I had a friend over from St Louis tonight; he has just quit Citibank and joined Wipro. For a long time, I knew that he played the mridangem, but recently he gave a vocal concert in St Louis! So I asked him to sing…and he sang for nearly an hour.

After ages, instead of listening to a visitor singing movie songs or ghazals,I actually heard just Carnatic music…and it was balm to the soul. Usually, at gatherings, it is I who wind up singing; it was a pleasant change to be able to enjoy someone else’s music in such an informal setting. Poor Lakshmanan, he got to eat his dinner only at 10.30pm!

I feel at peace and happy now. I do wish I had more friends around who would sing Carnatic music like this…it’s a wonderful treasure that I cannot indulge in as often as I want to. When I was growing up, I was surrounded by people who could sing, play the violin or the mridangam, and almost every evening there would be impromptu gatherings and excellent music…only today I realized how much I miss those evenings.

I thought, also, of my friends Murali and his youngest sister,, who are also crazy about Carnatic music...they would have loved to be here this evening. Oh well, Murali lives in Memphis, Tenn, not far from St Louis...so I plan, next time I am there, to introduce Lakhmanan to him!

A wonderful evening…thanks to Lakshmanan!

and btw…a nice line for all my Indian friends…Lakshman is REALLY married to…Rekha!