Meeting Ilaiyaraaja

Meeting Ilaiyaraaja

1           The Event

I had been waiting to attend a concert by the Maestro for a long time. My opportunity came when his concert was announced for Toronto, Newark, NJ and San Jose, CA. I chose to attend the one in Toronto on Feb 16 2013.

My wife, Sasi and I drove to Detroit in 5 hours, stayed over at a cousin’s and then drove for another 5 hours to Toronto. The concert was being organized by Tamil and Sri Lankan expatriates and their companies. We purchased VIP tickets – I was reticent to buy VVIP ones, for all my excitement, though.

The concert was being held at the massive Rogers Center in Toronto – an indoor stadium which serves as the home of the Toronto Blue Jays baseball team. There’s a Renaissance hotel which is attached to the stadium so that artistes and VIPs can easily get into the stadium.

I made sure we were booked in the same hotel as the artistes. We were hoping to catch a glimpse of the great man. If we could get to talk to him, it would be beyond our dreams. I prepared to pass on a gift to him – meeting him would be too much to hope for. We carried around a bulky gift - a 157-CD collector's edition of Johann Sebastian Bach's complete works.

2      Pre-Concert Gathering at the Hotel

We reached the place a bit late in the afternoon. We noticed some stars were having lunch in the hotel’s restaurant. We saw Raaja’s son, Karthik Raja and Hariharan, but I wasn’t one to go and talk to them by myself. Sasi took the initiative and talked to Raaja’s secretary, Anton. She requested him to pass on the gift. He kept it at his feet and continued with his lunch with Karthik Raja and Hariharan. I shook Karthik Raaja’s hand and said, “This gift is for your father.” He smiled. 

I had previously inserted a small note into the gift box. It said something like, "To Sri Ilaiyaraaja, thanks for the prodigious musical output over the years. - Bharadwaj". And I added my email address and phone number to it. Wonder why... did I expect Raaja to open the gift and send a thank you note? High hopes!

After some 30 minutes, Sasi acted on a hunch she had and went back to their table. They had left, but the bag with the gift was left behind. I guess it can be understood that Anton didn’t have any need to ensure it reached the right hands. It was fortunate that we got our gift back. We had to make a better effort.

3      The Concert

The concert itself was a fantastic experience. We were in the 9^th row from the stage, in the VIP section, bang in front of Raaja’s harmonium. To watch the maestro from up close and to watch him perform with stalwarts like SPB, Hariharan, Chithra and others was an unforgettable experience.

 

A view of the stage as people were filing in.

 

About 30000 attended the concert in this massive baseball stadium with a retractable roof.

The crowd erupted when Raaja walked out. He started with his traditional song - Janani, Janani. Prabhakar, his assistant acted as the conductor for the concert.

These are the songs that were performed:

1.       Janani – Ilaiyaraaja (1000-year old words set to unforgettable Kalyani ragam-based melody)

2.       Om sivoham (Naan Kadavul/Nenu Devudni) – Karthik – powerful raw expression

3.       Isayil thodangudamma (Har Koi Samjhe from Hey Ram) – Hariharan – great exposition of Hamsanaadam

4.       Annakiliye (Annakili/Rama Chiluka) – Chitra – his first movie.

5.       Madai thiranthu - S. P. Balasubramaniam – Lively Natabhairavi

6.       Pattu cholli (Azhagi) - Sadhana Sargam

7.       Idhayam oru koil - Ilaiyaraaja

8.       En iniya pon – Karthik – one of my all-time favorites, sung by Yesudas

9.       Nee partha parvAi (Janmonki Jwala from Hey Ram) – Hariharan, Sadhana Sargam

10.   Koonthalile megam vandhu (Kurulandhe Megham from Bala Nagamma) - Madhu Balakrishnan – a great Bilahari number

11.   Naan thedum - Ilaiyaraaja, Chithra – One of his Tamil hits, in Hindolam, or is there some Chandrakouns in it?

12.   Azhagu Malar Aada (Dhamarukamu Mroga from Manchi Manushulu) – Hariharan, Surmukhi – another Hindolam/Chandrakouns mix

13.   Naanaaga naNillai - S. P. Balasubramaniam

14.   Anandha thenkaattu thaalaatuthe alai payuthe

15.   Rathiriyil poothirukum - S. P. Balasubramaniam, Priya Himesh – a big hit in Tamil – a passionate song in Hamsanandhi

