Chennai Music Season Part II

The scene unfolds thus each day. 

The parking  lot in the  Academy is  strewn with the lastest makes in the auto industry. An occasional auto rickshaw enters the  premises to drop off patrons. An elderly vidvan or a vidushi alights from a car. There is a group of patrons heading to the canteen remarking on their lack of satisfaction with the level of performanceof  a senior  vidvan that  morning that  did not meet their expectations. ‘paavam minna maadiri illai; aanaalum nalla irundudu’. A steady set of  patrons attend the  academic session each morning where the front rows are lined  with stalwarts such as Vedavalli, TVG, S. R. Janakiraman and others. The lecture demonstrations cover a range of topics such as voice culture, laya vyavaharas, the western music based compositions of Muthuswami Dikshitar,  Dance  music, Comparison between  Hindustani and Carnatic  Music and so on. Question and answer sessions  follow. The  Sangita Kalanidhi of  the year, Vidwan Palakkad Raghu,in this  case  presides over the Academic Session along with the session convenor. This is a session where the theoretical basis of  music as well as the practical techniques have been debated  for  years.

The canteen is also a meeting of minds. Whether it is a vidvan being congratulated, or whether it  is  a pair of mamis poring over the season’s  schedule wondering  where to  go next or whether  it  is a haggard mama telling another one about his following TM Krishna’s  concerts at all possible  venues during  the season , or whether there is an occasional digression into the topic of  Gujarat Elections and a nod of recognition at the commencement  of a Kapi raga tukkada after a long tani avartanam heard  on the speaker, the scene at the canteen  is  always lively regardless of whether the special for the day is  poori or  rava pongal, or the sweet is kasi  halva or gulabjamoon.

The scene at most sabhas is the same. It is  mindblowing to realize the  number  of  sabhas hosting concerts during the season. There are sixty plus sabhas in town. During the peak season which is between Dec 25 and Dec 31, there would be at least a hundred concerts to go  to each day. The leading sabhas are packed with concerts every two and half  hours starting at  about 9 ish in the morning.

It is indeed a pleasurable experience to walk into any  concert hall and experience  the ambience of the concert  and enjoy a music  tradition  which has evolved over centuries. Regardless of the calibre of the artist or the name  recognition, listening to a concert for the sake  of the musical tradition is always a  memorable  experience. Think of this.  Several organizations is going through great efforts  to make  this art available to those  who  want to  experience it,  absolutely free of cost. (with the  exception of the evening performances that are  ticketed).  There is no reason for someone to not  experience this  and get culturally immersed into the world of classical music.