John B Higgins is Kumbakonam degree coffee !!

I'm blogging after a gap of two weeks, just done with a much-needed break from writing *wink*. Not as if am a prolific writer but sometimes I have to admit,I get tired of myself.Anyways,am back after this vacation with a firmer resolution to write more on things close to my heart rather than mushy stuff on my feelings,on morals, sentiments and the like.In short,am tired of being the moral police of my blog.

Sitting down to blog on a lazy Friday with MIOL playing in the background,I reflect on 'Carnatic music'.John B Higgins is singing 'Krishna Nee Begane Baaro' with a voice as sweet as the Dabur Honey I purchased this afternoon from Fab mall, diction resembling that of any Sanskrit-knowing Indian and musical prowess unparalleled in our sangeetham. John Higgins is probably the best exponent of 'Krishna Nee Begane Baro' in my opinion.

What an achievement his was! Being the foremost of westerners to delve into the mystics of our divine music, he opened up this art to the vastly methodical west.
It is more commendable how Americans and Europeans have successfully understood and appreciated this art. No other community collectivly boasts of such a wide internet participation in a global sense as Indian music does. Some of the best answers on rec.india.music.classical and research on Indian music comes from there.

Cut to the scene back home and I get disappointed quite a bit.Not that there has been a stark decline,so long as we have Chennai,Mysore,Bangalore and other places on world map,am assured of Carnatic music in this world,however it is sad to note that our people - children,teenagers and youth in particular do not like Carnatic music. Attend a concert and most of the people out there are middle-aged barring a few of us whom the rest of junta have dubbed as 'old , boring' and 'not-so-cool' types. I find this damn irritating.

Some of those who have atleast tried to learn this formally are easily put off in a couple of days. I have had people come up and ask me :-
'so once i learn this, can I compose songs ? ' or
'You see,I dont want to sing pre-composed songs',
'In western music, people write their own songs,so isn't that far superior?'
'Ragas - whats in them ? Can I not use a computer and simulate all the possible combinations,what's the big deal ? '
'Why is Pa a Pa, why cant I sing it as Ma' ?

To such questions, I can only say what my Mom says at times to an inexperienced silly me - 'Adhika Prasangi'!! When one has not patience to pursue something that has evolved for ages, one is just being nonsensical. I try to tell them 'my dears,our music is not instant coffee that you can mix,pour water,stir and sip. Rather,it is a slowly percolated strong and sweet,stimulating cuppa 'Kumbakonam degree coffee' :) Hope you get the difference, my friends! And if you don't,do ask the West, will you ?
And if you thought the head-banging,power stuff that rocks us is 'fast-paced music',try listening to 'Vara Raaga Laaya' from GNB!

Learning to sing a raga or a kriti is like doing something repeatedly till you start doing it subconsiously, until it becomes a habit. This takes TIME, PATIENCE, DISCIPLINE and CONCENTRATION. You have gotta chase it!, no shortcuts as I have understood! Above all,this requires a "GURU",the teacher who brings out divine music from our otherwise-tormented souls. Solfa notation says 'ShankaraBharanam' is 'Sa Ri2 Ga3 Ma1 Pa Dha2 Ni3 Sa' but it can never show us the "beautiful way of singing" the 'Ga'.

P.S :- This blog is not an attempt to degrade any other musical form. Absolutely not!, once someone has "truly understood Carnatic music",appreciating any other form is implicit and automatic. This blog only tries to bring CM to the level of the others in terms of popularity! It would be perfectly ideal if every Indian who appreciates rock,pop, jazz,blues etc can also feel proud of the music from their backyards.


Damn, can I nver write shorter blogs ? I need to resolve that as well :)-

T V Shankaranarayanan at Fort

I attended TVS Kutcheri yesterday at Fort High school, infact my first one this season(curse my lack of time management,my IPod which has better concerts than what we can ever get now and ofcourse Anand Ganapathy whose music sharing virtue is beyond words),not considering Nityasree's concert as a concert that is. More on that some other time. In short Nityasree is not appealing at all(pity the great DKP-DKJ baani), for some reason no josh in her singing.

