maraa

Folk music always brings back memories of Woodie Guthrie , and all those wonderful banjo like instruments, and people sitting on stools and chairs, in black and white videos, singing about the good ol’ days. So when some of us went to Kerala in October 2007, we were blown away when this group of young guys called Vayali Group from Thrissur District, gave a two hour performance, with drums, and bamboo instruments, and flutes, and dancers, and snake worshippers!

This same group was invited by the Government of Karnataka at Bangalore for a performance. So just for the spirit of traveling with their music, they were in Bangalore, with their Bamboo instruments and percussion drums. They wanted to jam in the evening with a closed group. We thought it might be worthwhile to let Bangalore get a taste of Vayali music, after all Bangalore, being the cosmopolitan city it is, has not seen too much of this kind of music.

The problems were: Space, Space and Space for free! After being rejected by at least eight places, OPUS surprisingly got back to us with eagerness, willing to cancel one of their pre planned programmes to get Vayali on stage. Opus is a popular karaoke bar which also hosts a range of live performances ranging from jazz, rock, fusion and regional music. 15th of March 2008, Vayali performed in a dimly lit Opus and set the place on fire with their music.

All in three hours the city bred, party going urbanites were dancing to the tunes of the Vayali. Language might have been a block, but sometimes everything doesn’t need to be understood. A connection can also be felt.

A crescendo – from haunting songs humming from bamboo instruments and flutes to the wild percussion instruments – from people wondering if they were at the wrong venue to experiencing the music at a subliminal level. Vayali looked happily tired by the end of three hours while the audience revealed amazement at this unexpected and unpredictable experience at their usual hangout, Opus.

So was it a culture shock or a cross cultural exchange?

It was the first time that it had happened in Opus. It was interesting to observe the regulars to stop their routines and respond to Vayali. It was more than background music that night. one member of the audience came to us and said, "Just watching these guys perform made us feel clean. So much energy and spirit. This was so real."

For Vayali it is mandatory to enjoy themselves while performing. Like one of them said, "Today we are going to be ourselves and make sure that people can be themselves." After the performance, another performer said, "We felt like we were back home performing in our village. The audience never made us feel like outsiders."

11,470 rupees came back in an empty hat we passed around for collection. Vayali will use this money to build capacities within the group. From a dying river valley all the way to Silicon Valley, there was still room for exchange.