And today with that platform made ready for Indian music, the new age Carnatic musicians send their fans in Berlin, Strassbourg and Los Angeles into a state of delirium.

Mandolin. U. Shrinivas is one such music ambassador. A child prodigy who took up playing a hitherto unknown instrument like the mandolin he achieved phenomenal success in adapting it to the Carnatic style.

In an interview to kutcheribuzz.com, U. Shrinivas talks about his musical exploits in the west.

How is Indian music, especially Carnatic music received in the west?
The response of the western audience is so tremendous that sometimes I'm made to feel that they have started to admire and respect Carnatic music much more than ourselves. Whereever I've performed, whether it is the US or Europe, I have seen packed halls.

What is the reason for your immense popularity?
I feel the westerners relate easily to the sound of the mandolin, which is basically a western instrument. All our instrumental music becomes a hit in the west because they don't need to understand the language or the sahityam. Moreover I would proudly say that Indian music is the best of all other forms of music.

Do you make any changes in your style while playing abroad?
No. Certainly not. I play the same kind of music be it in Berlin or Bombay. All I do is to briefly give an explanation about the raga, taala and the composer. I keep the explanations to a minimum because that keeps my audience hungry for more information on the music. But there has been the odd occasion when I teamed up with other western classical and jazz musicians to play their music. I did that during the International Mandolin Festival in Germany where western musicians tried their hand at Carnatic music and I played jazz.

Have you made any attempts to play the "fusion music" with western instruments and musicians?
Yes I have done that. Last year I released a very successful album playing alongside Michael Brook and Nigel Kennedy.

Tell us some of your unforgettable memories of performing overseas?
There have been plenty of them! When I gave my first performance at LA, Some 15 years back, an American was so inspired by the music that he immediately purchased a mandolin and asked for an autograph on it. I later heard that he even started learning mandolin quite seriously.

When I first participated in the International Jazz Festival in Berlin in 1985, I was just about 15 years old. I was scheduled to play for one hour- between the concerts of two very popular jazz musicians. I was very nervous, to start with, playing in front of nearly 5000 listeners. In the end, I had to play for one more hour due to popular demand. These are some incidents I would never forget.

Mandolin. U. Shrinivas lives in Dhanalakshmi Colony, Saligramam. Phone: 4728696.
His website is: www.mandolinshrinivas.org.