MY FESTIVAL
Refreshing and tiring
SUDHA RAGHUNATHAN
If there is one season that is welcomed by everyone in Chennai, it is the December Music Season! It is the organisers who get busy first and the artistes follow suit with their crowded schedule. It's both refreshing and tiring, but the positives outweigh the negatives. All this running around is quite draining and I relax by listening to more music at home.
And when I analyse the quality of my concerts in retrospect, I gain by learning more each passing year.
I have seen 25 such music melas in Chennai, out of which 15 were along with my Guru MLV. Musicians are springing up like mushrooms. Good. But, how can you accommodate all of them in December? My sincere advice to youngsters is: "Don't be in a hurry to take to the platform. Show the same alacrity in improving your sangatis or bringing in better contours to your raga delineation." Too many sabhas and too few listeners to go around are some of the unhealthy trends that we are already witness to.
The picture this year for me is — 22 concerts in 35 days. It calls for unwavering concentration. You hope for the best of the audience, ambience, acoustics and accompaniments. And pray for good weather too ... well, only a special `shakti' can help you get through all this — Gurukataksham. Even as I am knotted up inside with tension, as the sruti gets aligned and I see a packed hall, an obeisance to my guru MLV sets the pace for a smooth take off.
I try my best not to repeat kritis or ragas. But there are certain heavy ragas such as Bhairavi, Todi, Shanmukhapriya, Karaharapriya and Keeravani that add lustre and are necessary in serious sabha concerts. And the tail-end pieces are invariably after a rain of requests from my fans. So here too, I am helpless.
In October 1990, just before my Guru MLV passed away, she held my hand and asked me to promise her that I would sing in every season, starting from the one that year. I was in the advanced stage of pregnancy. But with her blessings, I completed my tenth concert for that season at the Music Academy on January 3 (a portrait of MLV was also unveiled at the Music Academy that day), and my daughter was born on October 20!
About my December diet, I avoid anything that is cold, oily and sour. I meditate for overall wellness, and even observe silence at home most of the days. Of course I do give importance to looks, but don't really plan in advance. My fans, however, have been appreciative of the colours I wear that match with the dιcor in the halls.
(As told to Ranjani Govind)
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