And ... The Curtains go up .

And the curtains went up .....



I wanted to write about this even before my first concert of the December music season . Then I thought , let me wait and see what this season has in store and then write . Its such a common sight for any stage artist . And to some of them ( writer included ) , that very sight sometimes triggers some lepidopterans lying in my stomach .. I assume that you might have found out the easier synonym for that 'L' word , once you've read the phrase .( read it again, if you havent!). I remember learning it in my 8 th grade and for some strange reason , it remains etched in my memory !! Anyway , that sight is such a common one but yet , so very unexplicable .. So here I am . Writing about something which , I know, is never gonna be easy .. Lets try !

I remember my first concert of the season having a funny episode at the beginning !! The curtain was so close to the mridanga vidwan Sri KV Prasad's microphone ,that it got entangled in one of the multiple folds and was just air-lifted .The audience was pretty amused to see a flying mic !! Someone immediately ran and pulled it from the curtain that was already on its way to the top !! For a change people could "literally" complain about a "high" mic-volume for the mridangam !!:)

That apart , what is it that we musicians feel when we watch them go up and slowly, the rows filled with audience, show themselves? The claps begin to resonate the hall, which, is a sign of greeting the artists on stage and maybe even to encourage them as if saying " we are with you . give your best !! " Before that , we usually have a few minutes on the dias to set the pitch and discuss the song lists with the pakka vadyam artists . So many alterations occur at that time .. I remember once at Mylapore fine arts , the secretary asked me what I had planned to sing . I said maybe subhapantuvarali (not maybe , defintely- in my mind ) He retorted by saying " Ada !?.. The previous artist just finished that ragam . Sing something else " . And he waved to the attendant who promptly lifted the curtains and there I was, gaping at a strong , clapping audience , still deciding what to sing !!

The sudden changes might be suggested by the accompanying artists too , sometimes . Some of my close violin and mridanga vidwans have often requested " Sing a rare raga or please give me a thani in any other thala except Adi !! " As always the curtains would go up immediately after that again , leaving me facing the audience with a little bit of confusion .

Its not as if musicians plan so much before a concert that any last minute changes causes chaos but when we are asked to change the main raga of the evening , I do make some changes prior to that as well . Its only me ! Once I know that this is going to be the main piece of the evening , the songs that lead to it are also impacted by a last minute change.
Another similar event that occurs is a rasika running to the back-stage and giving his chit containing song requests. (That reminds me... I will write on "Song requests from rasikas" as a seperate topic itself ! ) And as he goes back , the veil gets lifted !! Again , a wondering me and an encouraging audience .

Dynamism . That key attribute of our music is felt to the core at that precise moment. I cant help recalling that wonderful climax of the tamil movie called Simla Special where Kamal plays the role of a theatre artist.He just bashes up his friend ,cos of a personal feud ,minutes before the curtains are lifted each time.A scene gets over, the curtains fall , Kamal drags his co actor and sends down several whacks real time and once the curtain-bell rings, he rushes back to the stage and continues to act normally!!

Of course its a weird co-relation but being the hardcore Kamal fan that I am , I cant resist thinking about his characters. A gamut of emotions and thoughts run in our minds just when we are stepping onto the dias . Once I saw a popular main artist and the violin artist having a hearty laugh as the curtains went up . The audience was wondering why the artists on the dias were guffawing after seeing them . But ,they connected immediately with the music - happily ! And with the same happy spirits the artists went on to give a cracker of a concert .

Amusingly , sometimes the artists dont know that the microphones have already been switched on when the curtains are still down . The audience can hear the violinist saying " Yesterday , I had 3 concerts " , or the mridanga vidwan giving last minute instructions on where he wants the speakers on the dias or the main artist doing all those things I just said . Plus discussing the song menu !! I did it once .. I leaned over to my violinist and said I am going to sing Vachaspati as the main ragam and he said " Beshaa !! Naanum Adhaye Vaaschudren ( I , too , will play the same !! :) " . A good humour , no doubt, but it was a tad louder than usual because of the active mic and I could hear peals of laughter from the audience on the other side of the curtains .. They had heard everything !!!

These little things that show up just before the the curtains are rolled , add doses of excitement and spice to the concert , that a musician begins to expect them !! Theres no denying that. You can choose to ignore them or take them as a challenge . It depends on how your mind is on that day . But as far as I am concerned , these occurences MAKE a musician .

The great Saint Tyagaraja asked Rama " Marugu Elara "( why a Veil between us , O raghava ?) " in his kriti in raag Jayantasri ! And the marugu , the veil , between the rasikas and the artists is capable of bringing so much character to a concert ..



The curtains go up, again !!