As the situation was about to go out of control a man with Narada;s face got on the stage. He is the Godfather of CM,a lokasanchari who during the music season is in this MSS land and in other times in some other land. He said: Just listen to me for exactly one minute. there was silence. ¨Pl look at the face of the person whom you are yelling to. He is not vidwan X or vidushi Y.see intensely ,I mean concentrate on the mask over the face .¨
The hall which was noisy and stormy suddenly calmed down like boiling milk settling down when the gas stove is switched off. A Thyagaraja swami sang ¨santha mu leka sowkhyamu ledhu ¨. Now one could understand the wisdom of making all participants wear the face mask of those saintly figures. This is an¨ avandhra prayochanam¨ besides hiding the identity.
When calmness returned, Narada proposed the name of ¨sangeethavid .org ¨preserving the root and dropping wan or ushi,after all they are going to do their post in the name of a raga only.Some one said even ¨san¨ can be dropped as religion and sanctity are not needed for art music. Finally ¨geethvid .org was unanimously approved. Some one said vid is suggestive of vidhya which means art, wisdom .Arunagirinathar face got up and said வித்து means seed. we carry the seed of CM to posterity.
Thanks to the cumulative auspicious effect of multiple mangalam. the site
http://WWW.geethvid.org was born.Needless to add that the applause was deafening like hundred thavils.
Once the name was finalized other details were worked out very quickly.the forum will have the following subheads:High dignitaries, sabha secretaries, disciples and sishyas,awards, overseas operators, concert reviews by rasikas and press ,sponsors ,unauthorized recordings,general discussions .
To mark the conclusion of the meet, someone sang as the last item the Varnam viriboni in Bhairavi. I got up and slowly sneaked out . when I was at the gate, I felt as though someone was calling my name repeatedly. I stopped and returned. soon I realized that the singer is doing neraval on the name of the presiding deity of Mannargudi as written by pachimiriam audiappa who does not know me.. Anyway, I took this opportunity to take off my shyama sastri mask and returned it to the office.
On my way back, I was speculating and wondering what these vidwans are going to share in their forum.I casually opened my i pad and type WWW. geethvid .org. Lo what a surprize!!The first ever posting was already there under the head General discussion. You can read it :
Harikamaboji ; --Sometime back I was invited to perform in a reception.The multimillionnaire boss is a powerful tamil political leader Philanthropist
(oxy-MORON ??). The occasion is to celebrate his successful return from an European tour of France (including NATURALLY Switzerland , italy )
It was a fabulous reception arranged at the Zamindar ´s garden . The concert started in time.The boss entered after about 20 minutes, bringing with him his foreign acquisition ( no no not a french girl , ) a pet dog.All the invitees got up and greeted him respecfully.Many were cajoling the dog to please ¨his Master’s voice ¨some distinguished ladies exhibited their admiration and affection to the pet sharing with it some of the delicacies on the table. He proudly announced that he got this from original Alsace. He is much attached to it ,hence the noble canine was not attached with any leash. After a casual round he came to me close to the stage and discreetly requested me to sing a song praising him and particularly the dog.My worries started Well, part 1 of the request is easy, but how about part 2. ? I could not get any idea. time was passing. I consulted my accompanists but of no use. what to do.? I saw him moving around. telling about his fatwa to many friends in the party . They were all staring at me expectantly. one , two three songs, every time they were hoping that the next item would be that. No the disappointment was writ large . In utter despair, I prayed to God( reverse to dog ) and I started thinking loudly:
நாய் வந்த ……. நாய் வந்த …. நாய் வந்த
all faces were looking at me. Till i get something I was decided to do the neraval...suddenly an idea flashed in my mind.
பய நாய் வந்த
தவ பய நாய் வந்த
செய்த தவ பய நாய் வந்த
தமிழ் நாடு செய்த தவப்பயனாய் வந்து அவதரித்தாய்
papanasam Sivan´s composition in Harikambhoji in praise of Subramania Bharathi saved me ; “paa maalai kinai undo”.
My hearty thanks to those poets and my heartfelt apologies to them for dismantling the words as neraval.
Needless to say that I was paid ten times my fees. But I shudder to think what would have happened to me If I could not make it.
வாழிய செந்தமிழ் வாழ்க நற்றமிழர்
this is the real end.
epilogue : this is a sample post in the sangeetha vidwans/ vidhushis thread.
Now the Rasikas have double options.If they feel much concerned about the vidwans they can do their post in the new thread assuming a ragaś name. Open to all.
DOUBLE THANKS to Chellappa and Arasi,though belated.