Their names are Khans!

oh well borrowed from a cliched Bollywood title right enough yet this post is all not-so-all-about-Bollywood..
..while the whole of India(media) is obsessed with the Khans -Aamir , Salman, Shahrukh and so on and so forth and fighting over what these Khans represent, their views on religions, tolerance or otherwise, if they want to live in India or move away to safer havens, the narrow, short sighted cult (read Bollywood) they represent churning out movies that neither represent India truly nor honestly for the most part, let us Indians for a moment remember some of these Khans(and some other Muslim surnames, you get the point!) for what they represented -
Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan - an Indian prior to Aug 14th 1947 when there was no Pakistan but more importantly perhaps the best Hindustani classical voice ever to have lived ( thats just my opinion but try listening to his Ka karun sajni aye baalam and we can sit down and debate smile emoticon )
Ustad Abdul Karim Khan - remember the Carnatic rendition of Rama nee samaanamevaru.. yes a Muslim North Indian rendering a composition by the South Indian Brahmin Tyagaraja..
Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, Ustad Vilayat Khan and their sarods and sitars that echoed the ethos of my ancient land where every diversity is accepted, celebrated and integrated from the mists of time...
Ustad Bismillah khan - whose Shehnai filled the narrow alleys of Benaras and the inner sanctum of the Kashi Vishwanath temple there and on the banks of the river Ganga and whose favourite diety was the Hindu goddess Saraswathi... whose shehnai recitals has been broadcast during moments of joy and grief countless times on TV..
Ghulam Ali - whose rendition of "Baaju Bandh Khul Khul Jaaye" - a thumri that is so highly suggestive and erotic in nature despite its divine connotation,sometimes being awkward to listen to even in solitude! - but sadly who was denied a chance to perform his art in my country in the recent days.. shocking... surely there is some conspiracy somewhere.. note his ghazals only come a mere second in comparison with his highly trained classical knowledge..
talking of ghazals ,Mehdi Hassan - the ghazal genius who only had to sing "Kesariya Baalam padharo maro desh re" and that would just suffice...why do we need this Bollywood Khan's Incredible India campaign at all when a Rajasthani folkore can invite people to visit our beautiful country and experience the richness of her music, dance and traditions?
Ustad Barkat Ali Khan, Ustad Amir Khan and many many more, some of whose magic am still trying to figure out thanks to my recent marathon pursuit of Hindustani music recitals...
..and of course how can I forget my favourite - the one and only Ustad Rashid Khan whose voice gave me goosebumps 10 years ago and still does..- he mesmerises us with this emotionally charged rendition everytime but the best for me is his jugalbandi with the Hindu brahmin ( again!) Pandit Bhimsen Joshi where the two artistes sang like they were one soul, one a veteran another the relatively amateur, yet the nod of the veteran when the younger one sang a passage like a flash of lightning just before the first monsoon rains commence, explains so beautifully the mutual respect for the divine art of classical music age,religion notwithstanding...
Yes there are many such Khans and Alis India has produced.. today when modern India is arguing (read that wasting time!) over the stupidity of the Bollywood Khans, let us try for a second to remember these other Khans, let us pay homage to their timeless art, their contribution to our country's music, to their Indianness, bow down in respect to to their sacrifice and commitment to the one and the only religion that is true in this world - music!
Right.. back to "Baju band khul khul jaaye, sawariya ne kaisa jadu daala re". Oh boy, am I blushing!

-Rekha

Confession of a student of Carnatic music of several years..

This is an honest confession. I would be lying to myself and to whatever that little music I have been gifted with in this birth if I do not come clean on this.  Carnatic music is what I learn as many of you know. It is my longest association in this life after my parents and sister. Over the years my association with this form of music has been the single most stable factor in my life. Although not a professional singer, the one thing I have been doing constantly is learn. I owe it all to my gurus and Skype :) what would it have been if not for them ? 

But that is not the point am trying to confess today. Carnatic music is imbibed into my soul now and has no chance of escaping, thank God for that. There is always a thread in the brain, subconsciously processing every tune , every melody, drawing parallels, guessing the ragam, the rhythm, almost second nature. But... but, on a good day, and I dont know how to put this without sounding offensive to .. well myself perhaps, but on a good day , I have to admit -  Hindustani music is more more lovely!

So lovely, I regret not learning it to the point am in tears! I envy the voice production techniques, the gamaks and the khayals and most importantly the freedom of expression.  Barring some exceptional musicians, cross over has never been that appealing and that simply because of the vast distinction between these two styles of our music. The vocal technique, the raga handling and the approach are entirely different and any attempts at cross over have only resulted in pale imitation am afraid! Exceptions of course, but a handful! But that is just me, please do not think am being prejudiced against any artiste or musician! This is my confession , not a critic review!

Our music of the south is divine, it  is soaked in devotion and is the ultimate tool I think for a human being to attempt to try and realize the meaning of it all, an attempt, thats all.  It is like life carnatic music is - demands a balance in melody and rhythm. It seeks confirmation, embodies it. It is very comforting to confirm I admit. To accept unconditionally the greatness of  the artist/poet who pre-created song, the metre of the lyrics, the exquisite tapestry of the rhythm, the nuances despite the strict notation and yet to create that small nook of a space where one can fly free with improvisation - is a wonderful wonderful thing. Every carnatic musician is excited about that small niche wherein they can be their own, it is our desire and our constant bottleneck, at least that is where my mental block lies! Of the navarasas we Indians so proudly talk of in art, carnatic music undoubtedly majors in Bhakthi, karuna ..

But that beautiful music of the North, oh what can I say ?  Shringara rasa it is. Beauty, love, poetry, art, finesse, mellow and the ultimate tool for freedom of expression.  Where carnatic beckons a mere mortal to attain glimpses of the divine and sometimes become close to one, the Hindustani form elevates the mortal to a supremely refined human being. It opens the floodgates of freedom of expression. It says - "here is this empty canvas, go ahead and do what you like! There are but very few basic rules - do not paint outside the canvas for then it is no painting but push yourself to the boundaries of self expression." It is all about making us more human, all about exploring the the
non-confirmist traits we all possess, all about breaking taboo and seeking out that which feels like is unattainable.  It is that added playful touch to a wonderful nuance in a melody or that extra punch to a note to insist an emotion or that fine balance of the voice when rendering thumris that express unrequited or forbidden love or that beautiful altering of the pace in a span of two lines to convey the sense of urgency - everything about Hindustani music is human, very human! It sets us free, uninhibited and opens out the pores that clog certain areas of the pre-conditioned human brain..

This is just me and I would certainly not prefer one over the other or have a bias over which is greater. It is not always about which is greater. Sometimes, it is just what it is. What one feels about a thing. The point is to confess with honesty, for honesty is truth , truth is art , art is love and  music is love in search of a word!

No, I am not going to change my blog's name to Bilawal, it is Shankarabharanam and shall always be but some days I may hear a Bilawal when I listen to a Shankarabharanam and wish I was in utopia!

-r


 

a rendevous for a hopeless romantic!

..graffiti on the walls as the channel train rolls into Gare du Nord
a rude and nonchalant response to a "un(e) carnet sil vouz plais"
a stench-filled RER passing through the suburbs into the centre
a character scarved, perfumed and chic, yet scruffy and smelly..
..of tobacco, garlic, cheese and wine!

