12

There are a few things that come to my mind when I think of the Chennai December season...I have jotted my musings:

1. December season is primarily an exhibition of new Nalli, Rangachari and Kumaran silk sarees for ladies. I cannot remember any instance where I counted the number of ladies talking about kutcheri more than those advertising their sarees.

2. For their other halves, December kutcheris are predominantly travel diaries of their trips to their son / daugher's house in Boston, (somewhere in) California or New York...People from Andhra will have New Jersey and San Jose in addition. Occasionally Niagara and Grand Canyon might come and go -- just to give us a clue to which part of the US of A, they have been!

3. I understand that speaker-sets have taken a toll on delivering a quality output to the audience.

4. It is obvious and a well-known secret that there are two heads in the canteen for every half-head inside the sabha. I cannot forget the taste of the badam halwa of Arusuvai arasu in the Parthsarathy Swami sabha canteen.

5. December season is a haven for auto drivers. It is a prestige symbol to come in an auto instead of the old Premier Padmini or Fiat.

6. The Hindu always carries a full fledged feature on December 1. The Cinema / Movies / Miscellaneous section will consume more than half of the Page 3 (City / Regional) for the entire season.

7. S.Ve.Sekar's Vaal paiyan and Mahabarathathil mangatha, Crazy's Crazy thieves in Palavakkam will be staged in Rani Seethai Manram.

8. Special sale of all unsold audio casettes at Sankara Hall in this CD/DVD world.

9. A typical kutcheri will be 2 hours inside the sabha, three hours in the canteen, one hour getting down / getting in the auto (or parking the vehicle), and travel time of two hours.

10. A comparision will definitely be made between all 'new' singers and M.S or Ariyakkudi.

Anyway, I am okay with all these fundae, as long as it gives some business for Chennai junta and renders some service and upkeep to the ever-vibrant Carnatic music.

Regards
Aravi.