News & Pics: Mounesh Vishwakarma
Daijiworld Media Network – Puttur (SB)

Puttur, Aug 22: Relentless pursuit is the most important trait to master any art. Proving the same is Suman R Devadiga, who is growing to become a great tablist excelling in the field of music instrument following in the footsteps of his grandfather late Venkatappa Dogra, the first person to Indianize western instrument, saxophone.

The artiste in Suman, son of flautist P Rajaratnam and Bharathi couple flowered due to the environment provided by his renowned musical family. He has been taking training in playing tabla from N V Murthy in Puttur since the age of seven. He has also received special training from tablist of Karwar Chandrakanth Gadkar. This apart, he is also learning mridangam from Akashvani artiste ghatam vidwan Tiruchi K R Kumar from past three years.

All of 20-year-old, his excellence in the field chosen has made him eligible for scholarship from CCRT from centre and Sangeeta Nataka Academy of the state. He has the distinction of passing the vidwat examination conducted by Gandharva Mahavidyalaya, Meeraj in the tender age of 16 years. He is the final year student of Bachelor of Arts in St Philomena College here.

He is the winner of several competitions. He has won the talavadya section in the Mangalore University level inter-college music festival for three consecutive times. Along with academics, as his profession he has been accompanying various artistes all over the state in tabla including semi-classical and classical programmes. He has a sister, Megha, who too is inclined towards art.