Inai Ila Oli Nirai RaGa Deepam – 22 October 2022

You know the feeling when you wait with a sparkler near a deepam and you don’t know when it’s going to catch a spark, but when it does, it’s instant celebration! Ranjani-Gayatri’s concert burst into life the same way, with a sparkling Suddha Saveri and an explosion of swarams for Saamaja Varadha. Happy Deepavali!

After a beautiful rendition of Madhava Manohari in that matchless, perfect kalapramanam came Madhava himself. Ranjani ma’am beckoned the Venu-Gaanamoorthi with such a poignant, rich alapana with that characteristic balance of peaceful karvais for the half notes to flow into each other and chiseled phrases for the notes to pour forth. Trust Vivadi ragas like this to unsettle and turn you to the divine so naturally. After the forever amazing Vid Vittal Rangan played a wonderful alapana, the iconic Thyagaraja composition was rendered in all its majesty, followed by some swarams to adorn. Those Fitting Poruttams! Gaanamoorthe.

What if – 9 November 2019

We’ve all had moments when we fear something important might end up not happening. No amount of reassurance is enough, so we keep re-checking, boosting up our scepticism to all-time highs to cushion the blow – What if. And in this process, the epiphanies start hitting us – we realize how much we value the thing, the experience we never knew we craved so much.