Carnival of Brazilian beats

NEW DELHI: On Sunday evening, the third and final day of the World Percussion festival organized by the Times of India and the Indian Council for Cultural Relations, the audience was asked to sing along with the artistes on stage. That is an old trick - it works as a splendid attention-getter - employed by Sapthaakshara, a group of seven musicians who play classical south Indian percussion, and are led by the incomparable Vikku Vinayakram on the ghatam.
The ghatam is basically a clay pot - not much different from the pots found in every Indian home a few decades ago - but in the hands of Vikku, who is now 68, it turns into something much more than just a utensil. Playing on four ghatams, he belted out a tune that first lulled the audience into silence and was then met with rapturous applause.
But before that, the audience had been asked to clap some more. V Selvaganesh, on the kanjira, first tried to convince the audience that with only so much as a clap and the sound "dhum" - used at the right moments - they too could make music.
Then he showed them how. "Every time I hold up my left hand, you will clap," he told the audience. "And every time I hold up my right hand, you will say 'dhum'." Then he recited a beat and whenever needed, he would hold up one his hands, and the audience would chime in.
Immediately afterwards, N Ramakrishnan did exactly the same thing on his mridangam. "I'm going to try and copy the sound of horses galloping," he said. A few minutes later, after the audience had heard what sounded like a herd of wild horses galloping through south Delhi, they could do nothing but clap some more.
The second half of the evening was akin to being at the Rio carnival. For one entire hour, the four members of the Brazilian group Patubate, backed up by a DJ who played electronica, danced and drummed their way from one end of the stage to the other.
Patubate believes in sustainable development, so their instruments are made from recycled material - oil drums, pots and pans. One gentleman even brandished what looked suspiciously like an old car part.
With all that movement, "and the sweating", Patubate did ask for a short break in between so they "could each drink a soft drink". And then as the DJ played a slow, Latin number, the band members used their Coke cans as makeshift instruments, and drummed out yet another number.
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