I smell a freshly baked baguette,croissant,a cafe au lait,
a caffe, a bar tabac, a brasserie round the corner everywhere..
a waiter so annoyed when asked for a dish with no meat
and more annoyed  when I sent back a dish for it had oeuf!
..and yet when the dish came back anew,oh boy! did I devour every last bit like I had never eaten before!

..a man in his sixties in his own world like I never exist,
not caring a damn, not a look , not a glance..
yet when in broken French I ask for the nearest metro to the Tour..
an affectionate arm over my shoulder, another pointing to my map..
a face leaned right into mine,making me flinch and blush..
a gregarious voice crooning into my ears-the quickest way is to walk!
..then awkward parting smiles, a merci , an au revoir and a kiss
that might well have been French just had I let it be!

.. I walk from the Arc to the Concorde along the Champs..
peer inside a Cartier, a Chanel, a Guerlain , a LouisVitton..
and hopping into a Bateuex Mouches, I float along the Seine... 
gaping in awe at  la Louvre, Le Notre Dame, Hotel De Ville and Musee D'Orsay..
.. and at night I ride up the Tour De Eiffel as if in a trance
mesmerised, enchanted and hopelessly in love with the City of light!

..with a friend, a niece, the spouse ,year after year, this journey do I make..
a ritual in Rue de Bourgogne over a galette and a crepe au citron,
a tagine in a Moroccon I can never forget!
listen in across tables, lip-sync with the locals when they speak and smile at their eccentricities,
crack up when the metro arrives in R(H)ome and Mir(h)omil..
and  always say the H out loud when taking a Sor(h)tie!!!(ALWAYS)

be fascinated by the priceless expression on a crazy gal's face
as she saw the shimmering lights of the Tour Eiffel for the very first time..
or sometimes take a solitary walk along the boulevards
smelling the fleurs in a marche, hoping for a vente in the shops..
peering into the windows of the apartment blocks, wondering what must be going on in their Parisien lives!


Paris - I am not done with yet, for there is lots more left to see,
the catacombs, the museums and the cathedrals that beckon me.
where looking over from the hills of the Sacre Couer, I feel free..
where every thought feels like a poem on a rhyming spree..
a city whose light shines even on the other side of the sea
bleeds today like a wounded prey on flee..

Here I seek yet once more, a rendevous with this place..
Time and again a journey, I promise to undertake,
fearlessly and with pride in my heart ablaze,
I shall seek out the next cafe for a piece of rich chocolate cake.. 


-r

Hear the cries of an Indian woman...

It was one of those perfect days today. Or so I thought.  A much anticipated team lunch at The Butterfly and the pig in celebration of the holiday season at the end of the year. The lunch was awesome, the company of my friends most enjoyable, the restaurant exceeded my expectations and the puddings yummy. It was a nice day too in Glasgow, so it was going to be one of those days when all goes well and everything is good!

The lunch was done and I was back at my desk with a stomach so full that it almost blocked the nerve endings in my brain. Well, not quite but I mean to say, my brain was out of action. I felt lethargic and decided to give myself some time to go through news back home in more detail. Normally and more often these days than 4 years ago, I scan the Guardian, the Telegraph, the BBC, then the Indian express , the Hindu and ndtv in that order. I choose to read the British media over Indian media these days, even for news from India. Journalism back home has been replaced by sheets of Page 3, soft porn and such forms of highly sexualised content or an utterly biased dose of unrealistic, unruly, faked up political discussions that this country of mine is capable of. The British media is more responsible about who it caters to. At the very least it attempts to keep the news and the sensation separate. Or so I think. So does Sundari, my best friend too.

And this is when the miseries of my mind began. I happened to read the details of the New Delhi gang rape case. The news was very very very disturbing and disgusting, to say the least. These days, rape in India is more common than corruption cases, so much so that I have stopped reading about both in view of preserving my own sanity on a daily basis. Oh yes, there is a rape reported daily on Indian media. Not to speak of our corruption, but that is for another day.

This gang rape in the country's capital ,which is increasingly becoming the most unsafe place on this planet for women, has  triggered a huge backlash across several factions of the Indian society. That place is scary! On  one side, you have the world's largest democracy functioning, on another you have the same democracy steeped in such deep rooted evils, so powerless even in power and so ignorant even when equipped. It makes me want to shout, cry and wail in desperation. I am ashamed to call myself an Indian!

A 23 year old paramedical student was raped by 6 men in a luxury bus on Sunday night when she was returning home after watching the Life of Pi with a male friend of hers.  It could have been me. It could have been anyone. I just had a shiver run down my spine.  The act of watching a movie with a friend from the opposite gender is as common as going for a meal with a friend of the opposite gender, isnt it ?  That poor girl is fighting to breathe  in a hospital even with ventilator support! Is this what one gets for wanting to watch a movie ?


Are we the same civilisation that boasts of the supremacy of the female form ?  We pride ourselves in the numerous female dieties worshipped, we sing in glory of the Mahishasura Mardini and the strength of Sita, Draupadi and others women. Why, we even have a temple  in Kumbakonam in Tamil Nadu whose presiding diety is called the GarbhaRakshambika, meaning, the one who protects the womb. It hurts terribly to think that one of them  went  unprotected on Sunday night. And in such a horrible manner. It hurts very badly.

The anger builds up each time I hear news like this. And we have one on a daily basis almost, am not kidding. So it was a father and a step father raping their daughter in Kerala last week, it was a girl in Bombay some time last month, a girl in Hyderabad a few days ago. And cases of marital rape, do not even go there!  My blood boils when corrupt rascals called politicians come out and defend the rapists by stating that they ought to marry the victim and give her a respectable status in the society! Bring on capital punishment for saying such things!

 There is a new breed of highly obsessive, trapped individuals in the Indian society today who have no clue what they are representing. This was not the work of a psychopath, this gang rape. It is highly unlikely that 6 psychopaths got together and decided to go on a rampage, no. This was a pure opportunistic crime borne out of a very distorted sense of morality. These inhuman minds thought it was ok for them to pass lewd remarks on a girl and a guy being out late at night , albeit they could have been just friends or lovers. They thought it was wrong for a girl and a guy to be out late at night watching a movie, but they thought they were right in wanting to teach the girl a lesson for trying to protect her friend from being beaten up by them. In questioning the intentions of the couple, they did not question their own. In attempting to be the moral police for another man's supposedly potential sexual urges when being with a girl, they forgot about their own misplaced carnal desires. And the had no clue whatsoever. The male could have simply be a pal or a lover, but the truth is , the girl chose to go with him to the movies. These evil men had no clue about the subtle nature of the physical emotions of a human being, of a woman. When a woman lets a man into her comfort zone in any context, it has several terms for it, trust, closeness and above all, consent. And by law, trespassing is a crime. Be it is stranger, a lover, a friend or a spouse. Oh well, did I not say I had a great day to begin with ? I surely did... I am raging, fuming and terribly angry now..

