sankaranti in vijayawada

had a wonderful day yesterday when ravi and i decided to drive down to vijayawada on bhogi (pre-sankaranti) day to the big bazaar to check out a rice cooker for martha. we walked in to unimagined pandemonium. there were 3 nadaswaram players seated at the entrance who were in some kind of frenzy and i could just about make out the song they were playing amidst all the wailing. we walked into the crowded store and found 2 very colourfully dressed people (more on the dress in a few minutes) who, i later found out, were haridasus. we commented to each other on the traditionally dressed people who had come shopping and commenced to stack up our trolley with sauce, soups etc. suddenly there was a loud shout and we noticed that the 2 had been joined by a third person and they had started ..... well, i'll call it singing for want of any other word (cacofonix would have been bound up and stowed away for less!!). there was a lot of dialogue in the singing - or at least two of them took turns saying something to each other (could have been question/answer sessions but i could not identify a single word, and i do have some grasp of telugu by now). the third guy only yelled out something once in a while, and joined the chorus. the main singer was dressed in a bright orange turban and tunic and black pants over which a set of ghungroos had been tied. the quiet singer was dressed in ordinary drab clothes but the third one was the best - he wore a pretty transparent tunic that looked like a kathak dancer's costume., a pair of very faded blue jeans and to top it all - a santa claus cap. i seriously couldn't stop smiling! like a proper tourist, i managed to get a couple of pics of them on ravi's phone camera so the quality may not be great. the nicest touch was when i finally understood something they were singing about - they kept mentioning shopping and big bazaar so... that was easy.

the nicest thing was that no one could watch the performance with a straight face and within minutes we had strangers smiling at each other - with the eyes too, not only the mouth. it was wonderful and by the end of it, when they took the escalator to the next floor, people turned to continue their shopping with a smile on their face. i was hysterical by then because in the midst of this noise, through the window, we could see another performer outside who was dancing to his own beat and singing away, oblivious to the pandemonium inside. fortunately we could not hear him till we stepped out. here too, he was not alone. there was a nadaswaram (or something similar) player (he's apparently called gangireddulavadu) standing close by who just kept playing this one long note, coming up for breath occasionally - definitely no tune. facing him was a beautifully decorated ox (gangireddu) quietly nodding to the music.

it was all so unexpected and such a treat that this must be the first time i enjoyed a visit to the big bazaar which i normally avoid totally. i just loved the whole thing. if this is not incredible india, what is :-)