Our series of day-by-day reports of the entire Convention can be found here.
By Isha Bhallamudi and Aroon Narayanan
Yoga Amid Stormy Rain
The day began precisely at 3:45 am, with zealous (but also exhausted) volunteers waking everyone up for morning yoga. We all awoke to pouring rain complete with thunder and the most welcoming of cool breezes. With minimal requisite grumbling, everyone moved to their hostel lobbies as soon as possible, to be allotted their yoga sessions — Hatha Yog or Naada Yog, with all the venues hurriedly shifted because of the rain.
Since there was a lot of confusion over the venues, most people moved to CLT, where the Naad Yog session under Pt. Wasifuddin Dagar took place, concluding at around 7 am. Although most participants were noticeably tired and sleepy, they seemed to have enjoyed the session.
Intensives
The yoga sessions were followed by a break for breakfast and ‘personal time’. At 9 am, everyone moved towards the Kendriya Vidyalaya school grounds, HSB or DoMS, depending on which intensive they had been allocated, and into their classrooms, waiting for the intensives to begin. InterCon this year boasts of around 37 different intensives, or workshops, in music, dance and crafts (you can view the entire list here). Photographer volunteers moved around recording snapshots from every intensive, some of which have been reproduced here.
The Charaka spinning Intensive at #spicmacay #intercon14 pic.twitter.com/HUUPqR15Ik
— SPIC MACAY (@spicmacay) June 9, 2014
The fluid #Kalaripayattu intensive under the tutelage of Shaji John #spicmacay #intercon14 pic.twitter.com/Sbu88h4328
— SPIC MACAY (@spicmacay) June 9, 2014
The workshops took place over three hours, till 12 pm, without a break. Participants can only register for one intensive each and are expected to follow through diligently on that intensive for the whole week. Most classrooms were modified to suit the convenience of the guru conducting that intensive, and volunteers assigned to each took care of the needs of the class.
Otthamthullal concert
The intensives were held successfully, leaving everyone tired but enthusiastic. And very hungry. After a quick lunch and a little time to rest, it was time for the afternoon concert — a splendid performance of Otthamthullal by Kalamandalam Mohanakrishnan. He was ably accompanied by Gopinatha Prabha and Nayanan who were the vocalists, Rajeev Sona on the mridangam, and Yadhu Krishnan, Bindhu and Prakash Rajan who were the make-up assistants.
Mindblowing Ottanthullal by Kalamandalam Mohana Krishnan at @spicmacay #intercon14. A packed hall of Rasikas erupts in laughter!
— Veejay Sai (@veejaysai) June 9, 2014
Evening Concerts
There was a major organisational overhaul visible on the second day of the concerts. The balcony was closed and the audience was asked to squeeze into a packed SAC arena. Mobile phones were mandatorily required to be switched off at entry and there was regular monitoring of gadget usage inside, any instance of which would lead to confiscation of the used device. The enforcement of this rule was sporadic and unevenly distributed, though. The audience was also required to be barefoot inside the arena.
The first concert of the evening was Carnatic vocals by Sangeetha Kalanidhi R. Vedavalli. Dr. Vedavalli was a young girl of eighteen when her musical promise was spotted by the great Ariyakudi Ramanuja Iyengar, who advised her to turn professional. For six decades thence, she has been one of the most identifiable proponents of Carnatic music in the world, performing and lecturing around the globe.
Dr. Vedavalli began with Vanajakshi, a varnam in Kalyani raaga set to adi talam. Then, she moved on to one of Thyagaraja’s many delectable compositions, Sukhi Evaro in raaga Kanada set, again, to adi talam. Despite being short on time, Dr. Vedavalli built the aalaap for each thoroughly, with impeccable fluidity, leaving the audience spellbound. She then went on to render Charanam Sharanam Endrane in raaga Sourashtram. Her next, an enchanting aalaap in Shanmukhapriya, deserved and received rapturous applause from the audience. She received commendable support from Vidushi R. Hemalatha on the violin, Vidwan K. Arun Prakash on the mridangam and Vidwan N. Guru Prasad on the ghatam, all of whom contributed immensely to the concert being a wholesome delight. She ended with a rendition of raagam tanam pallavi in the same raaga. There was a small blight on the concert’s otherwise well-oiled proceedings in the form of a brief blackout, which unfortunately led to hoots from the audience.
Sangeetha Kalanidhi Dr. R. Vedavalli’s concert was so ethereal and evocative, I cried. @spicmacay #intercon14 pic.twitter.com/HD1RvOAsLS
— Nithyanand Rao (@NithyanandRao) June 9, 2014
Padma Bhushan Dr. Padma Subrahmanyam’s Bharatnatyam concert was up next. A world renowned dancer, she is credited with widening the reach of the art form beyond the country. She began with a story of Ganesha and his modaka. As she began dancing, the audience, enchanted by her gracefulness and exquisite expressions, was compelled to instantaneously forget that this was a lady of great age. She morphed into a young danseuse with elegance, portraying each character with involved genuineness.
Next, she performed Ardhanareeswaram and the story of a handsome prince and a beautiful young hunter girl. Accompanying her were Muthukrishnan on vocals, Gayatri Kanna on the nattuvangam and vocals, B Kannan on madhura veena and Ramanan on the mridangam. Her young disciples, Radhika Mahathi Kannan, S Anugraha, V Srinidhi, V Ramya, Nivedita Arjun, Samanvitha and Vithya, were also received very well by the audience. Applause was spontaneous and the audience was in rapture throughout the concert. She ended the concert with Brahmamokate, in praise of Lord Venkateshwara.
