what the ragas do to me..

This is an honest attempt tell my readers about a part of me that they probably dont know, atleast a very few of them do.Just a handful maybe. Ok, so Nagu, AG,Vinod, Sharan,Kart and Arati - all of you might want to stop reading here and go back to your lives :)
But if you wish to read my blabber on a topic that is so intimate and personal in nature, you are welcome.

What do the ragas do to me ? I have often wondered. I wonder a lot on ragas,more so now than ever. Travelling on London tubes has taught me this art! Well, to state a fact, RAGAS are REAL, as real as you and me. Let me not get into more of this philosophy lest I bore you to death.

Instead, I will venture to state my exact emotional state of mind( or nearly that) when I listen to certain ragas. In short,I will try to say exactly what I feel or maybe write about what passes through my mind when I think of a raga. Maybe a visual, maybe an emotion, whatever.

Dont laugh at me and my stupid thoughts, for they are real and they make me what am!!
I will try to be as short as I can but at times, please bear with me, things could go out of control!!!

Okie, here i go...

Shankarabharanam - Temple bells ringing in vedic chants and MY BLOG :)))
Thodi - Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavatar singing 'Kaalinishilambu konja..
Madhyamavathi - Brihadeshwara temple gopuram
Kambhoji - Like someone has stirred my heart with a spoon
Sahana - Am on a moving train to Chennai ( it is only Chennai and nowhere else )
Sriranjani - a music sabha at noon in music Academy,Chennai
Keeravani - KVN maama
Anandabhairavi - Lord Krishna flirting with the gopikas
Hamsadhwani - the tuning of a tambura ,maybe an Yesudas concert :) :) because he always sings Vatapi Ganapatim Bhaje hahahah !!
Kharaharapriya - The utsavam of Lord Parathasarathy of Triplicane with the nagaswaram playing 'Rama nee samaanamevaru'
Kamavardhini aka Pantuvarali - Urmila singing 'Hai Ramaa yeh kya hua' in Rangeela,uff.. sorry couldnt help it :) but Pantuvarali really brings out those emotions.
Nattaikurinji - the sound of ghungroo ( obvious isnt it ?)
Sama - Kart singing 'Annapurne Vishalakshi' in KVN maama style! Kart, when can i hear you sing it again ??
Abheri - Balamuralikrishna's tape of Nagumomu that my dad bought for me when we bought our first stereo, one of the most priceless possessions till date!
Khamas - a hindustani recital somewhere on the ghats of Ganga in Benaras
hindolam - the man who shall be mine forever. Romance and love.
Bhairavi - Bangaru Kamakshi of Tanjavur,what a lovely time I had there..
Mohana - The raga Bhoop,yeah.. I remember the Hindustani version of it ,all the time..
Brindavana Saranga - I feel the afternoon sun blazing hot!! yeah yeah.. not sure why but this is how i feel,
Kaapi - happy,happy, happy...( it rhymes too!!)
Atana , Darbar and Nayaki - No feelings at all!!! ( Nagu, you are gonna shout at me I know.. I try hard but sorry yaar,I like these ragas but they dont seem to like me enough!! )
Mukhari - Radha pining for the love of Lord Krishna ( yes, the jayadeva astapadi strikes a cord immediately, haririthi haririthi japathi sakaamam.. and my MOM loves it!! )
Neelambari - zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
Maand - sands of the desert( influenced by the lovely Kesariya Baalam perhaps!)
Vasantha - July rains in Bangalore when I fall sick all the time.. it irritates me because I love this raga but I cant like it for its memories!)
Desh - Patriotic, you cant feel anything else, can you ??
Kalyani - An orthodox Tamilian girl wearing a pattu pavadai ,hair adorned with 'malli poo' walking along the Kapaaleeshwara Koil in Mylapore(am not being funny at all).
Saaveri - my music sir of yesteryears,Srinivasa Prasanna Sir, the music class, the Tanpura, the room full of students singing 'sarasooda' varnam,me figuring out for the very first time what swarasthanams meant, opening out a whole new world, a beautiful one,most remarakable!!
Dhanyasi - Saint Tyagaraja and Tiruvayyaru, the river and the paddy fields.
Surutti - my Mom, my dear amma, without whose encouragement and persistence, I could never have known music. Her love for me and my music makes me wanna pack up and go back!
Pahaadi - Mountains, folklore,snow-clad Kashmir,old hindi films,freshness,purity and sweet perfumes.
Sindubhairavi - The Ramaseva Mandali concerts that I have attended for years now in my dear Bangalore, Pt Bhimsen Joshi's 'Babul Mora Naihar' Thumri, and more.. But most importantly, I can remember my childhood, me as a kid of three years, my ancestral home, the well, the outdoors we used to play,the Ganesha festival when people came to immerse their idols in the well at our home, and I can remember that the first song I learnt to sing was the devaranama 'Venkatachala Nilayam' in this raga. This raga is special!!

P.S :- The list is endless but as we say, Carnatic music has no end. Nagu, you must be thinking that I have not really listed some ghana ragas.Anand- you must be wondering why I left out Dwijavanthi and Vinod - for you , I must say I spared Nalinakanthi. for that is a raga meant for you alone!!!!