Ten terrific years: The Udupa Foundation

There are some who never need to consciously think about what they will do in life, and Giridhar Udupa is surely one of them.  His father, the well-known mridangam player, vidwan Ullur Nagendra Udupa, whom I had met a few years ago at their home and had a pleasant conversation with, straightaway started him off at the age of four on a medium-sized mridangam rather than getting a small one made specifically for the child.

Was it not difficult to handle that large an instrument? I ask Giridhar. “No, I never worried about it and somehow managed!” he laughs.

But shortly after, his father asked him to switch to the ghatam, and he continued with it, though that is tough too, being hard and unyielding.  Once, one of the senior disciples was to take part in a programme and on the spot his father asked Giridhar to go onto the stage and play on the ghatam. Giridhar was just nine years old, but he happily did as he was told! All went well, and from then on, there was no looking back.