10 Years

14 February 2002. The day Kannathil Muthamittaal released. 10 Years of being a playback singer. Despite several hurdles.

Thank you Rahman sir for the god-awesome break. Thank you for your blessings through these years. I have looked upon you as a Guru.

Thank you Mani Ratnam sir for retaining my voice. Grateful that the first ever song I sang were Vairamuthu Sir's lines.

To Mani Sir and Priya V and Dhina Sir for making me sing the title track of Anbulla Snehidiye introducing me to a wide audience before Kannathil Muthamittal released though KMI was recorded first.

OrU Deivam was the best ever break one could ask for in films. It was a prayer answered. A wish fulfilled. A dream come true. Though I guess I recorded the song sometime in December 2000 and subsequently in May 2001, the release is what marks the entry of an artiste in films.

If that break didn't happen nothing else would have followed. At a time when I thought I was going to be written off, I got a second break of sorts with Sahana and for that I am grateful to AR sir and Shankar sir.

To Harris sir for his kindness and for giving me a chance to sing a composition like Varayo that led me to win almost all the awards in 2010.

Raja sir for his kindness in giving me an amazing opportunity to sing in his concert in Italy, at one of the oldest and best opera houses in Modena, though I hadn't sung for him in films at all except the short Engu Pirandhadhu, which incidentally happened after this concert. It was an experience to cherish.

To Paul Jacob, for whom I faced a studio mic for the first time for a jingle.

To S A Rajkumar sir, Dheva sir - who has probably given me the most number of songs in all this while and Srikanth Deva sir, Imman, Ramesh Vinayagam anna, Dhina sir, Selvaganesh ji, Bharadwaj sir, Vidyasagar sir, G V Prakash, Taj Noor, Yuvan Shankar Raja, Bhavatharini, Premgi Amaran, Sathya C, Ghibran, Joshua Sridhar, Fen Viallee, Devi Sri Prasad, Mr. James Vasanthan, M Jayachandran ji, Ouseppachan sir, Mr Samson, Sri Chinna, Sadhu Kokila ji, Mithoon and every composer who has thought of me and allowed me to be the voice of their creation.

I hope I will not be in soup if I have failed to mention a composer's name. If I have, I shall stand corrected and humbly request pardon.

Grateful to the print/TV/Radio media (presenters on TV and radio) for writing/speaking about me.

Grateful to the sound engineers that make me sound good, the musicians who have played for me at various concerts.

Thankful to the artiste coordinators and PROs.

Grateful to Mr Krishna who took the risk and invested the time in giving me the opportunity in dubbing. To Mr Gautham Vasudev Menon thanks to whom I got the first Nandi award for Ye Maaya Chesave and my debut in Telugu and Hindi through YMC and Ek Deewana Tha.

SICADU the dubbing Union and the musicians Union for their understanding and support.

To Neelambari and Rajkumar for working with me and training me to be a TV show host.

C S Amudhan and Aahaa FM for letting me dabble in hosting on radio.

To everyone who was part of a jury that gave me an award. To audience who voted at various times whenever applicable. To the Tamilnadu and Andhra Pradesh State Governments for bestowing me with the honour of the State awards.

To my well wishers and those who like my singing.

My mom. From her I was born. From her I learned to sing. And because of her I continue to exist. No mommy. No Chinmayi. No singer called Chinmayi.

God. For being nice. As for the really trying times, I guess I don't know if I should thank you for those, because I still don't see the point and I don't forgive you for a lot of things. But, I still like you. And hope you like me too.

To you having had the patience to read this, thank you.

From an introverted, quiet girl I have come a long way. I have existed as a playback singer because of the kindness of all the composers and directors.

Otherwise, I guess I will continue to keep evolving, learning and improving. With the knowledge and confidence that my mother will guide me through the rights and wrongs and God will stand by us.

I am not sure how many more months/years I will continue to get opportunities as a playback singer, in this day and age and I am grateful for every single day, every single opportunity.

Thank you.

Loka Samastha Sukhino Bhavantu.