Chennai prodigy Lydian Nadhaswaram is ‘The World’s Best’
As his fingers flew over the keys, it became clear that Lydian Nadhaswaram, the 13-year-old child prodigy from Chennai, was the favourite to win ‘The World’s Best’ global talent contest. On Thursday Lydian was declared the winner, taking home $1 million in prize money.
The Chennai youngster, who spent four years at maestro A.R. Rahman’s KM Music Conservatory and is now tutored by his father Varshan Satish, stunned the judges at the contest by playing 280 beats per minute. He then increased his speed to 325 beats per minute.
“This is genuinely one of the best things I’ve ever seen live,” tweeted James Corden, host of the show.
Lydian also featured on the Ellen DeGeneres show last week after his appearance on the ‘The World’s Best’ contest.
The teenager, who is home schooled, told The Hindu that he spends on an average of six hours a day practising music under the guidance of his father Varshan Satish, a music director.
“I listen to music on YouTube and spend time going through music software. Along with my sister, I experiment a lot and we compose our own music,” said Lydian. The prodigy can play blindfolded, handle two pianos simultaneously, apart from being adept at playing the guitar and mridangam, his mother Jhansi said with legitimate pride.
Currently, he is investing time on the technical side learning skills such as mixing, sound systems.
The lad does not watch much television, but he is a regular on YouTube. “I recently picked up a movie from YouTube, then muted the sound and created my own audio. It was fun,” he said. Citing an example, he said he had tried this experiment with the animation Storks.
His performance has earned him an invite to the Jazz Foundation of America’s annual gala “A Great Night in Harlem” at the Apollo Theatre in New York on April 4.
Lydian says he wants to compose music for Hollywood. “I want to work for an animation film,” he said, adding that he also wants to play the piano on the moon at some point.
Lydian’s father, Varshan, said: “Last year, Micheal Novogratz sent Lydian a Steinway grand piano. Now he has invited him to perform at the concert with some musicians.”
His mother Jhansi proudly said that he also plays the guitar, mridangam among other instruments.
On Thursday afternoon, Oscar winner A R Rahman went to Lydian’s house in Saligramam (Chennai) and appreciated him. Lydian has spent four-years training on a full-scholarship at AR Rahman’s KM Music Conservatory under Surojeet Chatterji in the Russian Piano School.
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Strict security measures in place in Mumbai for Messi's events at 2 venues Dec 14, say police
Mumbai (PTI): In view of Argentine superstar footballer Lionel Messi's visit to Mumbai on Sunday, the city police are implementing stringent security measures, like not allowing water bottles, metals, coins inside the stadiums and setting up watchtowers to keep an eye on the crowd, officials said.
The police also said taking extra care to avoid any stampede-like situation and to prevent recurrence of the chaotic situation that unfolded in Kolkata during Messi's visit on Saturday as thousands of fans protested inside the Salt Lake stadium here after failing to catch a clear glimpse of the football icon despite paying hefty sums for tickets.
Messi is expected to be present at the Cricket Club of India (Brabourne Stadium) in Mumbai on Sunday for a Padel GOAT Cup event followed by attending a celebrity football match. He is expected to proceed to the Wankhede Stadium for the GOAT India Tour main event around 5 pm.
"In view of Lionel Messi's visit to Mumbai, the police are geared up and have put in place a high level of security arrangements in and around the stadiums located in south Mumbai. Considering the chaos that prevailed in Kolkata and the security breach, we have deployed World Cup-level security arrangements at Brabourne and Wankhede stadiums," an official said.
Expecting heavy crowd near the stadiums during Messi's visit, the city police force has deployed more than 2,000 of its personnel near and around both the venues, he said.
As the Mumbai police have the experience of security 'bandobast' during the victory parade of ICC World Cup-winning Indian team and World Cup final match at the Wankhede Stadium, in which over one lakh cricket fans had gathered, we are prepared to handle a large crowd of fans, he said.
"We are trying to avoid the errors that occurred in the past," the official said.
There is no place to sneak inside the stadiums in Mumbai like the Kolkata stadium, according to him.
The police are also asking the organisers to provide all the required facilities to the fans inside the stadium, so that there will be no chaos, he said, adding the spectators have purchased tickets in the range of Rs 5,000 to 25,000. After paying so much of amount, any spectator expects proper services, while enjoying the event, he said.
The police are expecting 33,000 spectators at the Wankhede Stadium and over 4,000 at Brabourne Stadium. Besides this, more than 30,000 people are expected outside and around the stadiums just to have a glimpse of the football sensation, he said.
The organisers responsible for Messi's India visit recently came to Mumbai to discuss security arrangements. During the meeting, the Mumbai police asked them not to take the event lightly, according to the official.
After those requirements were fulfilled, the final security deployment was chalked out, he said.
Police has the standard procedure of the security arrangements inside the Wankhede Stadium, where people are barred from taking water bottles, metals objects, coins. Police are setting up watch towers near the stadiums and there will be traffic diversions, so that there is maximum space available to stand, according to the official.
Police are also appealing to the spectators to use public transport service for commuting and avoid personal vehicles to reach south Mumbai.
To avoid any stampede-like situation, police are also taking precautionary measures and will stop the fans some distance ahead of the stadium and public announcement systems will be used to guide the crowd. Barricades will be placed at various places to manage the crowd.
In case the crowd swells up beyond expectation, the police will divert people to other grounds and preparations in this regard underway, he said.
Additional police force has been deployed in south Mumbai to tackle any kind of situation, he said.