16.   Manjolai Kilithano (Kavvinche KaLLalo from Panchaboothalu) – Hariharan – a Hindolam number

17.   Pottu vaitha kaathal thittam – Karthik, Yuvan Sankar Raaja

18.   Aagaaya vennilaave (Aakasa Veedhi from Hello Pakkiram) - Madhu Balakrishnan – a rare Darbari Kaanada one by Raaja.

19.   Yamuna atrile (Yamuna Thatilo from Dalapathi) – a foray into Yaman Kalyan/Yamuna Kalyani by Raaja.

20.   Sorgame enraalum - Ilaiyaraaja, chithra – one of my favorites, a high-spirited Hamsanaadam number.

21.   Etho moham - Karthik, Surmukhi – one of the numbers Raaja is proud of, based on his mentions of it.

22.   Nenjukullu Innaar Endru - S. P. Balasubramaniam, Chithra

23.   Raasaathi onna kaanaadha (Jaabilli Kosam Aakasamalle) - Hariharan

24.   Naan porantha vandhadhu. Chorus – a unique A Capella song, i.e., a song composed with no instruments

25.   Valli valli - Ilaiyaraaja, chitra

26.   Kaathalin Deepam Onru – one of my all-time favorites – a very introspective love song in Charukesi.

27.   Ninaivo oru paravai (Yedhalo Tholi Valape from Erra Gulaabeelu) – Yuvan, Ramya

28.   Anandha raagam – Sadhana Sargam - a passionate song in Simhendra Madhyamam

29.   Sundari kannaal (Sundari Ne Neelo from Dalapathi) – S. P. Balasubramaniam, Chithra – One has to hear it live for the orchestration.

30.   Saindhu saindhu (Edhi Edhi from Yeto VeLLipoindhi Manasu) - Yuvan. Ramya

31.   Oram po - Ilaiyaraaja 

Hariharan entertained with his innovative slides (sangathis/gamakas)

 

 



Giant images of Raaja were put up in the background. Karthik performs Om Sivoham...

 

 Chithra was melodious as usual.

 

S. P. Balasubrahmaniam got a special warm welcome. 

 

 

 What could the legends be discussing?

 

 Raaja's trusted lieutenant, Sada on the guitar

 

 S. P. B. intones that Raaja is God using lyrics from Madai Thiranthu. Raaja smilingly waves away such compliments.

 

 The rhythms section gave a robust performance.

 

 S. P. B. and Chithra singing together as they have done innumerable times. S. Janaki was sorely missed.

 

 The strings section, with some members of the female chorus.

 

 Actress Sneha mentions how she and her would-be husband grew closer discussing Raaja's music. Raaja joked that he's not responsible for relationships that his music made possible!

 

 Karthik Raaja asks S. P. B. for some words on his father's musical output as S. P. B. is much more eloquent on such matters.

 

4           The Post Concert Backstage Attempts

 Since we were in the VIP enclosure, we attempted to go towards the stage at the end of the concert. Sasi heard a gentleman say to security, “I know these people. Let them through”. He was referring to a couple near us. We quickly walked closer to them and sneaked in along with them.

 

Backstage, we saw four giant trailers which acted as change rooms for the artistes. We weren’t sure Raaja would be. I saw Karthik Raaja giving an interview to a TV channel. We saw Parthiban and other artistes moving back. We milled around, unsure of what to do next. Security could escort us out at any time. We walked to the adjoining hotel (where we too were staying) and slowed down enough to somehow be in the same elevator as Karthik Raaja. I got to talk to him about his work.

 

And yet, seeing the Maestro seemed to be a bridge too far.

5           The Stakeout in the Hotel

 

The concert ended right at midnight. The morning after the concert, Sasi and I checked out by noon and hung around in the hotel lobby.

 

I talked to the lady who sold us our tickets to see if we could meet one of the organizers - Gogulan, the account manager at Trinity Events. He was too busy with trying to ensure a dinner for the sponsors with Ilaiyaraaja.

 

I caught Raj, a senior manager at Trinity and told him how we had come far from Chicago and would like to hand the gift over to Ilaiyaraaja. We told him about having VIP tickets too. I said I could pay up to VVIP range if I could get to spend a few minutes with Ilaiyaraaja. The fact that we were from Chicago seemed to catch his attention. He said he comes to Chicago regularly on business. We offered all manner of help in Chicago. He assured us that he would try to arrange a meeting. Later he took us aside and asked us to hang around and not tell anyone. A meeting could come about.

