For these part-time artistes who juggle a career and music, the margazhi music season is a busy time.
While on the one hand they are full-time work professionals, functioning as business analysts, techies and marketing professionals, they take time off for music when the season arrives. They have a packed line-up of performances just like any professional singer.
For Mohan Santhanam, a trained classical singer, December is a time of music. Santhanam, who works for an MNC in Chennai, says, “As a singer, I feel that you don’t perform at all if you are not part of the margazhi music season.”
Having been an active performer since 2008 and nine concerts lined up this season, he says, “There has been an exponential rise in the shows over the years for me. This year, I am performing at nine venues that include popular sabhas such as Sri Parthsarathy Swami Sabha, Karthik Fine Arts and Bharathi Vidya Bhavan.”
Swathi Ravichandran, a business analyst at Cognizant Technology Solutions, has been having a busy schedule of shows, ever since the music season began.
“Margazhi is a season for exposure to both established and budding performers.
There has been an increase in the number of rasikas during this season. Foreigners, NRIs and even North Indians attend these concerts. For artistes like me it is a great way to connect to the audience. The variety of talent that is showcased in the season is unparalleled,” she says, adding that such convergence can be seen only during margazhi.
Says Swarna Rethas, a techie with Ten Miles Technology, “It is a busy time this year and sometimes difficult to manage because I am also a full-time working professional.But then it is the choice I have made.” Rethas, who is a student of renowned singer Sanjay Subrahmanyan, has performed at five venues this year.
Perhaps, that is the appeal of margazhi that propels the rendezvous of a broad variety of artistes, where tradition meets modernity, dance and music take turns to enthrall rasikas, and gurus and disciples share the same platform to perform.