As schoolgirls, the Menon sisters used to run home so they could catch the song requests on Radio Ceylon. They would note down the lyrics eagerly, filling in the blanks when the same song played again, so they could sing along too. The elder of the two, Nirupama, topped the All India Civil Services Examination and went on to become India\u2019s foreign secretary from 2009 to \u201811. <\/p>\n
Her younger sister became a surgeon in the Indian Navy. She was the first lady officer from all three wings of the armed forces to get into the National Defence College in Delhi, and was the first lady commanding officer of one of India\u2019s largest naval hospitals, INHS Asvini, earning prestigious awards such as the Vishisht Seva Medal.<\/p>\n
One got to hear that schoolgirl\u2019s voice once again when Rear Admiral (retd) Dr Nirmala Kannan, now 71, participated at the Hope and Harmony concert on July 21 in Bengaluru. The concert was organised by The Teacher Foundation to raise funds for the professional development of teachers. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve always loved to sing, and I\u2019m really happy that I get to do it for a cause,\u201d says Nirmala, adding that she has lent her voice to the Armed Forces Battle Casualties Fund in Coimbatore, the National Defence Fund in Kochi, and for children with special needs in Thiruvananthapuram.<\/p>\n
![\"Rear](\"https:\/\/th-i.thgim.com\/public\/incoming\/d47cj4\/article68413117.ece\/alternates\/FREE_1200\/Nirmala%20Kannan1.jpg\" "\\"Rear")
<\/div>\n\nRear Admiral Nirmala Kannan\n<\/p>\n
<\/div>\n Nirmala says it was in Pune that she first went up on a stage to sing at the age of four. Throughout her childhood, college and medical school, and while working in different parts of the country, she continued to sing. This surgeon in obstetrics and gynaecology believes it keeps her young at heart and after retiring from the Indian Navy, Nirmala joined a group of singers. <\/p>\n Following the pandemic, her husband Vice Admiral (retd) B Kannan suggested she start a YouTube channel. His encouragement was not surprising considering it was Nirmala\u2019s music that first brought them together so many decades ago. Nirmala was pleasantly surprised by the response she garnered online and decided to seriously pursue this path. <\/p>\n Professional recording required Nirmala to choose the best songs for the medium and finding good quality track music that would suit her timbre. \u201cMy videographer makes me sing each song at least three times, and then plays them back so we can select the best take,\u201d says the self-taught guitarist.<\/p>\n \nNirmala Kannan\u00a0 <\/div>\n A quick learner, Nirmala has always been ready to go on new adventures whether it was white-water rafting or participating in a car rally or learning to play the piano. Once a regular squash and badminton player, today she restricts herself to golf and some form of daily aerobics. Despite juggling her many roles in the Navy, and at home as wife, mother or grandmother, Nirmala says she is happy she always found time for her first love, music.\u00a0<\/p>\n The joy in Nirmala\u2019s voice is what must have caught the attention of an 18-year old rapper who wrote to her and asked if they could sing a song together. \u201cI asked this rapper, Aditi Nair, to finish her studies and then let me know if she was still interested. She promptly did, and we recorded a song over the Parambithara Bridge in Kochi at 6am on a rainy day. Then, as the sun came out, we broke into \u2018Here comes the Sun\u2019!\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Composed by George Harrison of the Beatles, it is one of Nirmala\u2019s favourites among others by Joan Baez, Louis Armstrong, Lynn Anderson, Engelbert Humperdinck, ABBA and Neil Diamond.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI have many role models. Look at Usha Uthup and her sister Indira Srinivasan! I keep telling women that there is no need to give up on the things we enjoy, and that, retirement is not the end of the road,\u201d says Nirmala, who mentored the first batch of non-medical women officers recruited by the Armed Forces in 1992. \u201cYou can\u2019t give up!\u201d she told them, since the training was strenuous both physically and mentally, and to their credit, not one from that batch did.\u00a0<\/p>\n Maya Menon, director of The Teacher Foundation for over 20 years, sees a similar struggle and perseverance in the teaching field, and the same need for mentorship. \u201cAs per the National Education Policy 2020, every teacher is supposed to go through 50 hours of professional development annually,\u201d she says. \u201cMusic offers hope and joy. It also offers opportunities to make our schools meaningful spaces of learning.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/i>\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n![\"Nirmala](\"https:\/\/th-i.thgim.com\/public\/incoming\/bu7ccj\/article68413118.ece\/alternates\/FREE_1200\/DSC03827.jpg\" "\\"Nirmala")
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\nSPECIAL ARRANGEMENT\n<\/p>\n