As schoolgirls, the Menon sisters would rush home to listen to song requests on Radio Ceylon. They would eagerly note down the lyrics, and fill in the blanks when the same song was played again, so they could sing along. Nirupama, the elder of the two, topped the All India Civil Services Examination and became India’s Foreign Secretary from 2009 to 2011.
Her younger sister became a surgeon in the Indian Navy. She was the first woman officer from all three wings of the armed forces to enter the National Defence College in Delhi, and the first woman commanding officer of INHS Ashwini, one of India’s largest naval hospitals, earning prestigious awards such as the Vishisht Seva Medal.
That schoolgirl’s voice was heard once again when Rear Admiral (Retd) Dr Nirmala Kannan, now 71, took part in the Hope and Harmony Concert in Bengaluru on July 21. The concert was organised by the Teachers Foundation to raise funds for professional development of teachers.
“I have always loved singing and I am so happy that I have got a chance to do it for a cause,” says Nirmala, adding that she has lent her voice for the Armed Forces War Casualty Fund in Coimbatore, the National Defence Fund in Kochi and children with special needs in Thiruvananthapuram.
Rear Admiral Nirmala Kannan
Nirmala says it was in Pune that she first went on stage to sing at the age of four. She continued singing throughout her childhood, college and medical school, and while working in different parts of the country. The surgeon, an obstetrician and gynaecologist, believes it keeps her young at heart and joined a group of singers after retiring from the Indian Navy.
After the pandemic, her husband Vice Admiral (Retd) B Kannan suggested she start a YouTube channel. His encouragement was not surprising as it was Nirmala’s music that had first brought them together several decades ago. Nirmala was pleasantly surprised by the response she received online and decided to seriously pursue this path.
Professional recording required Nirmala to choose the best songs for the medium and look for good quality track music that suited her vocals. “My videographer asks me to sing each song at least three times, and then plays them back so we can choose the best take,” says the self-taught guitarist.
Nirmala Kannan | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Nirmala is a fast learner, always ready for new adventures, whether it is white-water rafting or participating in a car rally or learning to play the piano. At one time she used to play squash and badminton regularly, but today she limits herself to golf and some aerobics every day. Despite her many roles in the Navy and her role as a wife, mother or grandmother at home, Nirmala says she is happy that she always found time for her first love, music.
The joy in Nirmala’s voice must have caught the attention of the 18-year-old rapper, who wrote to her asking if the two of them could sing a song together. “I told this rapper, Aditi Nair, to complete her studies and then let me know if she was still interested. She did so immediately, and we recorded a song on Kochi’s Paramabithara Bridge at 6 am on a rainy day. Then, as the sun came out, we started singing ‘Here Comes the Sun’!”
Composed by George Harrison of the Beatles, the song is one of Nirmala’s favourites apart from others composed by Joan Baez, Louis Armstrong, Lynn Anderson, Engelbert Humperdinck, ABBA and Neil Diamond.
“I 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 things we enjoy and that retirement is not the end of life,” says Nirmala, who mentored the first batch of non-medical women officers recruited by the armed forces in 1992. “You can’t give up!” she told them, because the training was tough both physically and mentally and to their credit, none of that batch gave up.
Maya Menon, director of Teacher Foundation for over 20 years, sees similar struggles and perseverance in the teaching field and an equal need for guidance. “According to the National Education Policy 2020, every teacher should undergo 50 hours of professional development annually,” she says. “Music provides hope and joy. It also provides opportunities to make our schools meaningful places for learning.”
