How it all began...
KutcheriBuzz was born when its promoters in Madras, south India, recognized a vibrant community among the artistes and rasikas (audience) of the Carnatic music and south Indian dance world.
It was a community that the Net could also connect. More so because while the artistes performed around the world, Indian who had settled abroad, also took to the stage.
And so, KutcheriBuzz was born on the eve of the December seasonč in 1999. The December seasonč in Madras refers to a prolonged season of Carnatic music and classical dance concerts held at a dozen halls around the city, from morning to night, numbering more than one thousand, sometimes more.
We are associated with the publication of a few community newspapers for three neighbourhoods of Madras, now called Chennai.
In the course of the reportage for these newspapers, we were constantly interacting with classical artistes. . .. And there was so much buzz in their world and immense interest among the rasikas, that we saw the need to network and build an umbrella of sorts.
The birth of the website
We began by publishing a Guide Book to the December Season and followed up with a daily newsletter for rasikas attending that festival in 1999. The venture attracted a lot of attention. So we transferred all this info on to a website.
That is how www.kutcheribuzz.com was born.
Today, in 2005/06, we have made impressive progress. We survived the dotcom bust and remained sober during the dotcom boom and now, are fairly well known in south Indian world of classical music and dance.
And let it not be mistaken that we wake up only during the December season here in Madras. Our website buzzes the year round!
Our office on Alwarpet's C. P. Ramaswamy Road, in south Madras, is small. But it is busy all days of the year.
The community's property ...
What makes us tick is the fact that we treat this website as the property of a community. So we ecourage inputs come directly from the singers, dancers. writers and musicians.
We believe a website is of and by the community. That is when it can be successful. We provide our editing and design skills. And we make sure we drop in or make contact with every event in our sphere.
So, we invite kutcheri organizers in Cleveland, USA., or dancers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, or arts students in Chidambaram, Tamil Nadu, India, to share information and experiences. And we use lots of photographs.
Today, KutcheriBuzz.com is the most information rich web site in this genre.
In late 2005, we launched online shopping - to enable people to buy/gift albums, books and videos.
If you are new to this place, we invite you to become part of this community. And contribute to it.
Vincent D' Souza
Publisher
Madras, south India
December 2005.
How it all began...