1 January 2025 Chennai
As last year, Susindar and I got together for a
Special New Year Lunch at New Woodlands Hotel. We sat at a long shared table
where waiters laid down banana leaves for us, then began plopping little piles
of vegetable dishes onto the leaves along with curd, tomato rasam (soup),
appalam (papadam), and rice. We could have seconds of anything on request. The
lunch took place in a large hall that’s normally used for marriages. When we
finished, a table with desserts beckoned with a milky sweet, bananas, and a
scoop of ice cream.
On his way home, Susindar dropped me off at my
guesthouse, where I took a short rest before getting an Uber auto taxi to the
Music Academy. This afternoon and evening the Academy would host two concerts of
nadaswaram (nagaswaram), a long oboe-like instrument commonly played in pairs at
temples and weddings of South India. As one of the world’s loudest non-brass
acoustic instruments, it commands attention and is considered very auspicious.
Traditionally the body of the nadaswaram is made out of a tree called ‘aacha’
and has a flared metal bell. I grew fond of its sound in temple visits during my
first visit to Tamil Nadu. The instruments only occasionally appear in formal
concerts, so I was glad the players would be performing today. A thavil
(double-ended drum)—loud and high pitched enough to complement the
nadaswaram—provides the beat. The thavil is a cylindrical shell hollowed out
from a solid block of jackfruit wood with a water buffalo skin surface on the
right played with the fingers and goat skin on the left played with a short
stick. An hour-long concert began at 3:45 p.m. with the Adyar Brothers—J.
Venkatesh and J. Balasubramani—on nadaswaram along with Adyar D. Senthil Kumar
and Thiruneermalai B. Mani on thavil. Another man rang small hand cymbals.
The large auditorium began filling up for the 5 p.m. Sadas, an important awards
ceremony for musicians and a musicologist associated with the Music Academy.
Professor David Shulman, from Israel, who had first visited Tamil Nadu in 1972,
gave a short talk and presented the awards. All this was interesting, and nearly
all in English, but seemed too long at two hours.
After the awards
ceremony, most of the audience departed, but I stayed for the second concert
with S. Kasim and S. Babu on nadaswaram and Tiruppungur T.G. Muthukumarasamy and
Madurai M. Vijaykumar on thavil, plus a fellow with the little hand cymbals.
With two hours, the musicians could perform a wide variety of pieces including
some quiet passages. And the drummers could perform energetic duos.
With
the big lunch, I didn’t feel the need for dinner, but did cross the road for a
banana split at the Snofield, an ice cream parlor connected to Amaravathi
Restaurant. Then I caught an auto taxi to my guesthouse.
2 January
Chennai
On another partly cloudy day I hopped into an Uber auto to Mylapore
and got off at the vegetarian restaurant Adyar Ananda Bhavan (A2B) for a light
lunch of tomato soup and a grilled veggie sandwich. Afterward I walked around
Myalapore Tank, a reservoir on the west side of 7th-century Kapaleeshwarar
Temple. A stone pavilion, Kabali Theeetham, stands in the middle of the vast
tank. Oddly, few people visit the tank and I never see anyone in the water.
While walking along the adjacent street I heard loud bangs of firecrackers, then
saw a procession of a drummers and a vehicle pulling a flower-garlanded cart. On
the cart I saw two feet sticking out and realized this was a funeral procession.
I strolled past sidewalk fruit and vegetable vendors on the south side of
the tank and continued east to Rasika Ranjani Sabha, where I watched some of a
Bharatanatyam dance by Gauri S. Mathrakott. Next I headed to nearby Bharatiya
Vidya Bhavan for a dance in the main hall, but the audio system was painfully
loud—a recurrent problem here that often included squealing audio feedback—so I
soon left. In the same building I went up to the first-floor Mini Hall where a
vocal concert by Dharini Kalyanaraman was about to begin. She gave a wonderful
performance, lasting more than two hours and accompanied by musicians on violin,
mridangam, and ghatam. The mridangam and ghatam players engaged in a lively
duet. Afterward I had a ‘mini meal’ and sweet lassi at Saravanaa Bhavan before
getting an auto taxi back to my room. In the middle of the night I experience
chills and heartburn, but luckily I had anti-acid medicine and the symptoms soon
disappeared.
