There is a good chance Tapi won't read this post, so I will take it and quickly sneak in a post to narrate today's incident. :)

Finding an Indian concert in Strathmore Hall is a bit like catching gold dust. When you hear of one, you really have to jump at the chance and run to it. So we headed to the Tirtha concert and speculated all the way how crowded it would be. Hard to say! The usual crowd we see in Strathmore are middle-aged-to-old white Americans, who I don't really associate with Indian fusion jazz music (although nothing about this country surprises me anymore!)... but we expected to see a fair number of Indians.

Strathmore is just a few minutes away from home, so we reached fairly quickly and parked the car in a more-or-less empty parking lot. Just as we got out of it, we saw an old couple walking past us looking visibly disappointed. We overheard the lady whine in telugu to her husband that they should have come a bit sooner, because the tickets were sold out. Sold out? Really? We were both quite surprised. We've been to R. Prasanna's concerts before and they were never sold out, even when he managed to attract a large audience!

As I was building up curiosity on who these people were, I turned back and saw Tapi jumping over a hedge, running down the stairs and vanishing into the parking lot. So then I walked the same route (albeit less hurriedly) and found him talking to the old couple in the distance.

By the time I reached there, the couple and Tapi were like a mini-andhra family and I said "namaskaram" and they said "namaskaram" and asked us if we were sure we wanted to forego the tickets. To which, Tapi responded in his usual adorable style (hand-folded sincerity, indian head-nod and all) "No no. You have to see it. I guarantee you will love it. We've seen R. Prasanna play before... he's pretty cool. Those guys will put on quite a show... (long pause)... their ensemble is impressive... the piano dude especially is the shit." ... the old woman looked baffled but she managed a smile after a bit... and then the couple left looking quite happy at the end of it.

Then Tapi said "It's funny how they looked suspicious at first. The lady was skeptical about taking the tickets and the man insisted on paying for them"

So I told him, I would have wet my pants if I saw a 6 foot tall man vault over a hedge and stretch out his hand to offer free tickets while heaving and panting for breath. It's a rare kind of enthusiastic generosity that could be mistaken for suspicious behavior! :)

But, isn't Tapi just wonderful? He's the sweetest guy ever! :)

Well anyway... as we were driving back home quite peacefully, he suddenly took a sharp U and started driving in the opposite direction. He then picked out some comic books for me from Barnes and Noble... cos it dawned on him that the tickets he gave away were a birthday gift to me :)

Now we are home listening to some good music and I am off to sit next to him and read my new comics...