Find of the season#2

T. Kalaimagan, grandson of Sri Subbu Arumugam, disciple of the star guru Sri P S Narayanaswamy (PSN).

Whether they emerge as stars after learning from Sri PSN or claim to learn from Sri PSN after turning stars, today's fad in Chennai music learning arena is to say that they are Sri PSN's disciples!!

Coming to Kalaimagan, grandson of Sri Subbu Arumugam. For those of you who don't know who Sri Subbu Arumugam is, read this para, others pl. go to the next para. Sri Subbu Arumugam is the only surviving member of the extinct species - villu pAttu kalaignar. Villu pAttu is a traditional finearts form of ancient tamizh nAdu. This integrates the art of story telling with subtle music with the help of a bow shaped instrument. Sri Subbu Arumugam is a devout Gandhian in the true sense of the word. A great human being, who relentlessly practises the traditional artform in its original character. As an aside, he is also an accomplished carnatic musician who never got on stage as one. His son Sri Gandhi and daughter Smt Bharati accompany him on the villu pAttu stage. Kalaimagan is Smt Bharathi's son. He should be around 20 years old.

I'm not going to list down what all Kalaimagan sang at NKT Muthu Hall, Triplicane, Chennai. Just want to share with you my views on his performance that day. If it is different from his other performances am not responsible. Kalaimagan has imbibed the art of singing from his grandfather, uncle and mother. He has the natural flair for singing and singing with emotions. Kalaimagan's choice of ragas, kritis were commendable. A fast paced composition rendered after a very slow paced one and balanced the audience expectation well. Kalaimagan showed a lot of promise while singing the raga alapana. He has got good ideas and the young blood rushes up fast at times. He tried some acrobatics here and there which is expected from a youth of his age. Unless someone tries at this age, he/she wont learn. But what is required is the sense of proportion.

Kalaimagan overdid the kalpanaswaras couple of times. He exhibited his lean on 'kaNakku' while singing kalpanaswaras. It is good to have an understanding of the mathematics (rhythm) but it should not be executed at the cost of melody, read as raga bhAvam. Fortunately when he was about to fall from the cliff, Kalaimagan managed to maintain the equilibrium and stayed on top. He lived up to the expectations and sang couple of patriotic and other bharathiar songs (enthanai kOti inbam vaiththAi) keeping his family tradition alive.

After the concert, I called Kalaimagan and told him to be careful in exhibiting his skills. When his mother spoke to me after the concert, I expressed my views as an average listener. I made it very loud and clear that the responsibility of the performer is to tread the razor edge carefully balancing the exhibition of his skills to impress the so-called 'purists' and also satisfy laymen like me who only listen to music and doesn't want to know the grammar.

Kalaimagan will certainly emerge as a performer of excellence if he manages his act carefully. He has got a good guide in Sri PSN. I wish he practices the guidance given.

all the best Kalaimagan.

Find of 2011 - a true artiste after 2+ decades

Today as part of my assignment for Puthiya Thalaimurai, I listened to Remaa Ramkumar at NKT Muthu Hall, Triplicane.
Sharing my experiences with you.

An artiste has arrived after almost 2 decades.
I remember listening to Smt Charumathi Ramachandran some 25-30 years ago and today Remaa showed the same promise. This is no exaggeration. A 21 yo, chartered accountant singing extinct ragas like natabharaivi, rAmapriya is no mean task. I have told Remaa not to succumb to peer pressure and have wished her to grow her music with her.

Her rendition of nannU brOvu lalithE in vilamba kAlam and without shades of vasantha was a blissful experience for me. I've heard Dr. S. Ramanathan sing this grand classic of SyAma sAstri when he was in his 60s. I found his understanding of the raga in Remaa.

She sang kOrina vara in rAmapriya, I've heard S. Kalyanaraman sing this ragam in 1980s and I found his aesthetics sense in Remaa.

