We arrive in Chennai!

We arrive in Chennai, which used to be known as Madras. This is the home base of the great South Indian music teachers of Wesleyan University, and we've had many friends both from here, and visit here, over the years. Madras was mecca for generations of Wes music majors who dove deep into the traditions of South Indian classical music.

As soon as we're off the plane, our first stop is to visit the Music Academy, where Viswa, Ranga and their sister Balasaraswati were trained.

There on the wall is Viswa's picture -- from his late 1980's stint as leader of the academy.


Balasaraswati's photo is here too. As we travel throughout South India for the next two months, we find that her name is still known everywhere.


The auditorium at the Music Academy.

Later we settled into our accommodations, at the Madras Boat Club. Because Diwali is fast approaching (and it's bigger than Christmas in the US), the whole city is buzzing with preparations. Every commercial on TV, every storefront, the way people greet each other....it's all about Diwali. At the Boat Club, they are prepping for an evening pre-Diwali party, which requires a lot of clean-up because there's been a big rain (or a mini-monsoon, depending on your perspective).



"The Club" is an interesting phenomenon here, much more wide-spread than "country clubs" in the states. Left over from the Raj era, each city has clubs which serve as a focus of community life, for events, family gatherings, sports and networking for upper-income Indians, and each has sister clubs in other cities where members can stay when they travel. We are staying at this club as the guests of Rajiv, since he is a member here.




We join the party in the evening, which consists of several hundred guests, a buffet, a raffle contest, musical performances including a blend of classical South Indian music and rock and roll, from a band called Fusion 9, and finally, for Diwali (the festival of lights), we finish with fireworks over the river.



Karma, of course, wins one of the raffle prizes. We're starting to worry about her likelihood of winning any contest she enters, which we noticed back when she was in Kindergarten at Macdonough school and used to walk away with the bingo prizes every time. Here she is winning a sony walkman at the Madras Boat Club party. You'll note that she is wearing a "salwar kameez", which is a tunic over pants, and very appropriate for an Indian evening out.


Here we are watching the fireworks.