Some moons ago a cousin wrote an article in
The Hindu about how madisar mamis struck alliances for their son or daughter during
the December season in the sabhas of Madras. Then years passed by with writers
writing about the bane of ringtones blaring songs like “Harivarasanam” from the
phones of the middle aged and “Appidi podu” from the youngsters. Today I guess
I should write about mamas watching cricket during concerts.
Yesterday I happened to attend the concert
of Ranjani & Gayatri. Since the duo is very popular the venue was packed. A
few minutes into the concert, Camboji sounded like a commentator in English. I
turned around to see the old man sitting behind me had the gall to watch the
cricket match without muting the phone. Turning around and glaring at him,
didn’t bother him one bit. Then I turned around and said “Will you stop that?”
he wasn’t fazed. Another person two seats away had to say it loudly once again
before he put it back inside without an apology. However, to his credit, the
next time he wanted to see the scores he walked out and came back after a few
minutes.
There was a time when the old didn’t want
to learn how to use a smart phone. Once they learnt how to use it, they seem
thrilled to watch movies and TV serials on it. I wish they would also learn to
use a headphone so that they don’t disturb others. While I did find it cute when the old tried
selfies with the artistes in the background I wish they restrict its use in a
concert hall.
On the lighter side not much has changed in
the concert scene. When the artistes began ‘Hamsanadhanam,’ the all knowing
mamas said ‘Kanada’ in a loud voice, while the mamis in the row before them
sniggered. After Gayatri announce the raga, the mamis laughed and said
“kettuda.” (Did u hear?)
While Chennai sabhas have canteens, Bangalore
doesn’t boast of one in each sabha. This could be the reason that I found mamis
distributing fruits, murukkus and biscuits time and again to their coterie. The
crunch of murukkus along with the Manoj Siva’s mridangam and Sukanya Ramgopal’s
ghatam blended well.
All in all it was a great concert slightly
marred by cricket crazy old men.
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