1:50 to 2:44

Thats the long and short of it .. he he.. my voice features for this length in the Holi song including the small phrase talking after Aamir Khan..

Breaking News....

Finally Its time to tell that I have sung in Mangal Pandey - The Rising.

Though its been a process which has happened over a year, I needed the time, to be sure, before I opened my trap about having sung for such a HUGE project.

And I was very adamant that ONLY Rahman Anna should give me my break in Hindi. Whether it be one line, or one song.

My experience of having met Javed Akhtar saab, Mr. Ketan Mehta,Mr. Ashutosh Gowariker who also happened to be there when recording this song, and something I didnt expect, interacting with Mr. Aamir Khan, whom I met two weeks back, when I was called in for a correction. Details shall follow shortly.

Once again I want to say one Huge thanks to Rahman Anna. For fulfilling my wish. And more than that, my mom. If not her, I am a nobody. Its not that I am harping on it, but no matter how many times I say how important Mom has been in shaping me, is and will be to nurture and bring a fuller musician, it is never enough, and people (also those who know us personally) dont ever ever seem to understand. Rahman Anna is Great. This line has a lot more meaning to it.

Maybe I shall try my hand at Podcasting with this song. A milestone in my career, and a milestone in my blogging tee hee.

Coming soon... to this blogspot near you !!!
:)

My Mom says further

Now let us see the two styles of Indian Music:

The fundamental definition of music is, ‘svato ranjayati – srotruchittam vahaamyaham. This means: By its very nature it pleases the listener instantly.

Both styles are based on Raga system. Having this as the basic ground we shall see how the differences in the two styles happen. The differences are noticed on the following lines:
1. The Role of Lyrics in the system of Music.
2. The approach to the basic ragas and their janyas.
3. The application of gamakas.
4. The Role of Percussion in each system.
5. The Time Theory and the Rag Bhairavi.
6. The lighter classical forms.
7. The concert pattern.

Without my planning so, there are seven aspects just as seven notes!

Lyrics: The southern music system of today can be traced back to about 65 years as a strong deviation from what it was before. Along with the freedom movement a whole new concert pattern evolved with lyrics and lyrics and lyrics (Sigh..) The creative aspects were on the wane particularly in terms of subtler aspects or aesthetically refined aspects. That was because of a large size of the audience with an aggressive mood of freedom struggle or a temple festival of emotional charge. The leisurely sessions at an enlightened or a critically appreciating audience was on the wane. People were changing, ambience was changing, atmosphere was changing. The purpose and significance of silence was gradually lost. So it was easy to adapt our music to a song orientation to set patterns and plans. The natural flow and the expansiveness of the canvas is lost.

In the case of the northern system, when the dhrupad transformed to Khayal singing, it became a welcome transition. Ghazals originally was not of a mundane type. They were love poetries addressed to God. This is exactly what we call as Madhura Bhakti as portrayed by Andal or Mira or Jayadeva or Krishna Chaitanya. All of them stirred the heart, churned your soul to take you ultimately to Him. Be it Krishna or Allah. This way we have more relevance and relatability with Mughals art and culture, and precisely the reason why we should forget language and religious barriers and simply drop into the nectar of pure music and devotion.

You can not deny the fact that the Mughals were and are endowed with a great sense of appreciation for aesthetics and niceties. While I write this a friend of mine sitting next to me says I should add “in ruthlessness also”.

There is something India had been proud about which I want to remind about. It is its ethos. The Hindu (The knowledge) system recognizes only the positive approach in documentation and research. Therefore the last adjective can be ignored as not relevant and out of place. That’s how the main priest of Rameshwaram Temple and Honourable Mr. Kalam’s father could be the best of comrades and the Ramanathapuram district still enjoys this Hindu Muslim camaraderie. That is how Bismillah Khan Saheb and his clan are associated with the Benares Hindu Temples. The two most important worship places are indicating as to what exactly we should do. But somewhere the calculations are going wrong. Kanakku Thapparadu.

Now coming back to the point, it is the supreme sense of aesthetic appreciation in the Mughals which made the transition of the Dhrupad to Khayal. The Mughals who were used to the soul stirring music replete with bhava wanted that Sukhanubhavam in the music of India too. Therefore the more technique oriented dhrupad moved to a more lilting and enratpturing Khayal form. Too many adjectives no! Ya. If you had been soaked in the enjoyment of Khayal music, you are also generous with your adjectives.

So practically speaking, the Mughals brought forth an elemental change to the music of the north and not a change in the music itself.

The lyrical content is very less to the extent that it is negligible. It is the artistry and the imaginary vision that is expressed and explored in each musicians raag. Therefore never is a raga tiresome, even from the same musician.

Now the rest in a later Blog.

