Power performance

The launch of a CSR programme aimed at supporting struggling artistes by a corporation in Bangalore inadvertently turned out to be a cause for suppressed mirth, though the reason should certainly bother policy planners. First, there was a jugalbandi by a father-son duo — the father on the saxophone and son on the tabla. As they were playing, the power went off and came on at least four times, so the two could be heard only intermittently over the sound system. Then came the turn of a classical dancer. A musician can keep playing his instrument whether the power is on or off but the dancer, who depends on recorded music, was left stranded on several occasions. She coped gamely, freezing in a pose when the power went off, finally managing to finish her routine after several such “Kodak moments”.