It was Thursday. The weekend was to start officially in another 24 hrs. Grinding myself at work, I was suddenly called upon by my friend. Unfortunately, the work schedule was so tight that I had to tell him that I would give him a ring again after I reached my home.
I called him up when Mahabharata got over in Vijay TV. As it might be expected, the circular black clock showed the time to be 930pm. After exchanging pleasantries, I was told that tickets were available for Indian Ocean concert on Friday @ 7pm in Sir Mutha Venkata Subbarao Concert hall. Having been enthralled and mesmerized by the voices of Hariharan, SPB, Shankar Mahadevan, Karthik etc. in many concerts, The only Indian Ocean which I knew was the blue waters on which Sri Lanka resides! I did not know head or tail on the band that my friend was asking me to attend with him.This Indian Ocean was very new to me. So what? and Why not? are always questions which I used to ask myself whenever I have a decision to take and make instantly. Immediately, without any hesitation, I said yes to my friend. Finally, the long call drew to a close giving the mobile operator quite a share of the mobile balance to them.
I reached the office in my usual time. Usually, I take 2 15 breaks - one in the morning and evening apart from my lunch time of 1 hour. But today, it was different. In order to have my regular office hours to be clocked for 8 hours and at the same time leave @ 6pm, I decided not to take the 15 minute breaks and also curtail my usual lunch hour by half so that I can finish my work and leave office by 6pm to reach the concert. It was going as per the master plan. A new work at the fag end of the day delayed my plan by very little time - 15 minutes to be very precise! So, I left my work by 615pm and travelled hurriedly to my home. By the time, I left for the concert , it was way past 7 - 710pm to be exact!
After missing out on crucial turns due to the heavy friday traffic, I was finally able to reach the Lady Andal school premises by 805pm for the big free concert. A quick call to my friend enabled a hassle free entry into the auditorium. I was greeted in by a melodious song in hindi with colorful lights dancing wildly on the stage.
A speedy search on the high-speed net connectivity gave me the much needed background information on the band. The Indian Ocean has been in existence for more than 25 years and that they are the pioneers of fusion genre in India. My friend is an avid carnatic music listener and singer. I learnt from him that this band experiments and plays carnatic music with the touch and flair of rock music. Indeed, the music was really refreshing. Quirky. Original. New. Soulful. Deeply-rooted in Indianism. It was a complete different experience for me. Rahul Ram, one of the founding members of the band, kept the mood light-hearted and engaged with the audience by asking us to hum and clap in tune with his tunes. He was also very witty and quick to think on his feet whenever they needed a short break. When the band started to sing "Ma Rewa", the entire crowd were up on their feet. My friend was in a state of hyperism. I was thoroughly enjoying both the music and the electric atmosphere. So, the wave of thunderous applause subsided only to renew again with even more vigor and energy when the band announced that their last song of the day was "Kandisa". The loud cheers from the audience would have surely given the crowd at Nehru stadium a run for their money! The song was indeed very soulful. Though I did not understand the meaning of the words, I felt a deep connect within myself when the song was being rendered. I was up and on my feet too cheering loudly for this band when the curtains were being brought down after the last song of the day.
Just like a surfer rides the high waves and soaks in the water thoroughly, I was completely hit by this wave of beautiful music and rendition which was so pure and pristine without casting aside their Indian origins. The music was also deep and soul stirring thus created an overwhelming sense of peace and tranquility even in such a spirited environment. Without question, The Indian Ocean was really like the Indian Ocean!
After missing out on crucial turns due to the heavy friday traffic, I was finally able to reach the Lady Andal school premises by 805pm for the big free concert. A quick call to my friend enabled a hassle free entry into the auditorium. I was greeted in by a melodious song in hindi with colorful lights dancing wildly on the stage.
A speedy search on the high-speed net connectivity gave me the much needed background information on the band. The Indian Ocean has been in existence for more than 25 years and that they are the pioneers of fusion genre in India. My friend is an avid carnatic music listener and singer. I learnt from him that this band experiments and plays carnatic music with the touch and flair of rock music. Indeed, the music was really refreshing. Quirky. Original. New. Soulful. Deeply-rooted in Indianism. It was a complete different experience for me. Rahul Ram, one of the founding members of the band, kept the mood light-hearted and engaged with the audience by asking us to hum and clap in tune with his tunes. He was also very witty and quick to think on his feet whenever they needed a short break. When the band started to sing "Ma Rewa", the entire crowd were up on their feet. My friend was in a state of hyperism. I was thoroughly enjoying both the music and the electric atmosphere. So, the wave of thunderous applause subsided only to renew again with even more vigor and energy when the band announced that their last song of the day was "Kandisa". The loud cheers from the audience would have surely given the crowd at Nehru stadium a run for their money! The song was indeed very soulful. Though I did not understand the meaning of the words, I felt a deep connect within myself when the song was being rendered. I was up and on my feet too cheering loudly for this band when the curtains were being brought down after the last song of the day.
Just like a surfer rides the high waves and soaks in the water thoroughly, I was completely hit by this wave of beautiful music and rendition which was so pure and pristine without casting aside their Indian origins. The music was also deep and soul stirring thus created an overwhelming sense of peace and tranquility even in such a spirited environment. Without question, The Indian Ocean was really like the Indian Ocean!
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