Some concerts..Some thoughts..

The Chennai music season is almost here. Although it officially starts on December 15th, the first day of the tamil month Margazhi, the increasing number of performing artists and overwhelming public response, the music season of Chennai starts way earlier - by mid-November than in previous years.

Having resolved to attend at least 4-5 concerts this year and thereby make best use of being located in the musical hub of Chennai, I attended 4 concerts over 2 days last week at the Margazhi Mahotsavam series of concerts conducted by Jaya TV at Chettinad Vidyashram. I chose to attend these concerts because they were by my favourite artists - TM Krishna (on Friday) and Sanjay Subrahmanyam (on Saturday). Attending the other 2 concerts was purely incidental, since these concerts were held in the same hall before my favourite concerts and the only way I could get a seat was by attending the previous concerts as well.

Rather than dwell on the content of the concerts themselves, I thought I will jot down a few random thoughts that passed my mind while attending these concerts (In keeping with the Chennai tradition, hereafter in this post, I will be referring to all female strangers over 60 as maamis and the male strangers as maamas) :

• Chennaiites are persevering and resilient especially when it comes to supporting arts. The long queue consisting mainly of people over 60 waiting outside the concert hall, to be let in 5 minutes before the start of the concert at 5 pm was proof of this fact. Most had been waiting for almost an hour to be let in.
• Rules and Indians can not co-exist. Although the notice boards explicitly mentioned that outside food and drinks were not allowed, most had sneaked in biscuits, water etc to be consumed in between the first and second concert.
• The other perfunctory instruction ‘Silence Please’ was also royally ignored. On day 2, the maami behind me was giving a running commentary of the ragas sung in the concert to the older maami next to her who seemed to have a minor hearing disability.
• The Chennai concert hall audience takes great pleasure in identifying ragas and considers it a challenge to identify the ragam within the first 30 seconds of the song/alapana. So while I was silently battling between enjoying the beautiful alapana and identifying the name of the ragam which seemed to be eluding my mind, the others behind me were engaged in debating the ragam. Both of us struck gold at the same instant - Charukesi along with the songs I had heard and images of a bad dance in a movie (Ambika in Sri Raghavendra) flashed in my mind, while the person behind me enthusiastically yelled out Charukesi at the same time!! Needless to say, I was able to enjoy the rest of the alapana in peace!!
• Curiosity is a very bad thing, especially when it disturbs people around you. The maami in the front seat on day 2, was one curious dame! She was restless every time somebody entered the hall especially near the VIP entrance. Her head bobbed up and down almost throughout the concert and obstructed my view repeatedly. However after a few songs, I found a position where I would gain an unobstructed and uninterrupted view of the stage (although this does not really matter in the concert).
• People feel at home in concert halls. So while one maama one seat away from me on day 2, kept filling up the Sudoku grid while nodding his head to the music, the maami who sat next to me on day 1, made herself comfortable by folding her legs on the chair and enjoying the music.
• Most people in the audience have no compunction in visibly displaying their enthusiasm over the concert. I found a few maamas literally swaying from side to side, while remaining seated and letting out appreciative ‘Aahas’ and ‘Sabhash’ when the performance was particularly delightful. This could also be because of the average age of the listeners. People probably become less uptight as they grow older.
• People had come from other remote parts of Chennai, many after a long day’s work in the office and stayed till the end of the concerts. What, other than passion for music, could make them do that?
• For someone attending a Carnatic music concert for the first time, the scene inside the concert hall may some times remind him/her of the scene in Sindhubhairavi where the entire audience clap to the talam. Apart from the singer and the violinist, most members of the audience were tapping their hands to the talam.
• While the music was wonderful, the question and answer sessions with the main artists were delightful as well.
• Both Krishna and Sanjay were brilliant, although their styles were completely different. Krishna spoke a lot about each song before commencing the song and the effort he had put in was very visible. Sanjay, on the other hand sang one krithi after the other and stopped only in the end for answering the questions. His effort at singing compositions of a composer who is not very famous were no less than Krishna’s but Sanjay underplayed it completely.
• Criticism is easy, but the effort behind every concert is phenomenal. I simply could not get that out of my mind for the next few days (till this minute). If one concert requires so much preparation, imagine the effort required to sing in over 30-40 concerts over a period of 2 months, without repeating oneself, since the audience and critics are watching all the time!! Amazing isn’t it?
• As always happens with me, I was elated with the experience of live concerts and depressed over my not learning music. Elation was more than the depression, though

Chennai Music Season absolutely rocks!!!

