Soumik Datta’s show Melodies In Slow Motion reminds the audience to listen to Nature and breathe

There are parts in Soumik Datta’s Melodies In Slow Motion show in Chennai where the audience hesitates to applaud.

The intimate group of 15-something, are all wearing headphones and listening to the chirping of crickets, the trickle of crabs marching past, and the seemingly slow mish-mash of tides interspersed by mangrove roots. Between it all, come the melodies performed by Sumesh Narayanan’s percussion, Debjit Patitundi’s tabla, Sayee Rakshith’s violin, and Soumik’s own sarod. Nobody wants to disturb the sound. This is Nature we are talking about — it is apparent in its very being. Even breathing feels loud.

“Of course,” replies Soumik, to an audience member who asks if they can clap. The audience then proceeds to show their gratitude towards the performers for this experimental journey, one that seems to interpret the waggle of bees looking for food; the rhythmic hum of cicadas; and the jubilant dance of fireflies buzzing freely among thick, wooded forests.

Soumik Datta during the performance of Melodies in Slow Motion at G5A in Mumbai.
| Photo Credit:
Shaunak Gosavi

Melodies In Slow Motion’s first show in Mumbai in April was vastly different from the one here in Chennai, Soumik says, speaking to The Hindu. “The lines blurred between the audience and us. It was far more interactive and it felt like the audience was in the exercise. This listening session in Chennai is an experiment for us too. The lines blur here differently because we are seated in a circle. There is not a sound from the audience. I do not see this as a bad thing. Here, everyone is immersed and even though there is no applause, there is a warmth — evident in the silence,” he says.

The show, commissioned by British Council India, was conceptualised during the pandemic. Soumik, who was in London at the time, said he heard sounds in the city that he never could before or after the lockdown was lifted. The stillness gave birth to many projects by the award-winning composer including this project where he spolights climate change.

He travelled across the country from Punjab to Puducherry, collecting shells, and the movement of leaves, crabs, barnacles, and mangroves, while sitting down to create these melodies. This show in Chennai comes at the tail-end of his tour across India, attempting to awaken a collective consciousness with bright, beautiful melodies that are gentle at first, reaching crescendos right after.

“This music is about listening and paying attention,” he says right after performing ‘Freedom’, the last track in the performance, adding, “we are now playing more sensitively to each other and to you because a space like this provides that kind of intimacy.”

Soumik says that Chennai now feels like a second home as many of his collaborators are residents of the city. “I also come here during Margazhi. The city is already rooted in a cultural aesthetic. Performing here, hence feels elevating. The audience too is aware,” he says.

As the show closes, Soumik chooses to remind us to slow down, to breathe. “We don’t pay attention to these sounds on the daily. If it helps regulate the central nervous system and remind us about this very vast world around us, I am happy to bring in that awareness,” he says.

Melodies In Slow Motion will play two shows at 5pm and 8pm on May 22 at Offbeat Music Ventures in RA Puram. Tickets are priced at ₹250 and available on kynhood.com