I loved the little video of you recounting your VM years (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85k1_1yitGA). The feeling you've described is a feeling that every VMite carries with them I think, regardless of how many years they spent there.

Vidya Mandir and Carnatic music form an inseparable affiliation for me too (and I suspect this is true of many more people than just us). One of the first live Carnatic performances I remember being witness to is the Orchestra performing at a School Day (possibly 1998) in the Mylapore Fine Arts club. That year the lead vocalist was the ASPL, Swetha (I forget her last name now), and they were belting out (no other phrase for it!) the most wonderful rendition of 'Parathpara Parameshwara'. I can swear even after all these years that I can hear it in my head like it was yesterday -- I was standing in one of those aisles next to one of the exists, on "scout duty", and I'd either just finished or was about to go up for a part in the middle school English play -- and it was just absolutely, beautifully mesmerizing.

Over the years, Parathpara has remained a favorite, and I've added some very fine renditions to the list of pieces that I return to often and cherish. The pinnacle for me remains this live recording of MS performing at Tiruvannamalai in 1973, which has somehow magically found its way on to YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-Tkn-WVLIc

And today, I discovered a track where you perform it as well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEze3qDaELc