3 January Chennai
I had been thinking of taking a rest
day, so did. I spent a lot of time on the computer, catching up on all my
e-mails and sorting through all the many photos taken so far on this India
visit. For dinner I walked around the corner to the very convenient Eatalica
restaurant, going with spaghetti with spinach, mushrooms, and white sauce, then
concluding with a chocolate milk shake.
4 January Chennai
Susindar
and his wife invited me for lunch at their home, so I had the pleasure of dining
on home-cooked South Indian cuisine. In the late afternoon Susindar phoned and
suggested going to an event that evening at Narada Gana Sabha. We met there and
got Rs. 600 tickets for “Ekasada Vishnum,” described as a “Mega Dance Drama”
with 66 dancers. As the name suggests, it’s an epic story related to the Hindu
god Vishnu, who appears during the performance as himself and as his 10 avatars.
At the dramatic conclusion, all 11 forms of Vishnu appear, each with a winged
Garuda, the divine mount of Vishnu. The skill of the dancers and choreography
amazed me with the dancers keeping marvelously synchronized during the complex
dances. The music was great too. Narration happened to be in Tamil, but Susindar
filled me in on what was happening.
The catering service that served up
great food behind the auditorium during December had vanished, so we tried to
get a table at a little outdoor café in front, but it was very busy and we would
likely have a long wait. Instead we drove to a branch of Sangeetha Veg
Restaurant, where Susindar ordered dinner for both of us, choosing plates with a
pair of dosas and plates of an appam, which is a thin pancake made with
fermented rice batter and coconut milk. Both included a side dish of tasty
vegetables. We also had sweet lassis and coffee (for Susindar) and special tea
(with milk) for me. We made plans to meet in the morning for a series of dances
at the Music Academy and possibly return in the evening to Narada Gana Sabha for
another big dance drama.
5 January Chennai
I awoke with a sore throat
and decided not to go out in the morning, but I was glad to hear that Susindar
did go to the Music Academy morning-early afternoon dances. Life has been so
busy lately that I haven’t finished an online journal for the Kraburi kayak trip
in southern Thailand that I joined last November, so I worked on that much of
the day.
I felt fine in the afternoon and headed to Narada Gana Sabha a
bit over two hours early to get tickets for the evening performance, which
Susindar predicted would be very popular. The ticket office had yet to open when
I arrived, however, so I walked north to Andhra Tiffin Room for a series of
classic South Indian snacks—a pair of idli, a vada, a malasa dosa, and a tea.
Then I finished off with a Crunchy Crackle ice cream sundae at Snowfield, also
part of the Amaravathi Restaurant. Back at Narada Gana Sabha I easily got a Rs.
600 ticket, then found a good seat. Susindar had planned to come, but thought
parking would be too difficult. Tonight’s program AGRE PASHYAMI “The Divine in
Front of Me” had a similar theme to last night’s performance with depictions of
Vishnu and his avatars along with a poet, yet the presentation tonight was very
different and even more dramatic. Again, this multimedia dance ballet had a
great many dancers who performed under bold lighting and in complex musical
soundscapes. A huge video screen provided atmospheric settings for each part of
the dance. Narada Gana Sabha’s auditorium is relaxed about photography (stills
only), and I got some good shots.
6 January Chennai
I started off by
taking care of laundry and having guesthouse staff clean my room. Finances,
photos, and writing work on the computer then filled most of the day. I also
relaxed reading the hefty Sunday Times newspaper. In late afternoon I headed
back to Narada Gana Sabha for the final event of the five-day Dance Ballet &
Drama 2025: the Madurai R. Muralidharan production of SODHI KODUTHA SUDARKODI,
which means “the woman who wore and gave her garland to Vishnu as an incarnation
of Lakshmi.” As with the two previous evenings, the production had a large cast
of dancers, beautiful music, memorable singing, and a giant video screen with
dramatic graphics. Once again, Vishnu made appearances in the stories,
especially as Krishna. The stories come from Andal, one of the twelve Hindu
poet-saints of South India—and only female among them—who espoused bhakti
(devotion) to the Hindu preserver deity Vishnu in their songs of longing,
ecstasy, and service. According to his Wikipedia entry, “Madurai R. Muralidaran
is an acclaimed dance guru, composer, dancer, choreographer, lyricist,
playwright and director best known for his large body of modern compositions for
Bharatanatyam dancers and his many elaborate dance musical productions.” He
appeared on stage after the program to acknowledge the dancers and support
staff. After the two-hour production, I walked north to Andhra Restaurant for
their tasty South Indian thali (“Special Meals”) Maharaja Veg. Bhojanam.
