Concerts . . . The soothing flow of one song... The foot tapping instrumentals of another... The soaring notes, the lilting tones and the haunting melodies..... The simple grace and elegance of the different ragas... The subtle nuances that each singer brings to his / her singing which makes the song uniquely theirs . . . The list is endless :-)

Add to this the fact that the said concert is by a singer whom you have been hoping to hear live for long... And the fact that the venue is conveniently close to your house ;) And the programme for the evening is decided upon without much ado :D

We had been to the "Swara Smarane" concert by M D Pallavi @ Chowdiah Memorial Hall, last Thursday...

And what an experience it turned out to be . . . !!!

A courteous security person, directed us smilingly to what proved to be a comfortable parking place... Yeah I know !! Smiling security guard, and comfy parking in the heart of Bangalore really do sound too good to be true ;) Consider though that it was a weekday :-)

And for the said weekday, the hall was quite well packed I felt... [Of course, I am no expert, this being my first indoor concert...] The programme did start a lil late, but not too much to cause annoyance . . .

And what an evening it turned out to be !!

I was amazed at the flawless diction and natural mannerisms that Chitrashree possessed, as she conducted the programme. Her command over the language left me with a very warm glow in my heart... Nothing high brow, yet the simplicity of the words and the conviction in her voice created the right ambience for the evening...

And as for Pallavi... Well... Hats off !!! I loved the way every musician on stage was acknowledged by her, before she began each song... I do not know if this is the norm in most concerts, but it really touched me to hear the 'star' performer giving such eloquent introduction to the musicians... The lil tidbits about the musicians who for the most part go unsung [esp by the masses], spoke volumes to me...

V always wonders about the 'support' staff behind every successful artiste... This time though, we were both pleasantly surprised..... There was a family sitting behind us, and the Uncle was a very avid fan I believe... And not simply because he could recognize the songs by their introduction, or that he clapped harder than most people sitting around us... I say he was an avid fan, because he clapped the hardest when each of the musicians was being introduced... He knew which shows and stars the musicians had performed in and with, which were their best performances, added to the who's who they performed with, and also added his 2 bits about the various composers, ragas chosen et al... And all of this was shared in a very carrying voice... :-) Thanks to him, we no longer completely believe that all of the 'support' staff is almost always unknown and unappreciated by the masses :-) Thanks You, Uncle !!!

In the age of cell phones beeping every minute, it came as a surprize to me that throughout the programme, there was very negligible cell-noise-pollution ;) The fine sensibilities of the audience was reflected so evidently...

Midway through however, the girl sitting beside me turned on her laptop and proceeded to complete checking her mails and also finish a presentation ;) Apart from the fact that the light from her monitor was distracting, it should not have caused much annoyance to others... It did irritate me to no end though :-( And I turned my head, only to find another person busy working on his laptop too :-(

If office deadlines are so important, I wonder why people need to attend programmes and show disrespect this way... :-( Sad :-(

I also got to see some of the stalwarts in Kannada literature and music... Not up close... Just a long way ahead of me ;)

What can I say about the music??? It flowed so seamlessly, effortlessly pulling me under it's spell... Beginning with "ಉದಯವಾಗಲಿ ನಮ್ಮ ಚೆಲುವ ಕನ್ನಡ ನಾಡು" to the "ಸೋರುತಿಹುದು ಮನೆಯ ಮಾಳಿಗೆ"... From "ಮಡಿಕೇರಿ ಮೇಲ ಮಂಜು" to "ರತ್ನನ ಪದಗಳು"... It was truly a delightful journey...

"ದೀಪವು ನಿನ್ನದು" and "ಎಡೆ ತುಂಬಿ ಹಾಡಿದೆನು", brought to an end a truly memorable concert...

Apart from the half an hour or so in the midst of the programme, wherein there was a CD release function, the evening was filled with notes - rich, melodious, lilting, haunting, joyous, brooding, contemplative . . . . . . .

We left the auditorium with many memories refreshed, and the tunes still playing on our lips...

The only thought in my head then was . . . When 'live bands' have official permission to play till the witching hour, is it in any way fair that 'concerts' are asked to wind up a good 2 hours before the bewitching hour?????

PS: Special thanks to my friend SG, of Aviratha who told me about this concert... :-)