Prasad dedicated his whistle to Classical music. He has also experimented with fusion music. In 2011, he performed Jugal Bandi with his guru Mangalampalli Balamurali Krishna at Ravindra Bharati in Hyderabad. His music album Mera Bharat Mera Saas (My Nation My Breath) comprising songs composed with themes and tunes familiarized in Telangana and Andhra hit the stands in 2015. Thus, he whistles his way into the Limca Book of World Records.

He is tutoring 21 students, including women whistlers, from across the globe. He lends them his mentorship through Skype. Around 10 of them are in Hyderabad. Speaking to The Hans India, Sivaprasad asserted that the whistle has got therapeutic power too. It cures breathing disorders if anyone keeps practising on a regular basis, he says.