Margazhi Musings

There is a popular song ‘Endha ooru enralum adhu nammoorai pola varuma?’ Nothing can be truer than this as far as Chennai in the month of Margazhi is concerned. Even Lord Krishna says in Bhagavat Geetha ,‘ Masanam Margaseershoaham’ literal meaning being ‘Mathangalil naan Margazhi’. In fact, Kannadhasan took his inspiration for his famous song from this saying of the Lord.

 What is so special about Margazhi? This is the month which Southern States observe as a holy  spiritual month. This month is to be entirely devoted to Bhakti and spiritual activities. People get up early in the mornings, go to temples, do Nama Sangeerthanam and incidentally enjoy some hot Pongal Prasadam. In olden days, people used to do even Nagarasangeerthanam which means devotees go round the town singing Bhajans (you might have seen such a scene in the film ‘Anniyan’.) Even now, people may be doing this in smaller places.

 As far as Tamilnadu is concerned, there is an added attraction. THE 30 pasurams of Thiruppavai sung by Aandal who is reverentially called  ‘Soodi  Kodutha Sudarkodi’, the 20 padigams of Thiruvembavai and 10 padigams of Thiruppaliyezhuchi, both sung by Manickavachagar, one among the famous quartet of Nayanmars are recited with music and devotion  by devotees all over Tamilnadu .People get up early in the mornings and recite these before attending to other household  chores. These pasurams  and padigams are said to contain the essence of Vedas. All major Tamil TV channels broadcast Thiruppavai and Thiruvembavai with explanations from scholars early in the morning during the entire month. People also decorate the entrances to their houses with different Kolams. There are local competitions for the best laid out Kolams.

 No marriages or happy functions such as marriages, upanayanams, nischayatharthams etc are performed during this month. Perhaps this has something to do with the spirituality  of the month. You are expected to concentrate on religious and Bhakti related activities and not fritter your attention and energy on worldly goodies.

 Margazhi is also known for Thiruvathirai festival which falls on the Thiruvathira Natchathiram day in Margazhi. This day is known for Arudhra Darsanam in the temple of Chidambaram. As far as people with sensitive taste buds like me are concerned, this day is known for the ‘Kali ‘, a sweet dish which is prepared at dawn and offered to Lord Shiva as Prasadam, but actually devoured by us. This is accompanied by a delicious Koottu made of various vegetables. Kali and koottu is a delicious combination to be tasted to be believed.

 The famous Vaikunda  Ekadasi also falls during the month when Paramapada vaasal is opened in famous Vishnu temples. In temples like Srirangam, Parthasarathi temple,triplicane and Tirupathi this vaasal which is also known as Sorgavaasal is opened very early in the morning and people who pass through this door on this auspicious day are expected to reach sorgam directly .There are serpentine queues in all Vaishnavite temples on this day to have a darshan of the Lord (Perumalai sevikka). I am reminded of my childhood days when we used to play Paramapadha sobana padam, a large picture with small and big snakes and ladders. At the top of the picture is the  paramapadhavasal. The game is played by casting dice or chozhis .The game is so exciting that there is loud cheer from the players whenever someone reaches a snake. The loudest cheer is reserved for someone who reaches the number106 where there is a long snake which brings you right down to no.1.  

Another attraction of Chennai during this period is the Music festival during the month of December/January.(a major part of Margazhi.) There are innumerable Sabhas vying with each other in holding these festivals. These festivals start somewhere between the 1^st and 10^th of December every year .But the king of all Sabhas viz The Music Academy starts the festival exactly on the 1^st of Margazhi and ends on 31^st of December. This is a prestigious organisation where opportunity is given only to musicians with a minimum talent. In fact people consider it prestigious to sing in The one and only Academy. It is also fondly known as the Sangeeta Vidvat Sabha.

