He was born into an aristocratic family of Madras, but unlike many of his contemporaries in Carnatic music, not into a Mylapore brahmin household. The sprawling mansion that housed his ancestral home as well as the family business, Kesari Kuteeram, on Westcott Road, was opposite the Royapettah Hospital, to many, as important a landmark as well. His great grandfather K.N. Kesari was the founder of one of the better known Ayurvedic dispensaries in this part of the world, made familiar to Madras residents by Lodhra, its widely advertised flagship brand of hair oil. He has been described as an almost self-taught ayurvedic physician, shrewd businessman, patron and connoisseur of the arts and culture, a scholar of many parts.