It was a retro evening of nostalgia and old memories, as a 70-member Madras Musical Association belted out evergreen hits to bring the 10-day Indo-German Urban Mela to a rainy, breezy and a musical close. Conducted under the slogan ‘So long! Farewell! Auf Wiedersehen! Goodbye!’ the choir, which had been invited to the London Olympics, had the crowd singing along to the beats. They received a rousing applause from them as the curtains came down on the show.
The show began with The Beatles’ classic Here comes the sun’, shifting smoothly into a medley of The Beatles’ hits including Yellow Submarine and All You Need Is Love.
The German-ness continued with tracks from The Sound of Music including Do Re Mi and My Favourite Things. Seventies band ABBA too made an appearance with Dancing Queen and Mamma Mia.
But the best was reserved for the end.
The audience was initially confused as the choir hit the opening notes for Germanyin Senthen Malare but caught on immediately. The show had German songs reserved for the visiting guests. The show summed up the mela itself; a fusion of old style and new-age innovation. The mela brought in new ideas in art, culture, music, sport, development and infrastructure among others. It was an exchange of ideas that left Chennai with a handful of useful lessons, contributing to better living.
Judging by the smiles of the visitors, the grand closure left just as much of an impression as the mela did.
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