Ep. 25 Shylu Ravindran - Guitarmaama

Join us for a captivating conversation with guitarist and composer Shylu Ravindran, known for his powerful work with the contemporary fusion band Jattayu. Shylu opens up about his extraordinary transition from being a prodigious Carnatic mridangam player—the son of a legendary vidwan—to becoming a groundbreaking Carnatic-influenced electric guitarist.

In this episode, Shylu shares:

• Life Before and After Guitar: How the stage shifted from being a "second home" (with the mridangam) to a "nightmare" (with the guitar) and the five years it took to find confidence.
• The Preparation Process: His essential rule for maintaining a "calm mind" before a gig, why a peaceful soundcheck is paramount, and his surprising pre-show routine.
• The Spiritual Performance: Why he believes music is a sacred ritual and how he enters a "trance world" on stage where the only focus is his bandmates and the monitors.
• The Business of Music: His candid advice on building a successful career in original music by establishing a parallel teaching ecosystem, and why being fit is as crucial as being financially smart.
• Rehearsal & Mistakes: Why "too much rehearsal is bad," how Jattayu balances spontaneous improvisation with a tight structure, and why human "errors and flaws" are necessary for a beautiful live experience.
• Life on the Road: Managing the intense pressure of touring with a close-knit band and the differences between the conservative Carnatic environment and the free-form world of fusion.

Shylu offers a rare, honest glimpse into the dedication, discipline, and sheer joy that powers one of the most exciting voices in Indian contemporary music.

Transcript

Hi Shylu. Hi Arvind. Thank you for coming, taking your time and talking to me. 

Of course, it's a pleasure to be here. And thanks for having me. And as I told you, you know, it's, it's a great platform. 

And I've been enjoying all your episodes. And I wish you do many episodes like this. And the Netflix Murray, Marriott, do many seasons. 

That's the plan. That's the plan. Great. 

I'm happy to be in the season one then. Yep. So how did the performing begin for you? How did it all start? Well, I think I started performing when I was around six or seven years. 

Because I can split this into like two halves life before guitar and after guitar. You know, before guitar, I was a mridangam player. You know, I was into hardcore Carnatic scene. 

And so mridangam, my dad was a legendary mridangam vidwan. So the mridangam came naturally to me, I didn't take any lessons and all that. It came, it was in my genes, I think. 

So when I started around like six or seven to perform, I think it should have been my dad's call. Isn't it? But later it became a part of me to the stage felt like second home. Always because from six, seven years, I've been doing concerts and I also accompany my dad to his concerts. 

So I'm always near to the stage. So stage never felt new to me unless and until the guitar came to me. No guitar, I recently started like, it's been 10 years or so I've been playing the guitar. 

But to be on stage with the guitar is a complete new thing for me. You know, I used to panic and there were so many instances like that. But yeah, I started performing guitar around the age of 22 or 23. 

Okay. So why guitar? That's a big story. If you have time, I'm ready to explain. 

So you know, I was into hardcore mridangam. I was performing with many young musicians who are now in the top of their game now. So I was in that scene. 

And one day my dad came from a tour from the US and he had a guitar gifted to him by his friend. And that guitar was lying there. And my dad went off to his next tour. 

And it's a usual practise. My mom will tell like clear all the space and make some room. So I'll take all his clothes and the guitar mridangam. 

That's the thing. So I saw this guitar lying around. And I was so intrigued by how come there's a 

guitar here. 

You know, my house has like 75 to 80 mridangams. Okay. And this was like the... It was there lying around. 

And that's when I started like noodling around with the guitar. And I think I just loved it. Did you take like formal lessons and stuff? No. 

Because I've learned a lot of Carnatic music or heard a lot of Carnatic music. That was the first thing I played it on the guitar as well. So I didn't know how they tuned the guitar or the technique behind and all that. 