Meeting and Parting

One of the unforeseen consequences of choosing to remain single is how you remain mommy’s little girl/boy all your life. This also means that more often than not, you are expected to accompany your parents to all weddings/betrothals/birth anniversaries/religious festival exclusively for ageing relatives to get together etc.

I usually do not mind these, for it almost always means free food (traditional and served on a banana leaf!) and a chance to observe a lot of different people from a distance. Also, the fact that I was forced to miss out on most weddings in the family, thanks to my job, makes me all the more expectant about attending these family functions, if not for anything else, at least to wear the glittery clothes which I can never wear to work. The obvious difficulties are questions from hyperactive elders on my life. However I have also learnt to overlook these minor inconveniences with the larger good (I do not mean the size of my tummy by that!!) in mind.

Now, as a few of you must have guessed, based on my previous posts, I am easily contented, especially when it comes to people. All I need to be happy in a crowd is to be left to myself. I do not get offended if I am not surrounded by admirers and well-wishers, nor do I mind if I am treated as another piece of furniture in social gatherings. However, some friendly souls insist on making me ‘comfortable’, no doubt with a noble intention. As a result, a few usually walk to where I sit with my mother, with an expression that is usually accepted as some kind of a smile (although my effort is to not look sullen) and introduce themselves.

Our first challenge starts here.

‘Do you recognize me? Tell me who I am?’ - Well, if you don’t know, who am I to tell you? - I usually tell myself, but give another expression and this time it is supposed to make people think that I am embarrassed, that I actually know the person, but simply cannot recollect. This too is expected and the person explains earnestly how one of my ancestors was related by marriage/blood to one of his/her ancestors. And every single time I admire them for their optimism. You would think that after all these years of introducing themselves to random relatives, they still hope that the listener will remember and recognize them the next time!!

Anyway, for a person who is as good as a stranger (although, you are supposed to know the person from his/her visit about 15-20 years ago, when you were just learning to walk!), the conversation cannot be endless, especially when the person is on the other end is a wonderful conversationalist like me. After asking after parents, siblings, work, location (are you visiting India or do you live here?) etc, the conversation slowly starts dawdling.

The next challenge - how do you get out of the place. This, I am proud to say, has not been a big problem with me, because of 2 reasons:

1. I usually do not move from my seat, so it is the other person who needs to find an escape route!
2. My conversational skills are anyway non-existent and I do not usually have a problem with silences in conversations.

However, there are occasions when I have had to go around and greet people (usually older than me) as a mark of respect and to prove that I am not a snob (this is very important and required with relatives, since I am expected to misbehave as a result of a high-paying job and foreign trips). And every single time, while starting a conversation is simple, since there is a template for it - Questions on the person, his/her health, his/her children/grandchildren etc. - there is no easy way to end the conversation and move away. And then the conversation comes to a grinding halt.

From here on, the following usually happen:

• I look away, he/she looks away. I hope to catch the eye of some other cousin and pretend he/she is calling out to me. I then excuse myself saying I am needed elsewhere.
• I hope someone, anyone in the vicinity asks for water and offer to get it for them and leave the place.
• I suddenly look into my purse and pretend to suddenly remember that I was supposed to give my mother something. I then request to be excused for 2 min.
• I pray hard for my mobile to ring (and it never ever does when I need it to!!)

To me, this parting is the biggest issue I have with meeting people. Nothing emotional or sentimental, mind you. I admit I am socially challenged (a euphemistic term I have coined for myself, others simply say I am unfriendly) and that is probably why something as simple as ending a conversation seems such a big deal to me. Like M.Night Shyamalan showed us with ‘Unbreakable’, I am assuming that for every person like me, there must be an antithesis - a person who thinks these are not issues worth writing a post over. And it is to these kind hearts that I direct my request towards.

How do you say goodbye or end a conversation? I would prefer it if you can give me a sequence of steps to be followed rather than simply dismissing my plea for help as frivolous!