If music helps heal the wounds, then play on

When Sikkil Gurucharan received a standing ovation for his concert at the Music Academy Saturday evening after a quite brilliant rendering of his Ragam-Thanam-Pallavi, it was the surest sign that the city of Chennai was back to normal. As the host of the world’s biggest festival of the fine arts, Chennai has the aura of a music and dance leader and it matters not if it was scarred a bit by the floods of a freak weather phenomenon this year. Nothing is more symbolic of a city back on its feet than the conduct of the Margazhi Mahotsav.

The subject of the music festival going on while millions in the state have been affected in some way or the other by the rain and the floods has invited two extreme points of view. While there is nothing to be held against those who said the season must be abandoned for the floods, what most said about the need to get on with life has a logic to it that is more readily understood. It is not a question of ‘the show must go on’ as much as it is about the need for life to go on.

There are several professional musicians whose livelihood would have been threatened had the festival been cancelled. I know T.M. Krishna has made known his very trenchant view about the sabha system and how it may be exploitative of the December festival at the cost of the artiste. The lot of the accompanists, who may have lost to the swirling waters their precious instruments, which are actually their lifeline, is one compelling reason why the festival had to run its course. By holding it, a curative process is also being supported.

Several stars of the Carnatic music world cancelled their concerts in sympathy with those hit by the extraordinary second ‘water’ event in Chennai in the space of 12 years. If the 2004 tsunami left many in fear of what may happen if the sea does make ingress, millions more suffered in the 2015 floods because, this time, the water was not a hypothetical threat on the coast but a real one wherever they lived, be it the furthest West from Chennai thanks to the Kosathahliyar overflow or in the south where the Adyar did the most damage.

The fear of the tsunami did never really go away, certainly not from the people who live by the shore, most of whom make a living out of the sea. The music season was not affected even at the height of the tsunami fear after the catastrophic event took place on December 26, 2004. The sabhas went on with their shows, probably a bit selfishly. Most of us were insulated by the fact that dreaded water did not reach far beyond the shore, although it did sweep away many kids playing cricket on the Marina beach on a Sunday morning.

The floods have done a lot more damage to the psyche of Chennai, which could be held out as one more reason why those declining to perform cannot be faulted for taking a stand. The majority who think the season is everything and play on are being driven by the same spirit that the rest of Chennai has shown in their determination to bounce back high.

There are no winners and losers here, just a set of people gifted with the marvellous talent that music is taking decisions based on their own feelings. For the rasikas, the music is like a balm to the soul and the festival the best way to show Chennai has bounced back on to its feet.