The 18th of October

On so many counts. Yesterday was apparently the day Captain Vijaykanth had organized his political rally.
My concert for Kalaignar TV was scheduled to take place at the University Centenary Hall. Getting there in the afternoon for a sound check was a mammoth task. I tried the three possible ways to get in and every way was supposedly blocked. I almost had tears of frustration and thats when a policeman recognised me and let me through the barricades. He gave me his number so that I could call him in the evening for help.
The rally was apparently happening around Island Grounds/Marina Beach. People were trooping in from all sides. Once the sound check was over, the police advised me against going back home. But there was no way out. I had to and I did.
And the way back the venue at around 5:30 was even more harrowing. At 6:30 we were still stuck at Mount Road. Once we finally got closer to Napier's Bridge we got diverted to God knows where. We were advised to go to the Secretariat, from where we were to come to the venue with Police protection. With the crowds milling about we hardly knew where we were going and took a wrong turn heading to Island Grounds. And I broke down with the sheer fright of people thumping on our car and with no way in sight. And then finally, Mom got someone to help us out and he helped us through the entire stretch and brought us back to the road, which eventually lead to Burma Bazaar.
And from there we found our way back to the University Centenary Auditorium. The police diverted us again and by then I had no clue what to do. Then thankfully they recognised me again and I was told to drive on the wrong side to get to the audi. Suchitra was diverted all the way to Thiruvotriyur and she apparently broke down as well. Harrowing was just not the word describing the journey to the venue. When I reached there, it was 8 pm. The show had just started and the organizers were going crazy as I hadn't turned up. For whatever strange reason, the signal on our phones went dead all the way from the Island Grounds.
Once at the venue everything was super smooth and it was definitely one of the best shows that I have been a part of. Great vibes from my co - artistes. Just about realized how warm a person Suchitra is. Quite a bit to learn from her, after being through that journey she was still happy and pappy. It took me a while to recover. I was not slated to go on stage until much later so that was good.
Vijay Adiraj gave me the best ever intro though I honestly felt it was too much. Vijay Adiraj has been one of the people who has been watching me right from the time I was a beginner and he is one of the best Gentlemen that I have met. Rachna, his wife was taking care of the entire proceedings backstage and she made sure everything went according to plan. I think in some cases, nothing like a woman to be at the helm of things. Vijay ji happened to quip that ever since she took over, he has been very chilled out :) As a couple they are awesome.
A lot of times the people you work with, the vibes and the general feeling of goodwill goes into a better performance. At least for me. And this time it rocked. I met Bellie Raj and Deepa Miriam for the first time, the duo who originally sang Kangal Irandaal. I already know Bellie and have met them before but I ran into Miriam the first time. She sounded awesome live. Suchitra was a killer. Benny is most definitely one of the best male performers of today. Didn't catch Karthik performing since I took that time to prepare for my next act. But there needn't be any inkling of doubts there I guess.
Thankfully our journey back was good. We thanked the police profusely and even better, inspite of all these traffic snarls, the audi was full. I was amazed at the people who had it in them to come for a concert. I hardly expected anyone to turn up. But they did. There are several days that you feel extremely greatful to the guy above. And the 18th was definitely one of them