"Margazhi Festival" The Music Festival In Chennai.

Anywhere between three hundred to five concerts every day, without break, for almost a month!  Budding artists, seasoned musicians, gods of music world, traditional, experimental, fusion, solo, duet, vocal, instrumental, free entry, ticketed, closed auditoriums, open air concerts -  you take your pick and enjoy Carnatic classical music to your heart content if you can make it to Chennai for the annual music festival, called the ‘Margazhi Festival’, held during December - January every year.

The concerts begin at ten in the morning and go on till nine at night.  Five to eight concerts in each of the nearly hundred venues every day. All the venues have attached canteen facilities running the whole day. Have your breakfast and attend the first concert at Narada gana sabha, hop onto a bus and reach Krishna gana sabha for the second concert and lunch, move on to the music academy ( I believe a musician has ‘arrived’ if he is accepted by the music academy and offered the prime slot in their AC auditorium equipped with Bose sound system) for hot coffee and very attractive ‘meduvada’ and ‘wheat halwa’  followed by the early evening concert and end up at  the Mylapore fine arts club for the last one and dinner.  Choose the venues and artists depending on your taste, purse and ability to move. You may stick to the free ones like the ISCON concert  (Carnatica and Sri Parthasarathyswamy Sabha, in association with Cleveland Tyagaraaja aradhana committee USA) and live on the beach  - the venue is almost on the beach - the whole day. The weather is wonderful this time of the year and if you are a frequent visitor to Chennai, it will be difficult to believe that you are in Chennai and not sweating.

I believe music lovers come from all over the world, rent rooms for a whole month and forget everything else during the period. We met a Sikh gentleman, a resident of USA, at the music academy, who was on his twelfth visit to Chennai for the music festival. A typical Sardarji replete with ‘Pagadi’ and beard, fanatically interested in carnatic claasical music, speaking fluent Telugu, Tamil and quite a bit of Kannada!

I had been hearing about the Margazhi festival from my sister for many years and decided to experience it this time. I know nothing of classical music, Carnatic or Hindustani, but I like listening to them. Just as I like attending quizzes.  I sit through three hour quiz programmes without getting even one answer and most often not even getting the question! It is almost the same with music. I will have no idea whether the artist is singing/playing a Raaga, Varna or Kriti, (more confusion if it is instrumental) but I enjoy them all the same.

I should thank the Ramanavami concerts I used to attend in Bengaluru when I was young and in particular Smt Srinivasamma and Sri Ranganathachar, an iyengar couple who lived near our house, for what little inclination towards classical music I have developed. This couple were the promoters of Carnatic Classical music in our locality without any vested interest. They arranged at least a dozen concerts during Ramanavami festival every year (over more than a decade as I remember) with the very active and even more enthusiastic participation of Sri Srinivasa Raghavaachar, a music teacher and their tenant. These concerts were held in a small hall built specially for the purpose above their house and we were one of the regulars for the concerts. Ramanavami usually falls in April after the final exams and we used to attend those concerts in a blissful state of mind, free from the worries of home works and tests. I don’t mind going through the primary school again if I can get back that Ramanavami feeling once more. We sat through these concerts enjoying the popular ‘devaranamas’ which we could recognize and dozing when the recital turned technical. Sri Srinivasa Raghvaachar, I guess,  was  a well respected gentleman in music circles and we have witnessed well known artists like Asthana vidwan Titte Krishna iyengar and Veena Doreswamy iyengar  performing in that small hall in front of an audience numbering not more than thirty.

I stayed in Chennai for three days during this 2013 season and attended six concerts. Since I have no idea about the technicalities of music I am unable to say anything about the quality of the concerts but can provide a layman’s account along with the photographs.

schedule for the 2013 season at the Narada gana Sabha

The first concert we attended. Violin duet By Vidwans Ganesh and Kumaresh. Narada Gana Sabha.

 Ganesh  and Kumaresh. I heard these names for the first time and I enjoyed the concert. I would have liked it better if the antics were less. One of them was singing in between and it was as good as his Violin.

How do they recognise sabha audience? From the look of bliss on their faces!

Festival atmosphere in the canteen. Totally ethnic. And you know where the left overs, if any, go!

On to the purely middle class Mylapore fine arts club. Vocal recital by Sri T V Sankaranarayanan, again a new name for me.  Madhurai Mani Iyer style. Fully traditional. I just could not get the lyrics and could only guess whether it was Alaapana, varna or Kriti based on the activity of the Mrindangam artist.  

Vidwan T V Shankaranarayana

what is 'Sumal' onion? My neice deciphered it as Tamil english for 'Small'. Bagala Bath of course is Bakala bath.

