Arjun Sai Mikeless Kutcheri

On a hot Summer's morning, 13year old Arjun Sai presents a lively Vocal Kutcheri at the Nageswara Rao Park

It is the second Kutcheri in phase two of the Sunday Kutcheri in the Park that had been launched in February 2006. The Summer’s peaking and the Sun’s out early this Sunday morning on the first day of May.

All three artistes trained by this Guru

Guru Vaidyanathan is at the Nageswara Rao Park just after 6.30am with his student 13 year old Arjun Sai. Interestingly, the Violin and Mridangam artistes of the day have also trained under the same Guru, a unique case at the Sunday Kutcheri of all the three artistes having learnt under one Guru. 

Sundaram Finance’s Company Secretary P Viswanathan arrives at 7am and is seated on his customary stool under the tree while a long time regular at the Kutcheri Diesel Finance Head Sriraman as ever is on the last row quietly enjoying the vocal presentation of this class VIII student of Chellammal Vidyalaya Senior Sec. School, Nanganallur. Credit Assessor Mukund Raghavan is back at the Mikeless Kutcheri after almost a three year break.

There is an overseas visitor as well and as is usually the case, the cameraman clicks the surprise one in the audience .

Accompanied on the Violin by Avantika Saravanan and on the Mridangam by Sarang Raghavan, Arjun presented compositions that included Thyagaraja Swamigal’s Narada Guru Swami (Darbar/Adi), Muthuswami Dikshitar’s Kayarohanesam (Karnataka Devagandhari / Rupakam), Shyama Sastri’s Triloka Matha (Paras / Adi) and Lalgudi Jayaraman’s Tha Tha Dhim Tha dhim (Madhuvanthi/Adi).

Sunday morning walkers at the Nageswara Rao Park join in at the chess square applauding the teenager’s musical presentation sipping the hot coffee presented by Sundaram Finance.

Mikeless Kutcheri becomes a Group Initiative

The Sunday Kutcheri in the Park that had started off in February 2006 as an initiative of the NBFC Sundaram Finance Ltd., has from this Kutcheri become a Group initiative. Another new addition to the backdrop was the addition of the photograph of the month’s artiste!!!

Viswanathan’s comes on to the stage at 8am to present certificates and mementos to the artistes and the Guru.

It has been a memorable morning for Arjun Sai and his parents and relatives are thrilled at the opportunity handed out to him by the Sundaram Finance Group. After this experience, the Guru promises to bring on stage many more talented youngsters.

Sunday Kutcheri in the Park Phase 2 launch

The Sunday Kutcheri in the Park was re-launched on Sunday morning after a two year 'Pandemic Break'

Sundaram Finance MD Rajiv Lochan reaffirms commitment to continue the Mikeless Kutcheri Series

13 year old S Shwetha, the great granddaughter of Mridangam Vidwan Palghat Mani Iyer, was eagerly looking forward to presenting her first Mikeless Kutcheri on the first Sunday of April 2020 but the national lockdown in the last week of March that continued into the first fortnight of April meant that her dreams were dashed(https://sundaykutcheri.blogspot.com/2020/04/lockdown-sunday-kutcheri-cancelled.html).

It has been two years since the calling off of that Kutcheri in April 2020. Finally with the Pandemic behind us, Sundaram Finance decided to relaunch the Sunday Kutcheri in the Park under the leadership of the new MD Rajiv Lochan. After two years, the chess square was once again buzzing this Sunday (April 3) morning with a beautifully decorated flower kolam welcoming music connoisseurs to the re-launch of the Mikeless Kutcheri series. 

Rajiv Lochan was at the Nageswara Rao Park by 6.45am. He was soon joined by former MD TT Srinivasaraghavan, the man who was instrumental in the launch of the Sunday Kutcheri in the Park way back in February 2006.

In a way it was the handing over of the ‘Mikeless Kutcheri’ baton from TTS to Rajiv on Sunday. The re- launch also drew another surprise visitor. S Sivakumar, former VP of Sundaram Finance, had been present through the 14 years of the Sunday Kutcheri and was a key member of the audition team that chose artistes for the Kutcheri in that period. He came all the way from Pallikaranai in South Madras to be part of the re-launch.

Tippirajapuram's N. Sriraman, Head of Diesel Finance at Sundaram Finance, had been one who had not not missed a single Kutcheri in the years leading to the lockdown in March 2020. He too was present on Sunday morning. In his typical quiet way, he found a seat for himself right at the back and was seen encouraging the artiste right through till the end.

For 12 year old flautist P Viswanathan, it was his debut Mikeless Kutcheri and he was all excited to present all time popular songs with the audience that sat all around him. It was a new experience for him. As the Kutcheri gathered momentum, the morning walkers at the park stopped by to applaud the performance of the young artiste. By this time, as has been the practice through the first phase of the Kutcheri, hot coffee had also begun to be served to the audience.