But I started playing a little bit of ragas and gamakas with the prior knowledge I had with the Carnatic music. And that's how I made up my style also, I think. And I was playing mostly mridangam beats on the guitar. 

And that's how I made this band Jattayu as well. Brilliant. So how has your concept or your understanding of what performance has evolved from when you started to currently now? How has it changed? How is it? I think it has changed drastically after I picked up the guitar. 

Because before the guitar, mridangam, I was like, I had no fear or any doubts whatsoever. And I just go there to the stage and I had like full confidence. I know what is about to come and all that. 

But with the guitar, it was like, as I said before, it's a nightmare for me. At least the initial two years or three, I was like struggling a lot because the complete, it's a change. It's a new thing for me. 

And I had to slog a lot. And later I realised, you should not panic on stage, first of all. You should just have a very calm mind before you get onto the stage. 

I think that is very important lesson I felt after changing the instrument. And I think the mistakes, you know, every musician you ask for is scared of the mistakes. I think mistakes are a part of the show. 

Because as human, you make errors and you're not AI. So you have to have an open mind to accept and respond back to the mistake you make. And learning all this took like five to six years at least to be confident on stage. 

That is very important. Okay, brilliant. So you were talking about having a calm mind before getting on stage. 

Yeah. So what is your preparation process before getting on stage? And what do you do for, let's say, a day before? First thing is I don't drive during the day of the concert. You know, you know how it is to drive in Chennai. 

Yeah. So to have a calm mind, I think like I get like proper eight to nine hours of sleep. And I don't try to overthink about the gig. 

I just and it all depends on soundcheck for me. You know, if the soundcheck is very peaceful, and I'm like everyone is happy on stage, I'm 100% sure the gig is going to be great. You know, but in our country, you know, the how the soundcheck scene is, you know, I'm expecting the all this, you know, I know the soundcheck is going to get delayed and all that. 

So I'm mentally prepared for all this. So when I'm facing the reality, I think like it's fine. What about like food habits before the show? Do you have any? Food habits I don't have. 

I'm not particular about have to eat this much and all that. If the place is good and serve some good hot food, of course, I'll have like a good starter before the show. Okay. 

So you were talking about soundcheck. What do you look for in a soundcheck? What do you try to hear? What is your process? During the soundcheck, I have to hear every instrument clearly, like nothing exaggerated also, like, as it is, like I want to hear all my bandmates on my monitor, the monitor mix is the most important for me. And I have to like have some specifics like the hi hats and all that has to be very clear to me, I have to lock with the drums. 

When I'm locking with the drums, I'm sure, okay, everything is right. So that's, that's very important for me during the soundcheck. If the soundcheck is not peaceful, I'll have to go and play. 

So beyond skill and technique, which all of you have in great abundance, is there something beyond that spiritual or even you can say in a performance? I asked you not to go deep. I think music itself is spiritual. Yeah, I think it's one of the sacred rituals we have is performing. 

And when I'm on stage, I'm in that trance world. I'm not worrying about audience or any other, I don't give a lot of importance. It's between me, my bandmates and the monitors. 

Okay. You know, so I'm in a safe place there. So I can just open up myself. 

Okay. So when I'm opening myself and I'm going to the trance, you know, I'm like outside the normal normality, I would say. Okay. 

So I think I answered your question. So what do you think is the most challenging aspect of performance? Challenging aspect of performance. I think like, I'm a very absent-minded fellow. 

I usually like, don't have to pack everything. There are so many things to carry for a gig. All that scares me the most. 

So I make a list of things which I have to carry and I've become a little responsible, I would say. That's the scariest thing for me. Okay, that you forget your... Yeah, I can forget. 

I've forgotten so many things in my life. I've lost my passport, my phone, everything like that. 

So I want to never to repeat that again in my life. 

So I'm more responsible now. I take care of my things. Do you forget your musical parts also sometimes? Of course. 

