Carnatic musicians end Margazhi season with cricket match

The tradition continued this year too, when four teams, captained by N Ravikiran, P Unnikrishnan, KN Shashikiran and Vijay Yesudas participated in an informal game on Thursday morning at the SPIC YMCA grounds. 

Drawing a parallel between cricket and music, vocalist Shashikiran of Carnatica, who organised the tournament, said, “You are responsible to an audience in both the fields and their expectations are very high. The practice and dedication you need to put in both are tremendous and it also brings together musicians in a relaxed environment.”

The round-robin format saw the four teams play 10-over matches, before the final encounter. Vocalist Unnikrishnan, one of the captains, said that film musicians too participated in the games, which were more about having fun on the field, than competition. “This tradition has been going on for the last decade. The idea was to just get together after the hectic Margazhi season and relax. Many of us had our commitments but we managed to set aside a few hours. The teams too kept changing, as people left halfway. We had breakfast and lunch together, apart from playing the game,” said the vocalist, whose team made it to the final round.