Chennai Music Season 07 - Report # 2

We knew the concert to go to.. yet (Dec 25, 2007)
This time we were prepared. We knew exactly where and which concert to go. We even planned to park the car elsewhere and walk to Music Academy, we were that planned but didn't plan for the small detail.. tickets.

Music Academy is notorious for parking or lack of it, so we figured out parking elsewhere and walked to the Music Academy hoping to enjoy the concert of TN Seshagopalan. But then the small problem I mentioned earlier became the show stopper. We didn't have tickets and there were 100 other hopefuls like us hovering around for the tickets which simply wasn't there.

We stood in the line for a few moments and quickly realized the futility of it. The only ticket that might sold are the 'no show' seats and that would be known only 20 minutes in to the concert. What is the possibility of over 100 people not showing up? None?

So, we quickly decide to go Kamarajar Arangam to try our luck with Anuradha Sriram's concert. And this proved to be good choice.


When we reached Kamarajar Arangam, Sudha Raghunathan's concert was still in full swing to a full house and we got catch last three renderings. It was standing room only, still we enjoyed every minute of it. Since all the three songs were in Tamil, I could enjoy them better.

Overflow audience were accommodated on the stage very close to the performer. This is actually a good option which I got to leverage a couple of times few days later.


After the concert, SPB was invited to the stage to felicitate Sudha Raghunathan. This was an opportunity for everyone to than everyone and their brother (sister and their dog). This simply went beyond control with people milling all over the place asking for autographs and stuff. This kind of thing ought to scripted and managed properly.

Sudha Raghunathan - Kandal Nall Muthalai & Kurai Onrum Illai snippets



The next concert on the same stage was by Sriram Parasuram & Anuradha Sriram. It started about 30 minutes late due to Sudha Raghunathan's spill over. But the place wasn't as full as Mrs Raghunathan's concert and we got some decent place to sit and enjoy the whole concert. This concert was kind of a unique one, a Hindustani, Carnatic fusion. Mr Parasuram was accompanied by Tabla & Harmonium as his accompaniments and Mrs Sriram by Violin and Mrudangam. I have seen / heard lot of 'pairs' performing but this is perhaps the only 'husband and wife' pair performing jointly.

Even though Mrs. Sriram is more 'popular' than her husband Mr. Parasuram due to her movie interludes, I actually enjoyed and liked Mr. Parasuram's renderings and voice more than Mrs. Sriram's.

Sriram Parasuram & Anuradha Sriram - சம்போ சம்போ ராகம்- ரேவதி (Samboo Samboo - Ragam Revathy)

Chennai Music Season 07 - Report # 1

My Discovery of Chennai Music Season 07 (on Dec. 24, 07)
The Tamil month of Margazhi (மார்கழி மாதம்) in Chennai is synonymous with classical music, the world knows and I have known it too. But I have never been in to it, not when I grew up here nor when I returned back a few years back. But I discovered the music season on its waning days just a few days back and it was merely happenstance. Wondering what is he talking about..? read on...

Early this week, under duress from kids we made an impromptu decision to head out ECR Road for a movie and dinner. But the Chennai traffic had other plans for us. Being the Christmas eve evening, roads were unusually congested and we were stuck near RK Nagar for over an hour. With no progress in sight, I took an executive decision to take the next available turn and go wherever the traffic would allow us to. That's when eureka stuck, why not try a music season concert. We never been to one.. so why not. None of us had any clue as to what is happening where, so decided to head to the nearest one which happened to be Image Auditorium in MRC Nagar.

I was thrilled to be going to my first concert of any music season, but that was short lived. We were greeted by an empty auditorium complex and had to search hard for the program announcement. We eventually did find an announcement for a SriLankan folk dance. Since the overwhelming majority voted against it, I resumed my chauffeur duties again to try our luck at Petachi Auditorium, which is hardly a few kms away. As we neared the auditorium, I had a feeling of deja vu and was right, a dance program was on the cards here as well. By then, we were all grumpy and hungry and I wasn't ready to get back on the wheels again. But, after much persuasion I relented and drove to Narada Gana Sabha which is just a few hundred meters from Petachi.

Murphy's law stuck us again and it was another dance program at Narada Gana Sabha as well but by a well known artist Shobana. I put the car keys down and refused to do anymore Sabha hopping and headed straight towards the Sabha cafeteria for some decent food.


Thus we ended up going to the dance program by Shobana. It was a full house and we had hard time finding seats together and ended up sitting separately. Rajesh Vaidya was on Veena and was very pleasant to hear.


