Curtains down for Margazhi makers December 14, 2020, 1:11 PM IST
Every music season, M G Swamy is up early and heads to the Parthasarathy Swami Sabha, where he spends the entire day ensuring the sound system is working perfectly so that the audience can enjoy the music. Today, the 74-year-old sits dejected at home. The sabha has fallen silent, the performers and rasikas have moved online, and all that echoes in his mind are the memories of a glorious past and worries of an uncertain future.
“I have been in charge of the sound and public address system at the sabha for the past 15 years. During Margazhi, for one-anda-half months, I would be there with my team from 8am to 9pm,” says Swamy, who has worked behind-the-scenes for vocalists such as Aruna Sairam, Unnikrishnan and Ganesh-Kumaresh. “Some performers would call me for individual performances too. I used to earn about ₹1.5 lakh during the season. As there was no work since February, I have had to pawn