My Mom Padmasani writes the following:

Arvind, I had written extensively about the Hindustani and Karnatak systems for this blog, but unfortunately the whole thing was lost as an unsaved document due to some error and I lost interest in redoing it. Because seldom does it come out as the same. Since you are not forgetting it, let me try again. By the by I am too small a person to give any verdict on Hindusthani vs Karnatak.
-Padmasani

Hindusthani Music and Karnatak Music systems an Analysis

This is exclusively my view on the History of Indian Music after sustained research for so many years. It is time that we understand the core India and its ethos and unite together as Bharatvasis than fragmenting ourselves on a hundred thousand issues. It is time that we appreciate anything which is nice for the sake of its being nice rather than this vs. that or that vs. this. -Padmasani

Before going into the study let us know the meaning of these two very Indian terminologies.

Hindu means the knowledge system that prevailed in India. Sthan means the place. So Hindusthani Music means the music of the place where the Hindu system of knowledge prevailed.

And Karnataka can be interpreted at least in two different ways. a) Karnataka means of the people and the country they inhabit. b) Karna means ear and the old. Ataka means, that of the teacher- which means the karnaparampara or the aural tradition handed down from guru to pupil as an unhindered chain.

When the western authors like Day or Popley interpreted our music they called the music of the south as that which prevailed in the Deccan plateau. Unfortunately the sons of our soil prefer to go by the western authors on our music rather than probe the simple meaning from a Sanskrit dictionary. J

Anyway if you probe History there were only two distinct writers in Indian Music who could be traced as the earliest. They were Bharata and his Natyashastra and Ilango Adigalar who wrote the Silappadikaram. Both wrote amazing details about music and dance. Ilango also relates astrology with music. It is interesting to know that a man from a Royal Kingdom from the extreme south and a man from the extreme north have thought on identical lines. To them both, music was an umbrella term encompassing drama, dance and music. Anyway that shows the Aryan and the Dravidian cultural heritages as highly evolved. By and by the Dravidian tradition of the south was swallowed by the advent of Naik and Marattha Kingdoms. The dominant Telugu and Marathi literature and art forms took sway with which the music of the south also took a tumultuous turn. The Tamil music was replaced by the Aryan form with the Kannada, Telugu and Marathi regional musical and linguistic influence.

The north was no exception to this change. The Mughals brought a fair deal of influence of their own over our music. While the classical art form remained more or less the same, there were other forms like ghazals etc. which came into vogue. North also moved from Dhrupad to Khayal over the period of time. But it retained the originals intact. The music was intact in terms of predominantly creative and not set music.

To trace the textual origin, between Bharata (Natyashastra) and Sarngadeva (Sangita Ratnakara) the music was one Indian Music. By and by the bifurcation started to take place into two different styles of music. While the North retained the original Hindu Music which is raga oriented, the south adapted itself to a confluence of more than one regional influence. Now the music of the south was more lyrically emphatic and descriptive of a theme or subject. It is because the Harikatha was a famous musico-discourse form; the Bhajana Paddati with Radha Kalyana Mahotsav was of a thematic nature. The Kriti form itself served a multipurpose of being used in the above art forms than sailing as a pure musical entity. But one can not refuse that the Kriti form has served as archives of southern raga format. The kriti pool in each raga consolidates the scope of that raga under grammatical peripheries and aesthetic exuberances.

This will be evident if you would analyse the Dhrupad and the Ragam Tanam and Pallavi forms. They are similar.

In dhrupad style the tanam singing is kept alive and the pakhavaj almost equal to our mrdangam was the percussion accompaniment. Khayal is a form with akar alap and tan developed into a more attractive form with tabla as accompaniment.

This much on the short historical side of the two styles of Indian Music. The rest in a later blog.

Discovered this singer Sarah Mc Lachlan.. she has this amaaaaaazing feel to the way she sings.. This is my fav song of hers.. I have heard only two.. Oe is the City of Angels. She has sung the title track in that one and 'I Will Remember You'

Somehow the lyrics to that song, go out to Jamuna. Most of it at least

I will remember you
Will you remember me
Don't let your life pass you by
Weep not for the memories

Remember the good times that we had
I let them slip away from, when things got bad
Clearly I first saw you smiling in the sun
Wanna feel your warmth upon me
I wanna be the one

I will remember you
Will you remember me
Don't let your life pass you by
Weep not for the memories

I'm so tired but I can't sleep
Standing on the edge of something much too deep
Funny how we feel so much we cannot say a word
We are screaming inside, oh we can't be heard

I will remember you
Will you remember me
Don't let your life pass you by
Weep not for the memories

So afraid to love you but more afraid to lose
Clinging to a past that doesn't let me choose
But once there was a darkness, a deep and endless night
You gave me everything you had, aww you gave me light

And, I will remember you
Will you remember me
Don't let your life pass you by
Weep not for the memories

I will remember you
Will you remember me
Don't let your life pass you by
Weep not for the memories

Weep not for the memories

"I Will Remember You" -- Sarah Mclachlan

---

Remembering is easy -- it's the forgetting that's so hard.
~Anon~

Someone up there, whoever it is, has a demented sense of humour.
A friend of mine lost her Father to a heart attack a couple of days ago. She was a very quiet kid during school. Hardly ever spoke, except to maybe answer the teacher's questions. Which anyway, she was not at the receiving end of at most times.
She reached out on orkut one fine day, I had even forgotten, if she didn't have a different name. Jamuna Maruth. I never knew she could write. And never, ever thought it would be this good. One more rule... Never judge a person's language from how they do during English class during school.

