Money, glamour and... some music

Costs are going up, say the sabhas. Not our problem, say the crowd-pullers. Thus begins haggling and it is not always that a compromise is reached, avers V. SRIRAM.

IT IS here! The season which all of us music aficionados look forward to. The season when the NRIs fly down like migratory birds and nest here.

The Music Academy and other sabhas are given a facelift. There is a nip in the air. The artistes have a tough time going from sabha to sabha, singing non-stop for 20 days.

How many concerts did A perform? How many did B do? Only 10? Last time it was 20. Market must be slipping away.

Rate haggling. The sabhas, it is said, pay a small fee compared to what artistes get at other concerts.

The argument from the sabha side is that costs are going up and so if they pay the artiste more, what is to become of hall maintenance, staff salary and all that? What about the loss caused by hosting concerts of the non-crowd pullers, which have to be done as a matter of form? Let us not haggle on rates.

Not our headache, answer the popular artistes. We must get what is commensurate with our efforts and our ability to attract crowds. Do not have kutcheris by the others. Why should we subsidise their concerts?

Let us haggle, say the sabhas. So a compromise is reached. Sometimes not and the artiste does not sing there. The gossip mills work overtime.

Sometimes, artistes do give in and then ditch at the last moment when another sabha offers them more. Not all of them though.

The music season is also the high point of fashion. Silk saris are brought out. Diamonds are given a polish and flourished.

Wherever the halls are air conditioned, Pashmina shawls are brought as a matter of form.

Silk saris are flaunted and so are churidars, Gucci shoes, bags and designer spectacle frames. Not to forget that Cross pen and the pad to note the songs and forget them till the next season.

Being seen in the ground floor of the Academy is another social must. For that is where the highest and mightiest of society meet up during the season.

More business deals must be struck at the canteen than in all the boardrooms of corporate houses in Chennai.

The upper floor is not really the place and is often referred to as Kishkinda we are told, mainly because of the height.

Those who need tickets court sabha secretaries and the secretaries in turn court sponsors. Where will the sabhas stand without them? Those ugly banners that keep flapping and those ropes that can strangle one if given a chance are all necessities. For they pay the bills.

Never mind if the sponsor does not know an iota about Carnatic music and probably thinks it is some kind of Kannada songs.

He will definitely be asked to preside, where he will make a speech, tying himself into knots and mispronouncing the names of every artiste.

``Hi, did you attend so and so's concert yesterday?'' one bright young thing says to another. ``No. Bad luck.

But tell me, what was she wearing?'' For the artiste is the role model for fashion designs, hair styles and jewellery. ``There was a time, when people would flock to MLV's concert for three things'' says her husband, Vikatam Krishnamurthy, ``To hear her pallavi, see her sari and copy any new jewel she was wearing. And not necessarily in that order. The same went for MS too.''

Glamour is now one of the greatest attributes an artiste can possess. The rich and powerful need artistes for some unfathomable inner craving.

Once upon a time, they attracted kings and landlords. Then judges, ICS and IAS officials.

Later still lawyers, chartered accountants, doctors and other professionals. Then came ministers and businessmen. Now it is the turn of the NRIs and the new wave of IT professionals.

To be seen as being close to an artiste is considered a great social achievement. ``Where did you vanish after so and so's concert?'' says Mami 1 to Mami 2. ``Oh, I went backstage to congratulate him. I have known his family since the boy's mother was so small,'' says Mami 2, leaving Mami 1 to bite her nails in envy. ``Hey, I cannot come over today, X is singing and has said I must come''. Never mind if X attracts a few thousands and will probably never notice anyway.

So, that in a nutshell is the season. What about music, you ask? There is no time for that now. Some other time. I am just off for a festival inauguration, where my friend's company is the sponsor. I wrote the speech for him.

The main awardee has said I must attend and besides, the sabha secretary is a man worth knowing.

(The author is the editor of www.sangeetham.com)

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