Mandolin Srinivas, Rajesh

The next day’s first concert was Mandolin U Srinivas at the Krishna gana sabha, located in T Nagar. I had first heard about Srinivas more than thirty years ago. He had made a public appearance when he was just about ten years or so. I had had no opportunity to hear any of his concerts and this was a good chance. Enjoyable concert but audience not very civilized.

Vidwan Vijay Siva

From Krishna gana sabha we went on to Tyaga brahma gana sabha to hear Vidwan Vijay siva, Vocal, yet another new name for me.  The red light on top of my brother in law’s car and the armed guard in the front seat, facilitated easy movement of the vehicle (sometimes on the wrong side of the road - not for evading traffic and arriving at the venue in time but for ‘security’ reasons) and allowed us to alight in front of the main door from where we were escorted to the VIP seats in the front row. I enjoyed the VIP treatment for two days because of my ‘Hoovina jate naaru’ status. (a saying in Kannada which means - along with the flowers in the garland the thread too reaches the god). I think I had ‘Rajayoga’ in my horoscope though for a very short period, which helped me enjoy the concerts from the VIP seats without the usual disturbance of people getting in and out.

The third day we attended two very lively concerts. One was the vocal recital by OS Arun, one more new name for me. (most of the names were new for me as I have hardly attended Carnatic concerts after leaving Bangalore thirty years ago) It was at the ISCON temple with its sea facing stage.  Vidwan Arun was in the middle of the very popular kriti, Brochevarevarura, enjoying himself and almost dancing. And that is what I felt like doing too when I heard it. He finished it about ten minutes after we reached there and I felt bad for having missed the earlier part. 

Vidwan O S Arun

ISCON almost open air.

As if to compensate for this loss, Kadri Gpoalanath, (again at the Tyaga brahma gana sabha - with the reserved VIP seats) played the same on his saxophone, as the main piece. I enjoyed this concert immensely as there were more ‘kritis’ which I could recognise and many of them in Kannada! I think his Mangalore background has something to do with it. Apart from providing great music, Kadri Gapalnath was a sight to see with his bright coloured dress, jewellary and gold tipped saxophone. He and his accompanying artists seemed to be able to read each other’s minds and were enjoying themselves very much.

Kadri Gopalanath

We were to leave Chennai in the afternoon on 18^th Dec and my sister insisted that we visit the Music Academy before we left. So I had a chance to hear Udayalur Kalyanaraman’s ‘naamasankeertanam’ for a short while. We could stay there just for half an hour and I think we created considerable disturbance to others while we tried to pass through the rows to get in and get out. We went to the canteen for a cup of coffee and saw people enjoying an early lunch being served on plantain leaves. All the dishes looked very attractive, meduvada and wheat halva the best. My sister had suggested that we have lunch there but I had vetoed the suggestion because it would be too early and we had more interesting items at home.  After seeing the spread I felt that refusing that lunch was not wise. (Photography not allowed at the Music Academy)

I should make it a point to take the canteens more seriously if I go to Chennai again for the music festival. I may not be able to fully appreciate the quality of the music, my case being something like the Telugu saying “gaDdiku telasuna gandhala vasana” (can a Donkey appreciate the fragrance of sandal wood?) but I can certainly appreciate the quality of eating that goes with the music in Chennai! 

'Early Birds' - Trek To Mainapi water Falls.

It is nearly four years since few of the regulars in the first batch of the Ponda swimming pool formed a group and called themselves ‘early birds’.  These birds, at least a few of them, meet every day in the pool. They swim, exchange news and views, gossip, pull each other’s legs (sometimes literally) and depart. Once in a way they meet outside the pool to celebrate birthdays or anniversaries and skip swimming the next day because of hangover. And at least once every year, they embark up on a trek cum swim programme which is a sort of a fitness test. It assures them that they can enjoy the next few birthdays with a free mind.  

It was one such trek to the Mainapi waterfalls near a village called Netravali, last week. Netravali is about sixty kilometers from Ponda and the road ends there. We do have an asphalted track, with traces of asphalt seen on the surface, for another seven kilometers but I do not call it a road. The next seven kilometers is only a dirt track. The Mainapi falls is about four kilometers from the end of this ‘motorable’ dirt track. We parked our Omni at the end of the track and started our trek.

Stopping for a cup of tea at the last tea shop on the road

Piped water noticed at the place we parked our Omni. Notice the absence of the tap. Running water  24 hours! Paradise? excess flows onto the fields.

The trek begins.Good weather, shady track. Easy going.

