Back in the last century, Kishore Bhargava and I used to travel all over India, giving talks on data communication, the internet, BBSs, etc.
While some people today comment that both of us are decent ad-hoc speakers and appear to be able to speak on any topic without any preparation, that is not really true - before every talk, we used to practice, tune our slides, argue, refine, change points, add new ones, etc. to give our audiences the kind of great experience any speaker should give his audiences.
But I digress...
Often, these preparations would take place in our hotel rooms late into the night (since during daytime we were either presenting, or traveling).
And to make this preparatory time easier and more enjoyable for us, we used to have music playing in the background.
We had first heard her "Toccata and Fugue in D Minor" on TV, as part of a mind-blowing video picturing this highly accomplished classical musician, dressed in an extremely daring outfit, standing in a lake.
That image, combined with her music, engraved itself on our minds, and to this day, when we hear any of her melodies, the memories of those days jump into focus.
A few days back, I found out that Vanessa was going to perform in Bangalore on August 31st. I desperately tried to find out more about this show, only to find that it was a private, invitation-only performance, sponsored by Seagrams. I tried to get passes for this event, but no joy - apparently only 400 passes were available and they were all gone.
Sadness.
Yesterday, my phone rings, and Gaurav was on the line, asking me to get ready in the evening because he was taking me out - knowing how much I wanted to see this show, he had gone out of his way to get us passes for it!
We were told to be there by 7:30pm, so we left at around 6pm for the Leela. Traffic was bad, and we reached only at 8:40pm! Luckily, the show hadn't begin yet, and we dug in and ate and drank (apple juice!) to our heart's content - there was a decent buffet and an overflowing bar, courtesy the sponsors.
A while later, the "opening act" (as far as we were concerned) kicked off, by sitarist Nishat Khan. Interesting, but we were waiting to see the main act!
Then, as Nishat Khan completed his set, there was an announcement that there were some tax compliance related issues, and that Vanessa would possibly *not* perform! Misery!
Luckily, things were sorted out, and she finally took to the stage at 11:15pm, and for a little more than an hour, she completely enthralled us with her performance.
She played a range of melodies - ranging from old favourites from The Violin Player to songs from her other albums, including the most recent ones.
The music was fantastic, her playing flawless, and of course Vanessa-mae is *extremely* easy on the eyes as well. :) Despite rumours that she was unwell, she was all over the stage, running from one end to the other, interacting with the audience, switching between a traditional and an electric violin, and even doing a duet with Nishat Khan! Her use of guitar effects on her electric violin was astonishing - have you ever heard a fully distorted rock violin? That too used by someone in a slinky, translucent dress (similar to what she is wearing here, in high heels, gazing down on her violin? :)
Did I mention that she is extremely easy on the eyes? :)
She ended her set at 12:30am with that trademark melody that we had first seen her play so many years ago - "Toccata and Fugue in D Minor", and I was in heaven. Hell - everyone was!
Vanessa come out one last time to play a wicked encore that brought the house down, and before we knew it, the show was over.
I am incredibly lucky - over the years, I have managed to see so many of my musical heroes perform live, and now I can include in the list this little slip of a girl (she is just 28!) who has provided the soundtrack to so many memorable periods of my life (including being the inspiration behind this).
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