Here’s Why December Will Always Be Synonymous With The Kutcheri Season For Every Chennaiite

Chennaiites- Let’s admit it. December is undoubtedly the best month of the year. A definite reprieve from the scorching heat all through the year, this is the month where the early morning cold sea breeze brings a smile on your face and helps you end the year with all the joy and calm. Sadly, though December, over the past few years has inflicted a lot of pain and suffering to the people of Chennai. Starting from the floods last year, to #CycloneVardah, the people of this warm city are finding it hard to sail through the month. But amidst all the mayhem and difficulty in getting back to normal, the city dutifully hosts the most-awaited and revered music season, year after year. The December Music Season or the Kutcheri Season is back and how!

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My memories of the concert season date back to my childhood days, when I used to hop between sabhas (concert halls) accompanying my musically sound grandparents. The jam-packed auditorium with rasikas of all ages adorned in the best of their ethnic wear is a sight in itself. One just can’t sit idle during a concert. While some aunties (called mamis) are busy discussing the raga of the keerthanai (song), there are many who are silently eying the piece of jewellery or the hand-woven silk saree of the singer! The uncles (mamas) are louder when it comes to appreciating the nuances of the concert and you will have to be prepared with an occasional bale and wah loud enough to wake up the lucky ones who in a deep slumber! But to those who question- Nah! They are just analysing the kriti with their eyes closed! As a young child, I was often asked to play the game of ‘guess the raga’, which trust me, was actually difficult!

The December concerts are not just about tapping the talent and potential of upcoming artists and giving them a platform to showcase their know-hows in Carnatic music. It is also about reaffirming your superiority in the big family of Carnatic musicians and drawing a large crowd. The auditoriums or sabhas know exactly how to make the most profitable business in the two weeks of this musical celebrations in the city. And that is why you will find a large queue waiting to get into the Sabha canteen! They rope in the best names in the culinary field and for food connoisseurs like me with a bent for music (yes, that’s the order of preference!) it is a double delight! The discussion after every concert is not just whether the Kalyani ragam alapana was better than the Thodi ragam, but if the Sarkarai Pongal or Medhu Vada of the canteen is delicious enough than the rival sabhas!

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But apart from the food and fun, the December Music Season in Chennai has been attracting rasikas from across India and the globe for so many decades now. It is a viable tourism option that Chennai cannot and will not afford to miss for the years to come. As I now sit at home, in a city far away from the warmth of Chennai, I catch up with the top performers on TV channels that thankfully relay some of the best concerts for the geriatric population and the emigrants, like me!

As a mother, I can’t wait for my daughter to start learning music and identify the differences between Kalyani and Kambhoji ragam as she hops between sabhas clad in her pattu pavadai! Till then, Sadhinchane, O Manasa!

Image source: rasika.org

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