That has also happened many times, like, because you're constantly thinking of something, you know, suddenly there are chances of you missing, you know, like, so that's the most scariest, I would say. How important is your gear to you? It is very important. Because right from when I was playing Mridangam, I would take great care to maintain the Mridangams. 

And I'm not like, when I changed to this electronics and all that, I'm not a very tech-savvy guy. I don't know where to take this wire and where to put it. But again, I'm learning on that. 

But what was the question? What is your relationship with gear? With the gear. So I take care of my instruments. Even during the flight travel, I take my pedal board inside my flight. 

Usually they check in the pedal board and they carry the guitar. But I'm the opposite. So I check in the guitar and take my pedal board. 

But because I'm clueless of what to do, you know, so I take care of the gear. It's very important, I think. So you already answered my question about mistakes. 

But like, what about like things going wrong in the auditorium or things beyond your control? What can we do about it? Yeah. Just face it. Yeah. 

So you said that, like, it's all between you and the monitors and your band. What role does the audience play for you? See, this is an instrumental band, isn't it? So I think when there is words, people connect more. In the instrumental band, we try to keep the audience engaged by doing some Konakol on stage, teaching them Konakol. 

And, you know, Saheb, he's brilliant on stage to talk with the audience and all that. These are the only areas which I think we can connect with the audience. And it's all original music we are playing. 

So they are mostly clueless when it's original and instrumental. So we do these kind of things. And we also are too loud for them to do anything else than listen to us. 

So we are a loud band. And with this, like, incorporation of Konakol on stage and teaching them what is our time signatures and how we wrote the song 69 or the history behind the song and all that is the only way we keep the audience engaged. But do you think it's important for the audience to be engaged? It is. 

It is very important because we feed off their energy. You know, whatever response they give, it's directly reflecting upon us. We respond to them. 

So I think it's very important to play for a good audience. You said the word good audience. I 

want to ask you, does the audience also have a responsibility or is it all the performer's responsibility to make them respond? See, when I'm sitting in the audience chair, I feel not to disturb them, first of all. 

It's not the place where you can do all that. So it's very important for the audience to respect the musicians on stage. And you have paid money, bro. 

It's your money. You have come. So enjoy the gig. 

Be good to the musicians and enjoy the show. Let's have a great evening together. So what do you expect from a show organiser? Show organiser, again the same thing the audience have. 

Treat the musicians well. We are here for you. And we are all mutually benefiting from each other. 

So let's give respect to each other and be good and show some love. Have you had like bad experiences? Of course. Who hasn't? Can you think of a time and relate that experience? There are many, especially it all starts with like properly being on time, which never happens in our country, very sadly. 

If you go for a sound check, nothing will be there on stage. Only then they will set it up. We have to wait in the hot sun. 

Musicians are waiting. Let's give them some food. He is busy with something else, the organiser. 

And half the time he is not attending the call. So all this, I think we have faced many times. I think this all changes. 

You think it's changing? Not in India. Do you think your experience outside is better? Outside is fantastic. The professionalism they show is just like unmatched, I would say, outside India. 

This you are talking about like Asia mainly. Yeah, in Taiwan or Japan, Singapore, wherever we played, they were so like, what to say, so professional. How about US? You have not played as Jatayu in the US. 

But US, again, I think you have to carry your own arm and all that thing. But everything happens at least on time, I'd say. But I haven't played in the US much. 

But it's from friends, like when I talk to friends, they say all this. But I think as far as I have performed in Southeast Asia or Europe and all these places, the organisers are like, they make sure everything is smooth. The musician is like calm and composed and he's happy and he has eaten, all that they take care of, so that the evening is going to be great. 

Isn't it simple as that? There's one question I wanted to ask you before. Have you ever felt any pressure of being son of a legend performer? When I was playing Mridangam, I had that 

pressure. So that pressure has always been there. 

But as I changed the instrument, that pressure went away. Because there is no one playing Carnatic music on the guitar. And there are like a couple of other people who play. 

