Thiruppavai Concert by Sri H.Srivatsan

[Ramasubramanian M.K]

Venue: Residence of Mr. and Mrs.Narasimha(Rama) in Saratoga,CA(Bay Area) on Jan21,2011.

Old Habits die Hard.From my school days and college days,I have "gate-crashed" my way into Kutcheris without any sense of shame or impropriety--using every ruse known to mankind-- be it carrying the Vetrilai Chellam(betel leave container) for PSP ,or butter in Vetrilai for GNSirand host of other techniques to "sneak" into Kutcheri Halls without buying a ticket However,not finding any concert in the Bay area, I casually phoned up a Bombay Friend of over 60 years(Bay Area Residents will have no problem in identifying the person--none other than Mr.P.V. Natarajan(father of Rajee Gopalkrishnan and Mridangist Narayanan well-known in the Bay Area!!) when I learnt from Narayanan that there was to be a full-length Thiruppavai singing by H.Srivatsan--disciple of KVN and a distinguished violinist--well-known to Forumites--Narayanan just gave me the name of the Host/Hostess(Mr. and Mrs. Narasimha) and I had to coax him to find out he was accompanying and added it was free(my lifetime maxim has been "FREE IS BETTER THAN CHEAP") I promptly decided to "crash" the performance--dispensing with--- as is my customary wont--- the normal,civil courtesies of having to phone a person hitherto unknown atleast to let them know that 2 additional guests(myself and my wife--the latter a strict protocol person who literally had to be dragged).would be- attending the function and partake of the hearty repast--Narayanan underplayed the feast part saying there would be Prasadam after the concert!!!
With the help of a user-friendly GPS borrowed from my son,we found our way to Mr.Narasimha's residence just in time to listen to a wonderful recital of verses -- from Thiruppavai by a group of young boys and girls(ranging in age from 7 to fifteen)----Arasi,CMLover et al would have enjoyed it thoroughly--rendered with perfect diction and intonation in unison that literally took my breath away.I found out that the host Mr.Narasimha and his wife have been conducting this annual feautre with total dedication and Devotion for several years. The puja decorations and the portraits-- of Ariyakudi and KVN--the former the Tunesmith for the Pasurams and the latter the torchbearer of those tunes,filled the hall with the right ambiance for Srivatsan(accompanied by his disciple--Anil Narasimha--son of the host--and his brother Mani--in addition to Srivatsan's two sons--Raman and Kesavan--the latter barely 8 years old and played the violin as well--On the Violin was Ajay Narasimha--son of the host and a disciple of Srivatsan. On the Mridangam was the veteran Mr. Narayanan and a young Vighnesh--a student of UVS--altogether an OCTET so to say--8 artists on the stage(5 singers,one violinist and 2 mridangists)--the violinist also happened to be the son-in-law of one of our old NY area music lovers-friends--needless to say my cup was filled to the brim.

The concert followed--a 5 and a half hour delectable treat with each of the performers outdoing each other.
I think with this preamble, I want to take a pause and resume the recap(to say review would be the height of insouciance on my part!!) later--this is not a tease(I am typing around 11 P.M. after an 8 hour tiresome journey from SFO to San Diego--weather delays etc
and I believe I cannot do justice to a concert which for an unique theme,had so many facets that defy description,without some rest!!!.

Suffice it to say,in my 3 score years of listening I have never been so fulfilled and I shall try to give a flavor of my reaction in my next post!!

Crave the indulgence of forumites who by now must have got used to my intermittent digital pauses!!!

[rajeshnat]

Mkr sir
Some time back I did ask about Hemmige V Srivatsan in this forum , not having heard him at all . Now this review is just on the way with your teaser. Looking forward to read your detailed review tomorrow with white spaces between paras .

Mods
Can you edit the title as "Thiruppavai Concert by Sri Hemmige V Srivatsan and Party" please , so that Google index catches the name Hemmige too.

[MaamiAtHeart]

Venue: Residence of Mr. and Mrs.Narasimha(Rama) in Saratoga,CA(Bay Area) on Jan21,2011.

.... However,not finding any concert in the Bay area, I casually phoned up a Bombay Friend of over 60 years...when I learnt from Narayanan that there was to be a full-length Thiruppavai singing by H.Srivatsan--disciple of KVN and a distinguished violinist--well-known to Forumites--Narayanan just gave me the name of the Host/Hostess(Mr. and Mrs. Narasimha) and I had to coax him to find out he was accompanying ....

...The concert followed--a 5 and a half hour delectable treat with each of the performers outdoing each other. ...
I think with this preamble, I want to take a pause and resume the recap(to say review would be the height os!!!

I am a resident of the Bay area, craving for more concert experiences. After i took my 2 year old to one of the Pallavita concerts, she constantly tells me every single week "mommy, i wanna concert i wanna concert!!!". M.K sir, could you please share some secrets so that i could find myself at wonderful events like this? (i would gladly carry chella-pettis and i make a pretty mean venn pongal!!!)

[arasi]

Srivatsan, his parents and children are an example of how CM has taken deep roots in countries outside of India.

The dedication of his parents--in giving him every chance to learn the music he loved, as he was growing up--the way he plays the violin and sings--his wife, also a partner in her loving and singing CM, the way their children pursue music with the same kind of love!
Though we live coasts away, while he was growing up on the East coast, I have heard him and have admired his talent. I have been following his progress from afar, hearing about his active musical life from relatives in California on a regular basis.
The concert he gave as a teen is still fresh in my memory. I have heard him since, from recordings our family from CA has sent.
May his tribe increase!

[rasaali]

May his tribe increase!

Arasiji,

Sorry, cant resist asking: You dont mean that *literally*, do you?

[arasi]

In the sense that his children get children get children who are all steeped in CM just as the ones preceding them

[Thalaivarda]

A meen venn pongal ??

[MaamiAtHeart]

A meen venn pongal ??

You are too meen!

[arasi]

What do you 'mean'?
No comprende