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

From a performance in Mumbai

| Photo Credit: Shaunak Gosavi

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: