Margazhi musings - 1

Margazhi, the chosen month, by none other than Krishna himself, definitely has the charm. Climate that makes even places like Chennai desirable and why beat around the bush, the ‘MUSIC SEASON’. This charm has definitely extended till Pondicherry and over the years I have always tried to squeeze in few December concerts into my schedule.

It was another music driven journey to Chennai and I ended up at one of the lovely places that belonged to the silk merchant. It was another busy morning with performers moving in and out, audiences flowing in a steady stream, the stalls and canteens being populated with visitors, I relished it all afresh after a year. Half an hour past the first programme, I had to come out to get tickets for the main performance that morning by the madisar clad woman and few others. I noticed one of the tickets had the seats numbered whereas this one in morning had entry on first come basis. A woman next to me earnestly asked”appo idhukkum number potu tharuvela” will you number the seats for this show too? After a long pause came a not so polite reply”oru oru programme um vera. Ticket vangitu pongo” each show is different. Just get your tickets and go. I would have only been surprised if it was anything else.

I had hardly few seconds to ponder over what happened as I already saw mamis queue up at the gates. Observing their creativity at queuing up, this time it was sitting in chairs close to the gates so that they can camouflage like rasikas attending the programme but when neared, they would unveil their identity with two words ”queue pinnala”. “This sabha charges the maximum for a ticket but waiting like this in spite of that is quite annoying” a lady said and almost everyone felt the same. Another guy told how tickets at the TTK road auditorium have to be procured as early as six in the mornings for which the queue math would suggest you to reach there by five!

 This civilized conduct transformed into stark barbarianism when the gates opened. After a hassle I entered the theatre and I was quite surprised to see the hall not even half full when the programme was about to start. A refute at one of the gates gave me the answer. There was loud blasphemy exactly at curtain raise. I saw some of the irate being pushed, gates were shut.

I have witnessed a very similar incident even last year and unfortunately I have got really immune to all this! When a group of people are so eager to attend the discourse (which also had a free entry the previous year and that was the confusion) what do you call that which prevented them from letting these people in?

The proportion of youngsters attending the festival season has dramatically increased. It is high time these organizations take steps to embrace the change. It is practically impossible for the working youth or outsiders to book the tickets in person one day prior and not to mention the early morning drill. Wouldn’t it be more welcoming if it was as easy as booking a ticket for a rock concert? All said and done, this is not going to deter me from attending any more concerts but I am keenly  looking forward for the time when the monopoly of these sabhas end and some transparency is brought into the system!

CLEAN UP NAGALA - 1 & 2 MARCH 2014

Route: Nagalapuram(Western ghats) - west entry – till 5^th pool

Lead: Nithyan and Archana

Trekkers: Jai, Jaya, Wasim, Murali, Alex, Siva, Krishna, Umapathy, Swami and me

Midway stop for a cup of tea

My maiden trek with the Chennai Trekkers Club started with a call from Nithi on Friday 28^th Feb and what followed was total randomness. I informed home, Sai and myself did some shopping all day and I joined at Nithi’ s residence with an all loaded backpack and a sleeping mat. We started around 1.30 am on Saturday and six others joined us at ‘Motel highway’ with their bikes.

L to R : Myself, Murali, Alex, Wasim, Siva, Krishna, Uma

We reached Nagalapuram around 5 am and decided to take a short nap before we start off. Most of us were excited that we could hardly sleep and did a quick mobile photosession :D

 It slowly dawned and we began splitting up the ration. Everyone carries an equal share of the vegetables and snacks in their backpacks. Wasim was honoured with the Nithi’s trek bag which itself measured about three fourths of his height!

Jaya and Archana in the lead

A 40-minute walk took us to the base of the mountain. We got into the valley steering through dense vegetation and walking alongside the stream we reached the temple pool. It was a shock for all of us as the whole place was covered with hundreds of thermocol plates, even worse, with decaying food debris. I was told that the localites celebrated shivarathri there – probably they got bored of littering the town that they came up to the forests.

Litter everywhere!

