I belong to a musical family. My maternal grandfather was Azhiyur Natesa Iyer, a renowned Mridanga vidwan. My grand uncle was Azhiyur Narayanaswami Iyer, a flautist of repute. My mother Smt Neela and my aunt Smt Kunjumani were initially trained on the flute by him. It will not be out of place to mention that N Ramani, the flautist, is his grand son. In fact the one and only Flute Mali is also related to us, though distantly. Our family and the flute go back a long way.

I was born on 23rd August 1963, Vinayaka Chaturthi day. Right from then, I was exposed to a musical atmosphere. At the age of six, I was initiated into the art of playing the flute. In the beginning I was not so very keen and just took it easy. I was quite slow and learnt the basics. My mothers were not ones to force anybody into learning the art. They gently guided me into developing a love for the instrument. I then began to take keen interest in picking up the intricacies in playing the flute by the time I was twelve.

While studying at the Rosary Matriculation School, I used to participate in inter school music competitions and bagged quite a few prizes. I became a youth artiste at the AIR in 1979 and Doordarshan in 1980. My mothers despite being busy artistes would accompany me to all recordings and took keen interest in furthering my career. My mothers' co artistes such as Srimushnam Sri V Raja Rao and Mannargudi Sri A Eswaran were also responsible in giving my talents a focus. My first performance was in 1980 at Shakti Vel Illam in the presence of Sri Mani Swamigal. My accompanists were Sri SD Sridhar on the violin and Srimushnam Sri V Raja Rao on the Mridangam. Sadly, I do not have a photograph or recording of this event.

In 1982, I won the first prize at the AIR Music Competition in the Wind Instrument Category. The prize was given by Sangita Kalanidhi Smt MS Subbulakshmi. I little realised then that I would one day become a part of her family! Sometime later, I gave a live performance on Doordarshan. Sri Yegnaraman, secretary of the Sri Krishna Gana Sabha, after viewing this, was kind enough to give me a slot in the Gokulashtami series of the Sabha. I was also complemented by Sangita Kalanidhi, the late Smt. T Brinda, on my performance. After this, I began receiving invitations to perform at various Sabhas, festivals and functions.

I continued my performances during my days as a student of the Stella Maris College, where I enrolled for a BSC degree in Botany, in 1983. In 1985, Lalgudi G Vijayalakshmi joined the college. In the 1970's, Lalgudi Sri G Jayaraman, her father had perfected the Violin -Venu-Veena ensemble, along with Sri N Ramani on the flute and Sri R Venkataraman on the Veena. We decided to do the same in College, along with a fellow student who played the Veena. This was well received and we then decided to perform at a Sabha. Jayanthi, Vijayalakshmi's cousin, now a prominent Veena artiste, joined us and we gave our first performance on 1/1/1986 at the Sri Krishna Gana Sabha. This was a great success. We continued this ensemble for over six years. During these years I also concentrated on my career as a solo artiste. I also performed trio concerts with Smt Neela and Smt Kunjumani.

In 1986, I was married to V Chandrasekhar, son of Smt Radha Vishwanathan, daughter and vocal accompanist of Smt M S Subbulakshmi. From that family, I have received the greatest affection, understanding and support. Without their encouragement, I could have never contemplated a full time career as a performing flautist.

What are my goals like?
In general all the senior musicians agree to whatever I play and appreciate the quality of music - pure classical Carnatic music, gayaki style with no gimmicks and of a good paathanthara. My responsibility is to keep learning more songs and sustain the family tradition. I would like to play good music (using only one flute through out the concert, not changing flutes in between) involving bhakti, purity and create more listeners for concerts. Surely one day I shall achieve this through grace of Goddess Saraswathi. In short would like to become like Smt MS Subbulakshmi who has dedicated her life to bhakti and pure music.

My Family:Top standing( L to R): Brother - V. Kannan,Sisters Husband - Chandrasekaran,Father K.S. Venkatraman - the key person in encouraging all into music,Husband - Chandrasekar.

Sitting - Middle Row ( L to R):Sister in Law - Usha Kannan, Sister - Mythili Chandrasekhar - working as Flute Lecturer in Government Music College, Adyar, Chennai, Mother - Neela, Aunt - Kunjumani, Myself .

Sitting - Lower Row (L to R): Nephew - Karthik Kannan doing MS in USA, Plays Flute, Niece - Aparna Kannan, now into vocal training, Nephew - Gurucharan, sister's son, well known promising young vocalist, Niece Lavanya - M.Phil Mathematics , also plays the flute. sister's daughter - sister of Gurucharan.