Varadarajan on the violin, Neyveli B Venkatesh on the Mridangam (these two stellar artists comprising his regular team) and K. This season at Narada Gana Sabha, his pallavi phrasing was “Varada Venkata Gopala”- indicating not just the Lord but also his accompanists for the day — S. A rare artiste who is equally conscious about his audience as much as he is about grammar, conventions and tradition. For the rasika of the older generation there is the thread of classicism that runs through the concert. As evident in the discussions that last for days and sometimes years amidst the rasika crowd.One could call Sanjay Subrahmanyan, a hard working tech-savvy classical vocalist.If someone wants to get a live feel of how Sanjay Subrahmanyan affects his fans, one must go to his concert venue when he starts the “mangalam”. His concerts have something in the offering for every kind of listener. And then there is a secret society which operates with one password: Sanjay Subrahmanyan.

Identification and second guessing of ragas begin to happen. Here is an artiste who truly cares to engage with his followers.The social networks come alive during and after his concert-his facebook page goes live, rasikas post pictures and comments online. The listener can draw from his music, his energy and his gushing positivity. And for a fellow performing musician, there is tremendous insight on how to showcase one’s musical repertoire in a 3-hour format which is aesthetic, classical, enjoyable, without being ostentatious and without a single dull moment. The artistes on stage are clad in simple crisp whites. And while performing a high energy concert, he also poses gracefully for his photographers. Standing ovations that last for several minutes follow the mangalam without a miss.Not to mention his impeccable diction while rendering a Tamil paasuram or a Sanskrit masterpiece of Muthuswami Dikshitar.There are many fan pages of this artiste created exclusively by listeners on facebook, each with about 5000+ members. Tamil is the most anticipated language from this musician since he works like a master craftsman to tastefully embed verses from Mahakavi Bharathiyar and Thiruvalluvar into his pallavi lines.

 For the linguist, there is a variety of languages with a lot of emphasis on Tamil. Exactly as someone was overheard saying in a queue “Part of the charm of Sanjay’s concerts are his facial expressions”. He strives towards perfection in all elements that collectively form a wholesome concert experience. Sanjay Subrahmanyan SHRP Weft Feeder Come December music season in Chennai, we have different groups of rasikas. A number of conference calls are made and flights booked between the Indian states and the United States, to land up in Chennai for the “Sanjay” festival. Only extra plastic chairs, like in a Rajinikanth movie. But from a completely non-musical sense they can learn a thing or two about customer focus, team work, avoiding shortcuts and a “never-say-die” work ethic. No empty seats for his concerts. They can delve in his live and recorded performances throughout the year. The concert day starts for a rasika, with Sanjay’s morning tweets on the evening to come.

There would be a live thread on whether the raga being sung was Jog or Chalanaatai, and the astute Sanjay would cleverly respond with the word “Jog” in his next phrase, to a roaring applause.. Right from the time he releases his December season list, which he does a month ahead, knowing very well that die-hard fans from across the globe will have to make their travel plans. For the music student, there is abundance of learning — right from the variety of varnams, kritis of rare composers, genius raga expansion and mathematics of pallavi. Some rasikas get season passes of one sabha and attend all concerts organised by that sabha alone.V Gopalakrishnan on the Kanjira. There are no boring pauses or reference to iPads for lyrics. The organisers know only too well that tickets for a Sanjay concert get sold within ten minutes of the counter being open.Why Sanjay Subrahmanyan? Very simply put, here is a performer who does not take his audience for granted - ever. A Sanjay concert is very hard to forget and usually results in blissful hangovers.All this is presented with no fuss. Always exuding positivity and ever smiling through his moments of hard work and sweat.After the concert of course, there would be an overflow of reviews, narrations, enlisting of ragas sung, mobile captures, DSLR pictures, videos and a gush of tweets-some of which he graciously shares on his social pages.The buzz begins right from buying tickets. These creative inclusions create “wow” moments in his concert and always evoke outbursts of glee.

Anxiety and excitement build up in equal measure and a number of Sanjay fan groups on facebook and whatsapp start betting on the main raga or pallavi for the day. They truly demonstrate team work which is evident in their on-stage communication and the way Sanjay communicates with his audience throughout the concert. There are some who, like club members, strive to show off their “elite” sabha membership. For the regular rasika with a discerning ear, there are unique ragas like Balahamsa, Manorama and Sanjay's own discovery, a ragam called Dravida Kalavathy.There are many fan pages of this artiste created exclusively by listeners on facebook, each with about 5000+ members. For the newbie, there are viruttams soaked with emotions, needing no prior musical exposure. Then there are those who like to experience a variety of artistes along with a variety of cuisine, so would alternate between the grand and mushrooming sabhas of Mylapore.The personal, professional and leisure schedules of the rasikas of the vocalist Sanjay Subrahmanyan revolve completely around his kutcheri timetable