A narrow ridge before the first pool where we had to curve to fit in

Crossing the stench we reached the first pool where we stopped for a swim. The ice cold water relaxed our muscles instantly. Filling our bottles we continued our trek to the second pool. The climb from second to third pool was quite steep and that was a preview to the more perilous path ahead.

First pool

We crossed the other side of the mountain and the next one hour of trek had the most stunning views to offer.  Steep rocks, extremely risky climbs all paid off when we reached the magnificent third pool. We did not stop to dip into the water though. Continuing with the stream, we climbed further up and reached the fourth pool. The fourth is a tall gorgeous waterfall and we could not resist. We took a refreshing bath till our bodies dropped off all the heat of the trek.

Murali enjoying the view

Third pool in the backdrop

crossing third pool

Wasim's backpack!

 At the waterfalls (fourth pool) - Nithi at the bottom

I felt the trudge between fourth and fifth pool was the toughest. What we saw was just the bare mountain at an inclination of 60 degrees. Nithi had that sarcastic grin but his masterly advice definitely helped. Soon, we all transformed into four legged animals manoeuvring with the slippery loose rocks, ascending slowly. We paused in between but even the larger rocks we chose to sit were quite unstable. With the adrenaline rush, we reached the top of the cliff and the other side of it. Breathtaking views of the valley followed, again. We got down the same cliff up till the valley and following a small ascent, reached the fifth pool.

"when you are about to loose balance, always lean forward"

Alex at the cliff top

Fifth pool -  At last !

Serene is just the word. Though not as big as the third pool, the stream had an innate calmness and the water looked immaculate. We dipped into the water, enjoying the sense of accomplishment but our tummies already started ringing. We got into work, picking firewood and cutting vegetables for the ‘enriched noodles – Nithi style’.

I saw everything going into the noodles -  from paneer to potatoes to kaju and dry grapes. The aroma was a gustatory treat! A sumptuous lunch was followed by some chat by the poolside.  The cold breeze and our tired muscles dragged us to slumber. A few of them succumbed over a boulder. I was just holding it till the tent was made. I should have had one of the deepest sleeps as I remember nothing that happened from 6.30 pm to 1.30 am!

We couldn't help but crash!

But there was still work to do

Everything thrills when you are in a forest. Imagine attending a nature’s call at midnight when its pitch dark amidst rattles of insects and reptile sounds. And when I woke up then, the bonfire was still on. I grabbed something to eat and after an hour of chat we got back into our tents.

A refreshing swim and elaichi tea started off the next day. We made sev chat and before eating more, we judiciously cleared the campsite and began descent. Our plan was to halt at the third pool for lunch. We hardly stopped anywhere in between and reached there by around 1.30 pm. We met another group of trekkers from Chennai Trekkers Club who were on a social trek. They said they had brought kids from 2^nd to 7^th class and had left them at the first pool. Soon, we had the entire third pool for us! We jumped into the pristine waters and for the first time I was confident enough to swim at waters so deep (40 feet) -  probably the do or die attitude that a trek brings in you!

Umapathy taking a confident dive

Banquet lunch followed – Paneer tikka for starters, Bissibelabath and potato curry for main course. “doctor sar aah.. avaru podi aakama udamaataare ma” Nithi enjoyed pulling my legs on how I chopped vegetables. The all-ladies trek, another group from the CTC crossed us and were greeted with our hot yummy lunch. We were all so reluctant to leave and started quite late. The rest of the descent ended up being a night trek and took almost two hours and a half.

Tempting?

Some of us carried garbage sacks that we kept filling along and the best part was the surprise that awaited us when we crossed the temple pool. The full area was cleaned up so well to all our delight. Later we came to know that it was by Bala and team. The trip ended with a group picture before reaching to the vehicles. We bid bye to the mountains and finished the trek with a filling dinner at the dhaba.

At the trek's end

Things excite even more when they happen at the unexpected moments and that’s exactly how this trek ended up being. More than just another climb, this was definitely an eye-opener for me, to what is called ‘responsible trekking’. We never used any soap/detergent all the days and carried water from the stream in separate bottles for toilet needs. We did as much clean up as we could but were even more surprised to see how everyone in CTC had the same amount of responsibility.