So they cannot compare me with anyone, first of all. So as that went off, the pressure also went off, I think. But that pressure is there. 

That's why I've slowly disappeared from the Carnatic scene as well. They do compare you with, I'm playing his son like this, he's playing his guitar like that. So it's better to stay away a little bit. 

So you have straddled both worlds. You have performed Carnatic music, you have performed in a contemporary fusion band setting as well. Can you tell me what are the differences between the two environments? So the Carnatic setup is still more conservative. 

They are not open for new ideas. Or even if you want to perform your own Carnatic original, they would be like, There's a lot of instances which has happened like that. They are not too open-minded, I would say. 

But here I have a lot more freedom. When I perform with Jetta, there's no rules for me here. And you have to think a lot about when you're getting on stage in a Carnatic setup, you have to constantly think about the core ways. 

And it's a very hectic field to be a Carnatic mridangam player. You never know what is going to come. You have to be prepared and you have to be smart enough to deal with that and all that. 

But here it's already kind of rehearsed. And you know pretty well what you're going to play and all that. So there's more peace here than being a Carnatic musician. 

So you talked about rehearsal. And you're coming from a very improvisational background. So how do you balance the two in your band? So the rehearsal is mainly to get tighter. 

We don't practise the solos or improvisation. We never practise. You know, so the rehearsal, if we book two hours, we are just running through the songs one after the other. 

And we see if it's tight enough to be played on stage. And we go there and everything else is going to happen on stage. None of us know what is about to come. 

That's what keeps us going back and performing again and again. So do you think there is something like too much rehearsal? Too much rehearsal is bad. So that we don't. 

Why? Brain fray? Brain fray and you're already bored. Even if you go on an eight concert tour or ten concert tour, the first two concerts were brilliant. Because everything is fresh and all that. 

Slowly fourth and fifth. You get that feeling. So before the concert, we usually keep max like one or two rehearsals. 

That too, we'll have one rehearsal before the month. And one before the gig or so. And we go there fresh. 

And whatever comes, if it's good or bad, we learn from there. That's what is working for us. Okay, brilliant. 

What is your opinion on stage persona and appearance? How important is it? Oh, I think we realised it very late. You know, first 10 years of Jatayu, we didn't care about what we are wearing and whatever. But to put up a performance and put up an act, to create an experience, both are different. 

It's what we realised recently. So people come there not to just listen to you, but they come there to watch you. So when they're watching, it's not a recorded thing. 

They have to be like, wow, I'm going to remember the show. So to put up an experience, I think all this matters. The stage appearance, what you do on stage. 

And the stage lights, the visuals, all this, I think plays a very important role to make a performance into an experience. So I think it's very important. Every musician takes care of that. 

Okay. Are you the same person you are on stage as you are off stage? Mostly, yes. Okay. Yeah, because there are lots of people who are totally different.
when they are on stage and when they are off stage. Again, coming to this, if you want to create an experience, I think you have to do a little bit of acting as well. Just being so true and so I don't move on stage much. 

I had that problem of all I focus is just play and lock with the band. But I recently realised it's not enough. Like you have to do little bit of running around on stage and that's why I even changed to wireless now recently. 

So you have to move around, you have to engage with the audience and you engage with your band mates. There has to be some dance movements together, synchronised dance. Something is required for the people to keep watching us or else you're going to miss their attention. 

So I think it's very important. So do you like take people's audience feedback or a critic's feedback seriously? Yeah. My father is a big critic. 

And he was a critic who always gives you bad reviews. Oh wow! But that kind of helped me. Like now I can face any criticisms. 

So good criticisms are also very important to shape and give you the positive mindset. If you keep saying negative things, it's going to like frustrate you. But I think both criticisms are very important and it depends on how you take it. 

I take it with, I think about it at night. I think about it and then I'll act up. Yeah. 

Okay. So let's talk about a very important thing for all people, all musicians and all people also. It's money. 

