Zakir Rocks Chennai!

This is what makes living in Chennai so utterly worth it!

This evening, we went to see Zakir Hussain(playing the tabla) and Shivakumar Sharma (playing the santoor) at the Music Academy.

A little background - Chennai is full of cultural, musical, art and drama festivals between November and the end of January - I suspect because the weather is so fantastic (some of us even resort to thermal vests!).   Tickets are relatively easy to get, in fact you can buy season tickets.  Except for this show - tickets went on sale at a couple of local bookshop chains, and within a very short space of time - sold out!

I know how much My Darling loves this kind of music, so I did something I try hard not to do - I called round trying to call in favours!  But to no avail - no-one could help, nobody had any tickets and no-one would let me have their's out of the goodness of their hearts (understandably)!  Add to the confusion one very good friend who knows I can usually come up with the goods, calling and asking for FOUR tickets, if I can get them for her! 

I broke the sad news to her and to My Darling that it was a no go.  No tickets anywhere!

Fancy my shock and delight when My Darling called me this morning to say we were going to the concert... in VIP seats!  The bank called and invited him.  They offered 2 seats, he tried and got 4! 

The two men are so incredible at what they do - the first Raga lasted an hour and 35 minutes, and no one noticed!  I looked at my watch and realised Zakir Hussain had been playing the tabla for an hour straight and Shivakumar Sharma had been playing the santoor for and hour and a half without stopping.  So unbelievable!

Zakir Hussain (an old fave!) has 35 fingers - at least that is how it looks from the audience.  His fingers fly so fast across the surface of the tabla that the sounds become a melody.  The depth of the bass notes become part of your heartbeat and the whole experience makes you hold your breath and only let it go when he stops!

Shivakumar Sharma is a guy with a shocking white 'fro!  He wore a fuschia kurta tonight with glod embroidery - difficult to take a guy seriously looking like that!  But when he began to play - the kids, My Darling and I were completely mesmerised.  He plays the instrument with a couple of metallic sticks.  The instrument looks like a cross between a harpsichord, a harmonium, a harp and thumb piano!  but the sounds that emerge from this thing sounded like a full orchestra in his two very capable hands.  Simply stunning!

This is one of those nights that I will remember long after we leave Chennai!  This is what I will miss - these kinds of experiences... oh and the VIP treatment!!