Littering public places is hardwired into Indian brains as an individual right. Trying to keep roads clean is talked off as impractical most of the times. But when I think – If some people can carry garbage all the way down a hill to clean up, can the others try not to litter at the least?



Photos from Nithyan s facebook album, mobile clicks by Wasim and me

A trek for life...

start off - margazhi 2010

In what other better way I can start telling about myself  _

More than passion, more than a yearning, it’s definitely something else, something more .. My vocabulary is of course limited . It’s been 6 years when classical music entered me right away cutting me in.

Something I always feel should happened much earlier.

I like carnatic music !! I love it indeed .

 For the bliss it gives. 

That I can sing along and find myself lost into it.

 From the attractive album covers to the all-glossy classical costumes, tamburas, mridangams...

From the sabhas that exude a combination class and devotion 

To the maamas and maamis who attend the concert!! Love em all J  

This Saturday concert was nothing less than a wow. I was indeed surprised when I attended this concert during the December season.

After seeing the sabha hall, the perfectly arranged decors on the stage – “why on earth didn’t they even ticket it?”

 Music is after all something more.

Before everything, thank you Praveen. It would not have been any better if it weren't for you.

We thought we should be there way early to the start, to “catch” the right places to sit, the concert being free. We reached the hall around 5 in the evening. Not realising that another veena recital has been scheduled then. People started pouring in (literally man!) 

And which kid wouldn’t want an extra bar of chocolate?

Mr. Kannan on the veena. Somehow I found his expressions so cute and chubby, when he was trying to acknowledge the mridangam artist as he was playing the beats. “aam, adhan adhan  ...”

All of a sudden, he was beaming with enthusiasm like never before: D

Realised quite soon when I spotted the photographer that side.

We wait for him to finish, he doesn’t. He says he feels blessed to play in the vicinity of shree kalekaambal and sree kapaleeshwarar. ‘Mylapore kapaleeshwarar temple’ did ring a bell.

Finally the screen drops. Not more than 10 mines, as we were busy quibbling about arjun’s message, the screen opens. And we drop our jaws to a silence as the ever charming lady welcomes us with a characteristic smile.

All clad in purple and gold, she started off – what I later understood was a marathon concert (at least for meJ) 

Times when the whole hall were tapping their hands in unison , counting the beats for the ragam thaalam pallavi  RTP , people reacting to the extra feel imparted to some lines with an “aaha .. cha”, makes the live concert unique .

 Then comes the thukkada session, she sings a sai baba krithi and everyone s already reached shirdi. ‘Reportedly’, arjun got goose bumps .

I was able to follow some of the popular songs like enna thavam seithanai . The maami at the back of my seat was getting high hearing this song. “enna oru line .. enna oru line” she kept on repeating.

Leaving us super saturated with madhura, she signs off. A lady immediately got up, did a pooja for the kalinga narasimhar over the stage.

Soon, the maamis crowded the exit with the usual and stereotypical questions

“Pudavai pala palannu irukke ” .     Obviously no post concert meet will attain completion without this comment – I felt.

 “Nalla elechiteel... Secret engallukkum sollakoodatha?” a 60 yr old in a very genuine tone. I dint choose to figure out why she wants to get lean any more.

“Necklace. . Eppo vanganathu ?”  “Pathu varusham munaadiya ? Innum palichunnu irukke ”

Slowly the young pop out with their autograph diaries . She fills the whole page with her wishes and sign , be it a foolscap note book or a small pad .  I have already got one the first time I met her two years back . 

Now all I wanted to was to ask her how the jazz fusion concert went the day before. And get a snap done for Praveen and arjun . Praveen honourably chose to click the pics rather.

 Finally a guy runs up to me with his email id asking me to send him the pic . Obviously he was also caught in the frame .

“Are you sure you will send it ? ”  He asked it more than 10 times in all different ways as we move out . I couldn’t help but smile . He was not at all any different from the all excited kid running around narada gana sabha, two years back, to find out from where sudha comes out and trying to teach geetha aunty how to take a photo .