Money, money bro. So I know about your teaching career and you've built a successful ecosystem for yourself to make a living. Yes. 

How difficult has it been for you to make a living with money and what would you advise to other people in terms of finance? So I didn't know the importance of money till I stepped out of my house after marriage and I had to run my own family. Until then I was just like comfortable at home. So as I stepped out, because he knows the struggle of being a musician, he said, if you're ready, get married because you know how difficult it is to survive with just music. 

If you're smart enough and you think you can do it, then please go marry. So as I moved from the house, that's when the, I faced that importance of money. Then you have to be smart enough to, you can say, I won't play covers, I'm not going to do this, I'm not here to please audience and all that. 

But you'll know the reality only when it hits you. So I was very sure after a point of life, after a point of time in my life, I'm not going to do covers. I don't want to be a cover musician, but I made sure I'll still make money. 

That is when I started teaching. I developed an interest towards teaching and especially for the Carnatic guitar, I figured out there are not many people who are teaching this art form. And I wanted to build my own curriculum. 

And like my brother at the right time started this Be Musician platform, which kind of boomed during the COVID stages. And I think I did the teaching with full sincerity and honesty. And if you're doing something like that, I think money will definitely come later. 

So I figured out a different channel to earn money and put that money in the original music. Or else I would be like a cover musician now. In India, if you want to do better, if you want to earn money, you have to do cover music. 

It's a very sad state. But this is also possible. Okay. 

So what would you tell younger generations who are just starting out, how to be smart about their money? Smart about the money, there are different areas in this music. Not just performance is the one. You can be a music critic now. 

You can earn through social media. There are so many ways. I think the Gen Z kids are too smart. 

They have to advise me, I think. Okay. So what about like, okay, I just remarked before that you guys are getting, whole your whole band is getting fitter and fitter. 

Has this been like a conscious decision to go with some experiences of being on stage? Definitely. Yes. Arvind, I was like 98 kgs when I went to this Japan tour. 

The first one? The first Japan tour. And we were like constantly like one city to next city. And I have to carry a bass on big suitcase and my pedalboard, gunjira, everything I have to carry. 

And I was struggling. I was struggling. I was eating. 

I was doing all kinds of nonsense. Then I came back and I met a guy in Japan, in the Airbnb. There was one guy who was so fit. 

Not in the Airbnb, I think. I somehow met a guy, his friend's grandpa or someone. I was talking to him. 

I asked him, What is your age, sir? Is it 45? He said he's 75. And he's looking in the mic stand. So I was shocked. 

He was so active. He was doing everything. All the chores, household chores, he was doing it. 

And so that kind of changed my mindset, how important it is to be fit. So I came back from Japan and I did one medical test and all that. And the results were here and there. 

So that's when I started seriously on this fitness thing. And I lost like 26 kgs. After dropping 26 kgs, I felt like a newborn. 

And it feels great to be on stage. I can move now. I can carry anything. 

I'm not like sitting at one place. Yeah, because playing a 2-3 hour show is pretty strenuous on the body, especially if you're standing with an instrument. You have to be so fit. 

And in the Fuji Rock show, we met so many artists backstage and these guys were like idle sweep. Those guys were doing like 100 push-ups things and all that before this. So when you see these musicians putting so much effort to be fit and all that, it's definitely impacting their music as well. 

On stage, when you see these musicians flying here and there, the audience is like this. So I think it's very important to be fit on stage. So I started like gymming and running and I can see the difference. 

And that would be the advice I would give for the youngsters. And the money, I think you have to work on the fitness. And my friends would be laughing if I'm the one talking about fitness and all that. 

I think it's an example. So since you've talked about dumb, what is your opinion and your experience with the external stimulants like alcohol? You can choose not to answer. It's totally no problem. 

I'm talking only with regards to performance, not in your personal life. I'm not a fan of being sober on stage. I would say at least a couple of beers and all that makes me feel good on stage. 

