During Madras Week, Nirosha and Sairam of Madras Busking organised a unique event at the Madras Literary Society – the first chapter of Madras Busking. The following piece by Arvind is an account of his experience.
The first chapter of Madras Busking took place at the Madras Literary Society on August 24. What is busking, you ask? It is a variety of extempore performances in public spaces like streets, parks and plazas. ‘Buskers’ create spontaneous, engaging experiences for passersby – they invent new pieces of art from their interactions with the audience in the form of music, poetry, dance, theatre, mime, sketching, painting, magic and more. By nature, busking is not something one can receive formal training in.Simply put, anyone who chooses to perform publicly is a busker. While Chennai has a rich history of poetry recitals, stage plays and puppetry shows, there is no record of typewritten poetry busking in the city. Though popular in Western countries, this form of art is relatively unexplored in Chennai. Madras Busking aims to evoke the essence of human connection by transforming conversations with strangers into lasting pieces of poetry or art. These works are personal time capsules, capturing moments that people can revisit and cherish. I love meeting people, reading books and blogging, so I was quite excited to receive an invite from the curators Nirosha and Sairam to attend the event in Chennai. While I knew that this was something quite fresh and different, I was unsure whether I would truly enjoy myself – I was apprehensive whether those hearing my stories would judge me. However, the experience proved me delightfully wrong.
All pictures courtesy: Madras Busking & Madras Literary Society via Instagram @mls_1812 & @madrasbusking.
Discovering the Madras Literary Society in the heart of Chennai was a revelation in itself. Sairam remarked that they had initially planned to organise the event at a café, and thank goodness that did not happen! I took my time enjoying the architecture and serene façade of the building. Then, I heard a series of rapid clicks and taps coming from within – tak, tak, tak, the sound of typewriters! The little kid in me wanted to play with them. As I walked inside, I saw around eleven typewriters from vintage brands – Remington (1960), Olympia Traveller Cursive, Brother Deluxe, and Lettera 32. Some were only for display due to their antique value, but we could use the rest to type whatever we felt. The best part? We had a dedicated guide in Samir, who helped people use the typewriters. Another interesting feature was the letterbox – you could type a letter to anyone you liked, drop it in, and the organizers would post it for you.
People started arriving around 2.45 pm. I decided to give it a shot, too. Among the buskers were the curator Nirosha, who wrote English poetry; Vignesh, who wrote Tamil poetry; Dhaaranee, who wrote letters; and Anthony and Aafreen, who both sketched. I sat down to have a conversation with Vignesh. It was hard, in the beginning, to describe what felt like random parts of my life, but Vignesh’s prompts helped me open up. All it took was five minutes of honest conversation for him to craft a poem inspired by our exchange. The writing had a personal touch and captured my story perfectly. The poem is something I’ll always hold very dear. I then moved to the ‘Type-In’ section and set up a typewriter to experience it for myself. I felt like a child in a toy store, eager to play to my heart’s content. Samir patiently explained how to set margins and other nuances of vintage typewriters. Across from me was a seventy-year-old gentleman who seemed quite engrossed in typing; his wife sat next to him, watching him put the words together. Next to me, a ten-year-old typed a letter to her mother with Samir’s help. There we were, three generations, one at each machine, all equally enthralled by the experience. Chennai still has a few functioning typewriting institutions, but for many, machines like typewriters and sewing machines evoke nostalgia; they hark back to a time when these tools were once part of daily life. This connection was evident during the event, where people enjoyed reliving memories through their interaction with typewriters.
As the crowd swelled, the Madras Literary Society – usually a quiet place – began to bustle with activity. The hall was full of heartwarming conversations and the voices one heard were all joyful. When I connected later with Nirosha and the other buskets, they were surprised at the number of people who turned up and at their ability to keep them all engaged for two hours! It must be said, though, that Nirosha is a veteran busker – she’d been an active participant in BlrBusking for five years before co-founding Madras Busking with Sairam. The group aims to host more events at public and heritage spaces in the city to bring attention to Chennai’s rich heritage and history while fostering meaningful connections through art. I’m told that there has been significant interest from artists eager to participate in future chapters of the initiative.
In all, the first chapter of Madras Busking was a blissful experience. It has left me with memories that I will hold on to. Special mention to Thirupurasundari, the Secretary of The Madras Literary Society, for hosting the event and ensuring it happened smoothly.