The only kriti most artistes have sung in natabhairavi is sri vaLLI dEVasEnApathE. I've heard Maharajapuram Santhanam sing this many times, I wish he is alive today and correct himself. pApanAsam sivan would have heard a near perfect version of his composition.
The bottomline is a very sad thing, though I had the complete control over the concert, my arrogance blinded me from recording. Sorry for depriving you an opportunity, will certainly organise a concert of hers, record that concert and share with you all.

I've to mention about Shradha, the 1st year college student who accompanied Remaa on the violin. OMG these youngsters are too intelligent and smart. If Remaa sang natabhairavi and rAmapriya well, she would have prepared for it. But Shradha's performance was extempore. Yes it was K P Nandini who was supposed to accompany Remaa. The last minute replacement Shradha proved to be a price catch for Remaa. I recommend Remaa to have Shradha for her concerts wherever and whenever possible. I have heard accompany a few performers working in IT companies during the Carnatech event in Music Academy.


Remaa, probably because she is Chartered Accountant, is also good in what we say 'kaNNakku'. Her laya sense is very appreciable. While singing the kalpanaswaras she demonstrated her skills. The swara patterns were very pleasing to the ears unlike most of the so called laya experts. The so called laya experts in the pretext of singing intricate taLa calculations, without a sense of proportion, will massacre the melody. Music is after all to soothe one senses not rapture it. If the complicated kalpanaswaras are sung in proportion definitely will be ecstatic. Remaa did that perfectly.


Wait for more on up and coming performers.

Isai Sangamam in Puthiya Thalaimurai

Puthiya Thalaimurai, a part of the SRM group, ventured into the media with their magazine. Their launch ads were focused towards the youth. I have not read an issue of their magazine. But destiny had decided to push me inside the studios of Puthiya Thalaimurai TV (PT TV). Read further to know how!!!!

A long time friend Kolappan called me 10 days ago and wanted to meet me. Kolappan told me he has a friend who wants to discuss with me about music season etc. I was in a client's place and couldn't reach Kolappan's home in time. So we decided to meet at Injikudi Sri Subramaniam's concert at Raga Sudha Hall. Yes Kolappan introduced Mr. Kalyanaraman to me. Kalyan, as he is called, has just joined PT TV. Kalyan has a rich experience in journalism, inspired by Ram of The Hindu joined the same college, Ram graduated from, in US, and has returned to India. After working for Times of India Kalyan has taken up this assignment. Kalyan says television is new to him. Though it doesn't show in him. Injikudi played a brilliant thOdi ragam that day for about 30 minutes which was good enough for the entire December for me. So I walked out of the hall and in the foyer was talking to Kalyan. Coming back to our conversation. What started as an off the cuff conversation with Kalyan panned out as a TV program for 30 minutes daily from December 16th to 31st in PT TV. This is the 1st attempt by any television channel. Reviewing movies is a beaten to death concept with contrived comments, eulogies blah blah. But what we have attempted in PT TV is unique in more than one ways. We try to introduce the various aspects of music by a small description on ragas, talams, varnams, swarajathis etc.

We have consciously included Thamizh film music in our capsules. This is to introduce carnatic music to the film music listeners in a way they understand and can retain. I'm called a 'pracharak' by my friends for injecting carnatic music. I always create an opportunity to shove down the throat on people who are not familiar with Carnatic Music. As a mass media vehicle PT TV gave me enough to do my job!!

Our discussion is on PT TV daily 8:30 am and 4:30 pm. Also available same time at http://puthiyathalaimurai.tv/news, recorded capsules also now available at 

http://blip.tv/isai-sangamam

The technology tradition!!

The technology tradition!!

I had mentioned about my involvement rather participation in the mobile app development.

Ever since I experienced internet someday in the late 1990s, technology is always one of my active passions. I still remember that day, running up the stairs of Rosy Tower on Nungambakkam High Road (now called Mahatma Gandhi Road) and sitting before the computer. It was the Madras branch office of Microsense the reseller of internet connection for RPG Sprint. The first search the executive did was ‘rubber’ because MRF was a leading brand then seen very often in the media. Sanjay and Anand were with me and we were ogling at the screen.

