When Delhi sang in Kannada

It happened on a whim. We just happened to be hanging around on a Sunday evening when one of our friends, Prasid, happened to call us to ask whether we want to go for a gig. Now, this being the final day of the Delhi leg of the NH7 festival, I was feeling slightly guilty because I didn’t go (even though all this time I was adamant I didn’t want to go because of the poor quality of the line-ups). Thus when Prasid asked us if we wanted to go, I didn’t need much convincing and ‘persuaded’ Urmi to come along.

The gig was the final day of the SAARC music festival, held at the Purana Qila. We were a little bit late because we stopped on our way for late lunch/early dinner at Flaming Wok, CR Park (a brilliant, brilliant meal, but that’s another story!) so by the time we reached the venue, it was already quite dark and the gig was in its third act – The Susmit Sen Chronicles.

Dark. That is what the venue was. Good luck to all of you with night blindness. Ask me if there were 500 people there or 2500. Go on, ask me! I literally have no clue. Sitting in office on Monday, I found out that there were at least 2 of my colleagues who had also attended the concert, and they probably passed within a few feet of me, but I had no idea. Running into Prasid was pure fluke.

But enough of my bitching. Back to the concert.

To be fair, I probably expected a little too much from Susmit Sen Chronicles. The ex-Indian Ocean guitarist was quite brilliant with his old band, but he seemed poor, almost – dare I use the word – hesitant, on stage. The vocalist sang alright I suppose, but his was a voice “to lead a chorus”, as Urmi put it, not to stand out, to make one stop and really listen. But then again, I am a biased observer, at least as far as this topic is concerned.

Next up was Nepali rock band, Albatross. Singing in their native tongue, the crowd nevertheless enjoyed their songs quite a lot, pumping their fists at some of their heavier riffs and humming along with their softer tunes – obviously, hardly anyone knew the lyrics. However, it did prove that age-old saying about music transcending all boundaries – everyone pretty much seemed to enjoy their music. One of the most memorable moments of the evening was when the vocalist of Albatross, Sirish, requested the organisers to switch off the stage lights. He then asked everyone to light their mobile screens and wave their mobiles at the stage. It was breathtakingly beautiful, made all the better by the slow melody that the
band was playing.

And finally the last act – Raghu Dixit. I am ashamed to admit that this was my first ever time at a Raghu Dixit concert. Yes, yes, I know, it’s despicable and I should probably give up my right to call myself a music aficionado. But still, the important point is that I finally broke my duck and went for a Raghu Dixit concert. And. It. Was. So. Worth. It!

I won’t go into the nitty-gritty of it... just believe me when I say that it was a superb concert. The way Raghu Dixit engages his audience is brilliant! There is one particular song of his that he sings in Kannada, Lokada Kalaji, that basically translates to “don’t worry, be happy, but if you worry, I won’t give a damn!” It is this with this song that he really engaged with the crowd, making them sing in Kannada and basically joking about how he should be made the Karnataka CM because he made a whole group of Delhites speak in Kannada.

Jokes apart though, it was a fun night. And Raghu Dixit has, in Urmi and me, gained two fans for life!

---Kartikeya