Saturday, April 23, 2005

Kacheri of a different kind...

Venue : United Methodist Church, College Station, TX, USA (btw, there seem to be so many different types of churches - Lutheran, Methodist, Adventist, etc, etc. - well, never ceases to amuse this ignorant bystander)

Artists: Malladi Brothers; the author listened to them for the first time yesterday. They were simply amazing. Such wonderful mellifluous voices; grasp and command over the compositions (there were quite a few requests from the audience, they obliged each one)!; effortless rendering of the keerthanams - by Annamacharya, Thyagaraja, Ramadas, Shyama Shastry, etc. Organized by SPIC-MACAY, TAMU chapter.

Audience: Around 50; mostly Indians. A few foreigners (hmm.. well the Americans) interested in Indian Classical Music were also present. This number surprised me. For a college town, College Station, would definitely boast of around 2000+ Indians. Are people so busy these days, that they do not get the time to attend a free concert? Or, is it lack of interest, sensibility, passion or whatever. Such young amazing talent needs to be nourished, enriched and nurtured.

Well, I didnt want to write about all this, but then, couldnt help it. What I had wanted to convey, was that the venue was a church. The podium was near the altar. With the Cross, and a glass engraving of Jesus as passive onlookers, the Brothers enthralled the audience with a 2 1/2 hr mellifluous kacheri - renderings of divine Hindu Carnatic compositions. I was really happy with the setting. Well, this author firmly believes in the presence of a unifying omnipotent omniscient ONE in different manifestations. The American experience opens up new frontiers and the author considers himself fortunate to have been among the audience for this event.The kacheris that the author has been to in India were inevitably at Sabha's or temples.

Music has no religion in the same way flowers have no religion.
- Amjad Ali Khan

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