Veena – MEENA SUGAVANAM

Born in a family of music lovers Meena grew up in the most enviable part of Indian Music culture- Mylapore in Chennai.  She was influenced by many musical legends who often visited her home in Chennai.

Her early inspirations were through her mother, an avid learner of Classical Music - truly devoted to culture and tradition. Meena was initiated her learning saga through the vocal. However, she later chose to pursue the elegance through the most sacred, yet original, mystical instrument- the VEENA.

Luck shone in her way, as she learnt Veena at the hallowed The Music Academy School of Music under Smt Ranganayaki Rajagopalan, the descendant of Karaikudi Sambasiva Iyer.  During her stay in the Middle East, Meena continued Veena lessons from Mrs. Vaishali and kept her daily practice without fail. It is to her credit that even after moving to Western world, Meena has adapted to the atmosphere instantly and pursue the veena with a passion.  She now is in unison with Mrs Lalgudi Rajalakshmi, who is a very senior and distinguished Veena player [sister of Legend Lalgudi Sri Jayaraman] in learning the traditions of music. Mrs.Rajalakshmi has been a teacher to Meena since 1996, and continue their music lessons with her Guru online through Skype.

Since living in London over the last 4 yearsMeena has evinced interest in performing Veena to small audiences and on important Hindu Occasions and enjoys teaching to a few interested learners.  Meena’s proficiency on the instruments could be demonstrated by over 200 sahityams and over 50 ragas.

Currently, she aspires to share her experience and technique with people who would be interested and it could be said in Meena’s favour that she possesses fluent communication skills in English, Tamil& Hindi;so the learner would not be disappointed. She is a highly dedicated teacher who insists on hard work and commitment from  her students.

Meena is well versed in Sanskrit and is knowledgeable in many Slokas as well. During her stay in Dubai she was an active member (as a Guru ) of the Sri Satya Sai Balvikas programme.