By Subhash K Jha

Shankar Mahadevan's two sons Siddharth (age 18) and Shivam (age 11) are all set to follow in their father's footstep. And that includes their reverence for and emulation of Lataji's singing style.

In fact 11-year old Shivam is a diehard fan of the Nightingale. He has been studying her voice and singing style for several years now.

Says Shankar proudly, `Shivam spends a considerable part of the day studying Lataji's singing in both Hindi and Marathi very carefully. It is my sons' biggest dream to meet her. She has gifted them a specially signed picture, and that's their most precious possession. `

Shankar's elder son has already released a Bhajan album Gajaraj Adhiraj while the younger is all set to be heard singing in Nikhil Advani's animation film Delhi Safari. Like the father, son Shivam is a diehard Lata Mangeshkar fan and is currently studying the Niightingale's singing style in the minutest detail to be able to grasp the nuances of classical Hindustani sangeet.

Shankar's boy has taken Lataji's advice to aspiring singers to learn the classical style of music very seriously.

Says the proud father, `As Lataji's advised right now it's just learn learn and learn for my boys. I just want them to invest in the most important thing called knowledge and musicality. And by God's grace my sons have the wisdom to understand the importance of proper grounding in music.