‘Carnatic music soothes and energises,” says Nalli Kuppuswami Chetti

For immoderate years now, Nalli Kuppuswami Chetti, legendary seller of silks, philanthropist and euphony aficionado, has been wondering however to summation the fig of youngsters attending euphony concerts. “We person to bash something, due to the fact that the halls are filled with the middle-aged and the elderly. We person to make a caller procreation of rasikas who volition appreciate, bask and promote the arts,” says the 86-year-old, who inactive attends upto 5 concerts a time during the Music Season successful Chennai, erstwhile helium is called to inaugurate the festival successful galore sabhas. 

“We astir apt person to make a strategy wherever young parents tin either bring successful their children to concerts, without the fearfulness of being judged erstwhile children cry, oregon connection a supervised abstraction for children truthful that they get utilized to the ambience of the Season,” helium says. However, technology, helium feels, is simply a large boon, due to the fact that parents tin present children to the performance acquisition astatine home.

It has been rather a fewer years since the Covid pandemic, but Kuppuswami Chetti says its effects are inactive disposable successful the euphony and creation circuits. “So galore sabhas, which were operating retired of rented premises, had to unopen down. How could they sustain? Even sabhas that had their ain premises struggled, due to the fact that the fig of radical taking yearly subscriptions came down. In 1 sabha I americium a portion of, that fig came down from 600 to 200. When funds became an issue, it took the enactment of the Season away,” helium says. Though things are dilatory limping backmost to normal, Kuppuswami Chetti says determination is inactive a agelong mode to spell earlier things get backmost to their pre-Pandemic glory.

Kuppuswami Chetti looks guardant to the time erstwhile helium volition spot much housefull boards. After decades successful the work of the arts, helium has seen everything from sabha members going location to location to cod money, to sabha secretaries having large proposal powerfulness erstwhile tickets were hard to travel by. “Today, tin you ideate anyone lasting successful a queue for a proposal for a paid ticket?” helium smiles.

If December and January are considered the play for the arts now, Kuppuswami Chetty remembers however the Madras of yore besides had a dedicated slot of programmes during Rama Navami, with lectures and euphony programmes, overmuch similar what Binny Subba Rao did successful Coimbatore connected the immense lawns of his home.  

Over the years, Kuppuswami Chetti has seen today’s salient singers arsenic children sitting successful the audience. He’s observed their advancement from the inferior greeting slots to the sub-senior evening slots and past the main slot of the day, brimming with pridefulness astatine their maturation arsenic artistes. 

“These days, I spot precise fewer radical different than household and friends crook up for the greeting slot. In those days, erstwhile elder singers did not person concerts, they would sojourn sabhas and perceive to young musicians, and adjacent be each other’s concerts. Once, determination was a veritable postulation of stalwart-singers successful the audience, and the youngster connected signifier was truthful overwhelmed with gratitude and joy,” says the patron of galore sabhas.

Even today, helium says, seasoned theatre artiste Kaathadi Ramamurthy makes it a constituent to beryllium for each kutcheris astatine Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, if he’s escaped that day. “There’s a spot named aft him,” Kuppuswami Chetty smiles. “In fact, sometimes, he’d travel consecutive from his play, with afloat make-up on.”

He fondly remembers that ego ne'er determined relationships among artistes then. “Once, Lalgudi Jayaraman had gone to Madurai, and helium came backmost saying helium heard a young lad who sings precise well. He insisted that we springiness him a slot successful the evening. We had a tiny pandhal (tent) to level young musician, and helium performed there. People thronged the tent. That lad was TN Seshagopalan.”

Even aft each these years, Kuppuswami Chetti makes it a constituent to be arsenic galore concerts arsenic helium can. “I inactive can’t place each ragas, but there’s thing astir Carnatic music. It soothes me, energises me. It is what I crook to aft a hectic day. Do you know, erstwhile successful a concert, I power disconnected from enactment completely. Only aft the mangalam I retrieve my store and the enactment I person near there,” helium says, adding: “Revathi is my favourite raga. I emotion listening to it. Even today, earlier going to bed, I play Mandolin Shrinivas’s signaling connected my phone. His euphony moves maine immensely. I miss proceeding him play live.”