My rant is not over yet. And am not the only one today in India. How do we solve this problem ?  A few options come to my mind. And given it is me and my mind, one can expect the unexpected. :)  I smiled at once in the last half an hour, phew! Anyway,the list goes thus :

• Death penalty for rape, life term at the very least - brute force method  to cure the symptom, not the root cause though.
• A UK 999 equivalent system - cut the social security number project, it is a waste anyway, bring this on. Especially given the excellent telecom infrastructure today.
• A highly skilled police force for dealing with atrocities such as this.
• Creation of  a social norm where sex is no longer a taboo, encouraging cohabitation of mutually consenting adults, creating an open system of dating and marriage through choice, in short, an overhaul of an institution that is sacred for most Indians keeping in view the changing times and needs.
• Rightful accessibility to sexual content via regulated media for non commercial purposes with severe legal and criminal implications otherwise. ( And enforced too! ) 
• Marital rape to be criminalised to the same degree as murder. It is still very much behind closed doors, literally! Recently, there was a court ruling making no big deal of it, the judge should be behind bars in my opinion.
• Creating a social norm that imbibes in young boys the notion of gender equality starting from the family levels. This is still uncommon in rural India.
• Most importantly, desexualisation of entertainment, social networking and internet. Young girls have a lot of pressure to copy their movie stars and icons.  I do not agree to this "women dress provocatively" nonsense that is being circulated by certain channels but unlike in reel life, there might not be a hero all the time to save the girl from the villain. And to that end, it is quite important for women to be more aware of their surroundings. And to trust their gut feeling. If something/someone does not feel right, then it is probably not!

I think I feel more positive now. Just venting it out. I pray that the girl recovers, that the rascals are punished  and  the democracy stands up to its truest word. There must be hope for our flawed society. The law of the land has to rise to the occasion, now more than ever.  I must stop my rant now.. It is almost midnight and I think I had a good day in the end afterall. As someone said, it is a mindset thing. To not chase the symptoms but to target the root cause...

Between equals.....

Interesting it is in life,art and elsewhere,when the stage is set for a show between equals. The perception, the imagery,experience and just about everything is more appealing in this than the more mediocre ones. The principle of duality is strongly enforced, the experience is enriching and beautiful. In our world, it might explain why a Federer-Nadal match is so big, for instance. As humans, we tend to be driven to be similar to one another, to be like for like. We are in an endless quest to always pit ourselves against an equal. Or with an equal. When competing,we derive more pleasure when the rival is as good as us, if not better. When not, we wish to associate ourselves with someone like us, as good as us, if not better. In love and in war, everything is more beautiful when it is between equals. Like for like, the comparison draws more interest. No matter how you look at it! An intelligent conversation with a like-minded individual, a musical duet, an intense argument, an action sequence in a movie, these are but a few examples of  the kind am talking about. 

Strangely enough, in art as in life,although one associates artistes to be solitary creatures confined in their strange and quirky minds, the best and beautiful expressions have been between two artistes who are masters and equals.Jerry Garcia and Bob Weir or KVN and Palaghat Raghu among the musicians I listen to. In the same context, film actors and costars who share a chemistry have been much talked about in the Indian film industry. We have seen movies where the actors' chemistry has taken the movie to an altogether different level. It is a very cliched subject, yes, but sometimes, certain artistes are more equal than the others!

I have seen an Amitabh Bachchan-Rekha, a Shah Rukh Khan-Kajol, a Rajkumar-Kalpana or a Vishnuvardhan-Arathi and admired at depth the intensity of their togetherness onscreen. I have enjoyed many a dialogue, an argument, an expression, a dance duet and a playful romance as many of us who grew up in the 70s  and 80s did. We were the lucky generation in the sense of what Indian cinema today has become. The movies we watched had drama ,music and dance all woven together so aesthetically  that it invoked in us, a deep desire to appreciate the finer things in life. The movies we  grew up on had all the elements of the 'Navarasas' as they are referred to - the nine essential expressions of life and existence. None of today's fake tan as I call it. We were Indian and we showcased it. We celebrated, cried, shouted, sang and danced and emoted through life and art. And broke rules too!

Sorry, I digress. This is not a post on Indian movies in the last millenium. It hardly is. But in a way it is. No discussion on Indian cinema can be complete without a reference to regional language cinema. Unfortunately, Bollywood mesmerised the entire world into thinking that India is like what is shown in a Hindi movie.That is hardly indicative of Indian culture as a whole. Bollywood captures the life and culture of North India for most part. That is it. Today, it hardly captures even that, but I shall not digress again!

For years, south Indian cinema dominated entertainment in India. Some of the finest intellectuals and artistes churned out movies incomparable to any like their own generation elsewhere in India and sometimes across the seas too. Cross-over and parallel cinema is a buzzword today, but some of these movies and actors were already doing that. Method acting was more or less the norm.And music. And Tamil cinema. One did not have to go to a carnatic music kutchery to know what a mohanam or a shankarabharanam was. The common man in South India was an elite music lover and had access to some very fine music. Tamil cinema has been and shall be the most experimental of them all. Tamil cinema had the luxury of carnatic music at its disposal, something that was explored to its fullest potential by the likes of Illayaraja, K Balachander, etc.

Again I digress, probably for the last time in this blog post. As some of my readers might know, I have blogged a lot in the past, about this and that but a lot about music and movies. It has been a while and sometimes the motivation to write needs to come through a laborious process of trying to find the right creative mood. I found one such yesterday. I chanced upon a youtube video of a very old song from the Tamil movie 'Varumayin Niram Sivappu' meaning the 'The colour of poverty is red'. I used to know the song years ago and somehow amidst the mass pile of music we produce, had got lost in my mind. The movie as its name suggests, has a strong social flavour to it and is probably now on my list of "To watch old classics", one which is growing by the day. But, it was the song that captured my attention and brought about the creative mood that has prompted me to write one long blog post. For the song is no ordinary one. It is picturised on perhaps, Indian (tamil specifically) cinema's most under rated yet immensely powerful on screen couple - Kamal Hassan and Sridevi. They were, in my very humble opinion, more equals than anyone else. And this song, this very song is perhaps the most accurate depiction of their equal-ness.( No word like this in English but I take liberties! )

Kamal Hassan and Sridevi, on their own, achieved stardom unlike any others. Both of them came from Tamil Nadu, struggled initially and made a huge mark in Bollywood and other regional cinema, a feat that remains unsurpassed even today. They are artistes that need no talking about. Sridevi was perhaps the last of the quintessential Bollywood poster girl of the 90s. She is known as a superstar, a mega stylish diva, blah blah blah, (what with her comeback in English-Vinglish in October 2012!) but she was a big name much before that. She was a star in the 80s in Tamil movies, years before she had her first botox injection to dance to the tunes of Hindi cinema ( literally!) Not to mention her nose job!Kamal on the other hand was always a method actor. Always broke the rules, he did. Even today.One can hate him or like him but one cannot ignore him.  He is perhaps the finest of natural actors we have today. And they came together in Moondram Pirai in 1982 and am still trying to make up my mind as to who deserved the national award there!

This song am talking about here "Sippi Irukkadu"  is a classic showpiece of the finesse that this pair produced in the 80s. It is almost as if the song was composed as a tribute to their double act. I post the video of this song at the end of this post and encourage you to watch both their expressions at the same time.(you can with a little practice). It is mindblowing. It is a simple song, ordinary a composition compared to so many masterpieces that Tamil cinema has produced. But, it is elevated to perfection by these two. The fact that two actors can complement their facial expressions to be in perfect harmony while playing their individual parts is amazing. Most actors fail here. Most actors are shown together yet do not appear to be in harmony while sharing screen space.