Squeezing through thick vegetation. Good that we were unaware of the presence of king cobras in the area.

Coming out onto a open space and a beautiful view of the hills.

Another stretch with overgrown branches. Duck and avoid getting poked in the face. 

After walking a considerable distance with a feeling that you have reached the middle of a forest,

You notice a Bolero which some people with more sense have used to reach the spot, using a different track.

The descent to the falls begins. Loose soil. The branches are handy but some have thorns on them. 

track gets tough

 

and tougher

and you reach the exhilarating falls. Enjoy your bath, shower, swim and lunch.

Start back and realise that coming down was the easier part.

Very happy to see the Bolero after climbing for what seemed to be hours but was actually twenty five minutes. Our Omni is still a long way off. Half a mind to wait for the owners of the bolero and request a ride to where ever they are prepared to take us. 

Walking along determined to complete the trek. But sitting and lying down every now and then.

  Ultimately we were back into our Omni and were on the way again. But fate had not finished with us yet. Something went wrong with the engine and the Omni refused to climb slopes with the load.We had to  get down at the bottom of the slopes and follow the empty vehical. Once we even had to push the vehical  to the top. Thankfully the Omni behaved well after reaching the road and returned to Ponda carrying all of us. We took it to the service center and found that one of the spark plugs had got loose and the van was running on only one spark plug.

Some legs are still paining, two backs are still strained and one lung is down with cold. But all souls are satisfied and happy with the trek.

Supreme Court Verdict On Homosexuality

I am disappointed that the SC has reversed a Delhi HC ruling. ……..  Sonia Gandhi

It is disappointing that the SC has upheld the legality of Section 377. ……… Kapil Sibal

The judgment is extremely disappointing. It has taken us back to  1860.  ……….Chidambaram

I am Indian and I am a homosexual , I will continue to be proud of it.  ……….. some ‘celebrity’

The verdict is a loss to all Indians. It is something that we should all mourn. ……….. another ‘celebrity’

Now let me quote section 377.

Unnatural offences - whoever  voluntarily has carnal intercourse against the order of nature, with any man woman or animal, shall be punished with (imprisonment for life) or imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten years and shall also be liable to a fine.

And the various dictionary meanings for ‘Unnatural’ are,

Unnatural :   In violation of natural law -  inconsistent with an individual pattern or custom -  deviating from a behavioral or social norm - different from how things are in the physical world or nature - different from what is normal in a way that is seen as wrong, disturbing etc.

Now, what wrong has the Honourable Supreme Court done? As far as my knowledge goes the court is there to uphold the laws and rules (please don’t ask me the difference between them) and the codes and constitution etc etc. And that is what the Supreme Court has done. Kapil sibal says that he is disappointed that the supreme court has done its duty!

The media reserves three full pages or prime time for the issue because there is ‘Sex’ in ‘homosexuality’ and it catches the eyes. The politicians mouth their statements in support of homosexuality because the statements appear on the front page and they hope that it may help them gain the support of a section of individuals and their votes.  If the politicians are so concerned about the issue they should simply change the law. Then the courts would follow the new rules.

As far as the celebrities who are ‘proud’, I do not know. If it is ‘natural’ what is there to be ‘proud’ of? It is not an achievement. I also do not understand what has ‘love’ got to do with it and why should all of us mourn? Since I do not understand so many things, I should have kept my mouth shut. I did not. At least let 

me stop here.

Final sentence : As I have read somewhere, Homosexuality is in the genes and is not consciously acquired. Hence it may be ‘Unnatural’ according to the dictionary but ‘Natural’ to the person. There is no need to make such a big issue out of it. Quietly change the rules or acts or whatever, to prevent misuse and harassment.  That’s it. 

If God Wants You To Eat, He Will Provide!

We were on the Belgaum- Kolhapur Highway and it was half past nine in the morning. We had left Belgaum at eight. The distance between Belgaum and Kolhapur is 110 kms and we had covered about two thirds of the distance. The purpose of our trip was to visit the famous Mahalakshmi temple in Kolhapur and my in laws had decided to visit the temple on empty stomach and have their breakfast after the ‘Darshan’.  They don’t eat in hotels and hence, their breakfast had been packed and it was with us in the car testing their devotion and their will power. If things were to go as planned, by half past nine we should have been in the temple and they would have been free to get at the packed breakfast before ten. But it had taken a long time for us to get out of the city because of the unusually heavy traffic created by the presence of almost all of the Karnataka government in Belgaum for the winter session of the assembly.

