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F R I DAY,

4 FLICK CLIQUE
O C TO B E R 3 0 ,
2009 ~ON FRIDAY~
A Tarantino masterpiece
Making The Most Of Chennai Chutzpah

M
usic has remained a
constant element in
Krishna Iyer's life.
"Growing up in Kolkata, as
a youngster, I didn't realise
the importance of music," says Krishna, a
city-based musician and counsellor, who
is also the former Principal of AMM
Matriculation Higher Secondary School.
"But as I grew up I realised how important
music was," she adds. Krishna is perhaps
best-known for her brainchild, Sing
Along, a music programme for children
that is held every year in the city. What
many may not know is that she also loves
animals, and welcoming us into her home
is the bark of three four-legged friends of
hers - dogs, all picked from the streets,
each with an ailment. Krishna has eight
such pets. Talking about her foray into the
public arena with Sing Along, Krishna
says, "In schools, when cultural
programmes are held, not all children get
a chance to perform. I felt that there must
be a platform where children can sing and
perform without any restriction or
inhibition, and that's how Sing Along was
born." At Sing Along, adults perform on
stage, to an audience comprising children.
The show has been a part of Chennai's
music calendar since 1994.
Krishna also lived in Baroda and
trained in voice culture. Talking about
Sing Along, she says, "To me these events
are like attending a birthday party. Our
stage is filled with mad adults singing to a
live band." She also conducts music
sessions, called Vocalz, for children
wherein they are “encouraged to feel good
about themselves through singing and
performing at their own pace, thus
gradually allowing them to realise that
facing a crowd could be a rewarding
experience”. She emphasises that these
sessions are held to make learning music
a fun-filled experience. "Children who
show promise at these sessions are later
trained and absorbed into the Sing Along
crew," she adds, "The most important
thing, however, is that kids enjoy
themselves and I, for one, love being in
their company."
Besides teaching music and organising
Sing Along, Krishna also counsels
sexually abused children. "I try and use
music as a therapeutic aid in helping
these children deal with trauma from
abuse," she says, "And it has worked
wonders. Once I see an interest in them, I
help them take up Western classical music
examinations and it makes me immensely
happy every time a child comes out with
flying colours." Sing Along is also the only
fund-raiser show for Reach Out, a self-
financing NGO dealing with sexually
abused children since 1994.
This year, following the show held in
July, Krishna had a rather unusual
request. A few senior citizens present
among the audience had fun at the show,
and told her that they would love to be a
part of a similar show for people in their
age group. "That is how, Rewind, a show
for silver citizens was born," she says. So
what can one look forward to at this event?
Think music of the yesteryears - Judy
Garland, Louis Armstrong and the likes
spanning over five decades from 1930 to
the 80s. Joining Krishna's motley crew of
performers, this time for Rewind, is
Ranjan Prasad, well-known folk music
composer and singer from Kolkatta.
Rewind will be held on Sunday,
November 15 at the Museum Theatre at
6.30pm. Between 3pm and 5pm, the same
day, a competition for trained Western
classical voices will also be held.
lakshmi.krupa@timesgroup.com

>> TUNE IN I lakshmi krupa

SINGING IN THE RAIN

SUMANTH KUMAR

Musician, teacher, counsellor, friend - Krishna Iyer dons many hats and spends a lot of her time with youngsters. We meet her to find out more…

>> ECO-WATCH I lk parking area at Tada by 8.30am. We will

first trek through a 4km stretch in Tada
community have now taken over and
many garbage bins have been placed
and then commence the cleaning," says across the area," adds Peter, "We will clean

Restoring Peter. The members are to be spilt into 20

teams comprising ten people each, in
order to ensure that all parts of the place
are uniformly cleaned. "The newly
appointed Divisional Forest Officer (DFO)
up the entire place and then visit it
regularly over the next couple of months
as a follow-up measure."
This, the Chennai Trekking Club and
many other everyday eco-warriors, hope

Tada at Tada is also quite proactive. He has been

instrumental in the dismissal of corrupt
locals who were engaged to take care of
the place. New members of the local
will be the first step towards restoring the
Tada Falls to its former beauty! So do we.
For more details on Save Tada log on to
www.chennaitrekkers.org

The Chennai Trekking

Club is on a mission to
restore Tada to its
erstwhile pristine glory.
We find out more
about its Save Tada
campaign…

J
ust about 65 kms from
Chennai is the Tada falls that
offers a scenic, green getaway
to those wanting to take a quick
break. The increasing popularity of
the falls, that sees regular trekkers
and tourists from Chennai, has also
led to pollution of the space. "Tada
is one of the most beautiful
trekking paradises that are closer
to Chennai. It's amazing how just a
What started as a group discussion online soon snowballed
few hours from this big metro,
there is lush greenery and
into a movement for which 200 trekkers signed up
untouched waters. You feel like you
are in Kerala, suddenly," says, Peter
Van Geit of Chennai Trekking
Club (CTC), an online group of and
for trekkers from the city and
beyond. "Some of our members
who trek regularly at the Tada have
been complaining about not just
the increasing pollution but also
about many anti-social activities
taking place here. Some members
came back from a trek to find their
car's windows broken and
valuables stolen too," he adds.
Trekkers also complained that
groups of men brought in bottles of
alcohol, drank in Tada and passed
lewd comments at women and
couples who were trekking. "We
decided to do something about this
and started the Save Tada
Campaign."
What started as a group
discussion online soon snowballed
into a movement for which 200
trekkers signed up. "We put up old
pictures of Tada and pictures of
the current status of the Tada Falls
on our web forum. Agitated
trekkers and many people from
across the city expressed interest
in doing something about this. And
that is how the Save Tada campaign
was born," smiles Peter.
On November 1, 200 volunteers
will participate in CTC's Save Tada
Campaign, for which three buses
have been organised. "We will start
from Chennai at 5am and reach the

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