Cut to this song on youtube, someone has added subtitles to it and I have my own issues with subtitles. No matter how hard you try, translating the exact emotion from a vernacular language to the all purpose English simply does not work! It always falls short. The song itself is a simple romantic duet of which we have millions in our movie industry. But this one is a duel as well. She being a singer, challenges him to compose lyrics to her tunes impromptu! (Tough one that!) And this song is all about how they express their admiration and mutual attraction for each other through the medium of art.  It is a match between equals. As actors, these two have always challenged each other when playing opposite each other and in this reel piece too, they seem to challenge each other. And it is superbly  natural. His gestures wonderfully mimic carnatic musicians when they have got some sangati or musical expression right! Expressions like 'Appadiya' and 'Beautiful eh' are so aptly executed not to forget the wonderful playback singing that sets it in. Sridevi has matched that up word for word literally and figuratively. Her amazing grace and poise, the manner in which she covers her ears to get the right tune in her head (something musicians do) and her playfulness while trying to outwit him all the time,yet appreciative of his quick responses, every one of these gestures  show that Kamal Hassan and Sridevi are equals of the first order. It seems almost as if they played out their respective parts in reel life as they did in real.  The lyrics of the song, again, seem to do exactly that. There have been several romantic duets full of highly poetic structure and sentimentalism but in my opinion, this one does the job neat. Strikes the right chord. It is simple, subtle and yet elegant.  Kamal Hassan has always had looks that has appealed to the opposite gender ( myself included) but in this, his casual attire matched with his part as an intellectual makes it endearing. Sridevi looks like Sridevi minus botox. Not anything like what she did in Chandni but she is a traditional South Indian girl who sings carnatic music.She looks and plays the part.  It appeals to the senses,evokes emotions of the right kind and brings back nostalgic memories of the days bygone. And most importantly, it brings to light the beauty of a match made in heaven transposed onto a few tens of millimetres of reel of which dreams are made of. 

And for those of us who understand Tamil, I quote from the most touching line in the song itself...
 Mayakkam thandada yaar, Tamilo ? Amudho ? Kaviyo ?

Trying to get back to blogging....

-Saaveri

The other man...

...of Kannada films!

Ardent kannadigas and kannada movie fans would know whom am referring to. (I hope you can guess!)

He was special,ultra talented with looks that made women swoon,the best among his peers. He was a ladies' man,a natural charmer. He acted in some of the best Kannada movies in 70s and 80s. My earliest recollection of a kannada movie was one of his. What a couple, he and Arathi were! Then there was Nagarahaavu and Vishnuvardhan had arrived!

He had only one problem, he was always second-in-line to superstardom. He was always falling short of that one expectation that set him apart from the greatest of greats, Dr Rajkumar! It was not his fault, it was simply a question of circumstances and timing.

Personally, I loved Vishnuvardhan, his style, his confidence and his charm. He was "Mr Photo" if you like. He epitomised the unique 70s "bell bottoms sidelocks" generation. I hope am not killed by RFC - Rajkumar Fans Club (not Rangers Football Club) the next time am in Bangalore for saying this!. Dr Rajkumar was a phenomenon for sure, but it was Vishnuvardhan that won hearts,especially in movies like "Gandhada Gudi".

I think he was aware he was always going to be the second best only.And yet, he continued to give his best,to his movies, to his heroines and to his fans. He was subtle yet forceful when presented with his chances. And one was swept away into his wonderful world of romantic charm!

And not to speak of his on screen chemistry with Arathi. The two of them were made for each other, somewhat symbolising the best song in their classic "Hombisilu" - "Midiyuva Managalu yeradu, midithada ragavu ondhe" roughly meaning "two hearts that sing the same tune". He,the fair skinned gentleman,she the dusky beauty, priceless!

Although much older, I appreciated his acting skills in "Madikeri Sipayi". His good looks did not come in the way of his serious role, he was able to set that record straight. He was as much a force as he was a charmer!. Throughout his career, he knew how to balance that act.

I am loving writing this blog myself. My friend Sheeja always said "romance is a beautiful subject,it is eternal". I agree with her, with actors like Vishnuvardhan, romance never dies. It takes but one spark to rekindle the passion. And oh,having an Ipod full of old kannada songs helps, certainly on boring Monday afternoons...

A few years ago,on this very day,I was on my two-wheeler in the busy Jaynagar area of Bangalore. This must have been around late 2004,early 2005,maybe. I stopped at a traffic signal and waited. You know how we Bangloreans checkout other vehicles when waiting for the signal to turn green ? I was doing the same to this lovely big white car standing next to me. The car had tinted windows and looked brand new and big. As I was checking it out, the tinted windows rolled down and there I saw him! Yes, Vishnuvardhan,the man himself.. He was dressed in some costume and obviously was on his way for a shoot.

He gave me a big smile,a very human one, a real one! I stayed there,very weak in my knees,wishing the signal did not change.. forever.

In fond remembrance of this "other man" of Kannada movies,on this day, I claim to have listened to the following song, a few hundred times on my Ipod! Thats quite a record for a fan's admiration of an actor like him,what ?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ME69N8-j7do&feature=related

- Saaveri


(P.S : Dont ask me how I remember the date well,I have a very strange way of remembering events through bizarre associations)

Oh boy, have I changed ?

I chanced on my blog today while looking for some music review, oh yeah, the one I used to write, almost daily, about 4 years ago! My God,I have changed as a person! I am not the same me who wrote these blogs , or am I ?

So much has changed, it is scary!

Bangalore changed to London and then Glasgow...
Oracle changed to JPM...
Driving to work changed to taking the tube/train..
INR became GBP..
I went from single to married ( having fallen in love too )
Lovely weather gave way to crappy rain!!
Some friends forgot, some became closer, one fought and left me!
Music classes twice a week at Mami's house became Skype lessons!
Cricket became football..erm.. not quite but...
Coming home from work to relax and watch TV gave way to "coming home from work to do more work"...
Salwars and sarees gave way to skirts and trousers..
Bollywood movies, hindi soaps gave way to travel channel and comedy shows..
Not stepping out of Bangalore gave way to travelling all over Europe...

But.. somethings did not change..
My blog is still called Shankarabharanam,one of my favourite ragas!
Carnatic music still makes me want to packup and go back home!
Ustad Rashid Khan's voice still gives me goosebumps!


Maybe I should restart my blogging ?

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!!!!

Moving house..

Finally I made it,to the UK, to London,one of the nicest cities to live(only next to Bangalore!)

I live in London, work in the City, in a big investment bank. It feels nice to say this. It feels great to walk amidst the big boys of world banking. It thrills to walk out of the Bank station (Bank of England which apparently has the world's biggest gold reserves) and step into THE CITY passing by hoardes of faces that think money, plan money and make the world move forward,atleast in some sense.

It feels independent to live alone. To wake up and cook for yourself,take care of locking the house,ironing your clothes,making your lunch and doing the shopping. It taught me the value of my time and my MOM! :)

It feels great to shop in Harrods and Next,thrills to own a blackberry,to pay your bills online.It feels relaxed to get things done easily.

It feels great to converse finance. Derivatives,options,leverage and the sup-prime crisis all sound familiar now,a bit,if not more.. It is a whole new world, away from the abstraction of memory leaks and CPU cycles(though am in a technical job), a new,real world that exists! Finance thrills because it is about two Ms - Mathematics and Money!!

It feels great to spend weekends outdoors, amidst hills and valleys, with calm and quiet all around. It thrills to climb hills and walk miles, to get away from the hassle and get back to the hassle again on Monday mornings..

