On December 28, 2000, he was awarded the prestigious Hafiz Ali Khan Memorial award at New Delhi and the ever busy Vikku was back the next day in Chennai to perform alongside Sivamani. He spoke to Kutcheri Buzz about his defining journey into the world of jazz and world music.

From a traditional Carnatic accompanist, how did you move on to fusion?
Around 1975 Zakir Hussain happened to listen to one of my concerts. At that time he was actively involved in the US music circuits and he felt that my ghatam could provide the South Indian flavour to the Western rhythms. He introduced me to various Western musicians and soon we formed our own group called Shakti.

Do you feel that ghatam gained in popularity in India only after your exploits in the West?
Yes that is true. To popularise any instrument, these days, it is essential to play some rock and jazz. I will not take the entire credit for bringing the ghatam to the forefront, but I believe God chose me to be the vehicle to popularise the dying instrument.

How did the Grammy Awards happen?
Mickey Hart of the popular American band "Grateful Dead" wanted to bring all the major percussion instruments of the world on a platform. Zakir and myself joined him in his efforts to make the album "Planet drum" which was a huge success. Later, I came to know that our album left the others way behind in the 1992 Grammy race. We did not have any pratice sessions at all for the album. Most of us just got out of the flight and went straight for the recording. It was just a unison of minds and ideas.

What are the projects that you are currently working on?
I want to bring out an album of Thevarams, controlled by talas and played on the ghatam.