THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Balabhaskar was born in a musical family. His mother Shanthakumari’s father was Bhaskara Panicker. Bhaskara Panickar was a nadaswaram vidwan in Padmanabha Swamy Temple. It was from him he learnt the basic lessons. Balu’s mother’s hometown was Thiruvalla but the family settled in Thiruvananthapuram.

It was his maternal uncle and famous violinist B Sasi Kumar who brought out the talent in him. From the age of 3, he started learning violin under his uncle. The uncle gave him a strong base in music through systematic training.

Till his tenth standard, he stayed with his uncle’s house in Jagathy and received violin lessons. Even when he took fusion music to his fans across the State, he handled Carnatic concerts with ease. He never skipped practices before going to a concert.

He also found time every day for practices despite his busy schedules.

“Doing sadhakan (practice) helps us evaluate ourselves. It is the music within us that we have to polish every day,” he used to say.