Are Chennai Rasikas Jaded by Too Much Music?

harimau · Post by **harimau** » 02 Nov 2015, 06:51

Are Chennai Rasikas jaded/sated by too many music concerts?

Alert readers and fans of my writing (I can modestly claim that such a group exists though the number could probably be counted on the fingers of one hand) would recall my post comparing the Chennai Music Season to scenes of Black Friday crowds thronging Wal*mart.

Just as retail sales are disappointing, it looks like Chennai Rasikas have decided to desert the NRIs' favourite artists. Or it is only the NRI crowd that is propping up certain artists as I have claimed.

How else does one explain the sparse crowd for Sanjay Subramaniam at Bharat Sangeet Utsav?

The balcony was pretty much spooky with a dozen or so persons only sitting there. The lower level was filled to about 60% capacity only. The patrons' section was pretty much empty. The entire team of Harimau et Cie was present to see who could fight their way into the hall, only to find that two of us could have stayed home and watched TV!

Team Harimau decided not to attend the concert of the Proprietress of Ye Honourable Olde & Originale Abangerie, what with it being a rainy Saturday. Thus no scientific observation could be made about sociological factors though enough time was spent on meteorological observations.

Yesterday, I thought the double billing of Kunnakkudi Balamuralikrishna and Abu Sheikh may draw capacity crowds but that was not to be. The balcony was empty, most likely the door was locked. The lower level was less than 50% full -- or more than 50% empty, depending on whether you are a pessimist or optimist -- and even that crowd, displaying its profound lack of gnanam, went away after about 8 pm, leaving only those who favour solid music to stay till the end.

What does this mean for the Season?

Is the sheen off musicians like Sanjay, Abu Sheikh, etc.?

Do we have too many concerts in Chennai through the year?

Is the Sangeetha Kalanidhi the Kiss of Death?

hnbhagavan · Post by **hnbhagavan** » 02 Nov 2015, 09:01

I am posting after attending a few concerts at Bangalore Gayana samaja - 47 th Conference.Conference President Smt M S Sheela who was awarded Sangeetha kalarathna title.(OCT 25-Nov 1)
The concert list was interesting.it did not feature the usual top performers like Sanjay,Malladi Bros ,RaGa sisters,Sudha Raghunathan.
Instead the list of performers were:
M S Sheela,Unnikrishnan,Trissur Bros,O S thyagarajan,Abhishek Raghuram,Saralaya sisters,Ganesh and Kumaresh and R K Padnanabha.
The attendance was quite good,However hall was not over crowded.
O S Thyagarajan gave a brilliant performance and was very well received.

kvchellappa · Post by **kvchellappa** » 02 Nov 2015, 09:06

Harimau: two of us could have stayed home and watched TV!
Is the decision to attend a concert dependent on others (crowd), sir?

gmohan · Post by **gmohan** » 02 Nov 2015, 09:54

Ha, Harimau, you should have been at Madurai Mani concert at P.S.High school!!!

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 02 Nov 2015, 10:01

Kunthalavarali,
Don't you see? It's not a conclusion our friend Harimau is posting.

It's a premise. We can all play around with it (to supply a second premise and more fodder) and THEN, he will draw a conclusion of his own and share it with us.

Are sociological studies only made from the balcony? Is it because it's easier to count heads from there?

He says the lioness does not let him sing freely at home. She will not choose some balcony seat if she were with him either...

gmohan,
Is dear MMI 'maDi' (kosher) enough for him? I don't know...

harimau · Post by **harimau** » 02 Nov 2015, 14:45

kvchellappa wrote:Harimau:
Is the decision to attend a concert dependent on others (crowd), sir?

Not being sure about the crowd and our ability to get into the auditorium if it was overflowing, Team Harimau decided to attempt entering the hall in full force to see if at least one could get in. As it happened, all of us were able to get in and stretch our legs too as the crowd was rather sparse.

harimau · Post by **harimau** » 02 Nov 2015, 14:46

gmohan wrote:Ha, Harimau, you should have been at Madurai Mani concert at P.S.High school!!!

Yes.

Free tea and biscuits too!

Bad miss!

harimau · Post by **harimau** » 02 Nov 2015, 15:01

arasi wrote:Kunthalavarali,
Don't you see? It's not a conclusion our friend Harimau is posting.

It's a premise. We can all play around with it (to supply a second premise and more fodder) and THEN, he will draw a conclusion of his own and share it with us.

Are sociological studies only made from the balcony? Is it because it's easier to count heads from there?