7 January Chennai
In the morning I headed to the Music Academy for a series
of performances by three solo dancers, beginning at 9:30 a.m. with Bharatanatyam
by the male dancer P.V. Adithya. He started with a short piece about
elephant-headed god Ganesh, then continued with two longer dances that
interpreted stories about the divine cosmic dancer Shiva Nataraja and other
Hindu deities, then concluded with a tillana. The orchestra at the side of the
stage had a vocalist and players of a nattuvangam, veena, flute, and mridangam.
Afterward I met Susindar, who had arrived during the first dances and we sat
together for the next two performances. An advantage to coming to the Music
Academy in the morning is that the events have free admission and one can sit in
the front rows for the best views. After a short break, the female Bharatanatyam
dancer Medha Hari performed an invocation dance followed by an interpretation of
a woman in love with Shiva Nataraja, a depiction of a young Skanda’s amazement
at seeing his divine parents Shiva and Parvathi merged into a single image, then
a tillana. Her orchestra comprised a vocalist and artists on nattuvangam, veena,
violin, and mridangam. Lastly, the female dancer Purvadhanashree performed a
rarely seen Vilasini Natyam, an Indian classical dance from the state of Andhra
Pradesh. Her movements and gestures followed different patterns from the
familiar Bharatanatyam. The first part told stories related to Shiva and the
second related ones about Krishna, and in the second she stopped to insert a bit
of verse and song. The musicians included a player on flute, as expected in a
dance with Krishna stories, plus a violin, mridangam, nattuvangam, and a
vocalist.
The dances concluded about 1:45 p.m., then Susindar and I
headed to nearby Woodlands Hotel and its main restaurant, the Krishna, for a
wonderful South Indian thali. Each of us headed home for a rest, then I joined
Susindar for an evening walk along Edward Elliot’s Beach, detouring along the
way for a tea break. We also admired the large Catholic Annai Velankanni Church,
lit up in colored lights.
8 January Chennai
On another sunny and hazy
morning I had a simple breakfast at the hotel of two poori, coconut chutney,
sambar, noodles, and tea. Then I caught an Uber auto to the Music Academy for
the morning-early afternoon trio of Bharatanatyam dances. The young male dancer
P.P. Athul Balu gave an energetic series of performances beginning with a short
and ambitious portrayal of Shiva Nataraja. Next the artist depicted a love
story, then in a reversal of the normal course of their relationship, Krishna
seeks his chief consort and shakti Radha. A tillana concluded the program.
Musicians accompanied on flute, violin, mridangam, nattuvangam, and vocals.
The woman dancer Meera Sreenarayanan attracted a large and enthusiastic crowd
for her offering for a depiction of Ganapati and Hanuman, followed by a longer
dance, then a conversation between goddesses Parvati and Lakshmi who talk about
their husbands. Lastly the artist offered a tillana. Music came from players of
violin, veena, mridangam, nattuvangam, and a vocalist.
Another male
dancer, K.P. Rakesh, also provided a program of four dances including one with
an expression of Radha’s love for Krishna, then ending with a tillana. Artists
on flute, veena, mridangam, nattuvangam, and vocals accompanied the dances.
The seasonal canteen at the Music Academy looked very busy, so I cross the busy
road to Andhra Tiffin Room for a light lunch of a pair of idli, two gulab jamun
sweets, and a tea. I then hopped on an auto taxi for a ride on the usual
traffic-clogged city roads back to my room and worked awhile writing up this
journal. In late afternoon I caught an Uber auto to Susindar’s home for a visit.
We headed to nearby Sangeetha Restaurant for a light dinner, idlis and vadas in
sambar sauce for him and a tomato soup and a rava dosa (made with coarsely
milled durum wheat). Susindar took me to his favorite sweet and fruit shop,
Suriya Gardens, and I picked up a couple sweets for later consumption and a
large tangerine for tomorrow’s breakfast. His parents live nearby, and we
dropped in for a short visit.