Trivandrum sisters complete 40 years of musical journey

Chennai: Decades ago when Latha and Malathi performed a Carnatic vocal concert at a college in Chennai, there was a special guest among the audience. Once the concert got over, he walked on to the dais and asked them whether they would like to sing for his movies. The guest was veteran actor MGR. Years have passed, but Latha and Malathi, popularly known as Trivandrum sisters, still remember that day.
Since they were six and five, Latha and Malathi have performed more than 1,000 concerts so far, mostly in various parts of Tamil Nadu. Completing 40 years of musical journey in Chennai, the sisters have also produced a number of devotional CDs, like Skanda Sakti Kavacham and Sri Venkateshasuprabhatham.
Despite having great talent, they were not allowed to sing light music by their father, himself a Carnatic musician. But they don't regret. "Our father never wanted us to sing light music for movies. He wanted us to follow traditional Carnatic vocal. Although we got a number of invites from veteran music directors, we couldn't accept due to this," said Latha, the elder sister.
Despite the restrictions, Latha has sung for some Malayali movies like the award-winning 'Nirmalyam', Chattambikkalyani' and 'Oppol'. The latest was the famous 'Ananda Nadanam' song, composed in Bilahari raga, that she had sung for the Mohanlal-starrer 'Kamaladalam' in 1992.
Do they regret? "Yeah, we do. But we are happy that we could perform more than 1000 concerts so far. We love singing together," said Malathi, the younger one.
Even though the sister were regular in giving concerts until a decade ago, they discontinued it due to family responsibilities and health issues. "Our parents used to accompany us for all the concerts. When we got married, our responsibilities increased," said Latha. "I was having problems sitting cross-legged for long time. That's why we stopped going for concerts," said Malathi.
At 55 and 54, the sisters are planning to resume their concert programme that they stopped years ago. "Now our children have grown up and we are a bit relieved. So we are planning to resume our Carnatic vocal concert programme," said Malathi.
"We are happy that we could perform together across Tamil Nadu and some other places in the country as well as abroad. Singing in the remote pockets of Tamil Nadu was always special. It was a great feeling," they said.