R.T. Chari.

Until the age of 40, Chari’s interest in music was restricted to Tamil and Hindi film music. Listening to Binaca Geet Mala hosted by the legendary Amin Sayani was a must for him every Wednesday night. In fact, as a youth he would get peeved when he was not allowed to listen to his favourite programme, as his brothers wanted to listen to Carnatic music on the only radio available in the house. This resulted in his developing an aversion towards Carnatic music.

One evening in later years, he was hosting a dinner for some of his family members in the more spacious independent house on TTK Road where his family had moved in. Much to his dislike he found that the entire conversation was about Carnatic music. He felt totally left out. When he protested, his brothers-in-law posed a challenge to him; “They asked me to listen to 500 hours of Carnatic music to realise its magic”. Chari accepted the challenge. And his brothers-in-law were proved right. Chari became hooked to Carnatic music in a big way. Soon he became a donor member of Music Academy, attending concerts regularly. Chari realised that Carnatic music was not only giving him great joy but also helping him to become a calmer and a focussed person.

He decided to share the joy of listening to Carnatic music with his close friends and relatives. His first initiative in this direction was to hold Chamber music concerts in his remodelled flat in Poes Garden. For 10 years, Chari organised nearly 50 chamber music concerts lasting for about 150 minutes each. Not satisfied with just offering a feast for the ears, Chari ensured that every concert was followed by a sumptuous dinner for all the invitees. When I asked him about that, he said “I learnt that from my mother. Seeing the satisfaction of the guests after a hearty meal gives me immense pleasure.”

Not just the meal. Chari also ensured that every guest who attended the concert received a cassette containing 90 minutes of the edited version of the concert.

“Delighting the customers” is a phrase used extensively by marketers in the corporate world. Chari has always believed in delighting his guest audience in more ways than one!

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This abiding interest in Carnatic music led Chari to collect more than 6000 hours of music from not only his own archives but also from other collectors. As a person with a vision who always believes in thinking big, Chari realised the need for chronicling and preserving for posterity the treasure trove of music he had collected.

The idea for a Digital Listening Library was born and soon Chari persuaded the Music Academy, of which he was already an executive committee member, to provide space for the proposed TAG Music Academy Digital Listening Archives which he agreed to establish and maintain for five years (which he has now extended by another five years). The Digital Archive was launched at the Music Academy on December 13, 2008.

Chari says, “The difficult job of converting and indexing was done by my son Prakash and his team. Empowered by a touch screen technology, the user can in ten seconds listen to a song of his choice, categorised under a raga or name of the song, singer or composer”.

Chari’s dedication to the cause of promoting Carnatic music has led him to sponsor similar archives in cities like Bangalore, Mysore, Hyderabad, and Palakkad, apart from the one in Madras University’s Music Department. His foray to establish such an archive abroad started with the inauguration of one in Singapore, in association with SIFAS (Singapore Indian Fine Arts Society), and has extended to three places in Sri Lanka.

Not content with promoting only music, Chari who had no great love for Classical dances earlier, decided to also extend his help in archiving Indian classical dance. The TAG Viewing Gallery was launched recently at the Music Academy, adding one more dimension to the Academy‘s efforts in promoting classical music and dance. The TAG Music Academy Listening and Viewing Archives has ambitious plans for acquiring 20,000 hours of music and many more hours of dance programmes, in the next five years!

His passion for music and how it should be received by the audience has now extended beyond TAG Centre which he owns. TAG Corporation has already sponsored state-of-the-art auditoriums in eight schools. Chari has also donated a Super Tech 400-seater auditorium to Guindy Engineering College, which he considers as one of his best contributions.

According to Chari, “Gifting is fine, but it is also important to see that it is received and used properly”. So Chari continues to monitor the institutions where he has extended his support.

In the last couple of years, Chari has been organising lecture demonstrations to help people appreciate Carnatic music. He also started supporting efforts to create greater awareness about Carnatic music among school students by regularly conducting raga identification competitions in selected schools.

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In February 2002, Chari launched the TAG South India Heritage Programmes to develop a deep understanding of South India’s cultural heritage. Held on the last Sunday of every month, these lectures by eminent speakers focus on specific aspects of South Indian heritage.

The invitee audience, which is served breakfast, consists mostly of senior citizens, all eminent people in their respective vocations. However, Chari’s effort to bring in the younger generation into the programme has so far not been very successful. But Chari continues to encourage music talent in the young in several ways.

In the last five years he has been also organising monthly lectures on various topics connected with religion. Chari says, “I have learnt a lot about our heritage and religion from these lectures. I will continue with this effort and hopefully someday I will be able to rope in the younger generation to attend these programmes”

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Chari’s saga of service to society in the area of health, education, music and heritage and other social causes still continue. His other areas of interest are travelling. “I have so far travelled to 60 countries and collected coins and miniature dolls from other countries. I have so far collected 3000 sets of dolls and 3500 coins. I also have a collection of miniature chess sets,” he says proudly.

As for future plans he says, “I want to continue to sponsor auditoriums in schools. I have already identified schools in Cuddalore and Chengalpattu.”

Chari is a highly focussed individual. “I don’t take on any project which I feel will be a waste of time and effort. When I find something worthwhile, I totally concentrate on that just one thing. I am aware that I have a one-track mind, which is both my strength and weakness.” He is also known for insisting that the recipients of his generosity agree to contribute something as their share for the project, before he commits to support it. Anything given free is never appreciated by people, according to Chari, so “I insist on a ‘deal’ to ensure total commitment from the recipient of my charity, for the maintenance and continuing success of the project I have supported.”

If more people start sharing their wealth and passions like the way Chari has been doing for the last 35 years, I am sure this world will be a better place to live in!

Feedback welcome on 9840392082 or email: rvrajan42@gmail.com

(Concluded)