On the morning of CTU Abhivandanam day, (April 25, 2026), Nadhan called me and gave the tragic news that Dr. Sarada Sonty just passed away in Florida.
Emotionally for me, as well as for many core members of the CTU board, and for the Telugu community in the Chicago area, the successive demise of Dr. Sriram Sonty and Dr. Sarada Sonty is simply unbearable.
It was only through Mr. Ramana Murthy, and Dr. Y.S. Rao, my neighbors at South Commons apartments (1971-73), Chicago, I got to know Dr. Sriram Sonty and Dr. Sarada Sonty. Like many first-generation immigrants they were deeply committed to our Hindu values and to Telugu cultural traditions in all aspects. For years, Dr. Sarada Sonty was one of the active MC’s for CTU programs. In those days, CTU organized just a one-day annual festival. Through their close Telugu friends, support from the Telugu community for CTU was automatic. CTU in those days had no problem for culinary support from either community.
From 1986, CTU programs were permanently fixed for the Memorial Day weekend. For many years major support came from Dr. Sriram Sonty & Dr. Sarada Sonty through SAPNA, their major Foundation.
Thanks to the choreography of Dr. Uma Rama Rao (my ISI friend Viswanath’s first cousin), a faculty member of the College of Music and Dance at Hyderabad, CTU successfully staged on projection TV (gratis Sankaran Pillai- Chinmaya Mission) at Elk Grove village, the Kuchipudi program on Tyagaraja Swamy’s Opera, Nauka Charitram. This simply triggered Dr. Sriram Sonty and Dr. Sarada Sonty to train their daughters Siri and Sita to learn Kuchipudi, from Mrs. Uma Rama Rao. Siri and Sita’s Kuchipudi Arangetram in turn triggered many other Telugu families in the Chicago area to train their children too into Kuchipudi learning.
Throughout their life, the Sonty couple have generously spent their personal fortune for the promotion of Telugu culture in all aspects.
On May 26, 2025 she sent a special email to me about their health conditions and ended with: “Raghavan Sir! I am blessed to know you, your work methodology, and commitment. I have silently followed you and continued from 1976 to 2025. I have invested my heart, Sadhana. Mortal life is so short to accomplish any purpose. May the power of Naada and Sangita cleanse the world.”
On June 9th, 2025, I sent her an email ending with “Mine will not just be sharing the grief, but a way of fulfilling your cultural dreams on the propagation of Annamacharya, his life and his messages and his musical outpour.”
Like Uday Shankar and Amala Shankar who used only Indian instruments for their dance orchestra all over the world, Dr. Sonty and Dr. Sarada Sonty felt that through SAPNA they would exclusively promote Veena, perhaps the second oldest Indian instrument (after bamboo flute) through a Veena Festival. It had its humble beginnings in 2009 and has promoted many renowned Vainikas spread all over the world.
On August 13, 2025, when I attended the special meeting in Naperville paying tribute to Dr. Sriram Sonty, I sat by the side of Dr. Sarada Sonty, trying to console her. She and I discussed the greater need for SAPNA and CTU to remain actively engaged with our community to promote classical music.
Some of the greatest Carnatic and Hindustani classical musicians from India have been invited to perform at their organization SAPNA. Since I attended a few of those programs I am only recalling some names of Carnatic musicians: Sangeeta Kalanidhis (Dr. M. Balamurali Krishna, Sri. Nedanuri Krishnamurthy, Sri. Neyveli Santhanagopalan, Sri. Thiruvarur Bhaktavatsalam), Malladi Brothers, Mrs. Sankari Krishnan, Mrs. Nirmala Rajasekar, Mr. Lokanatha Sarma.
They have also promoted concerts of renowned Hindustani musicians like Padma Bhushan Pandit Jasraj, Padmasri Gundecha Brothers for Hindustani vocals. Very few Carnatic musicians were able to join hands with celebrated Western musicians. SAPNA has the unique credit of organizing concerts of world-renowned violin Maestro L. Subramanyam.
With the passing of Dr. Sarada Sonty, our community has lost not only a devoted patron of Telugu culture and classical arts, but also a compassionate soul whose lifelong commitment to Naada, Sangita, and cultural preservation will remain an enduring inspiration to generations to come.
In grief,
T.E.S. Raghavan
