Raging Ragas

Thursday s NXG - a supplement of the Hindu carried a small piece I wrote. A version of this article appears below:

Raging Ragas

Body surfacing is a rock concert practice. But, so what if that’s observed during “Uyire, Uyire” Hariharan’s widely speculated, predominantly melodious (or so it was promised) concert. The place to be was the grounds of CEG where shall I say things were just a bit RAGING? With the crowd running into thousands of people, most of who fall in the “raging” hormones group, rancid chanting of “We want Kuthu” isn’t something unexpected, is it? And what could be better than the ghazal singer complying with this request. Well, in a live concert audience own the show, don’t they? With the bespectacled singer crooning out melodies with an enthusiasm that would put my neighbour Rohit (a three year old kid who talks non-stop about Power Rangers-Jungle fury) to incomparable shame, the experienced singer had the audience dancing to his tunes. What was a soul stirring Nenjukul Peidhidum Mamazhai became an arduous listening exercise with the crowd deciding to chant every word of the hit number. I enjoy listening to Hariharan and disappoint he didn’t! With the near perfect Krishna Nee Begane, he won me - a passive listener who was messaging a friend tempting me with the prospect of getting to the front VIP rows where things are normal to say the least- back. It was two hours of freaking fun. A day that gets marked in college life as non-ephemeral.