The Isai Payanam Trust was started after the success of my Isai Payanam TV show on Jaya TV bridging ragas in Classical and Film music. I started the trust to promote musical awareness among all age groups and all sections of society as well as with the aim to support charitable causes through my music. Our ecosystem of sabhas today comprises largely a recommendation-driven nepotistic patronage network. Recommendations of senior "vidwans", critics, and self-styled "musicologists" are taken more seriously than the calibre of the artiste itself while allocation of "slots" in the Music Season. Some artistes with absolutely no voice control or even a barely serviceable singing voice are given prime-time slots at so-called prestigious venues. Professional artistes like yours truly have to contend with such a raw deal, that it is no wonder that today Carnatic Music is fast becoming a vocation for bored housewives and girls waiting to be married. It is no won...
