There was a rather distinguished crowd at the Chennai International Airport. Accompanied by a plethora of carefully-packaged instruments, 200 musicians of all ages prepared for the day-long journey across international waters. Some travelled in groups, others solo, and soon each pre-journey selfie was uploaded on the Internet, allowing rasikas a unique behind-the-scene glimpse into the ten-day festival.
Much before the musicians embarked on the journey, V.V. Sundaram sat at his dining table with a travel agent, , as multiple phones rang incessantly, to book flight tickets on command. Visa papers flew in and out of Sundaram’s Besant Nagar residence. It was a chaotic amalgamation of events, the culmination of 40 years of passion.
Musical meet
In the lobby of Comfort Inn in Cleveland, Ohio, there was a flurry of greetings over volunteer-prepared filter kaapi and South Indian meals. Mannargudi Easwaran and Tiruchi Sankaran greeted the eager NRI artistes with smiles, reminding the diaspora of their annual summer vacation filled with music. A stone’s throw away, the Waetjen Auditorium in Cleveland State University, the word namaskaram filled the air, overlaying the faint hum of a dozen tamburas being tuned. For some, it was a trip that had become as familiar as the yearly Tiruvaiyaru, but for others, it was a new world unto its own.
“This is the largest congregation of musicians abroad and I was so excited to be a part of this festival,” said young vocalist Girijashankar Sundaresan. He made his debut at the Aradhana alongside N.C. Bharadwaj, Vignesh Ishwar, J.A. Jayanth and others. The performance was only part of the thrill. “Since all musicians stayed together, we had the opportunity to socialise and attend concerts together. It was unbelievably unique,” added Girijashankar.
This intimate gathering is a product of the times, said Sundaram. “We began in the basement of a church, never expecting it to grow like it has.” The magnitude is unfathomable but Sundaram isn’t done yet. “We try to push the envelope every year for just one reason: give the children of North America an experience that they can’t get anywhere else.”
This year, the envelope expanded from day one, featuring a concert of 12 nagaswarams and thavils as South Indian temples have done for so many years. The festival continued with a multitude of thematic concerts and young NRI musicians thronged the auditorium as listeners, performers, award-winners, and change makers.
“When I began attending the Aradhana, it was for artistic inspiration. Now, the social aspect is an added bonus,” said percussion vidwan Akshay Anantapadmanabhan. He, along with fellow expat musicians, has been revisiting the Aradhana ever since he moved to Chennai five years ago. This year, he represented them all with a mission in mind.
“I feel that it’s my responsibility to play a part in giving young artistes and students of music the same awe-inspiring experience that I had when attending Cleveland as a youngster.” Like many of his contemporaries, he feels that the off-stage interaction is just as crucial as the time spent on-stage, having shaped his own journey from student to performer.
He’s not wrong, and as the stage filled to the brim on the morning of the first Saturday of April for the rendering of the Pancharatna Kritis, it was hard to separate the artistes from the amateurs and aficionados. Halfway across the world, vocalist Ananya Ashok readied herself for a concert at Narada Gana Sabha but kept up with the back-to-back concerts being live streamed worldwide.
Unique experience
Though she did not attend the Aradhana this year, her Bay Area upbringing led her to the festival in her formative years, opening her eyes to a world of possibilities. “Cleveland was a catalyst for many things, including my decision to become a professional musician,” said Ananya. The competitions served as a gateway to meet like-minded students and vidwans and before long, she attended her first Chennai Margazhi season. The amazing experience, she said, all started “with the Cleveland Aradhana.”
The festival has become a part of every musician’s bucket-list. For Kalakshetra exponent Savithri Jagannatha Rao however, it has meant so much more. “When Rhadha and I were invited almost a decade ago, we were thrilled and over the years, the attention that the festival has brought to natya in all forms, be it Kathak, Bharatanatyam, Odissi, or Mohiniyatom, has been revolutionary.” This year stands testament, as 30 young dancers from both Chennai and America were brought together for a six-part production of ‘Srimad Bhagavatham’, accompanied by a professional live orchestra. “The Aradhana is limitless. We are just happy to be a part of it,” she said.
We watched with keen eyes as the ten-day affair unfolded. As we saw its beauty, we also experienced the dynamism of the changing times in America as reports came of a shooter on the university campus. The Aradhana, however, ploughed on, and we couldn’t help but notice that it is a world of its own. Carefully crafted by the Committee over four decades, the Aradhana has birthed a movement that begs the question: what next?
As the community migrates back to sweltering Chennai and its familiar sabha halls, a generation of Indian-Americans sit scattered across the country in awe. For them, the revival has just begun.
