My First Day At The Music Academy... 3 incidents...

The day I entered the TTK Auditorium, Music Academy for the first time is still etched in my memory... not that it happened ages ago, but in this era of slogans like ' Impatience Is The New Rule ' and the likes, people find it hard to recollect things which would have happened mere moments before, its quite an achievement in its own right, to remember events which took place a couple of months ago.....

21-12-2011... around 1:40 pm ...

I had just arrived in Chennai the previous day after a draining tour of Mumbai.. ( the return journey to Chennai was indeed a tedious one..). In normal circumstances...only a really good salesman could have convinced me to get out of my bed that day and travel about 6 kms after a sumptuous heavy meal.

But the very fact that i had never ever seen the interior of the 'Mecca of Carnatic Music'... was itself the biggest motivation i had...

Though i had been giving concerts here and there in Chennai, I never had the privilege to get inside the TTK Auditorium which had over the years witnessed some of the most memorable concerts ever rendered...

I entered the lobby where heated discussions were happening among some rasikas... I had neither the time nor the interest to plunge into that.. as i couldnt wait any longer to have a view at that stage...

Incident 1

It would have been only a few seconds inside the hall.. even before i could find a suitable seat... a rasika, aged about 50 to 60 came to me and asked.. ' Are you not Tvm Nandini???... your performance at the Mini Hall last month was memorable...'... I still consider this as one of the best moments in my life spanning across the 19 odd years (till now)...

I had always cherished the opportunity of performing at Chennai... and at times a bit too conscious also.. But the fact that i was recognised by atleast one person gave me a mountain of confidence and belief that one day or the other i could make a name for myself in this field.

Incident 2 

I was accompanied by my brother to the concert who had been to the season for a couple of years by then. The scheduled time for the concert was 1.45pm.. as per my brother he had never witnessed a concert starting even a couple of minutes late at the Academy.... It was Cherthala Sri Ranganatha Sarma Sir's concert that day... a genius and a musician whom i admire very much. To the surprise of every one present in the auditorium, the concert did not begin even after the clock struck 2 pm. It was announced that Sarma Sir could not make it to the venue due to a traffic block.

Finally the concert started at around 2.15pm, half an hour later than it was scheduled... Quite a rarity in the Music Academy..

Nevertheless it turned out to be a magnificient concert, the RTP in Kaapi being the highlight.

Incident 3

When I queried upon this.. Sarma sir told that he had started 2 hours before the scheduled time but a traffic block at Saidapet followed by an accident prevented him from reaching the venue on time. But hats off to him for delivering a brilliant concert against all the odds. 

And the icing on the cake... All the artists who performed at that concert (the first ever concert which i heard at the Academy) were privileged to receive the award from the Music Academy... though i admit i had nothing to do with it..:-). Sarma Sir got the award for the best Vocalist, Sri Edappally Ajith (ajithettan) and Sri Tvm Balaji (balaji anna), won the awards in their respective categories....

Quite A day Isnt It?????