Presents Popular hits

Accompanied on the Violin by Chittoor A Giridhar, disciple of CK Anand and on the Mridangam by B Sai Sundar, disciple of Prapancham Ravindran and under the watchful eyes of his Guru Chittoor K Pathanjali, who sat on the first row, Viswanathan presented songs that included Muthuswami Dikshithar’s Maha Ganapathim, Oothukadu Venkatasubiyer’s Alaipayuthe Kanna, Thyagarajar’s Ninnuvinna and Vasudevayanni and Purandaradasar’s Bagyadha Lakshmi Bharamma. The final song on the morning of the re-launch - Bharathiyar’s Chinnanchiru Kiliye - almost had the audience in tears.

Rajiv Lochan had high words of praise for Viswanathan and told him that the day of him performing at the Sabhas was not far off.  Guru Chittor K Pathanjali was grateful for the opportunity presented to his student. 

Rajiv reaffirmed his commitment to continuing the Kutcheri series at the Park “Sundaram Finance is committed to continuing the monthly Sunday Kutcheri in the Park series at the Nageswara Rao Park providing opportunities to talented artistes. In the first 14 years, the mikeless kutcheris had served as a stepping stone for many budding youngsters and our endeavour is to provide opportunities to children aged below 15 to showcase their musical talent and  help them gain confidence by performing in an informal setting with the audience sitting around the Chess Square of the Nageswara Rao Park.” 

Srinivasaraghavan presented certificates and mementos to the artistes at the end of the Kutcheri.

Happy Memories 

For TT Srinivasaraghavan, it was his first visit to the park in two years and expressed happiness at the re-launch of the Kutcheri “I am delighted to be back at the Nageswara Rao Park after two long years, for the resumption of the Sunday Kutcheri in the Park. This platform has served as a launch pad for several budding talents over the past several years and I look forward to many more of them commencing their musical journeys from this unique and charming  environ, to the accompaniment of chirping birds and rustling leaves!” 

“I vividly recall the inaugural kutcheri back in the year 2006 and it is my fond hope that we will continue to attract exciting young talent like Viswanathan who presented a flute recital this morning.”

He said that he was looking forward to 'Phase II' of the Sunday Kutcheri in the Park.

The buzz is back once again at the Chess Square of the Nageswara Rao Park. In the coming months, more artistes aged below 15 will be showcasing their musical talent at this unique kutcheri sans mikes and speakers.

The Sunday Kutcheri in the Park is organised by Sundaram Finance on the first Sunday of every month between 7am and 8am.

Sunday Kutcheri in the Park Re-Launch April 2022

Mikeless Kutcheri in the Park series will be back at the Nageswara Rao Park on April 3 with a Flute Recital

From a six year old in 2006 to a Dubai student performing under the Umbrellas, the Kutcheri in the Park has seen a record breaking run 

                                P Viswanathan

The Mikeless Kutcheri in the Park series will soon be back again at the Nageswara Rao Park in Mylapore. Chennai headquartered Non Banking Finance Company Sundaram Finance is all set to re-launch the popular open air 'No Mikes- No Speakers' kutcheri for children after a Pandemic break of two years. On Sunday April 3,  12 year old P Viswanathan, who is learning from Guru Chittoor K Pathanjali, will present a one hour flute recital between 7am and 8am at the Chess Square of the Nageswara Rao Park. He will be accompanied on the violin by Chittoor A Giridar (disciple of CK Anand) and on the Mridangam by B Sai Sundar (Guru Dr. Prapancham Ravindran).

While there has been a constant lament about the lack of opportunities for young unknown artistes to showcase their musical talent, this over six decades old NBFC, known for its trust and values, came up with a unique mikeless kutcheri concept  in 2006 that sought to be a stepping stone for musically inclined children aged below 15. 

The First Kutcheri - February 2006 - Children of Farmers and Labourers from Vandalur

‘Catch them Young’ Concept

When launched, the objective of the Kutcheri in the Park was to provide a launch pad for upcoming music artistes. The then MD TT Srinivasaraghavan (TTS), who retired from the company in March last year, said “We chose to focus on young children - ‘catch them young’ - and restricted it to children below 15years as we believed it would help them shed their inhibitions and give them the confidence to move up to the next level. The informal ambience at the park contributed to the removal of 'stage fear' in these children. For most children, the 'Kutcheri in the Park' has been their first ever Kutcheri. Many who first performed here have gone on to perform in Sabhas, during the Margazhi Season, cut their own music album and even reached the pinnacle in the Super Singer Contest.”

Why Mikeless?

