Motta maadis. . .

The Kannadiga community in South Chennai used to have an interesting event on their calendar.
Potluck dinner on the beach.
I am not sure if they continue with this wonderful idea.
Their destination was Elliots Beach in Besant Nagar.
It had to be a family affair. I knew friends who would tear themselves away from other preoccupations and dash down to the beach for dinner.
Heading to the beach or the riverside on a full moon evening and having a meal is an old tradition.
In the cities though, with the growth of highrise buildings, there are communities who seem to make the best of their terraces.
In many instances, terraces are junkyards of sorts. A place where all sorts of antennae and aerials rise into the skies. A place where soiled pillows, mangled kitchen stands, empty cartons and broken furniture are dumped.
In recent times though I have got to learn about more interesting things that are happening on our terraces.
Last month, as the moon got the better of the summer dusk, teenage musicians launched a Carnatic music kutcheri on a terrace at a building in Luz, Mylapore.
Out in Ashok Nagar, Dr. Ramanathan, who runs a cancer care centre, has his 'Remembering MS' series of concerts on the terrace of his hospital.
Yesterday, publisher Badri Seshadri mailed me an invite to a talk on swine flu that was to be held in a shed on the terrace of his central office in Alwarpet.
And elsewhere, there is a group that hosts the 'motta maadi' music listening series where rasikas sit around and listen to vintage Carnatic music recordings of the maestros.
As I write this I learn that a group in my colony is planning to visit a building in Kottivakkam on the ECR where a group has raised a kitchen garden and grows medicinal plants.
So much is happening on our 'motta maadis'!
If you know of more, share the details at my blog.