Veteran mridangist Trichur C. Narendran looks back at his State School Arts fest days

He has accompanied who is who of Carnatic music. Trichur C. Narendran is one of the foremost mridangists, having performed with outstanding vocalists of different generations.

Critics have often praised his remarkable skills on mridangam. But he had his photograph published in the newspapers long ago, back in the 1960s, in fact. Mr. Narendran had won the first prize in Percussion in the 1964 edition of the State School Arts Festival.

“That year’s festival was held at Thiruvalla, and the competition was tough,” Mr. Narendran told The Hindu. “Even at the Thrissur district festival, there were a lot of talented performers; I was representing MJDHS, Kunnamkulam. At the State Festival, I remember I was the first contestant, and performed a Thani Avarthanam in Khanda Chapu.”

In an illustrious career, Mr. Narendran went on to accompany the likes of M. Balamuralikrishna, M.S. Subbulakshmi, Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavathar, Semmangudi Srinivas, K.V. Narayana Swamy, M.D. Ramanathan, Maharajapuram Santhanam, M.L. Vasanthakumari, K.J. Yesudas, T.M. Krishna, Bombay Jayashree and Sudha Raghunathan.

When he performed with Neyyattinkara Vasudevan in 1977 at Thiruvananthapuram, one of the judges at the school festival remembered him. “Mavelikkara Velukkutty Nair, in fact, told me that he knew even in those days that I was going to make it big,” said Mr. Narendran, who lives in Chennai.

Mr. Narendran would be missing this year’s school festival, which is being held here in his hometown.

He said he had been to a few festivals as a judge. “Our school festival is really unique as it gives a great platform to budding talents,” he said. “At Thiruvalla, I remember violinist B. Sasikumar was a contestant.” Mr. Sasikumar had come first in his event. Flautist K.S. Gopalakrishnan was also a winner that year.