Bhavan's Music Festival

Today, the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan at Mylapore kick started their series of Carnatic Music Concerts.

Andrew Simkin, the Consul General for the United States was the Chief Guest. Other know people were Nalli Kuppuswamy, and Leela Samson (Kalakshetra).

Nithyasree Mahadevan's concert marked the beginning of this wonderful journey for the Bhavan for the year 2009.

The concert was delayed by almost 30 minutes. Nithyasree began with a salutation to Lord Ganesha singing Sri Vignarajam in the raagam GambheeraNaattai. This was followed by Shambho Mahadeva in the raagam Bowli. The next one was Smarane Sukamu in the raagam Janaranjani. Entha Naerchinaa was the next rendition set in the raagam Suddha-Dhanyasi. Ayyane Nadanamadiya set in the raagam Nadai-Bhairavi followed next.

The most important piece of the whole concert was Sri Kanthimathim set in Hemavati raagam. By the time this song ended, it was time for me to leave. So, I could not sit and listen to the songs that followed this keerthanai. This segment is usually the best because the artists sing very popular songs.

I was also pretty irritated because of the person next to me. He was coughing like a diesel locomotive from the 70's. And on top of that he was chewing paan I guess. That smell was killing me.

The average age of the people who came to listen was 58. It was so sad to see such a boring crowd. Half the people were hungry by the time the concert started and then started to leave right from half past eight.

And then there are some people who still follow the practice of reserving a seat using their hand-towels. Since they are in the post-retirement stage, you cant even argue with them. you just have to dismiss them and move on.

one other thing i noticed is that there are more medical insurance companies at these concerts than any other business entity. i guess they know their target segment in this time of the year. haha.

more to come by as and when i come out of concerts.