It will be a concert to heal the wounds, a tribute to a master musician, whose skill and humility was acknowledged worldwide. Music director Devi Sri Prasad will join scores of other eminent musicians in paying homage to his mentor, Mandolin U Shrinivas, whom he fondly remembers as his elder brother, through a concert that is being organised in the city.

Giving details, DSP says, "Shrinivas anna was my guru. I don't know how many of them know this, but I started off learning the mandolin from him. I began my learning process when I was in my third or fourth standard. I have grown up at his place for almost 10 years. To me, he was God. His greatness was that he was a simple person. He taught music to so many people without taking as much as a penny. If you were to visit his house at 4 am, you would be able hear him play the mandolin. Even when I was in school, I would attend his music classes from 5.30-8 in the morning. In the evening, my classes would begin at 4 and end at 8pm. It was rigorous training. He loved me so much that Shrinivas anna wanted me to become a mandolin player. In fact, he wanted me to play at the Thiruvaiyaru. However, after passing out of school, I became a music director. So, when he passed away in September last year, it came as a big shock to all of us in the music industry. It took a long time for me to come to terms with this loss."

The director adds, "We want to pay a fitting tribute to this great musician. So, several legends from the music world, including Ustad Zakir Hussain ji, Shankar Mahadevan sir, Vikku Vinayakram sir, Sivamani and Ranjit Barot, will perform at the event. We are also looking to invite English jazz guitarist John Mclaughlin, who is one of anna's fans, for the event. We have been getting calls from several classical musicians, who, because of their love for anna, want to be a part of this tribute. We don't know if we will be able to accommodate all of them." Meanwhile, we have learnt that the chief guest for the event, to be held on the birth anniversary of Shrinivas on February 28, at the Music Academy, will be Ulaganayagan Kamal Haasan.