Neyveli B. Venkatesh

Initiated to mridangam at a tender age of seven his first guru is his father A.S. Balaraman. Before he could comprehend the matter mridangam found a place in his petite hands. As he grow older P.P.Venkatesan & Ramanathapuram M.N.Kandaswamy honed his skills. Maiden performance at ten, caught the attention of the media and multitude. Has played in all the temples in and around Neyveli. The spark to achieve was ignited by his supportive family members. This employment at NLC (Neyveli Lignate Corporation) did not deter him from practice. Dame fortune smiled on him when he performed a 28 Hrs non-stop marathon session in Neyveli. It proved a turning point in his life as it left an indelible imprint in the music world. The Unstintting support by the NLC chairman Narayanan made him drown in the world of percussion. The then governor of Tamilnadu K.K. Shah applauded his feat. He is skilled in playing the 'tres-difficle' 'gumuki style'. Adept in playing kanjira konnokal he stormed the world with his percussive expertise. He is an 'A' grade artist in AIR In Mridangam. 'B' grade artist in Kanjira. The call of Chennai which is referred to as citadel of music made him shift his home from Neyveli to Chennai.