 The resolution to have breakfast after the ‘Darshan,’ which my father in law had made in a fit of devotion was testing him now. It was a question of another hour and he was getting restless. If he could have a small snack like a few biscuits, an act that could be condoned considering that he is a diabetic, he would make it. We searched all the nooks and corners of our car but it did not yield anything. (My son is the major user of our car and he has the annoying habit of leaving half a bar of chocolate, unfinished packets of biscuits, a banana - or its peal - in various compartments of the car).

I offered to stop if I spotted a shop by the side of the road.

“No, no, keep going. Let us not stop for my sake”. - F in Law

“If you want to eat something we will have to stop and buy it. How are you going to get anything otherwise?”  My wife.

“If I am destined to eat something, I will get it”   F in Law

“Keep the window open. God may land next to our car riding a bike like Akshay Kumar in ‘Oh My God’ and toss a packet of biscuits inside” I joked.

Just then we reached a toll booth and I stopped next to the window. The toll was forty five rupees. I gave a hundred rupee note and waited for the ticket and change.

“Do you have five rupees change? I will give you sixty” said the voice in the booth.

“No” I answered.

Out came a hand through the window, holding a ticket, a fifty rupee note and a small packet of Britania ‘Good Day’ biscuits having a MRP of rupees five!

Malanaadu final instalment - Balegaru Matha and back to Ponda

Balegaru is one of the few places which I was very keen to visit. I had heard a lot about the ‘Akshobhya matha’ of Balegaru and its ‘Swamiji’ Sri Raghubhushana teertha. (‘Matha’ meaning an establishment -Monastery?-  meant for propagating the philosophy of the founder and also guide a community of followers in their religious and spiritual activities. Swamiji is the head of a Matha).  It seemed to be a combination of an interesting place housing an even more interesting personality.

The Arya Akshobhya matha at Balegaru, as I understand, was established by Sri Akshobhya theertha, one of the direct desciples of Sri Madhwacharya, the proponent of Dwaita philosophy. His followers are the Madhwa Brahmins. Every Brahmin family, just as it belongs to a Gotra, (indicating the name of one of the ‘Rishis’ who is supposed to have been it’s ‘patrilinial forebearer’ - as Wikipedia puts it) also belongs to a ‘Matha’ of which the members of the family have been the followers, through the ages. Compared to the other very well known establishments like the Ashtamathas of Udupi  (‘Ashta’ meaning eight -  Pejaavara, Adamaaru, Phalimaaru, Kaaniyuru, Krishnapura, Shirooru, Puttige, Sode) and many other mathas established  by Sri Madhwacharya or his followers, (Raghavendra matha, Vyaasaraaja matha, Gokarna Paratagaali matha and Uttaraadi matha to name a few ) this Akshobhya matha of Balegaru is not very well known. I believe there are other similar establishments which are not well known but are historically and religiously significant.

Most of the Mathas named above, (and other equally famous ones) though they have their origins in small/remote places, now have  followers all over the country and almost all of them have branches everywhere and big establishments in metro cities. They have acquired wealth and fame and many of them own assets worth hundreds or even, thousands of crores of rupees. Over a period of time they have become more of social and commercial establishments than religious establishments. What we see everywhere in our day to day life - jealousy, infighting, backstabbing, fight for power and legal battles are also seen in the mathas which are supposed to be detached from all these and focus on religious, spiritual and moral aspects of life. Not just focus, but take a stand on these matters and guide their followers. Some of them have become family affairs like our political parties. There have been instances of usurping/misuse of the assets of the Mathas. Because of all this, followers like me have developed contempt towards them instead of respect, even as we continue to visit and support them in the course of fulfilling our religious practices/compulsions.

So, when I heard that there has been a Matha in a small and peaceful village near Shimoga, doing just what is expected of it and headed by a Swamiji who is not interested in earning name, fame and wealth, I was interested and now had arrived at Balegaru Matha.

The Arya Akshobhya Matha is situated on the Banks of river Tunga in the picturesque natural surroundings of the Sahyadri range. It is so very quiet and devoid of any visible activity around it, that you are at a loss as to what to do after you have arrived in front of the building. The main door is always closed to prevent monkeys from entering in. You hesitatingly push the door open and enter the front hall which again is empty and then proceed to step tentatively through the only other door you see. This leads to a pillared corridor open towards and running on two sides of a small square open quadrangle in which is located the sanctum sanctorum housing Lord Sri Rama and Narasimha, the deities, who are being worshipped in the matha over the centuries.

