Ms. Dharini sings in this small auditorium on the 2nd floor.
20 December Chennai
I relaxed in my Kolkata room until the noon check-out
time, then headed to Blue Sky Café for a late breakfast of a plain omelet,
porridge, butter toast, and sweet lassi. My hotel had kindly arranged a taxi for
Rs. 600 to pick me up nearby for a ride to the airport, which saved the
difficulty of hunting one down. The ride took about an hour, though it seemed
far longer as we bounced along negotiating one traffic jam after another, then
had easier going as we neared the airport. I arrived in plenty of time to check
in for Air India Flight AI 785. The Airbus A320 took to the sky just past sunset
about 5:30 p.m., and I enjoyed the red sunset glow of day’s end. The fare of
$104.36 included a tasty little Hindu vegetarian meal and baggage. Flight time
was nearly as long as my trip from Bangkok to Kolkata at a scheduled 2.5 hours
(2 hours in air). Most of the route went offshore, so I had little to see from
the window until the lights of the greater Chennai area appeared below. Like
Kolkata, Chennai has a shiny modern airport, and I soon had my bag in hand and
headed out the door. An elevated Metro line begins next to the terminal, where I
got a ticket for the blue line north to the AG DMS station, just over a
kilometer from my Airbnb accommodations. A short ride in a three-wheeled
taxi—called an ‘auto’ here—got me there, then the security guard gave me the
room key. I had reserved a simple room in a fairly central apartment building on
Habibullah Road for 18 nights at $324.79. No kitchen, but I had a kettle for hot
drinks. The room included a hot-water shower, air-conditioning, wi-fi, a
comfortable—if firm—bed, and lots of natural light. Overall it was a big
improvement over my windowless little room in Kolkata. Supermarkets and
restaurants are nearby as is one of the major venues of the Indian classical
music and dance festival. I had downloaded the Ola taxi app, which worked great
most of the time to get a three-wheeled auto or a regular taxi with the
advantages of the driver knowing where I’m going and my not getting overcharged.
I chose to come to Chennai in December and January to experience the Indian
classical music and dance festival that takes place at many venues. Many of the
performances follow Hindu religious themes and honor the gods, while others are
“pure dance.” Most performances have free admission thanks to generous
sponsorship, though top-name evening events might require purchase of a ticket.
21 December Chennai
In the morning I took an auto taxi to the home of my
Indian friend K.S. Susindar. We had met 40 years ago at the great Shree Thillai
Natarajar Temple in Chidambaram when he was a student and I had just begun my
first visit to India on Bessie the Bicycle. Amazingly, Susindar found me on the
internet in May 2020 and we corresponded before we could meet up early this
year. He took me to Tanjore Restaurant in the New Woodlands Hotel for a
traditional South Indian lunch, served on a banana leaf. We had to wait awhile
to get a seat in this small restaurant, then enjoyed a multitude of tasty
curries. Susindar headed home after lunch, then I noticed that the Music Academy
was just a few doors away. I walked over to listen to a vocal concert.
This evening Susindar’s daughter Sanju would be performing in a group
Bharatanatyam dance performance at a school, so we arranged to meet there. Sanju
and her seven companions dressed in identical red costumes, yet each played
multiple roles in a series of dances that depicted prominent events in the
Ramayana story, some of which I knew and others explained afterward by Susindar.
The dancers put on a great show to a very appreciative audience.
22
December Chennai
Again I met up with Susindar at his home, then we drove to
Mylapore—the oldest part of Chennai—to visit Kapaleeshwarar Temple, dedicated to
Shiva and other gods and goddesses. We entered the impressively tall and
colorful east tower gate, populated with a huge cast of painted sculptures.
Susindar first visited a small shrine to the elephant-headed Lord Ganesh, then
started his way clockwise around the central temple. We stopped at the temple of
Lord Murugan—the other son of Shiva and very popular in South India—before
entering the central structure. Here we paid respects to Shiva’s wife Parvati,
then continued into the large main chamber to Shiva as a lingam, surrounded by
many other Hindu statues.
Afterward we walked past three cultural
centers to see what music and dance concerts are scheduled. Bharatiya Vidya
Bhavan had a very full music schedule today in two small auditoriums and evening
dance programs in the main auditorium. We stepped into one of the small ones to
hear the singer Ms. Dharini accompanied by a violin and a double-ended mridangam
drum.
Ms. Dharini
sings in this small auditorium on the 2nd floor.
Next I went to the other small auditorium for a vocal recital by a man
along with a violin, mridangam, kanjira (South Indian frame drum of the
tambourine family), and tambura (long-necked plucked string drone). The
three-day Dance for Dance Festival began this evening in the main auditorium
with two events. First, a solo Kathak by Aditi Mangaldas who presented extracts
from “Immersed” and “Seeking the Beloved.” Next a solo Bharatanatyam by Lakshmi
Parthasarathy Athreya premiered “The Dot That Moved.” Both programs had
wonderful dances accompanied by live orchestras.
23 December Chennai
I returned to Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan in Mylapore for a vocal concert accompanied
by a violin and mridangam. The Dance for Dance Festival had three programs this
evening, and Susindar was able to join me. First we watched a solo Bharatanatyam
by Shruti Gopal premiering “Antar-Vyuh.” Next a solo Bharatanatyam by Parvathy
Menon premiered “Punarjani.” The colorful evening concluded with a lively group
Bharatanatyam by Ramya Harishankar & Arpana Dance Company presenting women’s
themes in “She.”
24 December Chennai
This Sunday afternoon I met
Susindar at his home, then we decided to take a commuter train to Mylapore as
stations were just short walks from his home and the temple. Tickets cost just
Rs. 10 for the two-stop journey on a noisy no-frills ride atop an elevated line.
We walked to Kapaleeshwarar Temple for the twice-monthly day of Pradosham
ceremony that honors the sacred bull Nandi, vehicle of Shiva. People gathered in
front of the small statue as priests poured container after container over it—a
long series of baths of sandalwood water, coconut water, milk, curd, ghee sugar,
honey, and holy ash interspersed with rinses of water and applications of
flowers. Many people had come to the temple and formed a very long line to go
inside the Parvati and Shiva temples, so we didn’t join them.
Next we
headed to Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan for the final night of the Dance for Dance
Festival. The program began with something completely different—a Koodiyattam
performance by a dancer from Kerala who wore an extremely elaborate costume and
make-up similar to Kathakali dancers. Nepathya Sreehari Chakyar premiered
“Gajendra Moksham” about a legendary bull elephant who goes into a lake with his
lady elephant friends. Unfortunately a crocodile grabs a leg of Gajendra and the
two struggle for 1,000 years until the elephant picks lotus flowers with his
trunk and offers them to Vishnu, who comes to the rescue and slays the
crocodile. English texts on a screen at the side of the stage narrated the story
as the dancer portrayed the action to the beat of a pair of drummers and a woman
with hand cymbals. Next we watched a solo Mohiniyattam dance by Neena Prasad
premiering “Swathi Muthyam.” Lastly we enjoyed the group dance performance
“Vistar: Elaborations in Odissi of Choreographies of Madhavi Mudgal.” Afterward
we took a train back to Susindar’s home, then we drove to the South Indian
restaurant Sree Akshayam, where I had a tasty South Indian thali (more than I
could eat) and Susindar went with lighter fare. At the downstairs bakery I
picked up a tiny plum cake in celebration of Christmas.