Coming back to yesterday's concert,the concert list is as follows :-

1. Vinayaka kriti(I forgot the kriti,damn!) - Hamsadwani
2. Sogasujooda Tarama - Kannadagowla
3. Sakala graha bala neene - Atana
4. Paramapavana Rama - Purvikalyani
5. Abhaya Varade Sharade - Hindolam
6. Maa janaki - Kambhoji

I could not stay longer than this due to the lashing rains. Infact,hindolam was not so enjoyable because of the rains lashing and pitter-patter sound :( But somehow,the atmosphere was one of gaiety and his enthusiasm to sing without the rains affecting him in the least was exemplary. TVS stands tall as an artiste who continues to sing in orthodox style in this age of neo-carnatic-classicism.

Personally,it was an hour and half of 'peace of mind',something I'm willing to pay for also.. The mandali has changed quite a bit in the years,wooden floors which creak and irritate ,especially when you are engrossed in a complex alapanam or niraval and an electronic ticker that shows the next day's programme all the time. Nice lighting also. The pandals leak a bit still when it rains. The chairs are placed too close to one another. Space, space... I want to hear the artiste and not my neighbour's breathing :) Anyways, idols of Lord Sri Rama,Sita,Lakshmana and Hanuman prostrating is still the same, resplendent and colourful.The arati-giving tradition continues and the fragrance of flowers near the VIP entrance obviously there. One thing missing was the snacks stall - the guy selling potato chips,etc :(
On the whole, Sree Rama Seva Mandali,Fort High School is always dearest to my heart.
Next week is full of excellent concerts. Hope I don't miss!

Depression time - time for a chocolate..

Having embarked on this journey to 'not expect from anyone',especially from people I love is a tough journey, am realizing. It is worth the effort yes, for it has made me me a more patient human being,understanding,a lot empathising and less egoistical. Also,the biggest advantage in having no expectations is that people don't fear coming close to you. :) A single woman is feared the most,I can tell from experience.

But at times, I have this really 'insane self' as I call it,surfacing up and causing hurt,a pain I can't explain. I feel proud of having my emotions in control but the price paid is a fight internally within myself.When I was younger,I was more brash and an emotional outpour was as easy as lighting a match. Over the years,I have learnt to 'keep it inside' as they say. But the voice of the subconsious haunts me,tries its best to destroy my self-created image of 'being in control'. It encourages me to expect,hurt and lose my self-control. It attempts to make me a 'not-so-nice' person. Thankfully,everytime me and my self fight, me wins :), so far,so good!

I want to go away to some place faraway, to the mountains maybe, and just stay as is. Someplace where I can hear only nature's voices and not mine,where there is nothing to expect from people. Somewhere on this planet where my subconsious-self has no say at all ? Is there a place like that ?

Am tired,not exactly depressed but you could call that.I need a chocolate,a bar of Cadbury's Fruit and Nut might be a good start. :) Afterall, there is a positive side to every damn thing in this universe.. Can you see me smiling now ?

kis kis ne kis kis ko KISS kiya...

what's the big deal in a kiss man ? Men and women all over the world are kissing away to glory. What is so different(read as special) about a Richard Gere kissing a Shilpa Shetty ? Agreed,it was an uncalled-for occasion but the hormones don't really think about occasions, do they ? The media should stop filming such kisses and other public displays of physical affection.It doesn't really matter,you see. The world is a much freer place now and most normal adults or teenagers have witnessed or have been part of a passionate kiss at some point in their life. :) Be it on silver screen or in life's real screen, we all have seen better kisses,haven't we ? So much fuss for something that happens all over the world on a daily basis, is utterly stupid. And for all that, honestly, it wasn't even a nice kiss :) Man!,he was trying to grab everyone's attention by grabbing her and making a big mockery of himself as she was trying to free herself initially from his clutches but later gave in to his frenzied nonsense. All along,putting up a fake smile on her million dollar face :) Poor Shilpa,somehow she covered up,Richard Gere afterall! Scored a brownie point on her 'Page-3-Resume' she did! Or did she enjoy it ? I dunno, I thought she had the expression of 'I have been kissed better, you old fool!' look on her face.

