In the 1960s, she received a Central Government scholarship and trained under Musiri Subramania Iyer, alongside students Mani Krishnasamy, Suguna Varadachari, Padma Narayanasamy and Rukmini Ramani.
college of Music, Chennai she started taking avid interest in the lost art of singing complex pallavis.
It was considered taboo to compose unless one achieved the vision the Trinity of Carnatic music were believed to have been bestowed upon by divine grace.
Unfazed by the absence of recent predecessors among woman composers or songwriting tutelage, Suguna started creating compositions for her own satisfaction.
[6] Featuring the turning point of the epic where the crown prince Rama is banished to the forest, this work represents Suguna's ability to portray dramatic emotions in accessible lyric.
In all she wrote around 200+ compositions across musical forms ranging from swarajati, chauka kala kriti, varnam, ragamalika, thillana and tukkada.
I had, on my mobile phone, Musiri Subramania Iyer's Nadupai in Madhyamavathi and Marivere in Shanmugapriya and her daughter played the songs for her.