He says the lioness does not let him sing freely at home. She will not choose some balcony seat if she were with him either...

gmohan,
Is dear MMI 'maDi' (kosher) enough for him? I don't know...

Yes, it is a premise. If the Season concerts are to packed halls, we can assume that it is the NRI crowd that is propping up these artists.

The Black Friday type of crowd even in pre-Season time for Sanjay isn't there this year. And considering that after the announcement of the SK Award, he has performed maybe twice in Chennai so one could expect that people would throng his concert but that wasn't the case. That is why I asked if the sheen was off.

I do have a problem turning my head to the left so I end up sitting on the left side of the auditorium. I can then turn my head to the right and see how full the rows behind me are. Balcony seats aren't to my liking as I don't run into friends like DAD (the Duelling Abhangists' Dad) or the Madisar Mami's dad there. They tend to sit in the very front rows, enabling me to say Hi to them as I try to locate a 7th row seat, 7 being my lucky number.

kvchellappa · Post by **kvchellappa** » 02 Nov 2015, 15:05

Now, Mr. Harimau, I am getting to know the motives behind your attending concerts. Anyway, I should have remained 'chup, chup." Keep posting so that there is some akkappor.

harimau · Post by **harimau** » 02 Nov 2015, 15:17

kvchellappa wrote:Now, Mr. Harimau, I am getting to know the motives behind your attending concerts. Anyway, I should have remained 'chup, chup." Keep posting so that there is some akkappor.

The motive remains Sociological Research, as it always has been.

Some artists limit themselves to 7 concerts or so and that too only at major sabhas. They are hardly heard the rest of the year. The scarcity drives up the demand for tickets during the December Season. But Sanjay hasn't done that. The scarcity of his concerts after March of this year -- and I have heard that it wasn't voluntary on the part of Sanjay -- really should have resulted in capacity crowds but that hasn't been the case at all. So it raises the very valid question if the award of the Sangeetha Kalanidhi is the Kiss of Death.

The akkappor comes in the form of information such as Sudha Raghunathan cancelling her engagements this December.

Nick H · Post by **Nick H** » 02 Nov 2015, 15:20

,,, not so much jaded as over-familiar with an excess of riches. Once up on a time in London, every one of the concerts that I attend would have been a treasured event. Even the mediocre ones! Now... On any day that I am feeling my age, which is quite a few, I can read the Hindu listing and think, "well... next time."

If even Team Harimau cannot predict that there would be plenty of room at a Sanjay concert, then the rest of us have little hope. If I had known there would be room, then I might have taken the opportunity to see Sanjay for the third time --- but I do not like that hall very much anyway.

Harimau: Take comfort! TMK's concert at Ragasudha hall was so packed that people were hanging off the fans

kvchellappa · Post by **kvchellappa** » 02 Nov 2015, 15:50

Nick, Hope it was not due to Krishna!

kvchellappa · Post by **kvchellappa** » 02 Nov 2015, 15:52

I find so much is available on internet even direct relays, that the hassle of having to travel to attend a concert seems unnecessary. It is soothing to hear Harimau complaining about Sanjay concerts not being well attended.

KNV1955 · Post by **KNV1955** » 02 Nov 2015, 21:48

After a long gap I attended Abhishek & Balamurali jugalbandhi & Malladi Bros.Today attended 1 hr of Sowmya & Santhangopalan. Quite surprised to see poor crowd turnout even for these unusual combos.

Nick H · Post by **Nick H** » 02 Nov 2015, 22:09

kvchellappa wrote:Nick, Hope it was not due to Krishna!

Well... you might remember, from another thread, that I was very impressed!

I've enjoyed Sanjay when I've heard him. I just don't really like the big-hall/big-crowd environment. NGS? I do go there regularly, but upstairs, in the mini hall. That's a nice place, even though it is long and thin and they tend to make the sound too loud.

priyaram78 · Post by **priyaram78** » 02 Nov 2015, 22:37

If I am not wrong it is pouring cats and dogs in Chennai. And also came to know dengue is prevalent. Mosquito season is discouraging rasikas to come out and enjoy Music season.

harimau · Post by **harimau** » 02 Nov 2015, 22:48

kvchellappa wrote:.....It is soothing to hear Harimau complaining about Sanjay concerts not being well attended.

Harimau isn't complaining, merely making an observation.

harimau · Post by **harimau** » 02 Nov 2015, 22:51

priyaram78 wrote:If I am not wrong it is pouring cats and dogs in Chennai. And also came to know dengue is prevalent. Mosquito season is discouraging rasikas to come out and enjoy Music season.