Its wicked how, you are given something, and then it is snatched away. Cruelly. And then we have to nurse our broken soul and say it was all for the best. And learn from it. God!!! Not another learning experience. Sometimes you have a say in it, and sometimes you don't. This is the time, when we need our parents most. You have grown up, have come to the level when parents sit across the table and speak to you, treat you as an equal, even though deep down, for a father, his girl is still and will always be his little girl. Who has to be protected, saved from the big, bad world. Usually the first to lift the kid, when she falls down and grazes her knee. And girls are always special. And how do I know all this ...?? God knows. My Father was never there. And what about her mom? How's life going to be, when she has run all through to get her children to this time, and from now on she can relax a little bit, put her feet up, and when she needs the companion, to drink the afternoon tea with, and laugh and have tiny squabbles, see grandchildren..... the space next to her; its empty. My heart goes out to her a lot more. Because, now we have almost got our wings, we shall fly out of our nest, and make our own ones. And her nest will be empty. When she needs the support, when she needs the hand that can steady her when she falters, when she needs that hand that can take her up the stairs when the lift is not working, the space next to her is empty.

But maybe, now, he is at a better position to guide his wife and his daughter, and be their guardian angel. Yes, they can't see him, but this time round, he has nothing else to do than see them all the time. And watch over them. When someone close to us passes on, to another realm, I believe that they become our link to God. God works through them too. Its easier for God to take care of us that way, through our own family maybe?

This is just to tell Jam, that this too shall pass. And there shall be light. A purer, whiter, cleaner, more beautiful light, to encircle, encompass, and cocoon. In which, she can revel in and grow. And evolve. And that I am with her in her time of sorrow. And I am also in a small way, going through what she is going through.

Like a line in the Beatles song "I am he and you are he, and you are me and we are all together".
So I am she and she is me. Take care Jam. You will survive this, and you will live a wonderful life that no one has ever lived before. Brace Yourself girl. May God be with you.
Actually, your Dad is with you.

My blogs are now becoming few and far between. hmm...
After the rampage to cinema halls the past couple of weeks, night shows, deadlines, recordings, I could catch up on sleep only today.
Work wise things have been good. Yasas went back to Singapore. Aditi is super busy with her school. 12th std and all.
And some good things have been happening too. :)
A few of my friends got married. We were running from one to another. SO MUCH of driving. My restaurant reviews are soooooooo due.
Andrea's dance classes are happening full swing since she wants us o perform sometime in Aug end or Sept.
I still haven't retrieved my handy cam from a friend for two weeks now. wow.. funny how suddenly there is a lot of backlogue.
I got a request from an Andhimazhai.com to publish mom's post on Amudhe Thamizhe on their website. Mom has to follow up on that.
For now Life is beautiful, busy, happy and joyful :)

I had just typed sometime back that the past week was super yucky, frustrating and nutted up.

And I finished typing my blog, something goes wrong and all that I typed vanishes... AAAAAAARRRgh

First my net conn at home doesnt work. The people at BSNL say technical problem. In the middle of work. And then I am unable to send the files. My writer stops at 58% and refuses to do more burning. And smoke came out of my ears. Couldnt send the files in time. Floppies didnt work. They must be using defective pieces now, since floppies dont sell all that much. And then I had to go do all the translation all over again. boo hoo... Too much driving. Yasaswini goes back monday. Dunno when I will get to see her next.

In between some nice things happened. Like last sunday, attended a Podcasting meet organise by none other than Kiruba. Spent some time there, decided I will put up some audio and video blogs soon. It will be better off for mom also to explain some stuff if its supported by audio.

Then caught two movies on two consecutive nights. Batman Begins and Chandramukhi. Sathyam Cinemas. And since it was Chandramukhi and since it was night show, some people seemed to more interested with what I was doing and with whom I was than watch the movie itself. And I had gone with mom and a friend. YUCKY. Hate my life sometimes. Cant do your own thing. No privacy and on the other hand mom worrying to bits about a lot of things. Gossip for one.

And this explains what? I can forget about usual life people have. Can't be seen with the same set of people especially if it has the same set of boys.. cant jump into the water and have a swim and not worry, cant just drive the way I want, eat the way I want, do things the way I want. Because the soceity is watching. The people are watching. And I am a girl. Why wasn't I a boy? Damn. And cant even have a normal fight with my mother. People are hearing people are watching. I cant forget about the usual gen gaps we are all said to have. And when mom does tell me that I dont practise enough and if she sounds louder, then people have to go tsk tsk.. hellllooooo its our life... why do we need to be judged by some peeping toms and hearing harrys? why do we have to live in constant fear of what will be written and said about us? And its becasue mom grilled me that I am who I am today. A diamond needs to be cut.. for the brilliance to emerge. And that doesnt happen without effort...! And NOPE. The mediocrity wont understand that. The damn soceity wont understand. Why because we are two women. It would have been good if I had been a son. I cant see guy friends outside home. I cant see them at home. Outside, then gossip, people will see. At home, then people will say too many boys coming home. They can forget we have been together at school, or at college or at work. Or the guy home can be someone who is working on my damn system which conks every three days. But no. Its a guy. Finito. Then watchmen will gab, servants will yap. Yeeearghh.