This Music festival in Chennai is an unbelievable phenomenon, probably can rank as one of the wonders of the world. It features musicians, instrumentalists and percussionists of all grades and talents. Budding musicians get recognition only by performing in these concerts. It is widely rumoured that young artists offer money to these sabhas to get a slot. In fact one of the leading artists refused to perform in any of the Sabas in December to protest against this practice.(It is another matter that he has started a series of performances right from 1^ST January.)   Several NRIS from all over the world camp in Chennai only to sing in these Sabhas especially Academy. Several music rasikas from various places in India and abroad camp in Chennai during the season to attend the music festival.A major attraction (apart from Music)is the canteens in various Sabas. Several major catering contractors who are out of business in Margazhi (because there are no muhurthams during this month) get contracts in one of the Sabhas and amply make up for the loss of business. In fact, in the choice of Sabhas by Rasikas, the name of the contractor is also a major factor.

The choice of Sabhas by the Rasikas is an elaborate process in itself. ‘The Hindu’ releases a special supplement on 1^st December, listing out the programmes of major Sabhas. Generally, the list gives the name of the canteen contractor also. The various factors taken into account in the decision making process are:

1.  The musicians who perform

2.  Canteen contractor

3.  Ambience of the Hall(Air conditioned or otherwise)

4.  Affordability of the fare

5.  Conveyance facility

6.  Availability of parking space

7.  Availability of driver

Nowadays, the Sabhas offer not only music, but also dramas and dances.

As far as ambience is concerned, there is nothing to beat the Music Academy. Generally, in all these Sabhas,the morning and afternoon slots are reserved for junior, upcoming artists and entry is free. The Academy has been recently refurbished with State of the Art facilities, great ambience and well thought out seating arrangements so that nobody can complain (Munnal iruppavarin thalai maraikkirathu).Several Rasikas(?) come here in the afternoon enjoy the music, have nice food and have a peaceful nap.   There are people who come to sleep  and those who sleep after coming(Thoonguvatharkaga varubavargal  and vadadanal thoongubavargal)

After applying the above stringent yardsticks, me and my sahadarmini decided to purchase a season ticket at Thyaga Brahma Gana Sabha which holds its programmes at Vani Mahal in G.N.Chetty street in Tnagar. When I write so elaborately about the music season, don’t for a moment imagine that I am a connoisseur of music. Nothing can be farther from the truth. The absolute truth is that I was guided (dictated may be the correct word) by myl Dharmapathni. Promptly on 10^th December we started attending the programmes.  Only after we started attending the programmes  did I realize what an ignoramus I am and how much more my wife knows about the subtler nuances of music. At the outset , I must confess that the distance between me and music is approximately as much as between Amavasai and Abdul Khader. I am basically a Thukada m(f) an who goes to kacheris only to listen to the short songs sung at the fag end of the programme.(popularly known as Thukadas). I do not know the difference between Alapana and Niraval, chittaswaram and kalpanaswaram, bruga and Sangathi, ragam and thanam, virutham and keerthana. In short I am  no better than Sulakshana who asks ‘KILO ENNA VILAI’ in the film ‘Sindhu Bhairavi’.

Now, let me revert to the topic of my  wife. When I  offered to accompany her to the music programmes, little did I realize what I am letting  myself in for. I thought she will be absorbed in the music and leave me in peace to attend to my pending sleep and allow me to test my tastebuds in the Gnanambika Canteen. Not only did she appreciate the music, recognize all ragas and appreciated even minor nuances of Alapana ,but was constantly asking me searching questions like ‘What is this Raga?’.After racking my brains(or what little there is of it),I will blurt out something like ‘Thodi’ which invariably will not be the correct answer. After staring at me like a vermin, she will turn the other side. Simultaneously with recognizing and  appreciating the music in its entirety, she was also observing what jewels and sarees the ladies were wearing, how cute some of them were looking, the dressing pattern of the musicians(especially the ladies) etc and commenting on them.  She goes to the extent of speculating how pretty some of the older ladies would have looked when they were young. On such occasions, I am caught in a terrible Hamletian dilemma. For obvious reasons, I can neither agree or disagree with her especially since the comments were about ladies.

Some interesting aspects of this musical extravaganza are as follows:

1)  You can see many old couples attending the programmes, armed with water bottles, tablets,

 mufflers, shawls etc sitting in pairs and enjoying the music. This is a welcome diversion for them from their lonely lives together. Nowadays it is very common for old couples to live alone since their daughters are married off and sons are employed abroad. This December season is a boon for them indeed. Generally, old people constitute the majority of the audience. In fact, an article in ‘The Times of India’, brought out this aspect and published, to our dismay, our photos as an illustration.

