From Ilaiyaraaja to Ed Sheeran, an array of songs from a host of artistes pulled a huge crowd to the Chennai Metro Music Edit, at the Chennai Central Metro station.
After 19-year-old Jothi Kalaiselvi, a visually-impaired person with an intellectual disability, took to the stage, the buzzing crowd turned silent — from Ilayaraja’s Ilaya Nila to Bharathiyar’s Chinanchiru Kiliye, she played several numbers. She received thunderous applause. “Nothing else makes me as happy as music. It’s my life and passion,” she said. Arjun Madhavan of Unwind Centre, which collaborated with the Metro for the project, said bringing music to public spaces would not just give artistes a great platform, it would also help showcase the kind of music available in the city.
“Not just Carnatic, we have some great artistes who can perform jazz, hiphop and fusion as well. The idea is to connect with the people in such public spaces,” he added.
Yogi Seetharam, a 15-year-old student, who performed songs of Sid Sriram, said performing in public spaces gave them an idea of what people wanted and if they liked the music.