From that day to the day I started a web application development company and now coordinating the development of a mobile application for Android and iPhone, my passion is growing exponentially. Technology never fails to enthrall me.

When Girish, the development team head, said that he has setup a team in Chennai for developing mobile applications we discussed on the focus verticals. Girish suggested we do one for our music sharing portal www.sangeethapriya.org. When we mooted this idea to our portal management team, they said it is too early for all these. Then Girish and I discussed various options and were adamant in developing one for Carnatic music or around it.

The discussion led us towards developing an app for musicians. The immediate choice was Sanjay Subrahmanyam. Why Sanjay? Because Sanjay was the 1^st Carnatic musician to have a website (he has closed it and now for the mobile app we have revived it). Sanjay was the 1^st to run a bulletin board for Carnatic music called sangeetham.com. Sanjay is very active in blogosphere, tweeting, et al. So, we have every reason to go to Sanjay.

Now how to contact Sanjay? I have not been interacting with Sanjay for well over 4 years. Reason could be that both of us were busy with our work. I know you all decline to believe it. Honestly, I don’t know why we didn’t. Anyway, I called Sanjay and asked him if we could meet. Believe me I went back 5 years. Yes, Sanjay was the same Sanjay I last spoke with 5 years ago.

I met Sanjay at his home. I didn’t beat around. When I told about developing a mobile app for him, he immediately agreed. Then I took Girish to Sanjay’s home. We discussed on the features, timeline etc.

Now the after almost 4 months the mobile app is ready for commercial launch. The Android version is ready and the iOS version is waiting for Apple’s approval.

Wait for a week and I shall share with you the screen shots and the download link.

Be connected with tradition, always, technologically!!

Tradition meets Technology!!!

As described by all 'ligists' and 'ians', India is beyond doubt a continent.  A land of diversity. And as diverse as having people meandering in the cities half-naked in the name of fashion and nomads living scantily draped.

We have the best of traditions not just surviving but also thriving against all odds. The millennia old delicious food recipes, effective medicinal concoctions, exciting handicrafts, stunning architecture, flamboyant jewellery, exquisite draperies, and what not, are making the world look at India for the best resources. And,  it doesn’t stop with this. The fad of the last millennium technology is also not left behind by Indians.  Today Indians have contributed immensely to some of the finest developments in science and technology.

Many Western instruments have now become an integral part of Indian classical music concerts. Some of the leading technology brands have their manufacturing base in India. India is a major revenue earner for almost all the global companies.

The technology development and adoption by the Indian media and entertainment  industry is on par with the US. Mobile phones footprint is one of the largest in the world. Digital cinema filming and projection has a viral growth in India.

When we in India have about 55 crore mobile phone users, are we taking maximum advantage of this population? Are the mobile users deriving the full benefit of the mobile technology? Are the mobile service providers delivering what their consumers want? What kind of benefits can be provided to users? Who all can provide?

Ok, I can understand your impatience. You want to know, why am I writing about this in my blog? You all know am not an economist. Or a technologist. Or a mobile retailer. But most of you know me as a gadget freak or can be called a gizmo maniac.

Mobile service runs predominantly on GSM technology in India, sharing about 20% to CDMA technology. Now in India, Symbian platform based handsets enjoy an enviable share, but has slowly started losing the market to Android based phones. Thanks to Japan, Korea and Taiwan based brands, the prices are now affordable. For below 10,000 we get very good handsets with exciting features.

Now we need some great mobile apps. And mobile apps from across verticals. Mobile apps from banks, FMCG companies, service companies, media & entertainment companies, Govt. departments like Law & Order, Transport, Tourism, Electricity, PDS etc. And, we also need good apps from academicians, teachers, performing artistes too.

One such app will be unleashed in the next 2 weeks from Chennai. And I'm involved in it. What is my involvement in it? Did I conceive it, design it, develop  it? No. I just coordinated with the performing artiste and the developing team.

When I say performing artiste, I mean a Carnatic musician. I'll call him the GenX musician! Technomusician.  A first mover towards technology who leads the pack - definitely. A constant learner, for excellence. Wait for 3 more days to know more on this.

