Its been quite a while since I put up a blog post. Many did ask me if the writer in me had slept off. I could only smile in response. Today, after a slumber, the writer in me is up. Thanks to the CGI World Tour… I haven’t written for quite a while, not because there was a dearth of topics on which to write, but because there was just too much happening around me. The last few months have been incredible for me and the world tour simply took me on a ride that I would never forget in my life. And I had to write this post, if I didn’t, I would be lost!
I was on a month long vacation during October and I stepped into office only on November 1. And the day I came back Rajeswari Narayanan, a senior colleague i respect loads, called me. She is one person I would always be indebted to. For, she made one of my long term dreams come true – An article of mine in a newspaper!! She also made me a member of the editorial board of YELLOW the official newsletter of my organization. So when she called me and asked me to lead the Music band and give a performance during the World Tour I just couldn’t say NO. Even though I realized we had only 5 days to form a team, decide on a piece to perform and practice it enough to make it a memorable one. Yes, I was doubtful of my capacity to lead the team. Yes, I wasn’t sure if I could get a team together and make them think on the same lines. Yes, I was scared and YES I thought this was going to turn out messy.
But Raji thought this could be done and I wasn’t going to doubt her :) within the first day I was able to get together a team of 8 wonderful performers. 4 were already on board and they were immensely supportive when I joined. I suggested a few songs that we could string into one piece as a medley, 6 agreed to the idea I suggested. 1 disliked it and walked out of the team and another couldn’t practice much with us because of work. So by the end of the second day, 6 of us remained; 6 like-minded, driven and passionate instrumentalist. We put in a lot of time, effort and passion. I was surprised to see the commitment each member had. They backed the idea of ‘Tribute” (the name I had given for our piece) to the hilt. Every member was strong and focused and it gave me immense strength and confidence.
But the real turn around came on the third day (November 3). MTV telecast its first episode of the 2nd Season of “Unplugged” a music show. A.R.Rahman performed with an exquisite band and the show floored me. EVERY day I kept listening to the performance of the BEST MUSIC DIRECTOR (imho) in the world and it inspired me greatly. In fact when I shared it with my team we were all immersed in the magic of the Mozart of Madras and we were all inspired by the show. This show gave us the much needed impetus to dream big. We bonded better and told ourselves we could do well. By the 5th day we had practiced well and we believed we could pull this off.
The D-Day came. The entire day from 8am till 8pm is a complete blur in my memory. We practiced, encouraged each other enjoyed the other performances and we went on stage and performed together as a team. There were almost a 1000 people in front of us and I was thoroughly intimidated. But when we started playing we forgot everything else. The audience clapped and cheered whenever they heard a familiar tune and that immediately sent a wave of energy to us all. Our piece lasted a little over 6 minutes and they were the best 6 minutes of our lives. When we finished playing we were happy. We knew we had done well. The applause was amazing and all of us felt a gushing happiness.
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| The Team from Left to Right - Sasidharan, Vijai, ME, Arvind, Suganthan & Giftson |
Once our performance was over we came back and sat among the audience. And from then on till now, we have been receiving an enormous amount of love and positive feedback from all of you. But one particular response has disoriented me. Two of my friends came to me, separately, and told me “I am completely ‘INSPIRED’ by your team’s performance today. I play violin too but I’ve lost touch, but after seeing you guys perform I really wish to be a part of the team. I am inspired! Please let me in on the team”!!
I am still in a trance. We were a team of musicians who were inspired by ARR, but when I realized our performance had inspired a few others… I just am at a loss for words. The team that performed that day had extraordinary confidence. At no point did anybody ever even whisper about pulling out. The 5 people I had around me INSPIRED me to a great extent and I bow to each of them for their supreme confidence. Thanks guys.
We cannot forget one other person - Pazhaniammal – the cultural coordinator who gave us complete freedom and egged us on to give our best. And finally, thanks once again Raji J Thanks for your belief in us! And thank you all, for your tremendous support and love!
PS - If you are eager to watch the video of this program, check this link :)