Airtel sends me a bill for some other phone number. My mom's name, our address but some other number. Disconnects my free sms facility without informing. Says due date to pay bill is 26th but decided to disconnect on 21st. One of numbers had been asked to be name transferred, with all documents provided, three months back. STILL not done..Does not give 200 mins of free local, 100 mins of STD free. Please someone help with Airtel, or I will get a nervous breakdown and mom says she will get a heart attack. Would it be a good idea to sue? On the grounds of mental trauma, cost of petrol and shoddy work to say the least? And CHECK out the fuel prices! Am gonna get myself a hand cart. Or a cycle rickshaw with a driver, ahem, cycler.

Had to go judge a school competition today at Vidya Mandir, Adyar. Hot and dustry as there was a make shift stage and Pandal on the school grounds. sigh.. anyway that was done. That school is goddamn lucky to have the english teacher I learnt from. Mrs. Uma Prabhakar.
She is a pretty small made lady, always wears crisp cottons, and scrispier in speech. Her classes used to be crackling with excitement. And she always had a way of nurturing the creativity in each child. My 9th and 10th Standards were with her. And That is an impressionable age. I owe a lot of my English language development to her. Sometimes if all of us were too loud, and if she was in the next classroom, all that she did was to just stand outside our class, and give us all a plain look. And then she will say something in the softest of voices, but clear enough for all of us to shut our traps and be quiet, while there were times when even rapping a wooden scale on benches or boards could not shut us all up.

Life in school was good. It was carefree. Happier. Then we all grow. Grow up to be what?

Big sigh.

The Italian concert. Thanks a lot for the link. Some songs are not there, surprisingly. My Bhajan is also missing. Sigh again. If I remember right, there were 18 or 19 items.

P.S. And where did I type this from?? Aditi's house.. My net conn is still under technical trouble...

I am back here .. Finally

The past one week has been sooper frustrating.. for starters, My net connection conks. had a deadline to meet. My writer conked. So couldnt send the documents I worked on after copying.. The floppies I used must have emerged from a garbage dump and landed right into some manufacturing unit. I try and copy files, it goes to another comp and refuses to open my files. So there I went translating all the documents all over again..

Too much driving also. From one end to the other. Yasaswini leaves on monday. Haven't been able to do soo much of work..

In between some good things happened too.. I finally got to catch two movies at the Theatre.

Whats the Apple Powerbook? And how good is it?

Last few Books I Bought/ Borrowed:
Dan Brown’s collection. Mills and Boon crap, Emotinal Intelligence, Remembering Past lives, I ching, A Bend in the Road (Michael Sparks)... some more I forgot.

Books that interested me from start to finish:
Dan Brown, Autobiography of a Yogi, Swami Rama, Search in Secret Egypt.

On Writing by Stephen King:
NO CLUE.. haven't read even one of his works.. pleeease dont hate me!

Congo by Michael Crichton:
No clue again.. do I hear some sighs??

God of Small things by Arundhathi Roy:
Didn't really get this one, though I read it as soon as it was out. Didn't like I should say. Maybe some day

Tin Tin Series:
I LOVE LOVE LOVE........

It by Stephen King:
duh!

Wings of Fire – An Autobiography of Dr.A P J Abdul Kalam:
HAve read half.. really like it.. no unwanted show of the language.. simple, touches you. And conveys the message.

A Long Walk to Freedom – Another Autobiography by Nelson Mandela:
Duh again

All of Asokamitran’s books.
oh god I dunno abt this Tag now..

Last Book I Read:
Angels and Demons by Dan Brown, Mills and Boon Crap, A bend in the Road


Currently Reading:
Mills and Boon crap.

Five Books That Mean a Lot to Me:
Amar Chitra Katha series
Dan Brown
Books by Michael Sparks
Philosophic and Religion (not started off with Osho though.. )
Anything nice and a good read.. and thru which I can enrich my vocabs and stun people .. haaaaaaaaa
I would like to tag these people:
Let me not tag for now.. the people in my list will be tagged sometime or the other. Do I hear thank you -s?? Make it readable ;)


P.S. All questions will be answered.. In two days.. have to give myself deadlines now .. *sigh*

THANKS people...
for starters I used the Acrobat and an OCR.. when I right-click after ctrl a, it shows me to select text with OCR. So the biggest prob in my life is solved.. but guess this has a trial period too.. but until so far away, it will be so good.!

Help needed

Is there a way to change text, which is a picture object in Microsoft Word to text so that I can edit? I am so fed up of typing out the whole original text and then editing.. I guess it was copied form a PDF and then pasted to MW.
Please help and ASAP!!!

