Bio

I consider myself to be Tri-national, combining an essence of being Asian; African and sometimes quintessentially British, as those have been the roots of my intercontinental upbringing! Tracing backwards, I am a Tamilian from a small, but significant island in South Asia, called Sri Lanka, aka pearl of the South, shaped as a teardrop for all it's sadness and wars, but also a holiday spot, for the sheer lush beauty the island bears. In 2005, I was flown back to the paradise island (by the Sri Lankan tourism board) after 20 years, to be a journalist for Songlines Magazine, The Asian Post & SL2UK at the inaugural Sri Lankan WOMAD (Peter Gabriel's World of Music and Dance) and catch up with some of my relatives who still live there!

I am an entertainment writer/journalist/editor, covering various topics from issues & music to food & fashion - currently working as the editor on the prestigious culture celebrating EMMA (Ethnic Multicultural Media Awards) project. I have covered and interviewed many an artiste, like Anoushka and Ravi Shankar (BBC Proms), veteran diva Asha Bhosle, AR Rahman, Ajay & Kaushiki Chakraborty, Nitin Sawhney, Rhian Benson, Bally Sagoo, Apache Indian, Raghav, Outlandish, Jay Sean , Juggy D, Karen David, Nina Jayne, Kray Twinz, g3nee, Mentor, Deeyah, Sumeet, Shri (Badmarsh); also veterans like Apache Indian, who are simply inimitable! I have also written a column called "Asian Connection", for Gargamel Magazine. Meeting my favourite Neo Soul musician and 3 times Grammy winner, John Legend at the Nelson Mandela tribute book signing was a real pleasure and made me realise how working in media is so soul satisfying! Live shows like the MOBOs, trapsing the mud but enjoying the music at Glastonbury, the true cause of Live 8 Africa Calling, WOMAD, seeing artistes like Alicia Keys, Beyonce Knowles, Sean Paul, Craig David, Jon B in concert also makes it worth every minute of all the hard work!

My music tastes are extremely eclectic, varying from pure South Indian Classical (Carnatic), and North Indian Classical (Hindustani) to R & B, Hip Hop, Reggae, Soul, Gospel, World music & a touch of Jazz lately ;-) Catch me on Myspace

Carnatic Musicians who I have liaised with, are DK Pattammal, Vikku Vinayakaram, KJ Jesudas, Nithyashree Mahadevan, Sudha Ragunathan, Aruna Sairam, TN Seshagopalan, Balamurali Krishna, Bombay Jayashree, Sowmya, N.Ramani, Kanyakumari, U Srinivas, Lalgudi, Kadri Gopalnath, The late Maharajapuram Santhanam, Karaikudi Mani, Guruvayoor Dorai et al.

Three musicians from South India who I respect very much and have spent time with, are AR Rahman (The man behind groundbreaking film scores like Roja, Bombay, Taal, featured on Lord of War, Inside Man and having collaborated on the ambitious project, Lord of the Rings, the musical, after the phenomenal success of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Bombay Dreams), Ilayaraja Sir and sons & A.Sivamani - pure talent, total inspirations!  Another few; Shankar Mahadevan – he has a cool voice and is a great guy, smooth voiced Unnikrishnan, honey toned Hariharan, not to mention Tamil singing talents based in Chennai, like Chinmayi, Mathangi, Srini, Karthik, Devan, Harish Ragavendra, Venkat Prabhu, SPB Charan and Rappers Blaaze and Premji Gangai Amaran.

 
My professional past includes a degree from University of London, in Computer Science and have worked mainly in consultancy, for companies such as Hilton Group, Credit Suisse, Oracle UK, Business Objects, Dresdner Bank, O2 and Pepsi Cola on the Marketing, MIS (Management Information Systems) and CRM (Customer Relationship Management) side of things & liaising with senior management on reporting requirements et al. I also had stints at cool places like The Financial Times and have consulted for/with companies like KPMG,  Accenture, PWC, UBS, Credit Lyonnais, British Airways, Mc Donald’s UK, Air Tours, 3i, Norkom Technologies, Britannia Building Society, IND Home Office, Ministry Of Defence (MOD) Police, Nestlé Purina/Friskies, Mars ISI,  GEC Marconi Avionics & On site at BP Wytch Farm Oil Rig in Dorset (Eating with the rig workers in the canteen was particularly memorable).