The venue is a small Vinayaka temple inside a “senior citizens resort” an hour’s drive from Chennai on the East Coast Road. The day’s entertainment at nearby amusement park MGM over, peace reigned over the resort, where Vijay Siva, R.K. Shriram Kumar and J. Vaidyanathan rendered appropriately devotional music before Lord Ganesa on his birthday. The musicians were seated on the floor outside the temple and the audience sat around them. There was no amplification, and there was a serene atmosphere that made for quiet contemplation and introspection of a kind often missing in the concert halls of the city. Cut to the Music Academy. The December season is in full flow. The star vocalist of the evening is indisposed and forced to pull out at the last moment. Where do the desperate organisers turn, to fill the gap in the schedule? Vijay Siva. A star in his own right, he agrees readily, not making a fuss about advancing his concert by a couple of days and interfering with his preparation. This happens more than once, in successive years, if memory serves us right.