Establishing human connections through busking

CHENNAI: As you step into the vibrant space of Madras Busking, you’ll find an array of typewriters, art journals, postcards, sketches, stamps, and much more. Have you ever had the experience of a stranger inviting you to share your story?

Madras Busking is a community that creates a safe space, where people can share their stories or experiences with the buskers, who transform them into beautiful poems, touching letters, or creative postcards.

“I’ve been busking for over six years in Bengaluru. Busking can be anything performed - it’s a free flow of spontaneous art and literature. I wanted to bring this experience to Chennai since 2020, and I was determined to introduce the community here for Madras Day, which was a success. We are now gearing up for the fourth chapter, and the footfall has exceeded expectations,” says Nirosha Shanmugam, who organised the busking sessions in Chennai.

 Busking is a European tradition, a spontaneous event that can happen anywhere at any time.

“People are coming back to us, and Chennai is starting to embrace it. The community is expanding. This is a vibrant space for people to talk to someone without any judgments,” she adds.

According to Nirosha, buskers create a human connection and foster engaging conversations.

 There are many forms of busking, including typing, visual mediums like photography and illustration, poetry, and more. “For the fourth chapter, we have seven buskers, some of whom are newcomers. I’m delighted to see their progress,” she shares, also highlighting her role as a storyteller.

The lineup of buskers includes Nirosha herself, Dhaaranee, Vignesh G, Rohan, Urusha, Aafreen, Antony Jackson Cruz, and Muthu Kumaran.

The storyteller wishes to introduce something new with each chapter with her team. “This time we have kept a table for people to sit and create their works. There is a conversation alongside pot-making experience as well. People can keep it as souvenirs and reminisce the memory,” Nirosha states. With a vintage camera, the buskers have captured a few pictures and made them as postcards.

 “All the buskers who took the pictures will write a 40 to 50 words description of what they felt while capturing the moment. So, these will be postcards with tales,” she elucidates.

Sharing one of the memories from the previous chapters, Nirosha reflects, “An 8-year-old girl came to my table and we had a conversation. As she likes to write, I wrote a few incomplete lines and asked her to complete them. I was amazed to see how she made sure each of the lines rhymed. Through events like these, we can see the skills, talents and life of strangers.”

“The busking scene is catching up in Chennai. We try to create vibrant spaces and I am happy that people within the art community are aware of busking, which is the first step. From heritage places, we are trying to take forward to cafes and other public spaces. I want this to be a good experience for buskers and my focus is to bring in more buskers,” she concludes.

Chapter Four of Madras Busking will happen at Alliance Francaise of Madras on October 19 from 6 pm. For more details, visit their Instagram page.