In the beginning, there was the family parlour—where a thousand stories unfolded, family legends were birthed, regional myths cemented, gossip abounded around ample proportions of aunts and uncles. Further on, the artist’s atelier and the literary salon were specialised extensions—sites of untrammeled debate and intellectual ferment. If late 20th century living rooms had curdled into sterilised areas of polite talk and genteel entertainment, another spell of warm spring is here—a much-needed thaw.
As you approach the living room of Swagata Majumder Bhattacharya in her Bangalore home, you hear the sound of singing: Itti si hansi/ Itti si khushi…. (A bit of laughter/ a bit of gaity…). You’ve just bumped into a ‘living room gig’—which combines the authenticity of a performance with the flower vase cosiness of a drawing room, and it’s catching on with singers, bands and their fans. Referring to the song, now in its dying refrain, Swagata says, “This is a favourite song of mine for a...
