When I read the title and saw the photo in this article in ‘Friday Review’, the supplement of ‘The Hindu’, my initial reaction was ‘These men??? :O’ before I went on to read the full article. Why did I give that reaction?
During Sanjay’s Nadopasana concert last year, these men were sitting on the row behind mine and they kept saying the raaga names loudly and singing along quite loudly. I can’t tell you what a great nuisance it was. Though I did try my best to control my rising temper, when Sanjay started the Charukesi alapana and one of them started loudly singing his own version of Charukesi alapana, I couldn’t stop myself any longer from asking him to stop singing. He did stop singing, but only for a few minutes after which he resumed his singing again! Since I didn’t want to say anything more, I went to the row in front of mine and sat. During the Season, I saw these men in quite a few concerts and the moment I saw them, I made sure that I was sitting as far away from them as possible!
It’s high time that people like these started remembering that the audience has come to a concert to listen to the musicians on stage and not to listen to them! One can enjoy a concert in their own way, only as long as it doesn’t disturb others and mar the concert listening experience of others. Now that they have been featured in a newspaper, I think they will be encouraged even more to show-off their singing skills and knowledge during the concerts. 😐 Seeing this thread in rasikas.org, I felt happy that I wasn’t the only one who found what they did so irritating.
P.S.: Here’s my earlier rant on the same topic.
Hi Aparna,
A good point you have made. People sing along, not only in the concerts, but also in cinema theaters when a popular song starts.
They do cause disturbance to people around, no doubt. However, seeing from their angle, they might most likely forget their surroundings when they start hearing a song that they like so much and may start singing along.
I think what you did was best… moving away from them as you do not want to get disturbed by their singing along.
That aside, don’t you sing along when you hear your favorite music at home or in the car? With or without people around? I know of people who sing along when they hear their favorite song. I do it often when I am driving the car. But, there is none sitting next to me. And the windows are rolled up tight so that both music and AC doesn’t get away. 🙂
Just thought about the title for the post.
After all they are Musik-seers. Aren’t “seers” revered and worshipped?
😛