Life has changed a lot in the last three months and I feel good about it. I am riding on waves of confidence and vigour, energy and enthusiasm.

The sun goes down and am back to my nest,to that little home I have in East London.As I make my dinner,I turn my music on. KVN maama singing 'Annapurne Vishalakshi' reverberates in the one bed flat that I call mine. I listen to this divine piece of carnatic music.. The CITY,the bank,the shops,pubs,restaurants,the hills all fade away to the background. Nothing matters,except the fantastic manner in which maama sings 'kanchana maya bhushanam bharadhare'. The energy,the confidence and the money fade away...All that remains is absolute peace and serenity. Things don't change much ,do they ?

(Look out for my Scotland trip blogs on my travelogue)

D K Jayaraman@Seshadripuram concert series,2008

A few of my blog readers who are carnatic music rasikas must be wondering what is wrong with me. But they would understand if they attended today's grand and sensational concert by none other than DKJ's greatest disciple himself, Vijay Siva. It was DKJ's spirit and soul that was present in every musical note emanating from Vijay Siva today.
It is a shame that he gets such poor response from the Fort High School grounds,each year. On the contrary,I am glad there is Seshadripuram. Atleast one good sabha that can get crowds for the right kind of musicians. It is not wrong then,that artistes are biased towards Seshadripuram. We all know that music thrives best where it is appreciated the best!

Personally speaking, my association with Vijay Siva's music began in 2002. Very late,compared to the other contemporary carnatic musicians I was listening to then.But,the impact of his music was so strong that soon, I was one of his biggest fans. The most important plus point his music has is its strong adherance to Sampradayam,or tradtional roots! Not to miss the style and diction of that particular school which went on to become the famous 'DKP-DKJ' baani. I appreciate the honesty of this wonderful singer more than anything else. Every concert,be it small or big,important sabha or no,he delivers a Ragam Tanam Pallavi(RTP),arguably the most difficult of any musical form in the universe(this is no exaggeration!). For students of carnatic music,an RTP is a must!

Coming back to today's concert,he began with the shlokam 'Sadaa baala roopapi' followed by 'kari kalabhamukham' in raga 'Saaveri'. He sang it in madhyama kaala thereby setting the mood of the kutcheri perfectly. He followed it with a brisk 'Saamaja Varadaa' in 'Shudda saaveri',naturally with kalpana swarams which were beautifully quick and crisp. The immediate piece was the classical 'Ninnuvina' in 'Purvikalyani'. The beauty of this combination,of two fast kritis with one slower one does have a lovely calming effect on the listener. The next one to follow was the rare 'Nenarunchara' in 'Simhavahini', a beautiful raga by itself. For those of us (in the raga-identification-gang,Sharan,Anand and Vinod and myself in particular) who missed it today, 'Simhavahini' is a janya of 'Charukeshi' with the scale : Sa Ga3 Ma1 Pa Da1 Ni2 Sa and Sa Ni2 Da1 Pa Ma1 Ga3 Ri2 Sa. What followed this one,was a masterpiece 'Nee paada mule gatiyani' in 'Bhairavi'. Obviously,this was the main song of the concert. The alapanam was really heavy carnatic and Charulata Ramanujam was just too good on the violin here. Bhairavi has endless possibilities,it is a personal favourite of mine. It makes me want to give up all my London dreams and just find myself a small house in Mylapore,Chennai. Thats what Bhairavi does to me!! The neraval was for the anupallavi 'panchanadeeshwara..'.Listening to this piece of sahityam repeatedly brought me back to the banks of the river Kaveri(my previous blog post!),right into the town of Tiruvayyaru,the confluence of five rivers,as the song describes!

The tani was excellent and enjoyable, Neyveli narayanan on the mridangam.Unfortunately, I dont remember the ghatam artiste,I have not heard him before. This was followed by the 'Bhajare Bhaja Maanasa' in Kannada. I bvery nice song,I had not heard this before.

What followed now was UTOPIA. An RTP in raga Abheri. I know Nagaraj Mandya is smiling now! Nagu,you would know how much I love this raga. You missed a wonderful nadai pallavi in this superbly sung raga. It was a tishra jati triputa tala with the laghu in tishra nadai and the dhruta in Chatushra Nadai. Oh,it was mind-blowing!! As usual,I struggled in the mel-kaala. However,I am happy to tell you that my taala sense is much better now atleast the keezl-kaala with nadai change. This one was a damn good challenge!! :) :) I could go one writing on this RTP today,but to make ti short,the ragamalika had Mohanam,Thodi and Valaji. The kalpana swarama alternated between mel and keezl kaalam patterns in the tishra and chatushar nadais in two passes. Well, thats the best I could describe the wonder!!
The pallavi went like :- 'Paaka Uruga Nenji Pankaaya Kannan Ninaittu'. I am very sure,I have got the sahityam wrong,partly because it was chaste Tamil and partly because I was trying hard to notate it as he sang and I got too confused big time!!

Soon after the RTP, he sang D K Pattamal's famous 'Intha Cheluvage Magalanu Kottanu' in 'Abheri'. The next one was 'Jayadeva' kavi's ashtapadi 'Radhika Krishna thava Virahe' in ragamalika - Khamas,Vasanta,Mukhari and Shanmukhapriya. The came a 'Sahana' in the form of 'Ini Enna Pechirukkudu'. I dont know much about this one,never heard before. I vaguely remember Sanjay singing it,not sure. Then came a viruttam on Lord krishna accompanied by 'oruthmaghanai pirandu',beautiful,beautiful Behag!

The last one was a tribute to none other than two great personalities, Lord Rama and DKJ. Vijay Siva has always sung something as a tribute to this great guru.Usually,it is a song with this guru's name in it. Today it was the majestic, Yadukula Kamboji kriti of saint Tyagaraja, 'Sree Rama,Jayarama'. I loved the tempo of this song. At that hour in a carnatic concert,when everyone is happy,tired and hungry,a slow paced Yadukula kambhoji can act like a lullaby. Am not kidding, I was falling asleep.

Another noteworthy aspect today was the fact that three of the kritis that he sang had the names of the reigning dieties of very famous temple towns in Tamilnadu. Ninnuvina showerd praises on 'Ekambreshwara' and 'Kamakshi' of Kanchipuram, 'Neepadamule' contained 'Panchanadeswaram' and 'Dharmasamvardhini' of Tiruvayyaru and 'kari Kalabhamukham' had Lord Ganesha of Myladudurai.

All in all,I enjoyed a lot. Vijay Siva is an artiste beyond compare in today's lot. He must be listened to more and more. Bangalorean crowds really need to reprioritise, I feel. It was very disappointing two days ago,to see few people in Fort High School,they missed a wonderful RTP in Anandabhairavi. Anyway,Seshadripuram sabha rocks!!

As goes the famous sanskrit saying, 'Yathaa guru,thathaa shishya', DKJ and Vijay Siva represent gurukulam in its most correct sense.

The day I was reborn...

Nattai,Saaveri,Thodi,Kalyani,Brindavana Saranga,Revati.....

...from the depths of my brain,someone called out these names in a jiffy..I searched around,wondering to myself, "Who are these people ?", "What business do I have with them ?", "Why do these names sound familiar ?" etc etc.The lights shone bright in the college auditorium,the summer breeze was fresh,dusk was just setting in,the huge open compound surrounding the college was slowly filling in with people, the evening was just about to begin...