I have been Tagged...

Three Names I Go By :
Chinnu
chintu
Jimmy --> rest of the vowels are added too at times.. along with a 'z' jimzoo.. jimzeee..
So u see thats more than three
Three Screen Names

WhatToNameIt
Well I guess thats all..

Three Physical Things You Like About Yourself:
My voice
My Feet
My hair ( it used to be long but then it caught fire and singed two years back.. its still growing back *sniff*

Three Physical Things You Don’t Like About Yourself:
Well My Hair again, it can be better .. you see I also contradict myself
My head. Can be better.. the stuff thats in it.. But I like it.. generally!
My nails

Three Things That Scare Me
Someone coming up and booing behind me when I least expect. I give a start.
Scary movies but I watch them anyway
Animosity

Three Things I Want To Do Badly Right Now
Finish my work
Sing
Sleep (Havent slept in 48 hours)

Three Places I Want To Go On A Vacation
Bali
Thailand
Honolulu... ? and some hundred other beatific places

Three Kiddy Names I Like :
dunno maan really...

Three Things To Do Before I Die :
Keep singing
Do work that at least 5 generations after me remember me.
Live

Total Number Of Films I Own On Dvd/Video:
some 200?

The last film I bought:
Haven't bought at all.. I rent tee hee...

Three Of Your Everyday Essentials:
Soap
Water
Clothes

Three Things You Are Wearing Right Now:
House clothes
Hair clip
Jewellery

Three People Who Have To Take This Quiz :
Manoj
Anand
IBH


So now I am done.. ;)

Have been frightfully busy.. Have started work on a new Linguistic assignment and it has been taking all my time. Pressure. But I love it.
I even typed out a blog which is still saved as a draft.. Hope I shall be able to edit and post that soon.
In spite of this, I had a super weekend :)
The people from my dance class planned and went to crocodile bank, which is almost about 80 kms from chennai and went further ahead Mudaliyarkuppam Boat house. Awsome. We had to ride in a motorboat so almost got drenched in the spray. There is a small private beach resembling an oasis on an island. We had a good day. Took my handycam..
There was another private beach at the croc bank. The whole group freaked out there swimming and all were in the water... (everyone except for me and two others), got drenched from head to toe.. I love the feeling of bathing in the sea but its the stickiness thereafter. ewwwww..!
And also it would be good if there is a transport from the shore to the solid ground so that I dont have to get the sticky feet with sand feeling.. I hate it !!!
The crocodiles.. they looked like they were dead and like their skin could do with some super strong moisturiser. They dont move, they dont blink, and they have transparent eyelids.. what more could you expect? Only when some move, trampling on the other thick skins to go and idle and go into 'statue' mode again, then you realise that there is something ticking in them. And that thay also live.. there was also a snake park, which I didn't really bother checking out.
Andrea had a small dance session with the local village children and they had great fun. She was trying very hard to speak tamil. Yes, she has lived in Chennai all her life but can't speak all that well yet.
Also happened to catch a puppet show there. Something put together by the same village children. And the people who work at crocodile bank live there ... there aren't any shops for miles, but their children go to schools almost 70 kms into the city everyday.. and they are one with nature.. was amazed to see very young girls make agile climbs half way up trees.
Mom had great fun too.. Aditi also happened to come but she was soo engrossed in Angels and Demons that even if the sea had roared she would be like "Anti matter, Vittoria, Cern, Langdon.." I shouldnt have taken the book in the first place!
There's something about the sea... when the waves crawl on to the beach, sometimes dash and sometimes rush, and sometimes just laze in, its like I want to learn something from it.. No matter what the waves keep coming.. perseverence maybe be?
Yeah its all the rotation and revolution and the earth and the axis... all that is fine.. but I sometimes imagine a pristine blue sky, clear blue waters, and no one around for miles... and somewhere in the distance in the line of vision to your sides you see the land and water converge and become one.. and then some mist.. that would be wonderful.. and fishes playing hide and seek.. you just feel that there is something else which makes the earth turn around ... at that moment.. you are one with the world.. and you think all is love... there is no difference between you and the other beins.. like the rhythm within and the rhythm without, the music within and the music without are all part of a cosmic symphony and there is nothing but you.. and then that you are nothing. Feel as light as a feather, feel everything around you dissolve and float , float above to higher realms, to where there is only white... and the white, that is love.. you breathe, see, live love.. And you feel you are embraced, tenderly, held, encompassed ..... and then your finger is softly encircled by a hand which leads you, guides you. And you are safe. Protected. Nothing to worry. No cares. No burdens. No luggage. And that sensation brings you back to the many hands that encircled your finger when you faltered. Your mother, your father, your grandparents, your friend, your partner. And maybe, you think God works his love through people.. and maybe, are the people God?
And when your hand reaches out to wrap another finger or a hand, the love that is in you flows out, the God in you flows through, the goodness flows through, and connects. And when that happens maybe, I think, we are all part of one..So many zillion parts of One.
And maybe if we open ourselves a bit more, maybe our lives will be more complete? And more loved.. and more loving. And that would be Godliness........
Floating back...........
I am bone tired.. I still have so much work... and I love it :)