Can we call this the emergence of a technology tradition!!! 

Movie watching experience in Sathyam

Today was a very hectic day. Morning attended a 'upanayanam' at Maharastra Nivas. Had breakfast there. Drove down to Sathyam theatre for the morning show of the film 180 (Tamil). A long film, ran for almost 3 hours. From there went to W V Raman's home for a business meeting. Back home by 1.35pm for lunch.

Coming back to my movie watching experience:

Thanks to my friends Iqbal & Anu, I got the last row in the Elite class, Sathyam theatre. A very nice location in the theatre to watch a movie. Felt like sitting at home, relaxed, stretched legs, wide chairs well-cushioned chairs. What irritated me is the audience's total lack of civic sense. The people who pay Rs.120 for a ticket care a damn for the upkeep of the environ. Shamelessly they throw popcorn, beverage cans, cups inside the theatre. This has not changed from the last time I went to a theatre around 3-4 years back. Yes the last movie I saw in a theatre was 'dasAvathAram - Tamil film' the day after it was released. I saw in Sangam theatre. Over the last 3-4 years the concept of cinema halls from the owners perspective has changed for good. But unfortunately the viewers attitude has gone from bad to worse.

A total deterioration of overall value system. No respect for anything under the sun. About 6 years back in a TV interview before the TN Assembly election Rajinikanth said 'only God can save Tamilnadu'. It is valid today. Total lack of civic sense, no courtesy towards fellow citizens, no respect for the rule of the land, no discipline in every walk of life. They wont wait in a queue, allow others to take their vehicle out in a parking lot, give way for others in a road, won't stop before the 'stop line' in a signal, will take a right turn from the extreme left in any junction and the list goes on. Anyway I'm going to say like Rajinikanth.

Sathyam cinemas is an experience. I had to congratulate the management for training their staff and should the thank the staff for practising what they were taught. Yes, the staff were so courteous, disciplined and well behaved. This starts with the security guard at the entrance itself.
keep the good work going Sathyam cinemas.

Now about the movie நூற்றெண்பது - 180 (http://www.180thefilm.com/):
Story: Nothing new

Conversations: NCL - naturally casual language. No dramatics, punch phrases. I personally liked this style.

Music: Sharreth - Nothing commendable to mention. I've a respect for Sharreth as a judge in music competitions running in the TV channels. And I expected a lot from him, I know it is my mistake and not his. He has attempted a Tamil version of Sufi song (its my guess). In Sufi music the lyrics has a very special and important place. But unfortunately in this Sufi style song it is butchered beyond recognition. In my previous post in this space I've written about Music, Sound and Noise. What ever be the era we live I don't subscribe to the view that Sound can replace Music. When we have started experimenting Music therapy for various health & wellness disorders, I advocate the responsibility of music producers to produce and deliver music. No Sound or Noise please. Pl. graduate from being a sound engineer to music direction and produce good music. My judgement of Sharreth is not totally wrong, please am not trying to justify myself. The signature or identification tune or whatever (which sounds Rithigowla to me but unfortunately is only for about 10 secs so am not sure) you call when Nithya Menen and Siddarth are together is very melodic. But suddenly the melody vanishes in the songs.

Sharreth can be a good composer of 60 seconds jingle, definitely not a full movie particularly the background score. He claims to be a great admirer of Illayaraja, Sharreth don't just stop at admiring Raja, there is nothing wrong in trying to emulate him. Start emulating him.

RR: Should have been better to enhance the presentation. At most situations the background score dissuades the emotions.

Direction: Not a director's movie. Some sequences, characters should have been avoided.

Casting: Is this how this generation live. Near perfect. Suits the movie.

Actors performance: The emotions are expressed very subtly or even inadequately by the actors, it is much better than over acting. Probably that's what the director wanted from his actors. No complaints.

Presentation: A typical ad film kind presentation, well knit all thru with independent phrases. Very different presentation of a song where they displayed the lyrics seamlessly and beautifully as part of the lead lady reading her birthday greetings pasted by her husband all around their home. Definitely a fresh approach and a good idea to make the viewers know the lyrics, as today's orchestration just wipes out the lyrics with loud sound.

