Things we are most uncomfortable to talk about are often things most important, like our own mortality and that of our loved ones, like ageing, mid-life crises and the turbulent times we live in. Strange, it almost is an anticlimax. So, when Akhila Ramnarayan calls the benefit concert she has put together, “an unfashionable cause,” we aren’t surprised. Such concerts are rare, if there are any. “This concert is what I hope is the first in a series of events through which I wish to start and sustain a conversation on ageing,” begins Akhila.
A professor, scholar, researcher, poet, theatre actor and a musician, Akhila is synonymous with creativity. But her role as a human who can try and make a difference, however little that may be, is what she perhaps takes most seriously. At Last, an evening of music, poetry and theatre, is her earnest endeavour to not just raise funds for the elderly and destitute women, but more importantly to begin a dialogue on the challenges faced by the ageing population, not to mention the situation of so many elderly people who are cast out of their homes and onto the streets. “We as a society are very indifferent to the elderly. While we are equipped to provide and we do provide medical aid to them, we ignore their psychological and emotional needs. And we forget that we are all getting there someday for we are after all just mortal beings,” says Akhila, who conceptualised the benefit concert from a very personal space.
She lost her grandmother in February 2020, which made her consider the worth of every single moment we get to live. “That, and Atul Gawande’s book, Being Mortal – Medicine and What Matters in the End. This book is so powerful, it did something to me… it was like a wakeup call while helping me deal with loss and the questions I had been asking myself about ageing, about mortality. They were all right there in that book, so beautifully presented. It emphasises on improving quality of life for the elderly rather than focusing on survival. The end is inevitable, the least we can do is to not shun those nearing their ends,” she says.
Apart from Akhila performing with her indie rock band Akhila and the Alchemists which includes Vedanth Bharadwaj, Paul Jacob, and Soundz; the benefit concert will have special guests such as Anita Ratnam, dancer-choreographer, scholar and theatre artist; Gowri Ramnarayan, playwright and director; Sunandha Raghunathan, actor and playwright; Srilata Krishnan, poet and translator; Thomas Hitoshi Pruiksma, poet and translator; and Bharath Kumar, dancer and writer performing short pieces, traditional and contemporary.
All proceeds from At Last: An Evening of Music, Poetry, and Theatre which is produced by Justus Repertory and Chennai Art Theatre will be donated to Vishranthi – Home for Elderly and Destitute Women at Palavakkam. The original construction from the 1970s is in need of funds for renovation. Akhila recently visited this old-age home for the first time and her meeting with 95-year-old Lalita Amma left her emotional.
Sharing her experience, Akhila says, “Lalita Amma was so spontaneous, dancing to Kaatrinile Varum Geetham, a song originally penned by Kalki and sung by MS Subbulakshmi in the Tamil version of the 1944 film, Meera, in which MS played the great poet-saint. I am only surprised I didn’t start crying! Lalita Amma was so graceful, beautiful and full of life as she danced. I sang, she danced and in that moment, we were so connected. She later told me she was once a background dancer.” Akhila turns 49 on the day of the event, and it is a conscious choice she made to have the event coincide with her birthday. Ask her why, and she says, “I like to do something special on my birthday since the past few years. I am in a space where I feel like I need to stop getting and start giving on my birthday.”