The other day, I was at the beach front from 7 – 9 PM. The occasion was to hear the upcoming singing sensation Karthik who was giving a fusion concert as part of the week-long Chennai Musical extravaganza organized by Times of India every year. It was a Sunday evening. On the one side, the Bay of Bengal was entertaining the crowd with her lavish waves wetting them. On the other side was the Bay of (human) Beings….! Forget about getting a slot to park my vehicle, it was extremely difficult for me to wade through the hundreds of people who had literally occupied the sands, walkways, and even both the sides of the road. Believe me, it took me almost 15 minutes to reach the venue of the concert.
The program started off with ‘Mahganapathim’ with a western tinge neatly fused. Karthik’s troupe consisted of a Keyboard artist, Flutist, Drummer, two Guitarists, and a Percussionist (who was handling Tabla, Mridangam, Bongos, and other timing instruments in turns). This was followed with some of his popular peppy Tamil numbers. His Gazal rendered as a tribute to Mehdi Hassan didn’t evoke the expected appreciation.
Many in the audience were busy munching and enjoying the ‘sundal’, ‘Bajjis’, Chola, and fried non-veg delicacies. The crowd numbering 1000 on a most conservative estimate consisted mostly of youngsters anticipating rock, and fast music. As such, even some of the slow melodious Hindi numbers didn’t go very well with the public. The highlight however, was the ‘Abheri’ kriti ‘Nagumomu..’ aalap by the Flutist, culminating in an enthralling Swara & thani aavaartan by all the all the accompaniments. Overall, it was an evening well-spent.
Today morning, I went for my usual stroll at the same beach front which wore a deserted look. The same place which was bubbling with hundreds of people of all ages just the previous evening, had hardly 100 to 150 regular beach walkers…………. Being from Thrissur, the land of festivals, I was reminded of the pathetic sight of the Poora Parambu (venue of all the gaieties that go with the famous Thrissur Pooram), on the next day of the Pooram festival. The same town which had entertained lakhs of people just the previous day, hardly would see a few dozen people roaming about on the deserted roads…………………
More about Thrissur Pooram on a later occasion, perhaps….
Water fronts had always been favorite spots for me. During my childhood days, I would spend hours and hours swimming at the river / ponds close to our village. Even the huge well in our palatial ancestral house in Palakkad was a subject of extreme curiosity and I would peep into the nearly full Twelve Feet diameter well, during monsoon time, and keep looking at my reflection and enjoying it till my dad would silently come from behind and twist my ears till they become red, and drag me out…………….!
More about my ‘adventures’ and ‘misadventures’ on the water front in my next blog………………
ANAND..........
Friendship isn't about who you have known the longest.
It's about who come and never leave your side.
It's about who come and never leave your side.
No comments:
Post a Comment