I am no dance or carnatic vocal connoisseur so I will not even attempt to say anything about the performance. Regardless of the first day experience, I resolved to go for few more concerts this year and I did. In the coming days, I will post on them.

Lesson from day #1
Check Schedules and plan ahead- Spur of the moment decisions don't work. Check schedules and select the concert to go. There is plenty of options available, but need to plan in advance.

Air India to Join Star Alliance

Air India to Join Star Alliance
This is an interesting development and is bound to change airline choices for many travelers, particularly who travel international. My preferred domestic carrier is Jet Airways and use Star Alliance partners for international travel. I am NOT a fan of Air India but now with this new partnership I might switch my allegiance to Air India. Actually, I don't like eve like that thought.. but might do it anyway for the sake of miles and the privileged access to airport lounges.

Now, I am hoping Jet Airways joins One World alliance soon which might alter my international travel airline choice but one which I would make willingly.

R2I # 17 - Leaving Home to Go Home

An interesting article on R2I by Shoba Narayan who returned to India after living in US for 20 years. She talks about her love-hate relationship with the two countries she calls as home. This is must read for anyone who has returned or even remotely planning to...

Also found a whole section at the Wharton site about India under India Knowledge...

Dilbert, IIT and Guided Reincarnation

Travelog # 45 - A380

No, I did not travel in A80.. but did catch a glimpse of it..

This is as close I got to the latest buzz in the aviation industry. How close? From the Changi terminal 2 window. Even though I got the glimpse of it from quite a distance, it looked large, really large compared to even a 747 mega top let alone other planes.

Currently, only Singapore Airlines has put A380 in to commercial operation and flies only between Singapore and Sydney. A380 requires longer runways, new double decker aero-bridges and the whole nine yards. So, it is going to be a while before we could see it India, though King Fisher has ordered it.

Singapore Airlines has gone all out to make a big splash with A380 in terms of luxury. In fact, A380 is the only commercial plane that boasts of double bed totally private cabins.

4:59:27 - Its Official

It's official now.. I managed to come under 5:00 hours - 4:59:27.

Photos: marathonphotos
I am a bit relieved to know that I managed to scrape under 5:00 by a whisker. I wanted to do under 4:30 but managed to come under 5:00. I am still going to keep my goal of coming under 4:30 and hopefully will achieve that in 2008.

Please take look here.. gives quite a lot of interesting statistics.

Run Your Own Race

Run Your Own Race.. that's what I did.

If I were to grade myself on my sixth full marathon participation, I would probably give a 'C-' or lower. But I am not going to grade myself and just be content with completing the Singapore Marathon yesterday. I clocked under 5:00 hours by my Garmin and will know the official time in a day or two. Some pictures from this memorable event for me and a bunch of Chennai Runners.


I collected my entry pack on Saturday (Dec 1, 07) along with a bunch of Chennairunners. Since the local participants had collected their entry packs in advance, Saturday was left for overseas participants. There were ample volunteers helping the visitors through the process. Here, I must mention about the flawless organization. From the time I registered online 5 months back to the event day, organizers kept us informed on a regular basis and kept us motivated.


Chennai Runners gang.. About 12 of us participated this year.. (some not in the picture)


Roads were blocked for the duration of the run and notified well in advance. Compare this to the ad hoc closure for just three hours in Chennai.


Baggage deposit area... Organizers had set up a huge tent and staffed it with enough volunteers to help the runners.


Line Naturally.. If there are two people for the same thing.. then a line get formed naturall... Runners lining up to use temporary rest rooms here.


Adidas and Standard Chartered Bank must have spent big bucks.. The entire city seems to have been decked up for this occasion. (Does Standard Charted Bank spend similar amount on Mumbai Marathon ?)


One of the early half marathon runner near the finish line..


Senthil, a Chennai Runner near the half marathon finish line.


Yours truly.. This is my fourth successful full marathon. My only regret is not having started sooner....


Several groups like this one participated and they acted as great support group.


Support available in plenty for the worn out runners.. from drinks to foot massage everything was available.

Overall, this was a good run for me and for many of the Chennai Runners. I clearly see a positive progression of the Singapore Marathon in its stature and strength. As I mentioned before, the overall organization was impeccable and the volunteer support system was wonderful. However, I do have one suggestion and that is to do with the course. The running course was simply not sufficient for the thousands who hit the road last Sunday. In most of the places the the course was narrow and couldn't handle the volume. I hope the organizers take care of this problem and make the run even more enjoyable.

More Photos here