Chennai 600086

Madras week celebrations are on in full swing at the home town. It is in times like this that I miss being there the most. To mark the occasion I am going to name the things I love about the city of my heart!

1. 600086- For home, school, Gangotree, Joy Shop,”sighting”, Eashwari library, playing hide and seek in the streets, Krishnar Kovil pongal in Margazhi, for being the center of “my” city and and my world! However much Madras is expanding, I always think I live in the center of the city! Mylapore and T.Nagar are a short ride away, the beach is a 15 minute drive, Nungambakkam is almost next door and ofcourse Sathyam Cinemas is a stone’s throw away!

2. My black and yellow chauffeur driven limos! With those wonderful creations of mankind, anything was only a drive away Haggling with them, walking away from one, only for them to come rushing behind you to catch up with you, walking away from the really arrogant ones, looking for “swami padams” in the autos before getting into one late in the night- ah those cheap (well not really) thrills of life!

3. Marina Beach - For the awesome memories : of 15 kids catching a bus at 6:30 in the morning to go play catch at the beach, of thenga manga sundal and pineapple with masala podi, of shooting balloons, of driving there late in the night in the middle of a cyclone, of enthu girls who drove there early in the morning to watch the fishermen after a night full of sleepover confessions, of going there every single day in the eight semester for apparently getting over my tsunami fear (that is what I told my mom!), of a plan made in the middle of the night on a conference call to meet there early the next morning, of meeting friends after two years to realize that somethings stay the same forever!

4. ECR : The beachhouses, the drives, the memories, the plans, the schemes and the promises of staying together forever!

5. For the food.

6. For the kutcheris with perimma, dance programs with D and Uthu, for the canteen food at the Academy and for Margazhi!

7. For the wonderful Chennai tamizh and engineering college lingo. If you don’t get it : Free a vidu!

8. For Kollywood, Super Star and other geniuses like Mani Ratnam, Rahman, Kamal, IR, Shankar..

9. For being THE home where the heart lies!

I could go on forever! But I like the number 9…So!

Zakhir Hussain and the masters of percussion

I was very lucky to watch the Ustad live as a part of his masters of percussion ensemble on Friday (2nd May). It was in the magnificent Southern Theatre building in downtown Columbus, complete with the ornate gold brocading and the velvet curtains that such buildings are known for! A packed hall of white and brown. All eagerly waiting in anticipation. The opening act left us gaping with our mouths wide open. A brilliant display of acrobatic percussion from the Meitei Pung Cholom troupe from Manipur combining drums, dance and martial arts. I was completely floored by their rhythmic footwork complimenting the drumming (reminded me of Revathy Ramachandran’s Shuddhanritam). The soulful music of the Saarangi then ushered in the ustad and his brother Faizal Qureshi. This was the first time I ever heard a Saarangi live and the melancholic tones of the instrument was simply inspiring! Dilshad Khan on the Saarangi then provided the musical backdrop for the tabla gimmicks of the brothers. There were several humorous interludes and soon Zakhir Hussain had the audience eating out of his palm literally! Then came the musician from Tashkent playing the Doyra. The stuff he did with it were mindblowing. There was also some brilliant beatboxing from Taufiq Qureshi another of Zakhir’s brothers. Post break, Niladri Kumar came on the sitar with some brilliant stuff and soon the whole ensemble was jamming together breaking spontaneously into tunes including Vaishnava janato, Ragupathy raghava and Mozart’s 25th symphony (ala Titan ad). The music reached a crescendo building up on rhythmic fireworks from the Qureshi’s, Manipuri drummers, the uzbeki doyra player, Vijay Chauhan on the Dholki and the saarangi and the sitar providing the melodic support. Brilliant stuff and a truly rare and blessed experience!