Mayakkum Margazhi: We do enjoy our ice creams. We're human too, says Vignesh Ishwar

December turns the city into a map of sabhas, but Vignesh Ishwar, a Carnatic vocalist with a steady and respected presence in the Margazhi circuit, enters the season looking inward rather than outward. His Margazhi isn’t about how many concerts he sings; it’s about whether each one still carries purpose, surprise and room for genuine emotion.

ON REINVENTING HIS CONCERT MINDSETAsk him what artistic question shapes his season and he returns to the idea of internal recalibration. “For the last few months, I’m just revelating about how I present my concerts,” he says. “Our performance should not stagnate to a certain format and pattern. The one thought that is always there is how we can up the performance.”

For Vignesh, change isn’t cosmetic; it stems from purpose. “Why am I presenting this? Why am I singing this?… How I can improvise upon what I have done before and not stagnate.” This has pushed him to revisit long-unexplored ragas, introduce pieces he hasn’t presented in years and rethink familiar structures. Even the flow between alapana, niraval and swaram is now open to improvisational reshaping.

‘CARNATIC MUSIC IS A TWO-WAY ENGAGEMENT’With purists, teens, casual listeners and first-timers occupying the same hall, he sees the concert list as an invitation rather than a prescription. “What I sing and what I present is up to me — how it’s received is not in my control,” he says. “Some people come expecting certain things. Some may get a culture shock.”

His approach is to build a mosaic of moods and textures. “We try and make sure there is a certain mix of emotion, mix of different composers, languages, and so on… because Carnatic music is a two-way engagement.”

“Sometimes, when I go on stage, I have no idea. It may change on stage depending on how the concert is going. It all depends on basically the voice,” he adds.

On first-time listeners and canteen loyaltiesWhat he hopes newcomers take home is simple: “If they go back a little intrigued… that is enough,” he says. In the lighter moments, he smiles at culinary finds: “At every canteen, there’s one sweet that’s amazing. In Narada Gana Sabha, they have coriander sevai … and of course, dosa is a staple.” Even stereotypes amuse him: “People think that when we are in Margazhi, we will not eat this, we may not drink that. Yeah, sure, we do enjoy our ice creams. We are human too. Depending on our voice, we make our own restrictions.” He laughs, adding that most assumptions melt the minute someone spots a musician casually grabbing breakfast with friends before a concert.

How Margazhi has shaped his identityAlthough born and raised in Mumbai, Vignesh’s artistic identity took shape in Chennai’s sabha corridors. “The music season does shape your identity as a Carnatic musician,” he says. “It gives you a boost in yowur recognition… People from all around the world come and attend the Margazhi season.” Much of his evolution was forged in the audience before it reached the stage. “Going around concerts with my friends, discussing what people sang and what the legendary did… has shaped quite a lot of what I listen to, how I listen to, how I sing.”
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