Chanting a course

FAR AWAY from the assembly line music factories churning out platinum discs in voices which seem to be indispensable, there lies an incubator of immense singing talent. It's called the outside world.

Everyone has the ability if not the inclination to yodel. Let it be the privacy of the shower room, but we do sing. Never mind if it's drowned in the gushing water thundering down from the shower. But, when you get a chance to sing in the open - no, you are not on a drive in your car or mobike - in front of hundreds of people, what do you do? Do you shy away? Many would, barring a few brave hearts!

One saw about 50 of them at Country Club singing their hearts out at the `Antakshari' programme. And, they had the audience stumped with their knowledge of old Hindi numbers (and new ones too) not to forget the feeling with which they rendered those melodies. It didn't really matter if the tunes were not true to the originals.

The signature tune was all familiar, one that ushers in Annu Kapoor every week in the famed TV show, and it brought in families and friends onto the lawns. Hordes of them. They sat back and vociferously egged on their dear ones participating in the competition as the young and the old shared the dais.

The teams named after the maestros -- Ravi, Khayyam, Chitragupt, Roshan, and Burman -- and the likes had moms and sons, papas and uncles and cousins and friends, all putting their vocal chords to test. Such was the camaraderie, even among the participants, that every time an old melody was sung, they would all join in and literally pour their hearts out. Those knowing glances, warm handshakes and the `wah' `wahs' said it all.

In the round where a stanza is sung and the participants are required to identify the number, it appeared as if someone had fast forwarded the time roll. Even as the organisers spelt out a word or two, the buzzers would start humming and the participants competing with one another to render the number!

That left the orchestra leader, Pradeep, smiling and shaking his head in disbelief. "You people are extremely good. And what an evening this is turning out to be," he gushed. Indeed, a tuneful evening orchestrated to perfection.

By K.V.S. Madhav

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