 

Two hours passed as we waited around. There were some 20+ people in the lobby hoping to catch a glimpse of the man. Each time the elevator doors opened, they eagerly checked to see if he was in there. In the meanwhile, we met Hariharan, Karthik Raaja, Sadhana Sargam and Senthil Das & Surmukhi - chorus singers in Ilaiyaraaja's troupe. I took a picture with Yuvan.

 

 Sadhana Sargam was kind enough to pose.

 

I complimented Sadhana Sargam on her diction for Telugu and Tamil songs. She smiled. I asked how she’s able to work in Chennai though she stays in Mumbai. She said that the tapes are sent to Mumbai and she records on it.

The whole troupe was planning to see Niagara Falls (about an hour away).

The lobby of the Renaissance hotel where many lay in wait for stars to appear.

 

 I wouldn't give up the opportunity to talk to even Raaja's chorus singers. Surmukhi told me they practiced for four months.

 

  Hariharan was all bundled up for the drive out to Niagara Falls.

Karthik Raaja was the most sociable of everyone and patiently posed for pictures and even answered a few questions.  

 

Meanwhile, Raj continued to assure us that we could meet Ilaiyaraaja. Then things got delayed as we heard that ‘sir’ was having lunch. We did not have breakfast or lunch as we waited until around 2:30. We were waiting to drive back 9 hours all the way back to Chicago. Something had to happen soon or we'd have to head back after all those trials. Our only hope was that Raj felt that it could be done. He was in touch with Anton, Ilaiyaraaja's secretary on his cell.

 

Almost three hours after our wait, Raj took us into the elevator. We weren’t supposed to give out the fact that we ‘scored’ a meet. Others would be disappointed. I was surprised this was working out for us where many others in the lobby were trying in vain. Did Anton feel bad that he forgot our gift the previous day? Did Raj felt like our beseeching amounted to something special? I wasn’t sure. But we were on our way to Raaja’s room!

 

We searched around for room 177. In the minute or two that it took us to get to the room, my throat went dry. What do I say to him? What do I address him as? Are we intruding into his privacy? Do I say Namaste or Namaskaram? Do I talk about not knowing Tamil? Do I talk about how many Telugu fans were waiting for more great Telugu music from him? About listening to his music in all the languages including Marathi? Do I raise his Western Classical influences or his utilization of Carnatic ragas? Too late to come up with answers. Anton met us outside the room. He said we had two minutes for pictures and everything. He knocked the door. There he was! Ilaiyaraaja himself opened the door and beamed at us.

 

He let us in. I had no clue what to do next. I struggled to pull out the gift box from its bag. I cursed the bag as it took a split-second longer than I anticipated. He said, "What is this?" I said, "It's a small gift sir, the complete works of Johann Sebastian Bach (Raaja’s favorite composer)." He said, "Why all of this?" I said, "It's a small token of appreciation sir, 150 CDs, with score sheets." He said, "With score sheets?" I said, "Yes sir, 16000 pages". He smiled even more than usual. It was a signal that he appreciated getting this gift.


As I set the gift box down in its bag, I wonder what got into me, but I said, "I put my email address and phone number in this, sir". He said, "OK" as if in some doubt as to why. Maybe it was a way for me to leave a path to getting back to me, however slim the chances may be.

Anton and Raj were looking on. I fumbled with the camera, trying to show Raj how to shoot. Raaja was patient as it happened.

 

Sasi said, “We too met through your music, sir”. He laughed out. (Context: In the concert, the previous night, actress Sneha talked about how she and her future husband became close through Raaja’s music. Raaja replied, “A lot of people claim to have been married through my music. God is my witness – I have no hand in this!”). So, this joke was appropriate when we met him. She said, “We need to take your blessings, sir”. I then realized that I had planned to touch his feet and pay respects. I muttered something about being in the presence of the "God of Music" as I bent down. We touched his polished black shoes, he blessed us.

And that was it. I didn’t know what else to do. No words… no requests for more music. No raising of interesting topics. I said, “Thank you, sir” and we left dazed by what just happened.

And finally, the moment of reckoning.

Some 30 minutes later, he emerged from the elevator in the lobby. As expected, the crowd mobbed him. He obliged with a few pictures and left without saying much. A Hummer vehicle waited outside to take him to Niagara. We watched from afar and retained a faint smile replaying the wondrous time…

Raaja being mobbed in the lobby of the hotel as he tries to exit to go to Niagara Falls.