The road from Pattamadai to Vani Mahal runs via ... America?

A few months ago, a great aunt recalled her younger days and her interest in Carnatic music.  With disappointment in her tone even after all these decades, she described how her folks poured water on her passions--after all, those were the days when women singing and dancing was often associated with the devadasis.

TM Krishna discusses the devadasi dimension, and more,
in his informative and polemical book.

Even way back, the immediate and extended families had some serious interest in the music.  Not a surprise, given some of the influential and popular musicians and entertainers of those days from that part of the world. Like Harikesanallur Muthiah Bhagavatar and SG Kittappa.   When we were kids, the older folks at Sengottai often pointed to the home that once belonged to Kittappa and recalled their own stories about him, most of which perhaps were imagined than real.

Thus, during the visit to India--to Chennai--in December, which is the Carnatic music season--Carnatic music was always in the air, along with serious talk about the music and musicians.  I, of course, ditched interest in that music a long time ago.  But, having grown up with that means that following the discussions and understanding the excitement is no hassle.  Further, there are plenty of intellectual aspects of that musical tradition that interest the nerd that I am.

As has been the case the past few Decembers, father's cousin and his family were also in town.  Fellow Americans we are, but it is in India that we meet.  The daughter from that branch of the family tree is a trained musician.  Unlike my great-aunts whose talents and interests were tightly circumscribed by the mores of the past, this young woman lives and breathes in a world where the glass ceilings over many fields are being constantly shattered.

So, there I was, after many, many years, attending a formal kutcheri in Chennai's Vani Mahal.

More here about Roopa Mahadevan

The women in the generations that went before us would have been impressed with such developments where young women are physicians, engineers, scientists, and musicians, in addition to being mothers, daughters, sisters, aunts, and more.

The street in Pattamadai where our ancestral home (sold a few years ago) is located