“People have different pastimes — music, dance, drama, etc. The spiritually inclined would opt for Harikatha and those who want to delve deeper make a beeline for lectures. Chennai is the only place in the world, where an art extravaganza as the Margazhi festival happens. Chennai, of which I’m a proud citizen, richly deserves the heritage tag given by the UNESCO,” says Nalli Kuppuswamy Chetty, who is the main patron of the art festival. “NRIs, who come generally in July-August, alter their itinerary to be here to attend to concerts,” he observes. He marvels at the growth — from a situation of four or five sabhas and an event of one week to 145 sabhas and 2,700 kutcheris — a unique festival which spreads over three months.
“The Margazhi festival may peak December 15 onwards but some of the sabhas open their events much in advance. Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, for instance, started its cultural fest in November and it will conclude only in January,” points out Nalli, who has seen it all. He recalls Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer’s speech at the 99th festival of Sri Parthasarathy Swamy Sabha in 1999. Releasing the Nalli book of concerts, the doyen said, “From the handbook, I find that there are 30 sabhas on the scene. Quite a handful. I’ll be in a dilemma if good concerts are happening at three different venues. But then given the fact that 2,000 artistes, including accompanists, are waiting for an opportunity, this is most welcome.”
At the helm of various sabhas, does Nalli get involved in planning the series? “No,” he says. “I’ don’t have the knowledge. The task is entrusted to those who know the arts and the commercial value of the artistes. But I do give inputs,” says Nalli, who, however, knows the pulse of the audience. “You know, the rasikas look for minute factors — combination for instance. The accompanists for the main artiste matter a lot to the connoisseur. They look for different combos. So we try to make the pakkavadyam and upapakkavadyam different from the previous year,” he reveals. “There are half a dozen popular names the rasikas watch out for. So I tell my team to catch them as early as possible for the Season,” he expands. “This is especially important when some seniors prefer to restrict their outings,” explains Nalli, who was the force behind the Tamil Isai festival of Kartik Fine Arts and the marathon youth dance festival organised by Sri Parthasarathy Swamy Sabha. At the request of the Swamiji, he revived the Navaratri concert series of Sri Ramakrishna Mission Home in 2005, after 50 years, and it has been a huge success.
The raga ready reckoner published by Nalli has become a must for rasika. “An observation led to the publication,” says the veteran. It was a concert by Sanjay Subrahmanyan at the Music Academy. A group of school children trooped in and sat on the wings. Presently, they opened their notebooks and jotted down something even as the vidwan was singing. “They were writing down the ragas and would check with their parents or teachers after going home. This made me think. Raga reckoner was the result,” says Nalli, who on many occasions has witnessed people referring to it. Once, Unnikrishnan — Nalli thinks it was KGS — started an alapana and after a few minutes quietly everyone turned the pages of the raga directory. After the song, Unni said with a smile, “No, you wouldn’t have found it in the book. It is an Apoorva ragam, seldom handled.” Nalli made it a point to include it in the next edition.
In spite of digital platforms, where music is available, the Season has not lost its sheen.
“How can it,” counters Nalli. “There is no substitute for the live concert experience. I still remember a concert of T.N. Seshagopalan. He was in full flow and M. Chandrasekharan violinist said, ‘Sabhash.’ It was spontaneous and so touching. The delight of the rasika when he identifies the raga during a kutcheri is unique to the sabha atmosphere. Home theatre is private and comfortable but audience, especially the youth, prefer to watch it in the cinema hall,” he says. “It was at the age of 15, that I was drawn to music thanks to the proximity of the Krishna Gana Sabha Hall close to our shop. Standing outside, after business hours, when there was little or no traffic, I would listen to the concerts. I was mesmerised although I did not understand anything. It is the Almighty’s wish that eventually I should become the patron of Arts. As they say, the iconic Margazhi festival will happen as long as Chandra-Surya (the Sun and the Moon) shine in the sky,” he concludes on an emotional note.
