Harmonies Redefined: The Trailblazers

India, June 15 -- It begins with Aruna Sairam's voice - deep, resonant, and textured - that does not conform to the sweet, high-pitched ideal often romanticised in Carnatic music. Yet, it's precisely this voice that has connected her to audiences across continents. Behind this voice is a journey that defies linearity - rooted in tradition, tempered by inner doubt, and ultimately freed by a deep, personal search for authenticity.

Born in Mumbai, into a home where music was not a career but a way of life, Aruna was raised in an atmosphere where melody was as integral as breath. Her father Sethuraman and mother Rajalakshmi were bound by a shared love for music, and passed down their devotion to their children. By 10, her mother had already imparted her the basics and an impressive repertoire of 200 to 250 pieces. But, the idea of becoming a performer never occurred to her. For years, music was simply something Aruna loved, not something she pursued as a vocation. She was also academically inclined, dreaming of a life in science.

That began to shift with the arrival of her Guru, the formidable T Brinda (Brindamma) who was warm but firm. For 10 years, Brindamma spent three months annually with the family to impart rigorous, traditional training to Aruna who was only 10 when she became a student.

Even after years of classical training, Aruna faced a unique internal struggle: unlike the bright timbres celebrated in Carnatic circles, Aruna's voice was darker, fuller, and sat in a lower register. "My biggest handicap was my voice," she recalls. For a long time, she felt out of place and it wasn't until she stopped trying to change her voice and began understanding it that something shifted. She explains: "There is nothing called an imperfect voice in God's creation." After a decade of deliberate work, her voice that was once a source of doubt became her identity. "I started loving it, and it started loving me," she adds.

Having made peace with her voice, Aruna began to explore beyond the borders of Carnatic performances, and collaborated with German and French musicians, Flamenco artistes, jazz players, and North Indian classical stalwarts. Her work with artistes such as Shankar Mahadevan, U Srinivas, Dominique Vellard, and Vijay Iyer became expressions of conversation. The turning point came when she performed with Vellard, in Chennai, and the response was a 15-minute standing ovation. That crystallised her belief that when something is true to one's essence, it will resonate!

She never stopped performing ultra-traditional concerts, but at the same time also embraced the world - its languages, its sounds, its rhythms - whether it was for singing an abhang, a Bengali bhajan, or a Tamil kriti.

Aruna's career truly came into its own in her forties and fifties; a late blooming she attributes to the long inner preparation that preceded it. She has little time now to mentor full-time students in her own style, though she believes passionately that classical music must excite the younger generation.

If there is a single composition that encapsulates her journey, it is a 16th-century Tillana - traditional, historic, yet electrifying in its emotional impact. "It has changed my life," she shares. Her music, like the Tillana, spans centuries yet touches the 'now', inviting listeners into a space where emotion, devotion, and innovation coexist.

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