‘We need to create a new generation of rasikas,’ says Nalli Kuppuswamy Chetty.

Nalli Kuppuswamy Chetty. , Photo Credit: Johan Satyadas

In several interviews, Kuppuswamy Chetty has talked about how he learned to understand the music he was already enjoying. He is someone who has taken a long-term view on the gathering culture and season, and ensured that the arts are supported. He supports almost every other assembly in Chennai.

How does he look forward to the gathering experience and the big day when the season calendar is released? “Typically, almost all congregations advertise their programs in the supplement that comes out on December 1. I’ve seen meeting regulars take out their pen and paper and mark off their favorite things. Some will even be special enough to see who the actors playing with them are. They will outline the meetings they are to attend each day. This was the situation till 2019, when we had 141 meetings,” says the textile industrialist and philanthropist.

Today, in the post-Covid world the number of gatherings has come down to just 60. “I miss the old camaraderie and festive spirit at meetings. It was a place where we would meet friends and even relatives and have good canteen food. That Kondattam (festival) is missing. Last year I saw very few NRIs. They would really enjoy the curation and everything related to the season,” he recalls.

These changes also include the reduced number of people purchasing season tickets. “They are barely five percent now. People like to go from one concert to another depending on the concert they want to hear and do not mind buying daily tickets.”

Over the years, Kuppuswamy Chetty has also seen the slot given to instrumental music diminish, and even the range of instruments played. “Earlier, all instruments were given a slot – veena, flute, mandolin, violin, saxophone and nagaswaram. Now, many meetings stop with one or two musical instruments,” he laments.

Despite the lack of audience participation, Kuppuswamy Chetty says every artiste dreams of performing in Sabha at least once. “Every year, a lot of kids work hard and it’s only fair that they get the opportunity of a platform. I remember how once two sisters came from America, performed at their scheduled venue and left the same night. This was an opportunity they could not miss. For them, visiting Chennai during the season is like a pilgrimage.

Kuppuswamy Chetty says the first step to reviving the season is to create a new generation of rasikas who are knowledgeable about the ragas. “Right now, you only get elderly people. We need more young people to embrace this spirit.” Until then, he’s looking forward to that happy illusion – seeing a plethora of good concerts in a day spread across gatherings in the city and being unable to decide where to go. Where to go.

Kuppuswamy Chetty also recalls the time when he watched the current top artistes as children in the morning or evening hours, and told himself that they would make it big. “Now when I see them I feel very validated. When youth play an instrument or sing, I think about how other children in the audience might be inspired. Even if you know light music, knowing the basics of classical music will help you understand Carnatic music better,” he says.

Then, based on a friend’s suggestion, Kuppuswamy Chetty followed an advice he had in his early days – let a song from a related film play in your mind and then search for the raga. In those days, the book, which gave detailed descriptions of film songs and linked them to their respective classical ragas, was extremely popular.

But Kuppuswami Chetty looks forward to hearing the emerging talents the most. “I remember there was a little boy there who was nine years old at the time. It was a concert in Salem and someone asked him to play Abhogi raga. In a sweet voice he said that he did not know it, but he asked his accompanist, mridangist Sikkil Bhaskaran, to play the aarohanam and avarohanam and said that he would try to play it. That was Mandolin U. Srinivas, who explored the raga for a full 45 minutes.”

Kuppuswami Chetty says, Margazhi season gives great pleasure to the rasikas, but it also does something equally important – it helps in identifying new talents year after year, gives them a platform and ensures that the morning From slots to supporting them in their musical journey. Afternoon and then the main evening slots.