We found the Swamiji seated in a corner in the corridor on a chair, in conversation with another gentleman who had been visiting the place. As we went near, prostrated before the Swamiji to express our respects and were wondering about the right way to address and speak to the head of a Matha , he spoke,

“Please come in, how was your trip to Horanaadu?” 

I told him that it was Ok but for a bad stretch of road and he said

“If you have to reach a place you should accept the roads as they are, hope you did not have any difficulty reaching here!”

The Swamiji began talking to us like a friend and it went on for the next thirty minutes. For an ascetic living in a small village he seemed to be very well informed about everything around us in this world and was one of the few people out of Goa, who got the cities of Goa, its capital, the name of the chief minister and his party, right!

The dinner was ready by then and it was served for the three guests while the swamiji stood there watching us eat and urging us

“Take some more rice - this is not your city rice. It is unpolished and retains all the nutrients ”

“Taste that pickle. The mango is from our tree. Hope it is not too punjent for you” and so on.

We enjoyed the simple fare of  cooked rice, vegetables, curry, pickles and curds, most of them locally produced and the curds being exceptionally good - obviously made using the milk from contented cows reared by the swamiji.  

Contented Cows

I had a proper look of the surroundings the next morning. The early morning peace and quiet, which one can find almost anywhere in the world was multiplied manyfold around the Balegaru matha. I sat alone on the boulders in the middle of the river hearing the sound of the water falling over next to me and enjoying the serene atmosphere.

The river falls, just by about two feet but enough you make you panic if you lose your hold.

Early morning sun reflected in water

Design on the boulders. Do not know what they are. Algae or some river weeds?

Another view

I stayed there till the sun rose in the east when my wife and son joined me. After a bath in the river, we went into the matha and found the swamiji in the middle of his morning Pooja (worship).

The dieties. Rama Lakshmana Seeta at the top.  Second and third rows left to right are Srikara Naaraayana, Lakshmi Narasimha, Ugra Narasimha, Vedavyasa, Narasimha saligrama and Hayagreeva.  

His day begins at three in the morning with a bath in the river and he sits for meditation and prayers for about two hours (as he told me). It is followed by another bath and Pooja which usually ends by half past eight or quarter to nine, which we witnessed. He says that finishing the daily rituals early gives him and people around him enough time to pursue their other interests, which in his case is agriculture. He goes to work in the field and also attends to the cows in the cowshed. The matha owns about thirty acres of land out of which ten acres are under cultivation. Another bath at eleven and he is ready for the next stage of the ‘Pooja’ followed by lunch and a bit of rest.  He preaches/teaches for sometime if there are people to learn - sometimes there are - and spends some time attending to the day to day affairs of the matha. Then the evening bath followed by the evening ‘pooja’ and the swamiji retires early. Traditionally swamijis eat just once a day in the afternoon after the ritualistic offering of food -‘Naivedya’-to the lord.

View from the main door of the Matha

While the swamiji was engaged in his Pooja we went around the establishment and visited the river once again. Soon after the morning ‘Pooja’ we were offered breakfast and after that we requested the Swamiji to permit us to leave. He insisted that we stay for lunch but when I said that we were planning to visit another place called Honnali near Shimoga and then reach Hubli by evening, he relented. He came out to see us off and as we were getting into the car he said “I am happy that you could come here and stay for a while. What is your impression about our matha? ”

(During our conversation we had touched up on many topics and I had told him my impressions of our religious establishments. He had agreed and said that it was unfortunate)

I told him that the establishments like the Balegaru matha may help us change our opinion of our religious centres and that I would like to be there again.

“I am happy that you think so. Do come again and stay a bit longer. And tell others who are interested, to visit us.”  He went back into the building.

We were in Honnali by afternoon and visited one of my relatives whom I had not met for decades. We were persuaded to stay for lunch and it was almost four when we left. “You will reach Hubli in two hours.  No, don’t go to Harihar. Take this internal road through Tuminakatti and you will save twenty kilometers. It is good and there will be no traffic” said my relative. The road turned out to be a nightmare. Just  like Horanaadu road. With very little traffic. Yes. Just half a dozen large trucks carrying some earth moving equipment which it was impossible to overtake on the narrow road.  I received a call from my relative just as we were entering Hubli at eight in the night.  “I am so sorry that I asked you to take that route. I had travelled by that road six months back and was not aware that it had been damaged badly by the rains. Just now one of my friends told me about it. Did you reach Hubli safe?”

I assured him that we were fine but did not tell him that he now had a stock of curses to last his lifetime.

Our trip had almost ended. What remained was to proceed to Belgaum the next morning for a bit of shopping and reach Ponda by evening.

Back to our grind till my wife decides to go on another trip.