Ages 2 - 5
· In most of his demonstrations as a two-year-old, Ravikiran had to be induced with chocolates and biscuits to identify the ragas.

· Soon after his presentation in December 1969, The Music Academy, Madras, announced a monthly scholarship to Ravikiran, making him the first and thus far, the youngest person to be accorded this honour.

· Thereafter, M S Subbulakshmi, acclaimed by many as the 'queen of music', hosted a specialreception at her house in Ravikiran's honour as did several other industrialists and dignitaries.

· Flute wizard T R Mahalingam wrote a letter to The Hindu, a leading daily, demanding Government patronage to the two-year-old.

· Pandit Ravi Shankar and tabla maestro, Ustad Alla Rakha quizzed Ravikiran. The latter playfully tried to mislead the toddler about rhythmic meters. Ravikiran exclaimed, "This uncle does not know anything about rhythm." The stars hugged the prodigy and blessed him.

· Pandit Ravi Shankar is said to have remarked, 'If you don't believe in God, look at Ravikiran'.

Vocal
· In his 2nd or 3rd vocal concert (at the age of 5), he executed khanda ata tala varnams (composed in a time cycle of 4/14 units) in adi tala mishra gati (7/8 units cycle).

· In his subsequent concert in Trichy Fine Arts, he executed the same varnam in khanda eka tala in pancha jati - with chaturashram, tishram, mishram, khandam and sankeernam in the five units. Alattoor Srinivasa Iyer, a legendary vocalist, renowned for his rhythmic skills, blessed the prodigy at the end of the concert.

· Ravikiran took a break from vocal concerts from 1977 just as his voice was undergoing adolescent transformation.

· He recommenced singing in public in 1999, and has since been presenting both vocal and instrumental recitals.

Chitravina
· Ravikiran first started playing the chitravina on his father's lap when he was barely two. When he showed a serious inclination to play this instrument, his father had a small-sized instrument specially made for the 5 year-old. However, Ravikiran soon convinced his father that he wanted a full-sized instrument and that it was below his dignity to play on a toy! His father procured another one from Srinivasa Iyengar, a disciple of Gotuvadyam Narayana Iyengar. This has been Ravikiran's primary instrument since his 6th or 7th year.

· Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer, who heard Ravikiran when he was 11, presented him his own guru, Sakha Rama Rao's instrument. He told Ravikiran that he had tried to play the chitravina himself but found it 'strenuous' and had since added frets and kept it for worship as a regular veena. He wanted Ravikiran to re-convert it into a chitravina and bring it back to the stage. This was duly done and soon after, Ravikiran's sister, Kiranavali performed on it.

· Ravikiran's first concert was in Tirupati in 1979. Just before his concert, he played at the Balaji temple and had his instrument blessed in the sanctum sanctorum at the Lord's feet.

· He has presented concerts with a full-bench of accompanists (violin, mrdangam, ghatam, kanjira, morsing, konnakkol, gettuvadyam and tanpura) as also concerts with no accompanists, concerts with only mrdangam, with only ghatam, only kanjira and so forth.

· Ravikiran often composes his pallavi-s minutes before he renders them. While this is remarkable, it has also resulted in his forgetting literally hundreds of these, minutes after he has rendered them!

· On a couple of instances, he had to plan for over a month to render conceptually highly sophisticated pallavis. He presented the most colourful ragam-tanam-pallavi in the annals of Indian music - a 100-raga piece in 1995, on the chitravina. Another such ragam-tanam-pallavi was presented in his vocal concert in April 2002, in the Cleveland Tyagaraja Festival.

· His 8-kalai pallavi (every unit of the tala is split into 8 parts) at The Music Academy in 1999 was notable as very few artistes venture into such complexities. He recorded an album featuring a similar pallavi for Charsur in the raga Latangi.

Percussion
· Ravikiran learnt mrdangam for a brief while from T V Gopalakrishnan.

· He also learnt kanjira from veteran V Nagarajan.

· He rarely plays the former and occasionally handles the latter.

Composing
· Ravikiran's first discovery was the raga Choodamani, when he was a two-year-old and it was named after his mother.

· He has since discovered several ragas such as Keshavapriya, Snehapriya, Mohini and Andhakarini.

· Ravikiran is the first composer to have composed in each one of the 35 talas of Carnatic music. He accomplished this within 30 days in his 30th year.

· Ravikiran's first composition was a never completed ata tala varnam in Hamsadhwani as a 6 year-old.

· It was almost another 5 years before he actually composed a whole piece! His first completed effort was Karunai kondu in the raga Samapriya. He inserted his name as his signature in it.

· Palghat Ramachandra Iyer, a legendary percussionist (whom Ravikiran considers as the best mrdangist he has ever heard) and a highly spiritual person, who used to frequent Ravikiran's house in those days, suggested that he use the word 'Ravi-Shashi' as his signature, rather than his full name.

· All of Ravikiran's compositions are signed as Ravi-Shashi, except most of those composed for operas and dance productions. A handful of compositions also have the word 'Ravikiran', though not as his signature.

Other Interests (but with little talent)
· Wild about cricket - represented his school team and several other street-cricket teams as a top order batsman & wicket-keeper. Also captained several teams.

· Took to wicket-keeping as it ensured he was protected all the time, what with gloves, pads etc and could step off the field right on to the stage for his concert in the evenings. Additionally, it also ensured that he didn't have to run around the field chasing the ball.

· He now takes part in the annual Carnatic Musicians' Tournament (stepped down from captaincy in 2003!).

· Other passions include chess- won a small tournament conducted by Youth Hostel, Chennai.

· Won a table tennis tournament in Sterling Holiday resort, Kodaikkanal, in 1995, for resident guests.

· Plays tennis, badminton, billiards and other games, with even less distinction.

Literary conquests
· Voracious reader, of anything from 'philosophy to trash'.

· Authored several completed short stories and poems and numerous incomplete ones.

· Also authored various articles on philosophical, spiritual, social and cultural issues (only those in the last category have been published).

· Ravikiran's first book, Appreciating Carnatic Music was proofread by noted writer, R K Narayan. Eminent cartoonist, R K Laxman, designed the cover.

Academic
· Never went to a school till his 3rd grade. Was admitted directly in the 4th grade in Kendriya Vidyalaya at CLRI, Chennai and studied there till his 12th grade.

· Opted for correspondence course after that and graduated as a Bachelor of Commerce.

Social
· Founded the (now hardly active) Keep India Clean Society in the 1980s.

· Organised a first of its kind 72-hour non-stop musical show for World Peace in Chennai, India, in 1987.

· Organised a morning-night 12-hour non-stop event in Melbourne, Australia, with musicians from various cultures, in 1998.

· Performed for numerous charity shows and helped raise funds for various deserving causes.