Music@Technopark

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: There is a palpable anticipation in the air and the music that goes full throttle inside the Technopark Club gives it an endearing halo of nostalgia; one that would remind you of the butterflies in your stomach while waiting behind the stage in school and college for the moment when you would go up and face the crowd.  ‘Nakshatra Deepangal’, the musical nite organised by Natana, the cultural club of Technopark, is just two days away. As we go up to the room where the last round of rehearsals are underway, Divas Sadasivan, one of the co-ordinators of the event, and Subin Peeru, president of Natana, brief us on the reason why a cultural platform is important in a space like an IT hub.  “The annual event in Technopark, called ‘Tech-a-Break’ aims at a get-together of the employees in the whole of the IT park. Interaction between the employees of different companies or a sifting of fine talents is not always possible with this one-time event in a year,” says Subin. “Natana, on the other hand, aims at identifying talented artists inside the Technopark, some of whom are really seasoned professionals. The members will be in touch with each other and various events will be organised throughout the year, like the photography workshop that we had two months ago which had quite an overwhelming response” he says.  The upcoming musical nite is dedicated to M G Radhakrishnan, Johnson Master and Gireesh Puthenchery, the maestros who left a legacy in the genre of Malayalam film music. Twenty- three singers from different companies, who have been selected as the voices that will represent Natana after two rounds of  audition, will render songs composed by the three musicians.  The chat is soon overtaken by the organ and the tabla. They begin playing the lilting tunes that bring back a flood of memories when movies were still as naive as the good old ‘Thenmavin Kombathu’. Deepa Suresh of Tata Elxsi and Anand V of IBS sing with a winning ease ‘Manam Thelinje Ninnal’, a clever composition by M G Radhakrishnan that holds the charms of a melody while set at the pace of a peppy number. Arun Kumar of E-Team nearly matches up to the original track as he gets the nuances of  Girish Puthenchery’s folk style ‘Karukare Karuthoru Pennanu’ just right.  We learn that most of the team members have been trained in music from very early ages. Deepa Joy and Aparna Panicker have learned classical music from childhood. While Deepa sings for devotional albums and does recordings on a regular basis, Aparna is also a classical dancer. Athul Nath, who doubles up as singer and mridangam player, accompanies Carnatic vocalists for concerts. Sarath Saisdharan is a seasoned drummer who has had his stints with music bands during school and college days. As good at vocals as he is at animation, Madhavan P P, a senior designer, has designed the poster of the musical nite. Srihari N and Anand had sung for the album produced by Technopark employees in 2008.  For many of them, Natana has given a new lease of life to their talents. Aneesha M H of RevenueMed says that, “almost eight years have passed since the last time I went up on a stage during my college days. I am actually a bit tensed, but really happy that I am part of this.” For Archana S V and Deepa Suresh, this is the first-of-its-kind event after beginning their careers as freshers just one year ago.  “It feels good to be representing Technopark and not a company and also that we are not competing against each other as we do for the annual event. Besides, all the competitions are conducted individually by companies and we never really interact with those outside our firms. So, this is a wonderful opportunity to meet others on the campus and we hope to grow into a much larger community,” says Binsu Chandran.  The event, which will take place on December 8 at the Amphitheatre, Technopark, from 6 pm to 10.30 pm, will also witness the launch of ‘Nadam’, a music band comprising singers from Technopark. A 15- minute fusion number will be played by the band.