It took them a lot of effort to get it right. Naraya peru la-lla ucharippu romba mosama irunthuthu (Many people did not get the la-lla pronunciation right). They are also equally strangers to Tamil literature like every other young person. “They sing the song but it’s only after fourfive practices and after I explain the meaning that they understand what they are singing. They had the trappings of their generation when it comes to language - diction, accent, understanding archaic words but they have managed to pull through, it seems. While such testimonies from the audience have been quite reassuring, those from the band members themselves have been immensely gratifying, he says. At the end of the performance, when we ask if anyone wants us to repeat a song, they would start screaming and shouting for almost all the songs,” he shares. Everyone has been surprised at how entertaining the show turns out to be. But if people were to avoid it thinking that, they would be the losers. “People think Iyyo, Sanga elakiyam ithuku ellam poga koodathu da, pottu aruthuduvaanga (We shouldn’t got to these conferences it will bore us). That’s why the show remains surprisingly light and fun. Filter these out and what you’re left with is poems that focus on the community, living in harmony, simple people’s way of life. Not just contemporary politics, but works that touch upon the politics of the Sangam kingdoms also find no place in their set. The songs picked for the project are also with a specific purpose to stay away from any religious or political leanings. That’s when we know we have met our purpose. To know that there’s so much meaning behind what we only knew as words”. And the feedback we received from youngsters after every show was immense “I didn’t know the lines beyond yaadhum oorey yaavarum kelir now, I already know half the song by heart. In order to deliver it effectively, we added an element to the show where we talk about the song in common man’s language - which elakiyam the song is from, who is the author, what was his life like, what is the book like, under what circumstances this poem was penned and what it means. “If we were to just announce it’s a Purananutru paadal and sing it, no one will understand. While songs about Sangam literature may sound like a boring affair, the audience was pleasantly surprised at how far from their concert it turned out to be. Since we couldn’t go, we did it virtually,” he recalls. They wanted to celebrate April 14 as Tholkappiyar Dinam and we were to perform at the launch. We were to go to the US for FeTNA’s Tamil New Year event. “After the relaxations came in, we regrouped from January and returned full-fledged.īut, just as we started to perform again, the second wave was starting. But, a virtual concert in honour of the Federation of Tamil Sangams of North America (FeTNA) put their project on the map. Released on YouTube, the single received an overwhelmingly positive response. Months into the lockdown, Tamil Osai too realised the advantages of the virtual world and went the Zoom way to produce their next work - a rendition of Bharathidasan’s Sange Muzhangu. Soon enough, the team was preparing for a Southeast Asian tour when the pandemic hit the country and rendered all efforts impossible. A couple of months down the line, they were performing for the Tiruchy chapter of the Indian Medical Association. After days of training and practice, they showcased their set to the Tamil business community and there was no looking back at least for a while. The choral ensemble came together after a round of routine auditions. We launched Tamil Osai at his event,” he narrates. Their first meeting happened at Women’s Christian College. “Ezhuchi (The Rise) was a means to bring Tamil entrepreneurs across the world under an umbrella and work towards the upliftment of the Tamil community. Then, the dream of many years became a reality in November 2019 at the first meeting of Father Jegath Gaspar’s Ezhuchi conglomerate. This is where his interest in Tamil literature offered an opportunity.
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