It didn't rain today and still KNV1955 found the audience thin at Bharat Sangeet Utsav.

rajeshnat · Post by **rajeshnat** » 02 Nov 2015, 23:42

Harimau
# The rains and the really heavy traffic snarls did force me not to step out. I wish they digged two stations for metro,completed that , and then moved to next two .At the same time digging fully the mount road and poonamalee high road and with rains,It is a nightmare as it takes 4 times more time to reach any place .That is on a optimistic note to explain the reason.

# The bulk of the rasikas who make up the critical rasikas are rasikas who are above 58 and who have retired . Possibly in 90's and 2000 , the crowd was there as many who are above 58 then took part. Now many in that age group are enjoying music with TRS , LGJ and Ramani . My guess is in the last 10 years there are not enough fresh blood rasikas who are in the age group of 58+ who have taken to CM.

By the way Harimau, chennai music scene on a non nov-dec season has come down to a trickle . Many perennial sabhas like NGS Mini, Nadopasana ,kalakruthi,SKGS, Hamsadhwani etc have reduced their count of concerts . Possibly CM patronage has indeed come down a bit from 2012 onwards when compared to 2004 to 2012. That is on a realistic note.

I wish we have more choice to hear with more spread- my usual count in 2000 to 2010 was averagely 6 to 8 choices during weekend and 2 to 3 during weekdays .

shankar vaidyanathan · Post by **shankar vaidyanathan** » 03 Nov 2015, 06:45

@Harimau: I was in Chennai last week on a personal visit. I did not attend any concert this trip mainly due to the rain and traffic. Bharat Sangeet Utsav concerts are available in YouTube. My input for Team Harimau's sociological research consideration is that in-person attendance at the concert halls goes down when technology facilitates live relays or video-on-demand options for the discerning Rasika to choose how to invest their time! Nothing like muting or skipping a concert altogether after listening in for a couple of minutes when you feel that the Shruthi is not co-operating

Sundara Rajan · Post by **Sundara Rajan** » 03 Nov 2015, 08:18

The concern about rains, traffic delays and Dengue fever scare me a lot ! I have planned to attend December concerts after two years and look forward to a good experience, especially since I am not sure I would be able to travel to India in the future with my advancing age. I do hope that rains would stop before mid December and the Dengue mosquitoes would have been eradicated by then.

harimau · Post by **harimau** » 03 Nov 2015, 08:29

shankar vaidyanathan wrote:@Harimau: I was in Chennai last week on a personal visit. I did not attend any concert this trip mainly due to the rain and traffic. Bharat Sangeet Utsav concerts are available in YouTube. My input for Team Harimau's sociological research consideration is that in-person attendance at the concert halls goes down when technology facilitates live relays or video-on-demand options for the discerning Rasika to choose how to invest their time! Nothing like muting or skipping a concert altogether after listening in for a couple of minutes when you feel that the Shruthi is not co-operating

People assume that folks attend concerts for the ambience and the experience of hearing and seeing the artistes.

Nothing could be farther from the truth.

Women come to concerts to show off their silk saris and jewellery. In addition, both men and women want to brag that they heard the tup-tup artist at the Music Academy or Narada Gaa Sbha and how their influence got them tickets while others who have flown in all the way from Podunk, Iowa were seen gnashing their teeth, wringing their wrists and shedding copious tears.

The only way technology is going to cut down on physical presence is if there is two-way video so that women staying home can be seen in their finery by those who have chosen to attend in person. Then we will have screens in the auditorium where stay-at-home folks can be shown. But then how about the loud conversations between friends? For several tens of persons simultaneously, if not hundreds? That is not easy to do even if you bring all the geekery at your command.

Concert attendance is a social phenomenon. Thus the concerts are ideal for observing the human animal and documenting its behaviour. There is no way technology is going to change that.

Unless of course our descendants evolve to have only thumbs in their hands for texting on cellphones!

harimau · Post by **harimau** » 03 Nov 2015, 08:33

Sundara Rajan wrote:The concern about rains, traffic delays and Dengue fever scare me a lot ! I have planned to attend December concerts after two years and look forward to a good experience, especially since I am not sure I would be able to travel to India in the future with my advancing age. I do hope that rains would stop before mid December and the Dengue mosquitoes would have been eradicated by then.

Rains will probably stop by mid-December.