2)Generally, people carry with them a raga guide. Whenever an Alapana is begun, people start speculating what raga it is. Arguments between couple on this aspect are not uncommon. As soon as the main krithi begins, they turn the pages of the guide and verify whether their guess was correct. You should see the glow in their faces when their guess turns out to be correct. In fact, one gentleman who recognized the raga Chalanattai and said it out loudly was named Chalanattai by us. If he does not turn up one day, we used to say ‘chalanattai innikku vallai”

3)Since season ticket holders come daily and occupy the same seats, they become friends in due course, enquire why they did not come the previous day etc. At the end of the season, they go to the extent of inviting people to their houses.

4)People have a habit of visiting the canteen first to survey what are the fares available before entering the Sabha Hall proper. Actually, some people visit only the canteen and not the katcheri with the result The Music Academy has put up a board ‘no parking for canteen visitors”

5)It is a common sight to see people snoring away to glory during the concert especially in cosy surroundings like the Academy. Whenever there is an applause from the crowd at the end of a piece, they wake up during the commotion, join the applause and go to sleep again.

6)Many of the Vidwans show off their expertise in music by doing Alapana, niraval and kalpanaswarams for every single piece with the result the entire concert is shrunk to five or six songs. They should realize that everybody in the audience is not an expert. Many people like me come to listen and enjoy some soul stirring music with  some melodies, fast numbers as well as Thukadas. They should not create a feeling that carnatic music is only for the connoisseurs. They should attract the entire audience including thukadawalas like me. Only then youngsters will start  attending the concerts and the stigma Carnatic is only for old people will disappear. This has been proved by people like Ranjani-Gayathri duo and Aruna Sayeeram whose concerts always attract a full House(including many from the younger generation) and many people  return disappointed without getting tickets. The Ranjani –Gayathri duo gava a 4 hour concert in Rani Seethai Hall on behalf of Kalarasana which will perhaps rank as the best concert of the season. Not a single member of the audience left the hall in the middle of the concert. They kept the full hall spellbound for the entire duration of the concert with a variety of songs including Ragam,Thanam, pallvi, abangs ,and Thiruppugazh. In fact, they had to extend the concert by another fifteen minutes to cater to the requests of the audience. Their soulstirring Abangs have made a mark in Chennai Music circles and people wait till the end of the show only to listen

 to the Abangs. If they can attract youngsters, why not others? For that matter, they did not sacrifice any of the basics of Carnatic music. They attracted the audience keeping the tradition intact.

6) Some of the popular vidwans make us wonder which is the language they were singing. The singing is so elastic and the words so unclear that it makes no difference which language they are singing. In fact, in one such concert, it needed a lot of imagination and brainracking to decipher that he was singing Karthikeya kangeya Gowri Thanaya-a Papanasam Sivan song in Tamil. If this is the attitude, how will people sit through the programme?

7)In fact, it was very heartening to observe some excellent talent in some of the youngsters like Saindhavi, Uma-Radhika (known as Chinmaya sisters) and Iyer Brothers(Veena) and others. There was an all-ladies (Karnataka based) Ensemble which included Gata-tarang, Gatam,Veena, mridangam  konakkol and Morsing all by ladies. Gata tharang is a series of seven Ghatams producing perhaps different notes(something like Jalatharangam).One lady performed Ghata-tarang, Ghatam and konnakkol with ease and  expertise.

This was the first full season I was enjoying since I was  fully immersed in my official preoccupations till last year. When all is said and done, it was an exhilarating experience and at the end of it all, one is left with a sad feeling that we have to wait for one full year before we can be part of all this excitement. Yes, excitement indeed! All the elaborate planning and preparations before starting for the concert including what dress to wear, what things to carry, where and what to have  for ,dinner etc etc and the post concert discussions on the fare for the day will have to wait for a year.  Even though we had got season tickets for one particular Saba, we wanted to have a feel of the great Music Academy and attended some free concerts there in the afternoons and excited by the refreshing ambience we have decided that from next year, we will go only to the Academy.

Bye for now.