...Iyer maami in an orange kancheevaram saree...recording thatha with his usual paraphernalia(some of my readers would know what this means!)...handsome guy in jeans who I met at a gathering last year...little girl with her mom and grandma....
...from the depths of my brain,I could recollect familiar faces,faces spanning over a decade,people who had put on weight,grown older,wiser,taller....

Tha Dhi Thom Nam...Tha Tha Dhi Dhi Nam Nam... Sa-Pa-Sa-Pa-Sa-Pa-Sa...
...from the depths of my brain, faint memories resonate with these primordial tunes of nature,of the decades of music that I have lived in,of a bygone era which I know only through these very tunes,of another life(perhaps in a previous birth),of something in the past that I cannot quite explain,nevertheless connect me to SOMEONE SOMEWHERE for an eternity!

The vocalist clears his voice,the violinist sets his shruti,the percussionists are ready, the tambura drones..Ga Ma Pa Ni Saa Ni Pa Ma Gaa Riiiii... "Nada" resounds from all over,I close my eyes..I can see a clear blue river,pure and pristine,paddy fields around it,scorching sun,bullock-carts,a sandy river-bed where stands a temple gopuram ,a man nearly 500 years old seated at the shrine,holding a tambura and singing 'Jagadaananda Kaaraka'...

from the depths of my eyes,tears flow...

Uncontrollable at first until the "newly-moved-to-London-excited-about-new-job" me takes over ,I return back to my composed self,determined more than ever to enjoy every minute I have in today's Carnatic concert by Sangita Kalanidhi T V Shankarnarayanan and party! Today,I vowed not to be furious over some things,like the kid who is being so noisy that I cannot possibly figure out between Darbar and Nayaki,or the lady to my side who is chatting away( read that as bitching about her daughter-in-law!) to a friend or that noisy bloke on the street who honks while the artiste is singing a beautiful neraval.. Today I figured where the noise lay-for all these years,it lay in my mind!! And I vowed not to be bothered,not now,not forever! I vowed to sit back,relax and enjoy the flight!!

As many of you,my dear readers, are aware, I have recently gone through a career change and for the last few months, I have been so busy that music has been completly neglected. The neglect is a one hundred percent from my side, especially in the last 2 months, when I was looking for jobs in London. I was determined to do my best in the job hunt and hence had abandoned any thoughts of being associated with music in any form until I get a new job. (Music is a distraction for me,it is my biggest weakness perhaps!) I am happy to announce that the ordeal is over, I have gotten a new job and am back now to what I love best.. CARNATIC MUSIC!!! And am in Bangalore for two weeks before I start my new life in London...

Today was officially my first association with a music concert after this horifying gap and it came in the form of a TV Shankarnarayanan Kutcheri in Seshadripuram for Ramnavami. What a start! Before I get back to London, I have a couple of weeks to spare in Bangalore and I could not thank Lord Sree Rama for bringing me over for his birthday party!! Now I understand why the job offer took over a month although the interviews got over very early,in retrospect,the timing was perfect! I was destined to be in Bangalore at this time,this week,this day... The Lord is my Shepherd, hahahaha...

Coming to the facts of the concert,it was brilliant as always. TVS is a vidwan who has enormous energy, his swarams, voice modulation and choice of ragas was excellent.
He brought in his son, the young and talented Shankar Mahadevan to sing at the sabha for the first time and I must say, the lad has a great futue! With a staunch classical voice,sampradayam and diction like his, the boy could give Sanjay a run for his money,perhaps!! ( Not quite :) :) but close)

On the mridangam was Sri Rajakesari and on the ghatam was Sri M A Krishnaswamy,both very good support and superb coordination during the thani. Though, I must say,the mridangam could have been slightly more loud,it seemed very faint and tiring at times.

If you put all the carnatic musicians on one scale of a balance and Sri Mysore Nagaraj on the other, you know what am talking about..Such a brilliant musician,what a style and what a tradition!! The superb sangatis of Thodi and Ravichandrika made a fashion statement!!

I would like to give a run-down on the concert list here..

Gajanana yutham followed by Pranathosmi - Nattai
Baarayya Venkataramana - Saaveri ( Swarams with nice finishing touches that brought out Saaveri raga completly)
Makelaraa Vicharamu - Ravichandrika ( Aalap,Swaram)
Yenduku Dayaraadhu Ra - Thodi ( Alap, Neraval)
Yetavunnaraa - Kalyani ( Alap,Neraval,Swaram and Thani - alap sung by Shankar Mahadevan)
Viruttam - Petravlum Nee in Brindavana Saranga with a brilliant rendition of Kaliyuga Varadhan (somewhere in the banks of Yamuna,I can hear this raga now!!)
Tirupati vasa Venkatesha - Hamsanandi
A viruttam in Revati cant figure out which one followed by a short ragamalika and
Rama Rama Yenniro
Mangalam

I WAS REBORN TODAY....I WAS REBORN TODAY... I WAS REBORN TODAY....


At the feet of master..at the feet of my guru
-Rekha

Symonds and his silent bat :)-

Sunny Gavaskar said this, not me!

After a two month blocation (read as blog vacation),I am back,writing about a phrase uttered by Sunil Gavaskar,with saracasm-coated sense of humor,I must admit,rarely coming from the likes of someone as professional as Sunil Gavaskar. This was a comment in the post-Perth analysis today. The topic of discussion - ofcourse the authenticity of Andrew Symonds' leg-before decision in today's play. Well,fact remains that India were a shade lucky in this matter,just a little,considering all those wrong decisions in Sydney,it almost seemed like 'What goes around comes around' being enacted by artistes in Shakespeare's 'All the world's a stage'!

True,Symonds was not out,the inside edge of the bat touched the ball, a slight touch,nevertheless a touch,proven by countless number of replays and hundreds of 'inside edge' chants from Harsha,Shastri and all and sundry. Yet,the Little Man clearly said 'It is not the umpire's fault' repeatedly,vehemently denying any explanation and assumed the air of someone who was just about to deliver the TRUTH in a sensational court case. Harsha waited,so did Shastri and I sat on the edge of my seat,curious,just waiting to hear what excellent reasoning could Sunil Gavaskar be giving to this misjudged umpiring.

Then came the response "Ofcourse,the umpire did not hear the thumping edge" followed by "Symonds has a silent bat". The experts went into bouts of sarcastic laughter thereafter. Well, the umpire never hears Symonds' bat because it is a silent one! He did not hear it in Sydney too.......How true!
This is one of the best post-match comments ever made in cricketing history,especially on a day when history was made in world cricket.

Life has come full circle for Symonds and the Aussies. The colors are changing in international cricket,is it really ?

The cherry is red,the uniforms are white,the green is baggy,however the champs are the 'Brown-skinned' 'Men in Blue'!!

P.S:- I once commented to a carnatic music friend of mine that if I were to choose between carnatic music and cricket, it would be cricket!!
Andy,
I planned to write reviews on Malladi Brothers and T M Krishna's concert but....
:) The next post, surely!

Vijay Siva@Nadasurabhi

Vijay Siva is one of my all-time favourite carnatic musicians and the sole reason being, he is the best exponent of the DKP-DKJ baani today. It takes a seasoned rasika to appreciate his style. The only way I can think of to describe Vijay Siva is thus :- "When he sings, it feels as if one is listening to DKJ" That says it all..