Visualisation: Am listing this category last because there is a lot to write about this. This film is shot in Red Digital Camera. My good friend Balaji has been evangelising digital cinema since 2008. And Balaji is a self educated Digital Imaging Technician. Though he has worked in about half a dozen commercial films, this is the 1st film I saw in which Balaji is credited in the title itself as Digital Imaging Technician. This movie's team has understood the power of digital imaging and has taken full advantage of the technology. They have used the technology, its features exhaustively and have presented a real visual treat. I would even say a new experience to the viewers. What Balumahendra did in 'mOdu pani', 'azhiyAtha kOlangaL', mOndrAm pirai', PC Sreeram did in 'thaLapathi', 'agni natchatthiram', 'anjali', 'thEvar magan', Balasubramaniam and team has done in 180. Brilliant use of slow motions in songs (Mani Rathnam has done it in thaLapathi) bring out picture perfect frame compositions. subtle expressions by the artistes in the frame are all captured well. Brilliant color contrasts, skin tonal quality is amazing. 

Things I applaud: First & leading the list is the Director's courage to make a film without a story line. His phenomenal conviction about his presentation skills.
Very special congratulations to the director and producer for not having the contriving Vivek or nauseating Vadivelu or suffocating Santhanam or irritating stunts in the film. As the Tamil actors have a fancy for prefixing adjectives I have given what (I think) perfectly suits them.
A very simple climax though expected didn't disappoint me.
Taking full advantage of the visual media by avoiding unnecessary dialogs and communicating the sequences and incidents visually. The scene at the hospital in Chennai where AJ discusses with the doctor, calls his chief in US is well made without any melodrama.
Director & Screenplay writer's clarity in what they want to say. I'm not debating on its validity.
One positive thought - providing education to the hawkers narrated very crisply without the 'large than life' projection of the hero.

Things should have been avoided: The parents of character Renu and AJ's mother could have been avoided. They neither had a bearing nor added any value to the story, screenplay or film.
The dialog by AJ's mother the previous night is very contrived and misfit for a movie of this genre.
A very accomplished doctor in the US getting depressed in less a minute and behaving cranky is not acceptable. Today Prostrate cancer is the most commonly checked for problem in men even in a country like India. I agree that the age of AJ is not more than 40 but as a doctor he is expected to show more composure than an ordinary man.
The duration of the film is just atrocious. Because of the duration am constrained to say its a waste of 3 hours.

My recommendation: A time-pass if you really want to kill 3 hours in a cozy atmosphere by spending just Rs.120. Do not expect any takeaway. Expect a couple of smooches there are nothing that will embarrass parents sitting with their children and watching this movie. Good effort would have bitten the producers' wallet deeper.

My outcry

Music, Sound, Noise………….

This post is more my outcry, the aftermath of attending Tanjore S. Kalyanaraman’s 81^st birthday celebrations on June 2, 2011 at Narada Gana Sabha, Chennai. Sri. M. Chandrasekaran, Sri. N. V. Subramaniam were sitting on the stage alongwith Brinda Venkataramanan, Sanjay Subrahmanyam was awarded the SKR Memorial Award. Sanjay was giving his acceptance speech and that is when I entered the hall. Bhushani Kalyanaraman read the vote of thanks. In “The Hindu” City Entertainment column, it was mentioned that an AV presentation would be screened. Though it would have been produced, scripted and directed by SKR’s nephew SB Kanthan, I did not dare take a chance. Have had bitter experiences viewing similar presentations on Ramnad Krishnan, GNB, MMI etc.

Hold on…

Music: vocal or instrumental sounds (or both) combined in such a way as to produce beauty of form, harmony, and expression of emotion: http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/music

Sound: vibrations that travel through the air or another medium and can be heard when they reach a person‘s or animal’s ear: http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/sound?rskey=g31dtq&result=1

Noise: a sound, especially one that is loud or unpleasant or that causes disturbance: http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/noise

It is not that you all do not know the difference in meaning between the above three words. It is that most of us care too less to decide which one to listen to. Then why have I given the dictionary meaning of those words. Caveat - I may give you couple of more too!!!

