Sajinlal - A Maths teacher on weekdays, Mridangam maestro by heart

Edappal: Though Sajinlal is a mathematics teacher, his Saturdays are fully occupied by music performances. Busy with music classes and training sessions, Sajinlal seems to have music flowing in his veins.

Born into a family with a strong musical base, Sajinlal started playing the mridangam at the age of 5. He holds a B-grade artist title from Thrissur Akashvani (All India Radio). It was his grandfather, musician Verur Sankaran, who took 5-year-old Sajinlal to Palakkad Gopalakrishna Iyer to begin learning mridangam. After nearly six years of training under him, Sajinlal continued his mridangam studies under K Jayakrishnan, a staff artist at Thrissur Akashvani.

What followed was a musical journey through various stages. He consistently won A-grade in school youth festivals. This artist has been a regular presence at renowned music festivals across Kerala and other states—such as the Guruvayur Chembai Music Festival, Thrippunithura Poornathrayeesha Temple, Shukapuram Kulangara Tapasya Navaratri Mandapam, Mumbai Shanmukhananda Sabha, Edappally Music Festival, Kozhikode Swati Sangeethotsavam, and the Chembai Music Festival.

Currently, Sajinlal works as a mathematics teacher at Ideal English School, Kadakassery.

Even during holidays and free hours, he finds time to teach mridangam to around 25 students.

He has received several recognitions, including the Young Musical Talent Award from the Sreekaryam Trust in Thiruvananthapuram. In the field of music, he was guided by the late Sankaran and his son Gokuldas from the Verur family.

Sankaran’s daughters, Geetha and Sheeja, are also musicians. It was Geetha who sang the Suprabhatham composed by PM Pallippad, which wakes up devotees at the Shukapuram Kulangara temple each morning. Geetha’s son, Gokul Alangode, is also a well-known musician.