As to mosquitoes eradication, you actually seem to think that any civic body in India cares about public health. If that had been the case, the Cooum and Adyar rivers would be fit enough to swim in and the Buckingham Canal would smell like roses!

In short, don't get your hopes up. Buy creams, coils, sprays, etc., to ward off mosquitoes.

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 03 Nov 2015, 08:37

Dr.Sundara Rajan,
We will say our prayers and keep our fingers crossed for you. You would have had your flu shot by now.

Every year you hear of chicken gunya and dengue outbreaks. Nothing new. We old folks have to be watchful about our step (traffic, uneven surfaces). While eating out, no chutneys or salads...

Wait a minute! I'm not a doctor!

Hope you have a great time. If all goes well, will be there, and see you in Chennai

Sundara Rajan · Post by **Sundara Rajan** » 03 Nov 2015, 08:51

Thank you Arasi for your words of encouragement. I am not a physician either and could use advise from friends. Yes, I already had my high potency Flu shot meant for seniors citizens. I look forward to meeting you and other forumites while in Chennai. Thank you Harimau, I will bring some mosquito repellent spray along and hope that helps.

Pratyaksham Bala · Post by **Pratyaksham Bala** » 03 Nov 2015, 08:55

... chicken gunya ...

Disclaimer :-

Wait a minute! I'm not a doctor!

harimau · Post by **harimau** » 03 Nov 2015, 08:58

arasi wrote: Every year you hear of chicken gunya and dengue outbreaks. Nothing new. We old folks have to be watchful about our step (traffic, uneven surfaces). While eating out, no chutneys or salads...

Wait a minute! I'm not a doctor!

Perhaps you recently stayed in a Holiday Inn Express!

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 03 Nov 2015, 08:58

Harimau,
Good reminder about sprays and all.

Agreed. We humans are worth watching in any meeting place. It's also part vanity fair to see. However, the best part of the season for some of us is to observe how music makes an impression on the listeners. How music takes hold, and from magazines to conversations, how it makes its presence felt.

As for display of fine silks, not many of us women take that route. You say you know about my songs (thanks for that) but if you have seen me ever, you would know that I go from concert to concert in my every day clothes. My being on stage doesn't count of course!

To dress like a prima donna is like wanting to appear like a bride in a wedding

PB,

I knew I had to 'chick' the spelling, but forgot

Harimau,
Or in the vicinity of a KFC

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 03 Nov 2015, 09:05

Sundara Rajan,
Another faux pas. I must have heard from someone that you are a doctor...

harimau · Post by **harimau** » 03 Nov 2015, 09:13

Nick H wrote:
kvchellappa wrote:Nick, Hope it was not due to Krishna!
I just don't really like the big-hall/big-crowd environment. NGS? I do go there regularly, but upstairs, in the mini hall. That's a nice place, even though it is long and thin and they tend to make the sound too loud.

Nick, you are long (tall) and thin.

NGS Mini-hall is long and narrow.

kvchellappa · Post by **kvchellappa** » 03 Nov 2015, 09:28

A corollary to Harimau's analysis of concert goers. There are ladies who go there to show off or envy sarees. There are men who go there to see what the ladies do (sociological research).
One or two go to listen to the concerts and they write sensible reviews here. The journalist-reviewers do not have to go to a concert to write a review.

KNV1955 · Post by **KNV1955** » 03 Nov 2015, 12:22

IMO the best out of the artists comes if the hall is 70 to 80% full. If it is overflowing then they start playing to the gallery & become noisy. I have attended KVN;DKJ;Nedanuri singing for half empty halls with same enthu as they would do with a large audience turnout (they never attracted more than 80%). I get the feeling rasikas are sailing in the same boat as artists. They are not happy with traditional music; they are tired of listening/singing the same Todi; Bhairavi; Kalyani; O Rangasayi; Balagopala;Abhang...they don't see any sense of purpose with format changes; unusual combos; tiring voices of artists in late 40's & early 50's. The solution partly lies in popular Artists reinventing themselves keeping in mind their age; strength of voice; introducing lesser heard compositions, developing good vocal support & sticking to traditional cutcheri format. They should be prepared for moderate turnout but not compromise on classical values. Next Gen artists like Ramakrishna Murthy; Sriranjani Santhanagopalan; Sruti Sagar; Jayanth ... are quite performers & not like the previous gen stars. For whatever reasons they are not splashed allover in Newspapers; magazines;Television etc.

