It was Chipotle time.Well, we just decided to go up there ourselves and find out what the buzz is all about.Believe me that place is real good.Maybe just the kind of Sharmas or Gramin replacement that one longs for.Home for another two years.(Oh thats right!!!! Only two more years of school, NOT DREADED FOUR!!!!! I made that transfer yesterday, thank God!!!)
But thats besides the point.It was about three years ago, and my sister landed with a brand new keyboard from Canada.Needless to say,visions of us being great artistes playing to an elite audience and thundering applause crowded our enthusiastic minds.As luck would have it,I ended up figuring out some keys and putting together some basic tunes of "Pardesi Pardesi" and so on.But Alas,our artistic ambitions did not proceed much further.
Yesterday I had another tryst with the keyboard.Being a trained classical singer thankfully means, that figuring out the notes is not a problem.But the fingering and coordination bit is still tricky. I had another friend who has learnt to play the veena for quite sometime.Putting together all our knowledge and playing classical tunes to a couple of sympathetic audience was fun.I also got to sing Pancharatna Krithis for a brief period.It makes a huge difference have someone appreciate classical music.Or music of any genre you love,and swear by.Carnatic music was something that ,maybe just grew on me.Having a family of music enthusiasts meant a steady diet of Bombay Jayshrees and Maharajapuram Santhanams and MLVs eversince I was born.I must have been learning music on and off since I was,well,maybe eight.But it wasnt until BITS,that I realised how big a deal it was.Thanks to Raagamalika(A club of classical performers),I started performing on stage on a regular basis.More than anything else,I enjoyed having a set of people I can talk to about "Swaraksharams" and "Vivaadi Raagams" or and the difference between "Abheri" and "Bhimplaas" or how Muthusawamy Diksithar is undoubtedly the best of the trinities, without them giving me a look that says "Stop it!!! Which planet are you from!!".
And of course, it took me down the Nostalgia alley in no time.Images of me trying to cram up stanzas of Varali in those TAP (Thats Tyagaraja Aradhana Practice for you)sessions,Jamming Thillanas for the Nrithya ranjani concert,Trying to revert back to a classical form of "Alaipayuthe"thanks to a more popular, albeit "light" film version,fun,frolic,"dappanguthu" cnot treats ,sitting mesmerized seeing Thadarina sing Maand or Vodka sing Karnaranjani or Apu play Kalyanavasantham flashed by.My non-raag,non-music friends,(who had the least interest in anything remotely related to music) would make sure I had nothing by hot water,a week before my concert.Sharmaji used to make a special variety of my favorite Apple Shake to make sure it didnt put my throat out of action.My friends would loyally come on time, sit in front rows,and try to behave(which is a huge deal,believe me!!!) when I was on stage.They would carefully preserve copies of my concert reviews published in EPC releases.(In some cases it would be written by one of them too!!!!).I couldnt ask for more.
I dont know if I ll ever go up on stage and perform again,but then,if I do,I ll sure have a bunch of people I am grateful to!!!!
But thats besides the point.It was about three years ago, and my sister landed with a brand new keyboard from Canada.Needless to say,visions of us being great artistes playing to an elite audience and thundering applause crowded our enthusiastic minds.As luck would have it,I ended up figuring out some keys and putting together some basic tunes of "Pardesi Pardesi" and so on.But Alas,our artistic ambitions did not proceed much further.
Yesterday I had another tryst with the keyboard.Being a trained classical singer thankfully means, that figuring out the notes is not a problem.But the fingering and coordination bit is still tricky. I had another friend who has learnt to play the veena for quite sometime.Putting together all our knowledge and playing classical tunes to a couple of sympathetic audience was fun.I also got to sing Pancharatna Krithis for a brief period.It makes a huge difference have someone appreciate classical music.Or music of any genre you love,and swear by.Carnatic music was something that ,maybe just grew on me.Having a family of music enthusiasts meant a steady diet of Bombay Jayshrees and Maharajapuram Santhanams and MLVs eversince I was born.I must have been learning music on and off since I was,well,maybe eight.But it wasnt until BITS,that I realised how big a deal it was.Thanks to Raagamalika(A club of classical performers),I started performing on stage on a regular basis.More than anything else,I enjoyed having a set of people I can talk to about "Swaraksharams" and "Vivaadi Raagams" or and the difference between "Abheri" and "Bhimplaas" or how Muthusawamy Diksithar is undoubtedly the best of the trinities, without them giving me a look that says "Stop it!!! Which planet are you from!!".
And of course, it took me down the Nostalgia alley in no time.Images of me trying to cram up stanzas of Varali in those TAP (Thats Tyagaraja Aradhana Practice for you)sessions,Jamming Thillanas for the Nrithya ranjani concert,Trying to revert back to a classical form of "Alaipayuthe"thanks to a more popular, albeit "light" film version,fun,frolic,"dappanguthu" cnot treats ,sitting mesmerized seeing Thadarina sing Maand or Vodka sing Karnaranjani or Apu play Kalyanavasantham flashed by.My non-raag,non-music friends,(who had the least interest in anything remotely related to music) would make sure I had nothing by hot water,a week before my concert.Sharmaji used to make a special variety of my favorite Apple Shake to make sure it didnt put my throat out of action.My friends would loyally come on time, sit in front rows,and try to behave(which is a huge deal,believe me!!!) when I was on stage.They would carefully preserve copies of my concert reviews published in EPC releases.(In some cases it would be written by one of them too!!!!).I couldnt ask for more.
I dont know if I ll ever go up on stage and perform again,but then,if I do,I ll sure have a bunch of people I am grateful to!!!!
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