Thursday 18 / April / 2024
In 2014, he donated OMR1,000 to the Oman Cancer Association (OCA); an amount he had collected after raising funds through his musical concerts. That was his first experience of working for a cause and since then there has been no looking back for Santrupth Vedanthi, the 16-year-old student of Indian School Muscat and a talented musician, who recently performed at the ‘Trinity Live in Concert’ organised in Muscat to raise awareness and funds for the Association of Early Intervention for Children with Disability.
Vedanthi makes sure to use his talent for something good and meaningful in life and has donated a considerable part of the money that he earns through concerts for such causes. Recently, he donated the proceeds that he earned through the sale of his album Amogha Milana to the cause of cancer awareness in Muscat and for Manonandana, a school for the mentally challenged in Bangalore, India.
“I also donated to a cancer institute in Bangalore called Karunashraya, where I was invited to perform in front of the patients. The proceeds of my next album Palasampada, which is likely to be released in August, will also go to cancer patients.”
Sharing his thoughts on what motivates him to work for a cause from such a young age, Vedanthi reminisced about a childhood incident that steered him towards this direction. “One of my schoolmates was battling with cancer and seeing his plight I felt I must do something about it. The plight of cancer patients, their families running out of resources, and the lack of awareness about cancer made me more determined,” he said.
Vedanthi is not only an ace percussionist, his dexterity also lies in playing five other instruments, including acoustic drums, mridangam, khajan, and chenda. He started his musical journey at the tender age of three and in few years time shared the stage with renowned composers and musicians, such as A. R. Rahman, Sivamani, Gino Banks, Bikram Ghosh, Dilip Doshi, and Arunkumar.
Trained by B.A. Sukumar, India’s top drummers, he later completed a five-week scholarship programme at the US-based Berklee College of Music (BCM) in Boston and worked closely with James Murphy and Victor Wooten. Oman being his second home, he is part of the local band Red Khanjar.
“I am the only Indian in this five-member band. The band’s strength lies in their ability to mix genres and perform in English, Hindi, and Arabic,” he said. As an acknowledgement to their talent, Vedanthi and the band’s lead singer Haitham were invited to perform during Oman’s 46th National Day celebrations by an impressed Omani students’ council team at their Ohio University campus in the United States.
A compassionate individual, Vedanthi wants to utilise his musical talent to help serve the community by raising funds for a variety of causes, something that he imbibed from his father. “I get a feeling of satisfaction from all these good deeds that I do and will make sure I will move on with this idea. I am ready to work overtime to carve out a niche for myself in the world of music and do a world of good,” he added.
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