Repeatedly in the initial years of the launch, the walkers at the park and the audience asked Sundaram Finance to add mikes and speakers to the Kutcheri. The company resisted the temptation with TTS repeatedly remarking "We did not want to disturb the peace of the morning walkers with loud music and hence consciously stayed away from mikes and speakers. We have to be conscious and mindful of the fact that we operate in a public place. It would be presumptuous on our part to assume that all of them are lovers of carnatic music. Therefore the first thing we decided was ‘No mikes No speakers’. We decided to do it in a confined space, whereby those who are interested can come seeking this but we will not impose this on someone who doesn’t necessarily want to be bothered by carnatic music."

Over a decade later, the Court has ruled on similar lines in a religious context  what TTS held in 2006 

"No religion ever says to force the unwilling to listen. Loudspeakers do exactly opposite of the same. Loudspeakers breach right to be left alone. It takes away the right of the citizens to speak with others, their right to read or think."

6 year old presents a mikeless kutcheri!!!

Taking the entire audience by surprise, in the very year of the Kutcheri in the Park, within six months  of the launch, sisters Deepika and Aparna, aged 6 and 8 years, presented a mikeless kutcheri that enthralled the Sunday morning walkers. It opened everyone's eyes to the reality that given the right platform and encouragement, even those as young as six could perform on  'stage'.

Overseas Aspirants

This model has also generated interest among aspirants from the US who came all the way from overseas locations to perform at the Kutcheri in the Park in Mylapore. As early as 2008, the popularity of the mikeless concept had caught the fancy of California based sisters.

Sruti and Jayshree Sarathy, who performed at the Kutcheri in 2008, have since progressed on to the next level in their music careers and have been regulars in the Marghazi Kutcheris in the leading Sabhas in the city. Back then in 2008, after their first ever Kutcheri in India, they said, “This is the first time we have sung without mikes and speakers and this is the first time we have performed in India. When we think of Chennai, we only think of kutcheris in the Sabhas. We have never heard of mikeless kutcheris and open air park kutcheris. This is a very unique concept and this was a different kind of experience for us. The audience was very close to us, unlike other kutcheries. Without the mike, we had to put in more effort and our voice came out much better. This has given us a lot of confidence. Also, we were really surprised by the big crowd that was present early in the morning and their encouragement really motivated us to perform even better." 

A Mikeless Kutcheri in the rain

A year later, three overseas students from the Middle East performed at the Nageswara Rao Park - two from Kuwait and one from Dubai. Malini Vishwanath, Guru of 13year old Raghavi of Kuwait, had said that it was a challenging platform for her student "Every voice has a genetic quality. One cannot go beyond the domain. We had worked, in preparation for this kutcheri, for almost 6 months as it was to be a mikeless kutcheri. I think Raghavi was her natural self this morning and enjoyed presenting the kutcheri in front of the informal park audience. Any young student would be deeply honoured to be part of the Sunday Kutcheri in the Park."

When Arul Priya came all the way from Dubai, the early morning rain might have led to a calling off of the kutcheri. But in an instantaneous act, the staffers from Sundaram Finance brought umbrellas and she began her performance with umbrellas held aloft amidst loud cheers of appreciation from the audience.

Record Breaking Series

Around 1400 children have participated in the mikeless kutcheri series at the Nageswara Rao Park. In addition to the monthly Sunday Concert, Sundaram Finance also organizes Mikeless Concerts during the popular festival of Navarathri and as part of the four day annual Mylapore Festival. Organised on the first Sunday of every month, the series had gone on uninterrupted for 14 years till March 2020 when the Pandemic struck. By then, the Kutcheri in the Park concept of Sundaram Finance had already gone into the Limca Book of Records as the longest running open air mikeless concert in the country. 

While the Kutcheri had gone on uninterrupted for 14years till March 2020 and the audition committee at Sundaram Finance had chosen artistes for the rest of the year, the national lockdown following the break out of the Pandemic in the last week of March 2020 meant that the Kutcheri in the Park could not be held for two years. Like the suggestions made in the early years of the Kutcheri to convert it into a 'miked' kutcheri, there were thoughts on going online with the Kutcheri concept. However the team at Sundarm Finance resisted the temptation and has stuck to the novel concept of a physical kutcheri sans mikes and speakers. 

The wait is finally over. The company has decided to relaunch the monthly series from the first Sunday of April 2022.

 

Commenting on the re-launch, Rajiv Lochan, MD, Sundaram Finance Ltd., said “The Sunday Kutcheri in the Park has served as a launch platform for budding young artistes for 14 years and has now become an integral part of Chennai’s cultural fabric. With the pandemic behind us, we are excited to re-launch the open air mikeless kutcheri at the Nageswara Rao Park and look forward to providing opportunities every month to young children to showcase their musical talent in front of an informal audience at the park.”  

Rajiv Lochan, who took over from TTS on April 1 last year, is set to take the Mikeless Kutcheri concept forward into the 'relaunch' phase.

To select the artistes, Sundaram Finance came up with an audition model where children would first be tested for their voice and then be chosen to perform at the park. To audition, email: sundaykutcheri@sundaramfinance.in