On September 2, 26-year-old Sannidhi Vaidyanathan — the granddaughter of celebrated guru and eminent exponent of Bharatanatyam Saroja Vaidyanathan and daughter of well-known Bharatnatyam danseuse Rama Vaidyanathan — will present her first solo mridangam performance, ‘Arangetram,’ at Kamani Auditorium in Delhi. The 30-minute solo performance, in the presence of her guru Ramamoorthy Sriganesh, will see Sannidhi exhibit her imagination and expertise (Thani Avatranam) in mridangam. It will be followed by a Bharatanatyam performance by Rama’s disciples where Sannidhi will accompany on mridangam, an indispensable accompaniment for the form.

Mridangam, an ancient musical instrument which requires a lot of mental and physical strength and dedication to perform.  Trained since the age of 10 under the guidance of gurus Karaikudi Sivakumar and later from Ramamoorthy Sriganesh, Sannidhi is one of the rare female percussionists. She follows the traditional vocabulary, combining the different varieties of strokes, which makes her performances fascinating.

Sannidhi, who graduated in Bharatnatyam from Indira Kala Sangeet Vishwa Vidyalaya, and compeleted a diploma course in mridangam from the Arts Faculty at Delhi University, is also a well-trained Bharatnatyam dancer, but has chosen Mridangam as her profession.  Excerpts from an interview: 

I started learning mridangam at the age of 10. I always learnt mridangam for dance and have been training to be a skilled dance mridangist. Mridangam is one thing that has been with me throughout and I feel happiest while playing. When I play, I feel as if I am also dancing because it gives me the joy of rhythm.

From childhood I had an inclination for rhythm. Coming from a family steeped in dance and music, my parents suggested that I try out mridangam. So I did! What started out as a hobby is now my biggest passion. I wanted to do something unique as my family is into dance. Female mridangists are unfortunately very rare in this predominantly male-dominated field and I am proud to be one. I hope more women like me are encouraged to learn.

My late guru Sri Karaikudi Sivakumar sir, who set my foundation and instilled my love for the art form, will always be one of my biggest inspirations. And, of course, my mom has inspired, helped and groomed me to be a dance mridangist today. Without her, I would have never stepped into this field

I grew up in a household where the mridangam was always heard in dance classes and rehearsals. Since my childhood, I have been surrounded by this musical tradition. Even as a kid, I used to help my grandmom and I started taking classes in her institute, Ganesa Natyalaya. This has definitely helped me develop an ear for it and be sincere with my practice.

I will continue classes with my guru and hope to learn new variations and patterns. I will also play for programmes, arangetrams and other shows in the future. 

My personal favourites are Bombay Jayashree Ramnath and Sudha Raghuraman (Carnatic vocalists), who will be singing on my Arangetram. I have grown up listening to Carnatic music all around me in my house. So, I am actually conditioned for it to be a part of my life. I am able to listen to it with a very sharp ear. Even though I am not a singer, I have a very close connection with not just Carnatic music, but music in general. Because mridangam is an instrument that is very versatile and can be played for any music.

As mridangists sit and play for hours on end, we need to find other ways to be physically fit. I go to the gym and exercise regularly. I have also started maintaining a healthy diet. I feel the reverberations of the mridangam and Carnatic music also help in calming me mentally.

I want to collaborate with other percussions like tabla, African drums, pakhavaj and many more. I want to do new work and learn from these other styles as well.

I definitely want to continue with mridangam. I dream to perform all over the world and spread the beauty of mridangam everywhere. I also love travelling. So, the best thing is that, along with my career, I can travel everywhere, while getting a lot of experience and exposure! My goal is to learn as much as I can from this world of mridangam and art.