hnbhagavan · Post by **hnbhagavan** » 03 Nov 2015, 15:36

It is not an easy task to sit in Carnatic Music concert.Even if ladies would like to exhibit the saree and ornaments,still they should have interest to listen
to music.As far as I am concerned,boasting that i attended a CM concert also does not hold water as no one cares about it.
People travelling all the way from US/Canada do not sit in CM purely from reputation stand point.Stakes are too high-the fare and time to travel etc.
An empty hall with few rasikas generally will not enthuse the performer.However 75-80 % full hall can bring the best in him.There are exceptions.Some artists perform irrespective of the number.
The Instrumental concerts these days get less crowd as compared to earlier days-Lalgudi,MSG.Ramani etc.
Recent concert by TN Krishnan had overflowing crowd at Malleswaram,Bangalore.

Nick H · Post by **Nick H** » 03 Nov 2015, 15:46

Sundara Rajan wrote:The concern about rains, traffic delays and Dengue fever scare me a lot ! I have planned to attend December concerts after two years and look forward to a good experience, especially since I am not sure I would be able to travel to India in the future with my advancing age. I do hope that rains would stop before mid December and the Dengue mosquitoes would have been eradicated by then.

Mosquitoes, dengue and rains have their peaks, but rain is the only one that is totally absent for much of the year. It should, as others have said, be over by 2nd half of December, except for occasional light showers which will be welcome, Last year, during that time, we had one day of serious rain.

kvchellappa wrote:A corollary to Harimau's analysis of concert goers. There are ladies who go there to show off or envy sarees. There are men who go there to see what the ladies do (sociological research).

I shall, as always, be doing this research. I think my paper for this December may be subtitled ...with special reference to the grand half-saris worn by young NRI women. But would I ever get around to writing it up? Haha... I remember, one day in mridangam class, being told off for enjoying the music: I was there to learn it, not just enjoy!

Sundara Rajan · Post by **Sundara Rajan** » 03 Nov 2015, 19:36

arasi wrote:Sundara Rajan,
Another faux pas. I must have heard from someone that you are a doctor...

No Arasi, You were not too far off. Yes, I am a doctor in the sense that I have a Doctorate degree ( Ph.D.chemistry 1957), but am not a physician !

vasanthakokilam · Post by **vasanthakokilam** » 03 Nov 2015, 21:08

harimau wrote: Or it is only the NRI crowd that is propping up certain artists as I have claimed.

As a sociological researcher in proving/disproving your strongly held preconceived opinions and biasses (aka hypothesis), you do need to share the results of studies of early 2015 on the above topic. I think it was about TMK where you claimed that after the 'NRI idiots' return home TMK will be singing to empty halls. Following the true scientific method, the null hypothesis to test is 'TMK's crowd is not just made up of NRI Idiots". I know scientists do not typically publish null results. Is that the case here, or your results are just waiting for publication?

sureshvv · Post by **sureshvv** » 03 Nov 2015, 23:27

Margazhi Mahotsavam will be here soon to convincingly disprove OP's invalid assertion.

Free entry, Dry weather and Accessible Akkappor are the secrets to filling the Carnatic auditorium,

SrinathK · Post by **SrinathK** » 03 Nov 2015, 23:43

Was said concert on weekend or weekday? See when I sometimes get back home by 10 p.m. from work (my average is 7:30-8), I understand the need to take an annual winter vacation so that I may enjoy the music. That outta explain it.

Then when I am on vacation, I wish I had Naruto's shadow clone justu.

If you're wondering what I do for my musical survival in the meantime, apart from coming here regularly and doing random stuff which I think will help my musical interests, I also go hunting, surviving on hard searched and downloaded game. Last month, I prowled sangeethapriya for varnams and had scalped a season's worth of targets.

harimau · Post by **harimau** » 04 Nov 2015, 02:01

sureshvv wrote:Margazhi Mahotsavam will be here soon to convincingly disprove OP's invalid assertion.

Free entry, Dry weather and Accessible Akkappor are the secrets to filling the Carnatic auditorium,

Margazhi Mahotsavam is the wrong choice here.

They show audience shots. They interview a few people. These are shown on TV. The average concert-goer in Chennai wants his fleeting seconds of fame so he can call up his friends and tell them to watch for him. I remember some years back a long line of people standing in light drizzle from 1:30 pm so that they could get in and get choice seats for a 6:30 pm program of Aruna Sayeeram.

If rain didn't prevent people from queueing up for hours (remember, the first concert at MM is at 4:30 or 5 pm), why should rain now prevent people from attending BSU concerts?