My Site is up again

Surf's up and my site's up too.. :) Had to upload the whole gamut of files and pics again..
I want the site to look different now.. Am on a major surf mode to check out other sites and draw 'inspiration' ;)
Pointers ... please comment through to glory...
And I see that I have something for green though its not really my favourite colour.. I ended up having the same shades, more or less for both my blogspot and the site.. and hadn't planned it though.
I am off to All India Radio. I was given the B grade in 2000 for winning the All India First in Ghazals and I received the award in Jammu. And after that, to qualify for a higher grade you should have given at least 5 concerts until it expires in 2005. I have given one.. Why? I heard its the anti-hindustani music campaign thats happening in the circles here?
More and more youngsters are cuddling up to Hindustani Classical and people are, not surprisingly, worried about what will happen if it is populrised on local radio also. Tsk Tsk.
Mom said we will go there and check out.
I watched Bunty aur Babli yesterday. Damn cute I thought. Yeah, its not like intelligent movie and all but I loved Senior and Junior AB. And more Rani. She has come a long way as an artiste.. Nice clothes. More than super locations and the music made me wanna get up and dance. Candyfloss. And nice comedy.
The next flicks I wanna catch ... Paheli.. I am looking forward to it like mad. Super it sounds. And I have a penchant for some work that comes from Mr. Amol Palekar. When he is behind the lens. :)
I didn't really understand the movies that he acted in, not that I have caught that many. His movies had some great songs like Aane Vaala Kal from Golmaal. He also came up with a Marathi movie called Anaahat. Which didn't have the usual commercial ingredients, but had an amazing 60+ weeks run. Wish I can get the DVD. From the trailers I saw, thats another movie I'd like to see.
And Mr. and Mrs. Smith. And Mangal Pandey yaaaaaaaayyyy.... I saw the trailor yesterday. Super the music sounds..Ethereal... I am almost jumping around in joy. Rahman Anna's music. And no one will believe Aamir Khan is 40. They maintain their body well.
I wanna laptop.. suggestions?
As of now that's my POA. Have a rocking day or evenining .. depending upon the timezone you are in and also depending on when you check my yap for the day :)

Le Weekend

The weekend.. doesnt make much difference to me... weekdays weekends.. all the same. Except that I have dance class which is why I have begun to love weekends more, and maybe catch friends who are on the 9 to eternity grind, otherwise I generally dont like weekends.
As I small kid, I heard my mom used to be scared to say it was saturday and there was no school, why because I would start bawling.. Yeah I was a good kid. Loved school. Went almost everyday and my teachers loved me, not becos I was an A student or anything tee hee :)
This weekend was special becos I got my braces removed and flashed my 32 to almost everyone making them wonder what got to me.. and then they went 'ohh thats why you have been smiling so much" My mouth feels empty.
Dance class was good and after that we hung out at a local coffee place. Its been a while since we all hung out since Andy was not there, something was missing. One group where mom is not left feeling out of place and in that rare occasion that she comes to class because we have to go somewhere together after that, its a comfortable companionship. In this group, I may well be the youngest, if I dont count the children of my friends :)

Post coffee and yap-yap we went to this play, EVAM INDRAJIT- Your life in three acts. Put together by Evam and Madras Players. A play about youngsters, and how they dare to dream, and then sometimes dunno what they want to do in life, but just keep going anyway. College, degrees, jobs, girlfriend, marriage, children, house, better jb, better salary, children's education.. Basically this play said that its all a circle.. we are on a track, where no train comes. If you look ahead, the tracks meet somewhere at a distance. If you look behind the tracks meet somewhere in the distance. Whats in the past is in the future.. there is no hope.. Some of the lines which were said in the play. Which went above my head.. I guess there was some opimistic part which I missed. I just kept searching for something.... and I didnt get it. There was some humour which raised it head brightly in between.. but even then I lost it..
Talking about EVAM they are one of the most popular theatre groups in the city. ANd looks like they are going to hit the national arena soon, what with EVAM INDRAJIT playing with Prithvi. I have liked their comedies. We were informed that they were coming up with a new comedy on the 15th August. Looking forward to that.
On a hypothesis, if I had had a life of struggle so far. Thats my past, I look forward to something, which is also struggle? So was feeling desolate and dismal the rest of the night and till today. And the guy also falls in love with his first cousin, Manasi but they dont marry, for whatever reason, and then he marries. When asked by a long lost friend, Did you marry Manasi? No I didn't. I married another. There are hundred's of Manasi-s. Maan.. imagine that..
Fall in love with someone. And then that doesn't happen. Then someone else. And someone else??
Too much for me to bear.. Or to think of.. What happened to this whole concept of give and take and everyone wants to be on the receiving side and none on the giving? How will you receive happily if you dont know how joyous it is to give? Why is it that the grass is always greener on the other side? If it is, then why dont you try and grow some greener green grass on yours?
Lot of questions.. sometimes I like being alone.. listen to whatever is around me.. look at nothing in particular.. and watch my thoughts scream by, shout by, and talk by, ...softly by .. I am still to reach that stage where they will whisper and then finally they stop happening.. thats supposed to be a high altitude to reach in your personal evolution. Thoughtless .. literally.
On that thoughtful note, we happened to go to a mexican restaurant with Aditi, her mom, my mom, and two friends.. Don Pepe. Food was decent. I will have to write in, in a couple of days and send it across to my boss.
The drive back home was silent except for the hum of my car's engine, the occasional honk of an unruly car which needs disciplining (but then most cars in India can't survive without honking away Glory) , or rather its driver, the hum of other engines, the exhaling of my car's ac and our breathing.. very heavy hearted it felt...
Replying to some things. . I will put in the blog about the KMI experience and about 'Enn Uyir Thozhiye'. I was asked about the raga bit which I sing in between and in general about how I felt about KMI.
And replying to another Q, Noothana is based on Nalinakanthi except when a Dha is introduced in the last line of the charanam. Until then its strictly adhered to, mom said.
I am gonna check out a few movies in the theatre with Yasaswini. Tomorrow and the day after maybe.
And the good news is my ISP have changed my plan to the unlimited download one.. now I am louwing them .. a lot.. for the first time we know what customer service is all about! At least a little bit for starters ;)
Mom's gonna start putting in her posts too.. so there's a lot of info coming up :)
For now I am gonna catch some zzzzz. Sleep tight, dream nice.. :)

