Music is My Mother Tongue

Yay! Yippee! Yay! Finally! No, I did not get to go to the moon...but, hey, I had an out-of-the-world experience nevertheless. I got to attend a 2-hour music concert by S.P.B in Namma Bengaluru. Perhaps the best thing about attending the concert was that it was not planned in advance and came as an unexpected surprise. We went over to the venue almost 45 minutes before the concert began (don’t ask me why) but I managed to kill time with premium popcorn (popcorn that costs more because it is accompanied by music) and amused myself by watching people stream in, screen the ground, eye random chairs, avoid the dirty ones and the ones next to people who seemed like recluses, move from one section to another every few minutes and finally make up their minds and settle down somewhere once for all.

S.P.B was punctual and made his entry bang on time. I smiled at the stage and the speakers and took a few deep breaths as if to inhale the music in the air. I knew that the concert was multi-lingual and was looking forward to some of my favourite Tamil, Kannada, Telugu and Hindi songs. S.P.B was supported by 4-5 other local singers and a popular Kannada singer-TV anchor. I thought S.P.B was, not surprisingly, cautious about the crowd -He felt it necessary to mention that all languages were the same in his view and for him, personally, there was actually just one language – Music. That statement of his, btw, triggered off a spark in me actually. I’ve decided that one of the best ways to express my undying obsession for music is to say “Music is my Mother Tongue”. Thank you. Thank you.

When SPB sang the first Tamil song, he chose one that referred to a deity in Kerala and even said “We are now going from Karnataka to Kerala!” ;-) As if people would imagine it was a Malayalam song. Fortunately, he got a little less conscious when he sang the other Tamil songs. Sigh. I wish we did not have to be so scared in our own country!

As I sat through the lovely songs, drinking in the music, I did allow myself to be distracted. There was this active little kid next to me who contributed to the entertainment. He first interrogated his dad about where the latter had parked the car and why he could not park it in the VIP lot and whether the car was safe outside. The kid then went on to brainwash, bully and emotionally blackmail his dad into buying most of the available snacks at an alarming frequency. When I thought that was all the kid would be interested in and there would be no more entertainment from him, he demonstrated his versatility. He insisted that his dad demand S.P.B for a particular song that he (the kid) was apparently fond of. His dad gave in and got up and lifted the little boy and presented him to S.P.B (who was too far away and engrossed in his song to notice) a la the famous Lion King scene, while screaming for the song. I giggled as softly as I could and turned back to focus on the stage. A while later, a tiny hand made its presence felt in the periphery of my vision. It was drawing imaginary sine waves. As you may have guessed, it was our little friend again. I marveled at the talent and thought to myself that kids are now even learning to conduct music and turned back to the stage a little dazed. Soon enough, I realized that the character under question was, ahem, simply imitating our legendary singer. So much for a budding prodigy.

Coming back to the music, I let out a whoop of joy when S.P.B sang two of my most favourite Kannada songs - Naguva nayana and Jotheyalli.

The supporting singers attempted to cater to the universal request for Anisitude yaako indu and Ninnindale. But I must say that I was not particularly thrilled…it was nowhere near the original. Sonu Nigam is inimitable. Period. (Forget the videos, folks…just soak in the music. At least, that’s the way I like it. Watching a video sometimes kills the beauty of the music! :-()

Coming to the Tamil fare, though I was left craving for a lot more, I was lucky to listen to two of my favourites - Sundari kannal oru and Guruvayurappa. S.P.B also sang Engeyum eppodum, which turned out to be something that made most of the audience go quite crazy.

So, that’s that. Sigh. I wish there were live music concerts in office. That would inspire me tons. Anyone listening? Hmn?