Morsing artiste Sai Subramaniam keeps the art alive

The Kalki Krishnamurthy award will boost Sai Subramaniam’s efforts to popularise the modest instrument

V. Sai Subramaniam is the first morsing exponent to receive the Kalki Krishnamurthy Award in the 25 years of its inception.

Sai grew up seeing his father, a self-taught artiste, play the morsing, an instrument now hardly seen on Carnatic concert platforms. At age nine, he could reproduce the instrument’s characteristic twangs. “ While I surprised myself, my father was shocked, as it had taken him much longer. My father then taught me simple nadais and korvais.”