March CCC, Sunday 2024

Namaskaram everyone,

We wrapped up our March monthly event on St. Patrick’s Day this past Sunday, coming off the high of Sphatikothsavam and returning to our regular schedule. This was a particularly momentous monthly event as it was the first to take place with neither Amma nor Appa present. By some divine miracle (the help of volunteers and Amma prepping everyone from India at 2am), the event went off without a hitch. 

The pieces presented in Sunday’s event were Carnatic canon, featuring classic kritis and ragams taken to the next level in a way unique to CCC kids and their gurus. 20 minutes was plenty of time for graha bedham, thisram koraippus, and manodharmam in jhampa thalam, as evidenced by our daring performers and unbothered accompanists. 

A range of performers took the stage, from first time soloists– Aadya, Medha, Amulya on the violin, and Dhruva on the veena, to graduating seniors– Manaswini, Shreyas, Pramithi and Sanika on the veena, and Sanjay and Akshay on the mrudangam. We wish the seniors best of luck in the next chapter of their lives and are excited to usher in a new generation of CCC performers. 

We were guided expertly through Sunday’s event by Rajani Ravindrabharathy and Abinaya Srikant, who have been CCC members for over a decade, are talented artists in their own right, and may consider a career in professional emceeing. 

On a personal note: I’ve had a number of relationships with CCC over the past 15 years, from being the center of CCC, to CCC being a weird sibling that I compete with for my mom’s attention. Stepping briefly into Amma’s shoes on Sunday reminded me that while CCC is obviously a successful music platform, the magic is in the way it’s a source of community, inspiration, and purpose for our people. Community is hard to find for my generation (and generally in western cultures); CCC bringing us together monthly is a luxury and a blessing. 

I also came out of Sunday’s event feeling especially grateful for CCC’s volunteer team, who are exceptional every month and especially during this event. We had a new venue, a packed lineup, and the 3rd most effective Mohan on the job but CCC volunteers went above and beyond to handle every detail of the event. A special thank you to Radha aunty, Priya aunty, Nami uncle among countless other volunteers for taking charge.

My sincere thanks to all the teachers who were present to encourage, bless and guide the students as I am sure it made a huge positive impact on their performances. 

Our next event will be on April 7th at 2pm at the Shirdi Sai Parivar. Hope to see you then and best of luck to anyone competing or performing in the Cleveland Thyagaraja Aradhana! We hope to also see you at the Felicitation Ceremony on April 13th in Cleveland.

FULL VIDEO OF THE EVENT (Big thanks to Nithya Ashok)

PICTURES FROM THE EVENT (courtesy of Sreelaasya Kanakadandi and Hari N Iyer)

Thanks,

Divya Mohan