At least for the first initial two songs, I need something else like stay more focused. So I don't mind a couple of beers before the show. It doesn't like hamper your performance in any way? I feel like I play better. 

And so I've noticed from my personal experience that at least and also with some of my friends, after you play an intense like two, three hour show, your brain is so wired and it takes a long time for you to unwind. What is your experience? How do you do it? What do you do after the show? So the couple of beers is before the show. After the show, there's no restrictions. 

So I go like party, party time it is. And after playing such intense music for two, three hours, you just need some silence basically. So I just step out and come back again and join the crowd like after 20-25 minutes. 

I need that time alone, like put one thumb peacefully. I'll think about what all happened. And I'll come back and I'm ready to face anything. 

But that initial 15-20 minutes after the gig, I just try to disappear. So I go backstage, not pack anything right now. Go, calm down, come back. 

How do you deal with like personal struggles and personal issues going on in your life? Maybe with somebody in your family or some of your friends or something else. Yeah. But you have to perform. 

So I can give you one example. Like, I haven't faced like a lot of struggles, at least my life. I've been lucky not to have so many struggles. 

But I lost my dad recently, like three years ago. And I had a performance like Arangetram. My student was doing his debut show and I was playing the Mridangam just a week after my dad passed away. 

And my dad was there for all the rehearsals and all that. And suddenly this thing happened. And I had like, my student told me, you can cancel this. 

You can take your time. I know it's difficult. But what I did was, I said, like, let's go. 

That's what my dad would have done as well. You would have wanted to do that. Yeah. 

Let's go there and face it. Whatever happened has happened. And that show was great. 

Like when I was on stage, luckily, I didn't get any of these things happening around, affect me on stage. You know, I was there. I was confident. 

But as soon as I got off stage, is when again, all that feeling and all this come to you. But I think when you're on stage, you're just a different person, I think. Nothing affects you, at least for me. 

So you're used to, that's a specific thing for you because you're used to travelling a lot with a close-knit band. Yeah. And we all know that being in a close-knit band can have moments of great joy and also moments of great stress. 

Can you elaborate a little bit on it? How do you guys manage? It's very, very difficult because we four are four different characters. And, you know, anytime, anything can happen. Suddenly, two people fight. 

I don't know what it is. There are situations like that. And in Japan, when we stayed, it was the first time when we went, it was like, the size of the room was this much. 

You know, in Japan, everything is small. Don't take me wrong. I'm talking about the room. 

So it's a tiny room and four people with big baggages and heavy weight. Those times, it was very difficult. We had only one restroom and we had to wait for another fellow and we'll be late for the sound check. 

I think that's what also strengthens the relationship. You know, we had so many fights the entire trip. But on stage, we are friends. 

We do music together. But when we are on stage, I don't think we never had these personal things interfering the music we create. Okay, brilliant. 

So what do you think is unique about a live performance which you can never get on in a recorded medium? I've never been a fan of recorded music. Even when I listen to music, I mostly listen to live performances. Especially when I'm listening to Carnatic music. 

Recorded Carnatic music is horrible because it's a music which is happening there with the energy of whatever the audience is giving you. So I think it's always, I've been a fan of live music and recorded music, when there are 10 people watching us, all the answers what you are asking me is going to change. Because there are people watching and there is energy coming from that side. 

So it's the same with the music as well. We did a show during the COVID time, like a complete full online gig. It used to be the only way those days. 

That was horrible. We have to check for the comments. That was horrible. 

I would always say live music. Never a fan of recorded music. What's your opinion on today's, there's a huge trend of people doing 15 second, 30 second ultra perfect reels on Instagram and social media and saying that this is live performance. 

We have to check their phones. If you go to the video gallery, there will be 300 takes. I'm not saying everyone is doing that. 

But most of the, it's a very common thing. You that perfection, you won't get that perfection in one take. Come on, man. 

