Sowmya at Parthasarathy Sabha

I reached the hall a little bit early for the 6:30 pm concert by Sowmya. The earlier concert was still going on and I found Violin maestro T.N.Krishnan speaking. He was apologizing for having come late to the concert and making the audience wait and for having to now rush the percussionists to reduce the "Tani Avartanam" time because of it. The audience was really moved. One of them shot back saying the wait was worth it but the maestro still didn't take it. This was the first time he had come late to a concert in his life and he felt really bad. It was a touching moment and I felt bad for the elderly gentleman.

I had got into a good seat and this time there were no teenagers or over weight people around as I settled down for Sowmya to start. Sowmya presented 3 songs which were dealt with in detail, for 30 minutes or more. "Naan oru Siru Veenai" (Chakravagam as per google), "Bhajare Maanasa Shri Raghuveeram" in Abheri and the main song which went something like "Dharmartha Kamavardhini". Sowmya announced the name of the raga for the main song but I somehow don't remember it now. There were 3 or 4 other smaller songs and the wrap up song was "Kaadhal enum theevnile".

The Tamil songs were delectable treats. While the songs of great composers like the trinity, are set in such a way that you get the mood that the song was sung in and the background to some extent, it does really sound sweeter when the song is in your mother tongue and you are able to appreciate the meaning.

"Naan oru siru veenai" is a song on Thamizh Kadavul Murugan. The niraval was perfectly set at the line "Nalla Nal isaigalai tharum naathane varuvaai" as if repeatedly inviting the Lord. The swara improvisations were enjoyable and Embar Kannan on the Voilin was up to the task. 

"Kaadhal enum theevnile" is one of my favourites and was a fitting ending to a nice concert. I heard it from a distance as I was munching the Chocolate Dosa but it was still loud and clear and made the dish taste even better.