Till my retirement, I never showed any interest in Carnatic music. It was as alien to me as electoral bond would be to James Bond. Post retirement, after the initial euphoria that lasted about five months, I started getting bored. On one of those days, while I was watching “Best 50 Catches” for the 100th time, my wife suggested I accompany her to a Carnatic music concert that evening.
I was shocked, and remarked, “You must be joking”. She quipped, “No, not at all. Remember, your mother was a talented Carnatic musician, but couldn’t pursue it due to perennial domestic chores. Then she arranged for classes for your sister, who is quite good at it”.
“ So?” I asked.
She continued, “So, I suspect you must have some traces of the music gene, which can be woken up from its long slumber.”
I wasn’t convinced.
That’s when she played the trump card. “Adjacent to the concert sabha, a canteen sells hot and fresh keerai vadai (a fried savoury),” she said.
I asked, “When are we leaving?”
The concert lasted two hours, and I didn’t leave till the end, even for keerai vadai. After returning home, I expressed surprise about my ability to stay put for the entire programme. My wife, as usual, replied, “I told you so.”
The next morning, while I was watching “Best 25 Catches”, she advised me to start listening to Carnatic music as a hobby. Soon, I did that, every day.
Months later, when my sister visited us, I proudly told her about my new hobby, to which she countered, “Can you identify ragas?”
She appeared happy when I replied in the negative. Perhaps, sibling rivalry has no time limit. But her query motivated me to go to the next level. I began to watch videos on “How to identify ragas” and, over the next three years, I was able to recognise about 30 ragas.
In December the following year, when the ‘Margazhi’ music festival commenced, I waited at 6 a.m. at the gates of a renowned music hall, managed to buy a season ticket, and held it high, triumphantly, like a Wimbledon champion.
During one of the concerts there, a lady who was sitting next to me, asked, “When will be RTP?”
I stared at her as I didn’t have any clue what it meant. While returning home, my wife explained that RTP meant ragam, thanam, pallavi and that there was other jargon such as gamakas, neraval and thani aavardhanam. It looked like I had a long way to go.
And so, my endeavour to reach the next level began and I joined an online course to learn and appreciate those nuances.
It has been a decade since I began this journey.
I am grateful to keerai vadai for initiating me to this wonderful hobby of listening and appreciating Carnatic music.
soraiyurvraman@gmail.com