Even if it's like one huge maestro, it will take a lot of things which are affecting that. Isn't it? So I think, but it is needed now to be active on social media and to put up reels like this, to capture the audience. All that is undeniably, it has become a part of the musician's thing to do all that, to make people, to show people I'm alive. 

I'm a musician here. You have to keep posting. That's a big headache now for the musicians to be active on social media. 

In a point of my life, I was into that thing. I had a very good social media page and I had followers. But later it becomes one big headache because every time you have to match the expectation and you're forced to do something and music never comes when you force something. 

It has to happen. So I stopped being so active on social media and just post when inspiration hits. So we are living in the social media world, digital world, everything. 

So artificial intelligence is coming and taking over. They're saying it's going to take over people's jobs. Where does live music fit in all this? You think we are going to have more demand for live music? I don't think people will ever spend money to buy tickets to see machines performing. 

Apparently there was an ABBA concert with fully hologram live performance. Yeah, I did see that. But I think that's why the human error is missing in a live show. 

I don't think people will enjoy. If 100% everything is right, there is no beauty in it. A film sucks. 

You should have a little bit of mistakes and flaws and all that. It's not just the music. So what for you is a successful performance or a failure of a performance? Successful performance, what I would feel is like if you're able to produce it on stage at that moment, whatever you felt, if it's good or bad, if you're able to just play it there with confidence and your band mates supporting that, and it's like a gamble. 

Some ideas might click beautifully, some might go miserably wrong. But we wait for that magic to happen, right? So it's like a gamble. If there are so many magics happening like that in a concert, I would be the happiest. 

I would say we did a good show. Does it happen often? We try to make it happen. The whole struggle is to making that happen as much as possible. 

Sometimes we fail. We learn from that. We try to do it again properly the next time. 

It may happen. We keep doing this again and again till it becomes right. So do you guys like have a post-show reflection? So what do you discuss? You should have played that. 

The sound was horrible. Mostly this would be the thing. I couldn't hear you. 

What were you doing? The sound check was different and this is different. That will be the mostly talked about topic post-concert, I think. But apart from that, we do feel good sometimes about the concert. 

Machan, you killed it. It was great. So we do talk about that as well. 

But it will be mostly mistakes first. Like what wasn't good comes first, then slowly one opens up. This area was actually good, no? Okay. 

I forgot to ask you one thing I wanted to ask you. What is it that you dislike about this whole process? There's nothing I dislike, I would say, about the performance. The whole aspect of performance or surrounding it. 

Surrounding it is the flight travel. And I hate those flight travels where you have to be like two hours before, three hours before the airport, check in, do this, do that. There will be oversize baggage. 

I hate that process completely. Seems to be a common theme. Yeah, that's right. 

And the sound engineering is not great. That kind of like upsets me a lot. We need some good technicians to finish this process quickly so that we can take some good rest and come back and have a good show. 

The sound check is going to take for like three, four hours. And also it all comes to organising the show. We have to wait in the hot sun and the organiser doesn't give a damn about all that. 

He's busy with something as it is. So all these things irritates me the most. But while I'm performing, nothing irritates me. 

Stage is comfortable. Okay. We're close to wrapping up. 

If you have to distil the essence of performance in a line or a philosophy, what would it be? Essence of performance. What is the spirit? The whole point of it? The whole point of it is to make people happy. That's what we are artists for a reason. 

Is that to make whoever listening to you happy and he has to go home and feel good about the your entertainers. Basically, I feel like they have come. They have so many things going on in their life and they have come to watch you in spite of all that. 

They have to go home and sleep peacefully. So we make them like we give our best so that they can have a good night sleep and forgetting all that. I think that's the most essence of life performance. 

They have come all the way. Let them go happily. That's a lovely thought. 

With that, we'll come to an end. Thank you so much, Shailu. All the very best for your future shows. 

Thank you so much. Thanks for having me. Netflix Maria, I'll be waiting for this. Thank you.