As far as Richard Gere is concerned, I suggest he give up all this spiritual Buddhist thing and start living like a man!,he looks deprived of you-know-what ? But why ? He could get any woman on this planet,why poor Ms 'Celebrity Big Boss'? Ooops!, a small correction, he could get any woman on this planet but ME :) Not me, this guy doesn't even know how to kiss well,sorry I deserve someone better!!

Well,so much for kissing escapades of big people. Can't figure out why in Varanasi and other places people protested this event ? Why,in the land of Kamasutra, do we object to any sexual act as if it is a religious sin ? Why do we, who knew how to enjoy better sex, than rest of the world, care a damn for an ordinary common-place activity ?

Gear up,O media channels! there are better news to cover. No, I don't mean your goddamn sex-surveys,those suck equally and they are absolutely false! I mean,bigger problems like AIDS(everyone forgot the event that led to the KISS!),lack of sex-education,domestic violence and all kinds of crimes. When are we gonna come out of Page-3 stories to real-life trauma ? When are we going to stop peeking into the bedrooms of the rich and famous and figure out the real problems in common bedrooms ?

This country is on a wild-goose chase, thanks to its ever-blabbering media.

Beautiful world in a book - National Geographic

Lay my hands on a 'National Geographic',the real book,over the weekend. It has been years since I picked up an 'NG' from Indian Institute of World Culture library. This time however,I purchased the book from my newspaperwallah. First thing that excites me about this magazine are the pictures. Photography of the best kind I have ever seen. The articles are unparalleled ofcourse,though I must say,the magazine is less heavier now.

An excellent article worth mentioning in this issue is the 'decreasing fish schools' in major fishing beds of this planet. The article highlighted the Blue fin Tuna and its diminishing population.It is going to be tough for those who survive on fishing.

Another really nice feature was about the last surviving 'green belt' of the world, the Priaries. Awesome pictures. On animals,there was one on Leopards. Unlike other wild creatures, these wild cats live alone, hunt alone. The feature very beautifully described the formative years of a baby leopard upto the time it fights with its mom and walks away on its own :) Some human resemblance there :)

An annual subscription request is on its way to Hong Kong...

a year later...

A year has passed since our dear 'Annauru' left us to enter heavenly abode. It seems like only yesterday the riots happened,tarnishing the funeral ceremony and robbing the grieving family of their privacy. However,today the city seems to be actually mourning his loss. I saw posters all over on the way to work. Kanteerva stadium is going to have a big event today. I'm glad the film fraternity is doing this.

Dr Rajkumar may be no more but he lives eternally amongst us. For as they say,it is impossible to remove someone from one's thoughts. Memories of the golden age of kannada cinema often flood us and the figure that flashes across the screens of the mind is Dr Rajkumar!

I dedicate this blog to him. Today shall be spent listening to his songs :) as a mark of respect!

suno sajna....

My previous attempt at learning to sing an old hindi movie song was around a decade ago. It all ended with college. Just last week I picked up a wonderful CD pack(5 nos) of none other than Lata Mangeshkar. All hits, almost all, I can say. A priceless collection, am proud to have.

It did not stop here..I was tempted to learn a song again. Not just the sing-along types but a serious effort to pick the nuances too. What an effort that is, for me, I just realized. Especially now, my voice has become a typical suited-for-carnatic,no regrets about that ofcourse, but I think people who know Indian classical music well can relate to what am saying.

Anyways, I tried 'Suno sajna papihene'. Having heard only the mukhda earlier,it was really new to me. It takes only a genius to sing this song,a better genius to compose this song and a really really superb effort to compose the music. Flawless,thats all! (Until the song started out from my vocal cords :) )

Finally, after 3 days of continous car-stereo,home music system and office comp looping this song for me,I managed to get some lines technically correct,though not musically :) Trust me, a car is the best place to learn a song for it serves as an excellent feedback monitor!(windows closed ofcourse)

For those who have heard this song and remember it,the line 'Ghadiya piya milan ki'.. is a jaaru gamakam,the toughest for me :( and similar lines in the other mukhdas.The easiest was 'Ke aaye din bahaar ke', somehow.

I have not and shall never get it 100%(because there is only one Lata Mangeshkar!), however, I have immensely enjoyed this learning experience. Even a 'jhalak' of exactness to the original means I'M HAPPY' :)-