Once upon a time, say 40 or 50 years ago, lovers of Carnatic music in Chennai (sorry, Madras!) had no great difficulty in reaching and returning home from prestigious sabhas like Krishna Gana Sabha and Thyaga Brahma Gana Sabha in T.Nagar, Mylapore Fine Arts Club and Rasika Ranjani Sabha in Mylapore, and Parthasarathy Swami Sabha in Triplicane, wherever they were living in the relatively small city, and whether they had a car or caught a bus or rode a scooter or bicycle. But today, there’s a very different scenario. The city has expanded greatly, and the traffic has grown beyond tolerable limits even as parking space in important locations has shrunk abominably.
As a result, although the leading sabhas of the good old days still retain their prestige, they normally fail to attract many visitors from all over the city, thus losing their metropolitan character and more or less becoming local landmarks in their ancient neighbourhoods.
It is true that during the winter months, when a roaring tidal wave from the Carnatic Ocean hits this city, the venerable venues do attract music lovers from distant localities as well as other cities in India and abroad, who take extraordinary trouble to ensure their attendance. But in spite of all the elan and excitement of the season, many rasikas in Chennai find it impossible to overcome the transport problem and visit the legendary sabhas which never fail to stir nostalgic memories of the intense past musical experiences.
Proliferation of sabhas
The natural sequel to the problem has been the progressive proliferation of sabhas and other cultural institutions all over the city, organising Carnatic music as well as classical dance and Tamil drama. Some of them have achieved considerable prominence and popularity, and owe their success to the vigorous and effective initiative taken by resourceful voluntary organisers. A helpful factor in recent years has been the consistent interest taken by some leading business houses in promoting the performing arts by sponsoring specific events or offering overall financial aid.
The most innovative and impressive among such new organisations is Hamsadhwani, which functions in a breezy, semi-outdoor venue with surprisingly fine acoustics on the spacious grounds of the Youth Hostel in Indira Nagar. The place is easily accessible to music lovers in the vast residential localities south of the Adyar river and along the east coast, because the traffic in these sectors is not too troublesome, reliable bus routes are not far away, and there is plenty of parking space along the wide uncrowded avenues near the hostel.
Mutual response
Established in 1990, Hamsadhwani has already acquired the status of a leading sabha in Chennai, with the largest number of regular members, and very substantial funds flowing from its own resources as well as contributions from certain reputed commercial concerns. It has achieved this remarkable success because it is a convenient source of excellent music for so many adjacent music-starved residential sectors, and faces no serious competition in its own vast territory.
In fact, the grateful audience is usually so enthusiastic and attentive that even the most distinguished musicians often respond emotionally, and find it a joyful experience to perform in this simple forum. True to its character as a unique phenomenon, Hamsadhwani does not add the usual kind of programmes to the frenzied mega-gala in the winter season, but organises an NRI music and dance festival in December and a Hindustani music week in January. These are followed by a long series of Carnatic music concerts till the end of March, featuring prominent musicians in the weekends and promising ones on other days. This marathon is concluded in April with a week-long festival of Tamil drama.
The NRI festival provides a rare and authentic ambience and a knowledgeable audience for talented, Non-Resident Indians to perform the native arts they take such great pains to learn and practise in the foreign countries, where they live. The only conditions are that they should have attained a reasonably good standard, and must join the organisation as patron-members. The intricate pros and cons of this expedient exchange call for a separate review; let us merely note here that it adds an unusual dimension to Hamsadhwani’s activities.