Watch: Dubai-based musician gives Adele an Indian makeover

Dubai resident Mahesh Raghvan has been bending the rules of Carnatic music.

He is all of 25 and an Internet sensation in his own right. Yet, the first thing you are likely to notice about Mahesh Raghvan are the colourful socks he wears. No classic blacks, whites, greys or blues for him, the young Carnatic musician is happy flaunting flamboyant prints, such as laughing monkeys on yellow hues. "It started when I was working in radio. I saw colourful socks one day and wore them to work. Suddenly, everyone's attention was directed at my feet. I told myself, 'This is one way of being interesting'."

The idea of being 'interesting' informs his work as well. This year, you may have chanced upon a series of popular Western themes that have been getting Carnatic 'makeover' - from Adele's Hello, the original soundtrack of Pirates of the Caribbean to those of popular shows such as Friends, Game of Thrones and Sherlock. Each of these spin-offs, played on iPad using an app called GeoShred, have not only gone viral, but are increasingly commanding a following of their own.

We meet Mahesh at his Al Barsha residence where he lives with his chartered accountant father and mother who was formerly an Economics teacher. They may not be active participants in his music, but they live each note he plays. We are guided to a small room populated by speakers, consoles and an iPad. It is a studio where dreams are born. Mahesh may have realised some of them, but he is gradually learning the ways of viral stardom. "I don't know what happens to me when I am making music. I am in this trance-like state. But the thing with viral content is that people remember you for two days. Once I switch off my phone, everything is gone. So the process repeats itself," he says.

The pop culture rulebook would have you believe that the story of a typical 25-year-old, who is reinventing classical music, would comprise drama. But Mahesh's story is as simple as it gets. As a four-year-old, he started learning Carnatic music from his aunt. Soon after, he began picking tunes on his own on the keyboard. Even as he got more passionate about his music, studies never took a backseat. "I was academically brilliant. I come from a family of smart people. So it's in the genes," he grins.

Having completed his bachelor's in audio production from Dubai's SAE Institute, Mahesh went on to pursue his masters from University of Edinburgh. Scotland went on to open a world of possibilities. As his radio colleague and former collaborator Dev J Haldar recalls, "In one of the projects he was doing in Edinburgh, he wanted to show Buddha's learning through the distortion of music. Imagine you are not using words but only sound to denote that pure sound equals pure thought. That is the kind of thinking process he has. He not only understands the nuances of music but also the science behind it."

As he carefully spreads talcum powder on his iPad (it is meant to smoothen the movement of his fingers over the app), Mahesh recalls another incident that eventually inspired him to adapt Western music in classical Carnatic style. "Once I was asked to present my music in a club. That was pretty weird for me as I was used to playing classical music. How was I to play in front of an essentially young, culturally diverse crowd and engage them at the same time?'' The dilemma gave birth to his YouTube project FLAIR: Carnatic Music 2.0. "It was around this time I discovered the app GeoSynthesiser and later GeoShred. It is designed like a guitar fretboard and you can replicate a lot of string instrument sounds on it. The sound that I eventually created is called XITAR, it's my unique sound,'' he says with a hint of pride.

MEET ADELESHWARI: A graphic of Adele made by the musician. Photo: Dhes Handumon

anamika@khaleejtimes.com