Also, it is a time to recognise the best. Awards are now an integral part of the Season. Among the numerous awards, the 'Sangita Kalanidhi' title is one that every artiste aspires for. To be honored with The Music Academy's 'Sangita Kalanidhi' is considered the pinnacle of glory for an artiste. The award evokes different reactions from different people. Pride, derision, controversy, celebration. And yet, 'Sangita Kalanidhi' is a worthy title.

On the eve of Diwali, The Music Academy has announced the 'Sangita Kalanidhi' awardee for 2003. And it is Carnatic vocalist T.V. Shankaranarayanan.

At the vox pops hosted by KutcheriBuzz, rasikas were invited to have their say on the 'Sangita Kalanidhi' selection. The poll was on for two months.

We had two questions:

1. Name an artiste who you think deserves the 'Sangita Kalanidhi' for 2003.
2. Name an artiste who you think The Music Academy would choose to present the Sangita Kalanidhi for 2003.

We had 83 entries, out of which in answer to the first question 22 rasikas felt that the award should go to T.V. Shankaranarayanan and 18 felt it should go to T.N. Seshagopalan. The other names suggested were M.S. Anantharaman, T. Muktha, Trichur Ramachandran, P.S. Narayanaswamy, Yesudas, Kadri Gopalnath , U. Shrinivas, Sanjay Subrahmanyam and even Bombay Jayashri.

In response to the second question, we had 21 entries that matched with the selection made by The Music Academy.

The lucky winners are:

For Question 1:
T.N.Swaminathan
Chembur , Mumbai-71

For Question 2:
Chandra Sekhar
Alwarpet, Chennai 600018

Winners get music CDs.