Do not worry, am not writing the review of the concert. There are more important issues to write about. This may end up being a very long post but I do not want to stop expressing my feelings.

Check http://sanjaysub.blogspot.com/ and http://www.youtube.com/user/sanjaymobileapp

Narada Gana Sabha, is one of the oldest cultural programs organizing institutions in Chennai. I neither know its legal status nor am I interested. All I remember is that the likes of Kamala, Vyjayanthimala, Hemalini, MSS, SSI, etc performed to generate funds for constructing the present auditorium on TTK Road. The NGS Trust got enough funds to construct a hall large enough to house about 1500 people as audience and a stage to accommodate a 10-member ballet team.

Why am I providing this information to you? For the benefit of those who have not seen the auditorium to sort of visualize it. Why visualize? To expect some good ambience, acoustics, seating systems, etc. Of course, the seating arrangement is much better than the nearest (in terms of distance) competitor Music Academy. The ambience is also good. However, the acoustics is a disaster to say the least. They have positioned one speaker named JAS on either side of the dais facing the audience. Moreover, it is placed on the wall running along the dais covering the green rooms. Now visualize sitting at the last row listening to a Carnatic music concert. Do not worry, you are blessed. Yes, I mean it. If you are caught as a VIP and made to sit within the first twenty rows, then you are in for a punishment. You will listen to nothing but noise.

Now coming to the three words, I mentioned at the beginning of this post. What should be music to your ears will neither be music nor sound but sheer noise. We Indians show tolerance where it should not be shown. In addition, we are intolerant to things, which should be tolerated. When it comes to service delivery of telecommunications, entertainment, banking and the like we are extremely tolerant to deficiency in service. Sometimes, it is just not deficiency service does not exist. We as receivers are made to accept what is being given.

More importantly exercising our right in getting these services in a public place is being branded as being brash. We feel ashamed to decline a coffee with sugar when we have ordered without sugar. Similarly, when AC is switched off as soon as the movie starts in a theatre where they charge you more than a non-AC theatre, we never question these deficiencies. We should feel ashamed to be like a vegetable.

I want to share with you something that you all know and been experiencing over the last 20 years - the one-upmanship attitude of most of the mrudangam players in a Carnatic music concert. One set of mrudangam players over the last 20 years think that the vocalists are surviving only because of the intelligence of these mrudangam players. To some extent, the vocalists are to be blamed for they train under these mrudangam players. I do not say that the mrudangam players lack music knowledge. However, these mrudangam players lack musical wisdom and aesthetics. They demand higher volume levels than the vocalist himself does. In the early 1980s, I have attended many concerts at Srinivasa Sastri Hall, Luz. The mike-man (we used to call him so) Sri. Narayanan used to decide the volume levels and has silenced some of the accompanists. That was possible because he had an ear for good music. Today’s mike-man has an ear neither for music nor for sound. He can only listen to and appreciate noise. Therefore, he cares a damn about balancing the volume levels. When the mrudangam player turns at him and asks him to increase the volume, the mike-man will promptly do so.

Another irony or idiocy is that the violin players of today ask to increase sharpness in the mixer. Probably they think that the bow in their hand is to deploy an arrow in an archery competition; hence, they want to sharpen it. Utter nonsense. The sound should come from the violin naturally. Moreover, to achieve that sound the player should practice until he/she gets it.

Now our right as a listener of these live concerts is to give the genuine feedback on the volume levels to the mike-man. However, we normally do not. But I always do. In NGS about 7-8 months back, Satish Vyas had arranged a concert of Ajoy Chakrabarthy. The sound system was a disaster. From the audience I mentioned to the artistes on stage that the sound levels are bad and offered to help them. Immediately Ajay asked me to do it. Fortunately, I fixed the problem. The same thing happened during a Ganesh/Kumaresh concert at Krishna Gana Sabha during December 2011. When I told them about the imbalance, Ganesh immediately said that such feedback would help them to deliver the best.

