Keep it to yourself.

The self-inflicted death of a healthy, young man is always a tragedy. Following the suicide of the young and successful Indian actor, Sushant Singh Rajput, I have seen several social media posts in the vein of (self-paraphrased) “If you need someone to talk to, I am here. You are never…

Vishakha Hari

Smt. Vishakha Hari, noted Harikatha exponent, concludes this podcast by bringing in a philosophical perspective. She talks of a ‘jvarA’ (fever) mentioned in Srimad Bhagavatam, and other anecdotes from the scriptures, to make sense of the malady we are currently amidst.  She suggests programs resume in green zones, with adequate…

Life is contrasts

Death, Birth. Marriage, Widowhood. Sickness, Health. Music, Silence. Vignettes of utter contrasts back to back all within 18 hours. Life itself, in fact, encapsulated in a nutshell. Last night, I ‘attended’ a wedding online. Today, an online memorial meet for my husband’s schoolmate. Right before, I caught what I could…

Vidya Subramanian

Smt. Vidya Subramanian, rasika, entrepreneur and vocalist, gets into listeners and musicians, supply and demand, income streams and more, in this candid conversation. She says listeners and musicians fall in two broad categories and that, for the vast majority of listeners, physical concerts will take a back seat, for now,…

S. Mahathi

Smt. S. Mahathi categorically states that online concerts can never be a substitute for physical ones, making her point with a simple analogy and discussing the elephant in the room – artistes’ compensation. She thinks it is too early to get back to live performances, however, much as she would…

Ramanathan Iyer

“I feel this culture of the sabha-s themselves giving ‘All are welcome’ concerts should be gradually phased out.” Providing a listener’s perspective, Sri. Ramanathan Iyer says if all stakeholders do their respective parts, he would be eager to attend physical concerts now. As a curator of artistic events, in addition…

Ramapriya Arts Foundation

In this podcast’s second episode, Dr. Varalakshmi Anandkumar and Smt. Durgga Venkatesh of Ramapriya Arts Foundation provide the organisers’ perspective. They are ready to host concerts once the government gives the green signal. Besides clarifying that sensible precautions will be taken and listeners reassured, they explain why restarting artistic events…

Akshay Anantapadmanabhan

50 uniformed children, ages 5-10, happily clap their hands and recite konakkol phrases to a refrain of simple instrumental music from a cell phone. Just some twenty minutes earlier, their master of ceremonies had gently introduced the word ‘rhythm’ and got the children to chip in, conveying the message that…