Hi people
Any questions regarding the theory and explanation thereof, please mailto padmhasani@yahoo.com.. I got a lot of mails asking to explain, ahem, a lot of things. You see I am also learning from my own blog! Major initiations happening! :)
Dance class today.. Finally they have separated the beginners and the advanced students. Good for both the groups..
I have been trying to dump a lot of movies which my friend gave, and most of them throw up the cyclic redundancy check error... grrrrr...
Haven't watched a movie in a while.. must catch.. problem most of the times is the company.. I wish there was an easier way out.
Pressure from chennaionline now to submit reviews. I have been slack! Bottom line, must start eating, a lot, outside :)
I love the clock. I saw it in one of the blogs from my blogroll. If I am not mistaken. So I copied the idea... like sometimes they say, why be creative?? Plagiarism is faster ;)
Am working on a lot more changes on the look and feel of the blog page. Have been checking out some designs, or might work on a new one... Once upon a time I had learnt all the stuff.. HTML, VB, Java, SQL Server,wotnot.. Everything is in the disintegrated mode! Remember almost nothing. Forgot to close a tag... and was wondering what went wrong. Totally in duh! mode.
We almost got a dalmation pup yesterday. And now we cant. I am heartbroken :((
Happens that mom went to her spanish classmate's home, who in turn happens to be my school senior, and he mentioned that he just got a pup. Went to play with it, while mom caught up with lost classes, and they said that the pup has a sister... Me was in elated mode, and surprisingly mom accepted. I have been craving for a pup for ages but mom refused flatly, basically cos of the fur and the allergy.. though we could have either got a German Shepard or a Pom ages ago, the fur factor was the stumbling block. I stumbled and I stumbled until yesterday and mom fell in love with that pup finalement. And I couldn't believe my stars.. And then we couldn' t have it.. If things had worked out, there would have been a cute, spotted, cute, prancing, cute creature in here.. yeahh cute it was.. :(
I hope, someday.....
BTW finished Angels and Demons on the train.. too cool.. really loved the antimatter stuff... That guy sure makes a lot of sense.... Lowe him :) Also read Edgar Cayce's book on Remembering Past Lives.. Readable.
For now am gonna try and watch one of the CR checked movies.. :)
Wassup this weekend?

Guys, finally the analysis on Amudhe Thamizhe. Scroll Down. As I said all this Raga and theory is too much for me, but thanks to this I learnt something new.. Keep asking, and that way I can learn a lot more from my mom, and in the process, know a lot more about Raja Sir too !!

The information given below is furnished by mom. Copyright Protected. :)

My Mom's Anlaysis On 'Amudhe Thamizhe'

Film music belongs to the popular music genre.

My experience of observation at Chennai ‘s music directors:

I have been into the field of Indian Music and musicology with a fairly long and deep study.

Every time I am in a studio with a director, small or big, new or experienced, I get a deep sense of gratification in terms of learning. I understand what all I missed in my pursuit elsewhere.

Always claiming that they are not competent with the classical genre, almost all of the music directors have a grip over ragas much deeper and wider than most of the initiated. The compulsion of having have to create a new tune every time with a new song, keeps them continuously exploring as all music is restricted to move within the 12 note gamut. And popular music gives them an immense possibility due to non restriction by grammatical means of a raga.

Their brain is globalized. They are formally educated on the chord system. Their rhythm is perfect as they go by the western beat. Absolute time measure. Their pitching is based on the keyboard supported by the music software to perfect them.

