I saw a news item in the paper that the TB was performing in the city. Sagar has introduced me to it and we really liked the Kantara music (and the following controversy). Anyway, I did like the idea of watching a concert at LB stadium and when Abhinay said he as going I asked him to let me know what the scene was like.
At 630 pm I dropped Brother Joseph at St Paul's and was heading home when it suddenly struck me that I could check this gig out. I turned towards LB stadium, ventured to the right gate, found out that there was a possibility of buying tickets for cash and did the needful. One young manager called Vijay Bhaskar took the trouble to walk with me to his car and give me an offline ticket. I showed it at Gate 17 and after getting the band on my wrist, walked into the stadium after many years - this very afternoon Brother Joseph showed me a picture of the match we played at the stadium in 1987-88 - All Saints vs Rest of Hyderabad - which we won.
There was seating and I sat, slightly away from centre. There was some awards function going on - it was part of a Telangana Youth Carnival, perhaps ideated by Student Tribe. There were awards of various kinds for colleges and their management and after everyone was awarded, the show took off.
I liked the sound, their comfort with their language, their effort to include the crowd by singing some Hindi songs. Good energy. I was surrounded by college kids though I did spot an odd grey haired person. It was like going back to college days and attending college festivals. Watching young boys and girls dance and have fun reminded me of what we would do in those days - somethings do not change! I watched the entire show and got out on the last number. Good show Thaikkudam Bridge!
Reading about them I got to know that the band is so named because it had its inception near the Thaikkudam Bridge, Kochi in 2013. It has as 8 vocalists and it was interesting to see different singers coming on for each number clad in Mallu costumes.
More than books, movies and music - it is the stories behind them that i find fascinating. Govind Vasantha, the founding member of the group along with Siddharth Menon (who does not feature in the lineup now I think) is very interesting. He is the violinist, vocalist, music producer and founder. Originally Govind Menon, he removed Menon and added Vasantha, his mother's name, in his effort to remove caste from his name. Interestingly he hails from a musical family, his uncle was a Carnatic singer of repute but what's more interesting is that his father, Peetambaran Menon, is a singer (he sang one of the best numbers today with a lot of energy) and is singing regularly with the band since his retirement from the Irrigation department! Now, Govind was born in the year i completed my engineering, 1988 (useless piece of info).
When you read stories like this, you want to see these people again. Stories have magic. I think I would like to tell more stories.
On the way home I got stuck in a crazy jam on Necklace Road where crowds thronged the roads to take pics with the new Secretariat in the background and more importantly, watch the musical fountain in Hussain Sagar. Luckily my side which was heading to Khairatabad got away after a 15 minute jam but the traffic heading towards Sarovar was a mile long.
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