On June 2, 2011 at NGS, Srimushnam Raja Rao wanted the volume for his mike to be increased and when it was done, SRR gave a thumbs-up. Unfortunately, it was unbearable for us in the hall. I waited for the bEgadA varnam to get over. Then I shouted from the audience to reduce the volume levels for the mrudangam and increase the volume for the violin. Immediately a dozen people sitting in the audience looked back and extended their hand to thank me. Why didn’t they raise their voice when they felt the volume levels were literally tearing their head apart? In the guise of tolerance, decency and diplomacy they failed to exercise their basic right. And, this tolerance extends to every other deficiency, crime, etc.

People can say that it was a free concert and we have to be content with what is given. Let me tell you we are beggars and there is a difference between an ‘all are welcome’ and ‘entry free’ announcement. In the paper if the advertisement reads as ‘all are welcome’, the organizers cannot stop anyone from entering. As hosts, the organizers should treat the guests properly. In ‘entry free’ program, the organizers can restrict the entrants.

Leave alone free concerts, even in concerts where we pay for the entry we never bother to give our feedback to the performers and the organizers. Also, the feedback should be given in a manner such that they take cognizance of it and implement it at the next opportunity.

I will be happy if the readers of this post not just read but heed to my appeal to exercise their basic right. And let us start listening to atleast good sound if not music.

Incipient Confidence #7

Triplicane used to be an abode of illuminati and glitterati till about the late 1980s. Fine arts thrived here like nowhere during their time. I remember all the artistes performing their best at the Sri Parthasarathy Temple, ThiruvettIswarar Temple, Vasantha Bungalow, The Hindu High School, Kala Mandapam etc. Today Triplicane is a haven for bachelors, with roads and streets buried under 2-wheelers, cars, muck, - simply with all nonsense possible.

Ok what has that got with the title of this post. I'll come to it now. Last year a group of people organised series of concerts during the last week of December. The concerts were held inside the Sri Parthasarathy Temple Tank. This year again they are repeating this event.

Today I got back home early. During my usual routine of gazing the tank and temple from my home terrace I saw 3 kids clad in festive mood getting on to the stage. The weather slightly chill for Chennai with water all around, the tallest, presumably the eldest sat in the centre of the stage. Took a veena and placed it on her lap. To her right another kid, younger than the 1st one, sat behind a mrudangam. Both these kids where in blue pattu (silk) pAvAdai (full shirt or modern day midi) and green shirt. The one opposite the left of the centrally placed kid was on a maroon kurta and white pyjama.

For the next 1 hour I saw carnatic music safely, securely and happily enjoying her sojourn in the hands of Anjani the eldest of the lot. My good friend Sridharan once told me that he listened to the sisters, yes Anjani and Aswini are sisters. and Aswini is accompanying Anjani on the mrudangam. He very strongly insisted that listen I to Anjani. I ofcourse did watch her perform for PudhuPunal in DD podhigai some time ago and immediately called Sridharan and ridiculed at him for the recommendation. Am awfully sorry Sridharan, you made me lick the dust rather Anjani did by her performance this evening from 5 to 6 at the Parthasarathy Temple Tank.

Watch her video

The young angel literally transcends belief, atleast my beliefs. She should be all of 12 or 13 and understanding the veena at this age should be by ordain only. The way she handled the instrument, the graceful traverse of her fingers over the frets, the delicate handling of the gamakas just belittled me. She played gAnamUrthE, anurAgamulE which are or can be classified as authentic classical compositions with such elan which made me trash Rajesh Vaidya who played after her.

Ofcourse there was another 1 hour concert between Anjani's and Rajesh's. But fortunately for me nothing went inside my ears after Anjani's music. Anjani didn't maul or malign the identity of veena in contrast to what Rajesh Vaidya usually does. Every Indian musical instrument like Indian spice has an unique identity. And its the duty of the performer to keep it intact. Anyway let me write about this later as a separate post.

