music season II

Yes, I forgot to mention about vyjayantimala bali's programme. No, it was not a concert, by any stretch of imagination. For the first half hour that i managed to sit through, she came, she stood, and she walked slowly around the stage!But this was not dance, no.She did effortlessly sit down and did 'ara mandi' and i do grant that at age 73, it calls for a lot of celebration to be able to do that. But then my expectation from the concert was to see her dance!Not be satisfied with a well dressed vyjayantimala bali appearing on stage.This is cheating the public. No, it was not vyjayanti mala of 'vanji kottai valibam' fame.
Mandolin srinivas was my aunt's most favourite artiste and she managed to listen to the entire concert. I joined her at 6 pm and except for a few flashes of brilliance, it was not melody but speed and a supersonic speed at that; it was like a japanese train going at unbelievable speed; yes it is a technological marvel, but then it was not melody.Again, wanting to promote his brother who was accompanying him, made him do some compromises which were not what concert goers who came to hear him expected.
Aside!

Car parking is a real issue there and one has to make two pradakshanams of ttk road while coming to the concert and for parking in one of the streets behind the hall.Thank god for mobiles!
There were more senior citizens per square inch of space.So much so, my gaze would invariably settle on a shining pate, a tiny bunch of grey hair or sometime a luscious hair with streks of dull colour where a hair dye had been!I found a good number of rasikas walking along the aisle while the concert was in progress.I was concerned at their lack of sensitivity, till i realised they were invariably senior citizens.
Mobile phones with camera and digital cameras were causing quite a flutter among the organisers with some heated exchanges. While i respect the organisers to frame their rules, i feel such prohibitory orders are no longer relevant. Technology will enter unobtrusively where normal beings fear to tread!And many a time such entry have opened up more opportunities for growth of the art than otherwise.
The stalls outside the auditorium do brisk business;bought a sujatha venkataraghavan's book with a storyline based on karnatic music.Krishna sweets and the canteen were doing roaring business. By some queer logic senior citizens who are usually fussy about eating out, label these canteen as 'as good as home food' and enjoy the keerai vadai and vazhapoo vadai without any reservations.
December season in Narada gana sabha has been a unique experience and enough to tell a tale!