Many of them are very well conversant with the orchestral music. What else do you need to score one up above the pure classical musicians in terms of creation and reach to the audience?

Talking about Shri Ilayaraja, he has a profundity in multiple dimensions. He is a true scholar who has taken pains to perfect all genre of music. Few are they who have a combination of hard work and impeccable accumulation of knowledge. A rare gem who also was rewarded amply in due time for his excellence.

A scale (or a murchana ) is a cluster of notes. When they are aligned in an organized ascent and descent, an aroha and avaroha are born respectively. A mere aroha and avaroha cannot make a raga. The definition of the pitch position of each note (dha2 can happen in various colours according to the raga. Just the utterance of a note can indicate the raga. Such should be the expertise), the range of each note the type of ornamentation employed on a note, the speed in which the note occurs or the sequential changes that takes place (for example Ga in Todi) within the raga etc. contribute to the transition of a mere aroh avroh into a beautiful raga.

Coming to the raga identification aspect of film songs, I have my own humble opinion. I believe in enjoying the song and its music as it is without dissecting it and trying to have a futile attempt of assigning a raga, which runs on a strict grammatical periphery. I have seen the employment of one particular scale while having a pronounced chaya of a closely allied raga. And believe me I felt, to hell with the grammar! Notes of one raga and the colour of another.

Raja Sir’s compositions need one full time thesis. He has taken several challenges and proved his mettle. He broke the unspoken law of superior music or learning as belonging to a privileged few. While catering to the common mass he could serve it on the most intellectual platter.

Now at last to this song ‘Amude Tamizhe’. Some of you were wondering whether it is valachi (Valaji actually). Well Valaji employs SGPDNS & SNDPGS. This raga is a janya of Harikambodi the 28^th mela grouped under Bana Chakra.

The Song Amude Tamizhe is composed without any doubt or ambiguity offering tremendous scope for analysis. The scale could be like this SRGPDS & SDPGRS. It uses Shadhja, Suddha Ri, Antara Ga, Pa and predominantly trisrutika dha and occasionally chatusrutika dha which actually should belong to the scale. Rasika Ranjani comes close to this but the scale has only Pa Sa in aroha. Such an occurrence happens in this song also, but it goes Pa-Dha-Sa several times. Therefore its not Rasika Ranjani.

I have not heard or learnt a raga like this. I had to refer a few books which have glossary of scales. Mr. M.N.Dandapani and Mrs. D. Pattammal was a darling couple doing a lot of quiet work. ‘Ragapravaham’ is a work by them and an immensely commendable one. I base my observation on Ragapravaham.

This scale comes under Suryakantam the 17^th Mela in the third chakra, Agni. The name of the raga is listed as Varnarupini. The use of ri and ga have been done with supreme clarity. In the case of dha, I would like to explain a particular rule pertaining to application. The chatusrutika dha, if followed by Kaisiki Ni, then it normally gets flattened slightly and in my group for our convenience we used to call it as trisrutika dha. If Dha 2 is followed by Kakali Ni, then the Dha is invariably sharp. (According to the Mela, dha is proceeded by Kakali Ni or Ni2.) Now I have already said that the composition uses a predominant Trisrutika Dha which normally adds lilt as a character. In the first part he used this note.

The second half uses a definite Chatusrutika Dha which gives a whole new colour to the composition.

The song starts like this SRGA SRGA SRGPGRSA SRSDSA for Amude Tamizhe Azhagiya Mozhiye Enaduyire. Then comes the establishment of his deep knowledge in the classical karnatak music. SRSRGPRGPA for Sugam Pala Tarum Tamizh Pa.

Tamizh Pa is placed on RIGAPA. Here Pa On Pa Is a beauty called Swaraksharam meaning the letter of the lyric and letter of the musical note being the same. He has applied the same on dha also in the next line, 'suvaiyodu kavidaigal Tha. (This tha dha etc come under the category of varga aksharas as applicable.)

By completing the Pallavi he also has established the aroh and avroh.

Now the BGM. This gives a new vista to the scope of this scale in its concluding phrases. At the end it goes like this: DASP DASP DSGA and this da-sa-ga makes a jump to a newer dimension – a sea change. While adhering to the classification of the notes perfectly, he changes the tonal colour of the notes deliberately. This type of a deliberate deviation is called bhashanga in the classical parlance. But that one happens on the change of a note itself. This genius of a man changes just the tonal colour by minute shruti variation and brings about a gigantic change in the contour of the composition.

Now the second section of the song uses the sharper dha clealy. When deviations are sought out of aesthetic impulses or compulsions the original law is resorted to at least once. The sharper dha application in this composition makes one wonder, is this how the greats worked out the process of crystallizing the raga contour?

The second BGM is a treat with regard to the Nagaswaram parts.

Songs like this can be taken for Raga analysis. But please dont make it a point to assign a raga for every song that is beautiful. Appreciate them as they are. They need not get a stamp after all!!! Padmasani (Chin's Mom)
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