Umayalpuram Sivaraman, playing the ganjira as a four-year-old
With 75 years of performance behind him, mridangam maestro Umayalpuram Sivaraman’s zest is still as high as it was when he started playing at the age of five
We’ve been talking on the phone for a few weeks before we schedule the interview. From the way he picks up the threads of earlier conversations to the precision with which he gives me directions, it is clear that Vidwan Umayalpuram K. Sivaraman has never missed a beat in his life. The evening I land up, he is waiting at the door. I am glad I am not late. At 86, he is sharp as a tack, tracking a dozen things the recorder, my coffee, our masks, the clock, and more.