Coming to yesterday's concert,unfortunately, I went an hour late :(
Anyway, the guilt and pain of reaching a concert late vanished the moment I entered the hall,when the words 'Veda Shaastra tatvaartha' echoed across the hall :)- I sat thorugh the niraval and swarams so beautiful, now I don't need to discuss 'Shankarabharanam' and 'Enduku Peddala'

This was followed by Mariyaada Gaadayya in raga 'Bhiaravam', a new one to me. Am glad I knew a new one!(meant to be a tongue twister!)

What followed was 'Bhairavi that brings about happiness',yes an RTP in 'AnandaBhairavi', Mishra jati triputa taalam with Pallavi going thus:- 'Kamalavadanae,Kamaladalanayane,kamala sadanae'. The ragamalika was 'Hameer Kalyani,SalakaBhairavi(?) and Kadanakutoohalam. Charulata Ramanujam deserves a special mention here,superb simply superb!

The next ones were 'Maathadabaaradeno' in Kamas and 'Intha Cheluvage' In Abheri.

The most important piece of the evening was the shlokam 'Maanikya veenam' followed by the song 'Shubaksoja kumbam' on the Goddess. This was a ragamalika with ragas like 'Nalinakanthi(?),Manirangu,Keeravani,Sama and Jaganmohini.

Later he wound up the concert with Muddugare Yashoda(Kurinji), the DKJ trademark Paras Javali 'Chelinenetlu', a mukhari 'Unayenadhu'( not sure about this kriti) and mangalam in his usual style of singing 'Swasthi praja paripalayantham' at the end.

Can someone fill up the songs I missed out in the beginning ?

TNK@ Nadasurabhi

I just attended a brilliant violin concert of Prof T N Krishnan at the Koramangala Sangeetha Sabha. The most sedate piece of carnatic music ever found in this universe was just created a couple of hours ago. It felt like a boat ride,slow,peaceful,serene and silent. This was the first time I experienced silence in its most musical form. For someone to play 'Niravadhisukha'(Ravichandrika) in the tempo of probably,'Jagadodhaarana' takes a maestro and thats what Prof TNK is all about.

Ok, am not qualified to talk about TNK's music. For me it is just divinity!
I'm qualified however to list the concert :)-

1.Natai - Mahaganapatim
2.Evarani - Devamritavarshini ( The highlight of kriti was the barely audible yet richly musical 'Evarani' rendering of the Pallavi after each stanza.
3.Niravadhisukha - Ravichandrika
4.Sriranjani - Sogasuga ( Most beautiful alapanam I heard in this raga, very unique,sancharas like 'GaMaNida' 'MaNida'unlike the regular 'madadamamagaga' sorts!
I couldnt figure out which swaram he sustained,it definitely was not the standard 'Da' and 'Ni' but then I guess he really did not play it conventionally.
5.Saaarasaaksha paripalaya - Pantuvarali (Here I should be whipped,caned and banned from singing carnatic music because I could not figure out this raga! Damn! Why did I assume it was 'Hamsanandi'
6.Nadupai - Short and sweet!
7.RTP in Begada (Venkataramana Sankata Harana Tirupati) Mishra Chapu taalam with ragamalika swarams in Taanam (Behag,Shivaranjani,Kaapi) The smoothest transtion from Kaapi to Begada in the reverse order!
8.Kandu Dhanyanadeno - Behag
9.Venkatachala Nilayam - Sindubhairavi with an elaborate 10 minute aalapanam which felt like 'a thousand glorius years', a perfect example of Einstein's Theory of Relativity!!
10. Jagadodharana - Kaapi mostly copied from KVN's style,obviously he used to accompany him many many times,it was divine, brilliant and joyous.
11.Mangalam

I'm blessed to have been in this concert!

All I need now is a Haggis trip!!!

Comments: All I need now is a Haggis tour of Scotland and stories of Nessie,Rob Roy,William Wallace aka Braveheart... oops..Robert Bruce,the only real Braveheart according to the Scots,of the feud between the Campbells and the Macdonalds,of the battles of Culledon, of white horses and maidens,of the old man and his wife in Skye and more,the sound of bagpipes,the smell of whiskey and a bright YELLOW BUS!

And I badly need to see Edinburgh, all over again,again and again!

My friend sent me this video from the net and since then I have gone back to my dreams!

Video Content: Summon Nessie the Haggis-way,action by Rab!
Courtesy:Angela

Why do I love SRK ?

Yeah,SRK is my hero no matter what! Inspite of all the hype he generates and the egoistical I-me-myself media statements, he has been my favourite star in Bollywood for the longest period. In fact,prior to Bollywood,when he was an IAF officer in the teleserial 'Fauji',he was my hero. It probably started then! I was a young-stupid-teen and you know how a young-stupid-teen feels when a dashing new hero with "Dhoni-like" hair appears! First you take a hero like this,add an Air force uniform to him ,"a-b-r-a-c-a-d-a-b-r-a",you get an Adonis that resembles some Greek God( dont really care who) and all young-stupid-teens drooling,and I was a young-stupid-teen too!!
Did he act ? Ah well!, guess it was assumed that anyone who had such 'Adonis' looks could act well. Life was simple,isnt it ?

For a decade afterwards,SRK existed in the form of Baazigar,Karan Arjun(the ultra-hot Jaathi hoon main song) ,Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa,not to forget Darr(KKKKKKKiran) ,Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman(yeah the sardi khaasi na malaria huan one), Anjaam(uff...this was horrible),Deewaana,Maya Memsaab and some crap here and there until,THE MOVIE happened! Right, DDLJ! And for the second time, he was my hero! Why did I like him so much then ? Okay,he did not beat up people all the time to save the heroine,he did not use fancy gadgets representing some futuristic sci-fi movie nor did he act coy and meek. He romanced and in style too! He cried when heroes were not supposed to,he danced DANCE (as in dance,proper dance) when heroes just did pelvic thrusts a la Amitabh,he played pranks on heroines when heroes just chased them,he mouthed dialogues that melted hearts and much more! He was so much more human than most heroes then! And he won hearts,of YSTs (Young-stupid-teens)

Cut to the new millenieum and you saw him still carrying off the style,truly he represented a style, a cult! Be it Kabhie Khushi Kabhi Gham( which was a hit due to him and Kajol actually) or 'Dil to Paagal Hai', the aura of SRK was the movie itself!
Best of all, he shared an excellent chemistry with most of his heroines,a rare feat for anyone in movies. I really cannot choose over SRK-Kajol,SRK-Madhuri,SRK-Juhi,SRK-Preity or SRK-Rani(though I wud still prefer SRK-Kajol for different reasons)

If he failed somewhere, it was in 'Devdas',and simply because 'Devdas' is an institution! And so is 'Dilip Kumar',so lets us forget that! Also Ash is no match to Madhuri,so I hate that movie in any case!

But two films of his that stand out were 'Swades' and 'Chak De India'. Portraying patriotism on screen is what he does best, much better than romance! And he acts with his eyes! They are intense,passionate,resolute and deep! The eyes make up for lack of a good face perhaps! As YSTs,we could not resist all this and as a mature-sensible adult(if you would still call me that after this post!),I still cannot resist that!