PS. By Dec 1, there is very little new information (akkappor) to be had. Who is in, who is out,etc., would have been thrashed out in this website by then.

harimau · Post by **harimau** » 04 Nov 2015, 02:08

vasanthakokilam wrote:
harimau wrote: Or it is only the NRI crowd that is propping up certain artists as I have claimed.
As a sociological researcher in proving/disproving your strongly held preconceived opinions and biasses (aka hypothesis), you do need to share the results of studies of early 2015 on the above topic. I think it was about TMK where you claimed that after the 'NRI idiots' return home TMK will be singing to empty halls. Following the true scientific method, the null hypothesis to test is 'TMK's crowd is not just made up of NRI Idiots". I know scientists do not typically publish null results. Is that the case here, or your results are just waiting for publication?

Early 2015 was dry as a bone as far as concerts are concerned.

The Music Season gives way to dance performances. Upcoming artistes, young and old, get slots at some off-beat sabhas. People like Bombay Jayasri, Aruna Sayeeram, etc., carefully ration their concerts so that there is pent-up demand in December for their concerts. For 2015, you can go thru any calendar or web blog maintained by T M Krishna or Sanjay Subramaniam to see how many concerts they performed in your chosen time period.

kvchellappa · Post by **kvchellappa** » 04 Nov 2015, 08:55

Harimau, I came to know only from a later post of yours (how you chaperoned musicians, carried their luggage, etc.) that you are also an NRI!

SrinathK · Post by **SrinathK** » 04 Nov 2015, 10:03

@kvchellappa, There are 3 of them -- North American Tiger, Bengal Tiger, Siberian Tiger. (Note that the 1st one is now a new recently discovered subspecies of the Panthera tigris family).

@harimaus, like I said earlier, you need a vacation to listen to a live performance these days if it ain't on a weekend. I suppose that explains it. Or why the majority of the audience are kids or on the other side of 50.

sridhar_ranga · Post by **sridhar_ranga** » 04 Nov 2015, 12:06

My impression of the vyaghra-trayam (tiger-triumvirate) has been:

1. Tiger from Periyar reserve that went to live in North America, now an RNRI (returned NRI)
2. Tiger descended down from the flag of the imperial Chola kings - mind you the flag was made of maDi cloth, lest you brand him as a paper-tiger

3. Leopard that passes for tiger - it comes down frequently from javvadu hills on the eastern ghats foraging for sabha canteen food and some music

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 04 Nov 2015, 19:25

Sridhar! Hilarious interpretation of team Harimau, eh?
What about the paper one?
I'm afraid the vyAghra kUTa numbers more than three, going by an analysis of the content and tone of the posts....

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 04 Nov 2015, 22:09

Bhagavan has a point. If they have no interest at all in CM, it's not worth their while to be sitting there in the hall with barely a chance to get a compliment on their sari and to acknowledge it. They do go to many social gatherings where they get attention and can describe in detail the way they found the precious piece they are clad in...

Nick H · Post by **Nick H** » 05 Nov 2015, 02:44

arasi wrote: ... They do go to many social gatherings where they get attention and can describe in detail the way they found the precious piece they are clad in...

They never invite me!

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 05 Nov 2015, 04:34

Nick,
Nor am I for that matter, but believe me, they are a bit of a yawning affair. However, the 'festivals scene' in neighborhoods are different, I guess. Family and friends gathered, food and chA for guests! Hope you get invited to one this dIpAvali

harimau · Post by **harimau** » 07 Nov 2015, 09:05

This lack of crowd can cause other serious issues.

If the sponsors see that they are spending money -- though it may e written off as advertising or as Corporate Social Responsibility, which is required under law -- and not getting enough eyeballs/footfalls, they may decide to spend their money elsewhere.

What if they decide to build schools, renovate temples, etc., instead of sponsoring concerts?

Then we will fall back to the subscription/ticket model of supporting concerts.

Then we will truly understand what Semangudi Mama meant that art is not absolutely essential to life.

People will decide not to pay extortionate rates for autos and decide to stay home and patronise other art forms, such as mega-serials, patti manrams on whether classical arts have been dominated by Brahmins, etc.

NRIs can stay in NR countries and save on airfare and incidental expenses.

Waiting for such a day to come!

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 07 Nov 2015, 09:26

Nostro Nostradamus...

kvchellappa · Post by **kvchellappa** » 07 Nov 2015, 11:35

Cassandra?