The Eurail is taking off from a crowded London station,a girl is running to catch it,unable to match the speed,a face appears from one of the coaches with outstretched hands and grabs her into the moving train...Just this one scene and Bollywood found its superstar, and I found my hero! And the rest,as they say is history!


P.S :- SRK Filmography

Shooting for a six pack..

I hit the gym today at work and from now on, I'm gonna gym for an hour daily. My EQ ( exercise quotient if there is one like that ) is just slightly above my IQ, the latter being just a little above the below-average category! and this means, I have to exercise! Having been the outdoorsy kinds,I know fully well what burning fat means but oflate, laziness has overtaken my priorities. Though I have been getting hints often these days from my body, I haven't done much about them! Rather I have been giving excuses. Some of the hints I have been getting
1. My fave jeans is struggling on its way up :)-
2. My erstwhile glorius skin shows aftermarks from pimple ruptures
3. The stairs to my cafeteria appear as though am climbing the Empire State Building
4. Am cursing,swearing and middle-fingering all those who make driving tough for me on the road.(In short am stressed!)
5. My back hurts when I sweep and mop my house!!
6. Those ugly devils are coming back,sleepless nights,more frequently than before!
7. Those uglier devils are threatening to come back,yes the migraines!

The last hint was enough for me to realize that it is time I get back to putting my system through some sweating-out! Thanks Sundari for helping me choose the right track suit from Adidas today,I bought you a Kalmane Koffee in return :)- Well, I did tread-mill for a full 30 minutes non-stop! What a superb feeling at the end of it!
As per medical guidelines, one must sweat with brisk walk/run/jog and that indicates a good heart! Am glad I have a good one,I always knew it beats well and specially well when a handsome,smart man walks by (*wink*) but I had my doubts if it really beat that well, you know what I mean ? yeah,the 72 per minute thingy! Today, I knew it does! Thank God for it...

Apart from beating hearts,a brisk jog/run/walk helps me focus on the priorities in life correctly. Dunno what, but the whole rhythm harmonises the self into thinking about life and philosophy etc, for me it does! Especially on a tread-mill in Oracle's wee gym,with loud music from that stupid music player next to the weighing machine coupled with fellow-gymmers and their machines,I look to focus somewhere away and concentrate.Whoever put the mirror in front of the tread-mill deserves a Nobel Prize for common-sense (committee should set this category up!),the mirror serves as a reference for all things possible during the gym hour! The mirror channelises my thoughts,it helps me see how much I sweat thereby encouraging me to do more(no I dont like sweat,it stinks but remember the more you sweat,the better your heart beats ? and when my wonderful face goes clean and pink(with all the toxins removed), I feel beautiful! For a woman,feeling beautiful is as important as her existence( am joking here!) It makes me feel healthy at the end of it all! Most importantly,it removes the guilt of having gorged on a chocolate cake or a vada during snacks time, which means I can have a bigger piece or a double vada ?? yum yum!!

Yesterday,I watched 'Bunty Aur Babli' and noticed in the 'Kajara Re' song that Ash's tummy was flat! 'Always Aim High' is my fave quote :)-

My Obsessive Compulsive Disorder...

okie,am copying from Anand's latest blog. My list of ragas that bring out the OCD in me...

1. Kambhoji
2. Bhairavi
3. Hindolam
4. Sahana
5. Kharaharapriya
6. Saama ( Annapurne Vishalakshi from KVN)
7. Reetigowla
8. Sindubhairavi
9. Kapi
10.Bilahari
11...

ok..so i dont want to write all the ragas now.. but you guessed right, I have an Obsessive Compulsive Disorder with Carnatic music!! Glad! Andy,you are the one who has fed me so much of music that this disorder has accentuated a million times over now!

And to fuel it further, you have recently started handing out stuff that sounds like Marwa,Ahaliya Bilawal,Bhairav,Bibhas,Lalith Pancham and the rest... am gonna die of this disorder, what ?

talking of dying,my ultimate death wish would be this:-
Reclining on a couch somewhere up in the mountains,with peace and quite around,reading the 'The Murder on the Orient Express',listening to KVN rendering 'Mokshamu galadha' from my Ipod, in silent reflection of the years gone by,shedding a tear or two for lost childhood,thanking HIM for the lovely life he gave me,sipping home-brewed coffee,falling asleep and not waking up again!

I have an OCD with imagination too, perhaps ??

Goosebumps

Ustad Rashid Khan's voice gives me goosebumps!

A Saturday with myself...

today has been one of those saturdays when you come to office to do some pending work and then end up doing otherwise! Infact for me,it has been a Saturday@office after a gap of atleast 6 months, probably. In a way, today was a welcome change. Office on a weekend is a haven of peace and quiet, except for the humming of the machines and handful of souls around. The AC is switched off and somehow the environment exudes warmth (sans the AC perhaps ? ) and one feels cozy. Infact, if I could get myself to work today,I could have got done quite a bit. But,am a lazy,dreamy bum!!

Anyway,I just browsed through some database documentation and then went about doing the one dreadful job,that is still pending, and that is, copying over music to my IPOD using Itunes ( read that as pain in the a**). I have accumulated so much of legacy carnatic music on my office PC and it needs to be archived over. But the very thought of Itunes, used to make me postpone this activity until, Anand,my friend whom I can never thank enough,shoved about 60 odd concerts of the great MDR, in one shot at that! So now, the need to archive is pressing and thats why am here today.

All day long, I have drunk the nectar of good old carnatic and hindustani music, it feels as if I have had a double meal. Started out with Lalgudi tillanas, proceeding to KVN (as always KVN is a daily affair!),MDR and a bit of DKJ in my car as I drove to attend music class inbetween. I also had a sudden craving for hindustani music which got me to listen to Ustad Rashid Khan! His voice is pure Scotch,his style is out of this world. Malkauns and Bhairavi thumris and a dadra in Pahadi and am in heaven. Not to forget DKJ's 'Agnyatha Bhakthi rasam' viruttam in Ragamalika in praise of Goddess Kamakshi, perfect timing for Navratri,this one! I simply love the way DKJ renders the line 'Kamakshi Naiva Thava Kaanchathi Dristi Pathaha' in Bilahari and then goes on to sing bilahari at length in akaaram, bliss,total bliss, even in the chaotic surroundings of my car on Nimhans flyover!!

Not just classical, I did listen to some golden songs from Lata as well. Listening to old Bollywood songs after a heavy dose of Indian classical is like eating curd rice after a proper 'yele oota' or like eating 'paalada pradaman' after a 'yummy sadya' in Sheeja's home! In short, as the song 'O Sajana Barkha Bahaar Ayi' resounds from my machine on a dull Saturday afternoon,one can't help feeling contentment in absolute terms!

Did I say,I came to finish work ? Oh forget it,weekends are not meant for work!! However,I have been a good girl inspite of all this wayward weekend behaviour,I did manage to understand how Bitmap Indexes are implemented!

I cant believe my Ipod is fuller than it was yesterday. It is still a little over 1.5GB and I have about 60GB of space left. Anand,where are you ?? What is next Saturday, the 20th of October like !! Ok, I think I have no plans for next weekend :)- :)-

PVR,Forum,food street,friends,work,life,problems and answers,cricket matches,shopping,beauty parlor,everything can wait I guess!!

signing off now.. am excited about my house 'Kolu', shall write on Navratri and my emotional bonding to it later. For now, I need a plate full of food!! Curd rice with mango pickles would be the icing on today's cake perhaps!!