What impressed me is the sincerity of Anjani. There were only about 20 people of which atleast 5-7 would have the family members of the performers. But the slender audience didn't deter Anjani from giving her best.

It's almost half a decade I heard someone sing or perform anurAgamulE. Though there are few kritis in this raga saraswathi only a couple reside in me. The 1st time I heard this classic was some 30 years back at Srinivasa Sastri Hall, Madras. It was by Dr.MBK for Nadopasana with MSG and UKS. And I was prejudiced for long, till I heard TMT in 1980s at the same venue with TSV and CSM. I should also admit that I have not been attending live concerts over the last 3-4 years.

It's been long say about 15 years we had a good vainika emerge. There is one Sivakumar in AIR Trichy, who unfortunately had to settle for a government job and disappear from the Chennai concert scene. I've a few friends who are all great admirers of veena music and I can assure them that we have good scope of listening to some real veena music from the hands of Anjani. This young girl if continues to maintain her adherence to quality music and doesn't subvert will be the next E.Gayathri and Jayanthi Kumaresh.

I've to mention about the kid Aswini on the mrudangam. She is a disciple of Sri.T.K. Murthy. Thanks to Sri. T.K. Murthy. Aswini's fingering technique, playing style are still unadultered. And I wish she develops on the foundation laid by Sri. TKM and continues to accompany some of the best artistes who may germinate or have germinated somewhere in the world. Aswini is confidence and artistry personified. And the guy on the ghatam (awfully sorry I forgot to look at the name on the billboard) also proved his mettle. Am sorry. will look tomorrow and post.

Incipient Confidence#6

Just back from Vidya Raghavan's (VR she shares the abbreviation with a brilliant musician Vellore Ramabhadran) concert. I did not notice this series of concerts organised by Cleveland Aradhana Committee. This morning I got a call from an old time friend saying her daughter is singing at Arkay Hall and wanted me to listen to her.

As usual I entered at the end of the 1st song, my layam should be perfect if I had to comment on others isn't it!!

The 2nd item of the day was sAvEri. VR started the alapana. In about a minute the small electronic box placed on the dias reminded her its existence. yes she derailed from the shruthi track. VR has good taste for music no doubt. She has good ideas also. But what she lacks is the commitment to deliver the best. Intention doesn't matter only action matters. VR showed signs of frustration when she failed to sing the phrases her mind wanted. If the idea transformation doesnt happen the way we want, no point in getting frustrated, what is required is introspection. VR should listen to the recording of her today's concert and analyse dispassionately. She sang the shyama sastri grand classic sankari sanguru. about this kriti - this has been rendered with utmost care, finesse, embellishments by some of the great masters of yesteryears. So I can't stop recalling them from my memory bank. And when I recall them most of the other renditions not just fall flat but drop to abysmal depths. (I'll start a thread on GC soon calling some experts in our group also to participate. The call will be over email only, be prepared!!) The tempo, structure are of very high order in this kriti. Actually VR if practices for more hours will deliver much better music than what she did today. She fumbled while singing the neraval & swaras for this kriti.

I would like mention a few words about neraval singing. Infact in my previous post I had mentioned about PSP's accompaniment in Musiri's neraval at v vaishnavi in the thOdi kriti amba nAdhu. This neraval is one of the finest I've heard. In Madurai Somu's concert with Lalgudi, Murugabhoopathy, Viswanatha Sharma & M.Swaminathan at Tiruvayyaru on 19/1/1968 he has sung neraval at vEda sAstra purAna in the panthurvaraLi krit ninnE nEra nammi. I can list atleast 500 such phrases. Coming to neraval singing, its just about elaborating a phrases, am quoting Smr. Suguna Varadhachari's lecdem at Music Academy on dec25, 2010 "in neraval singing for kritis the talam has to be followed as much as the ragam whereas in neraval for RTP we need not follow the talam - meaning the position of the talam and the syllable should be in the same position in kriti neraval for RTP it's not required to be followed". So the bottomline is - the performer has to listen a lot, imbibe the various aspects of the raga, tala, meaning for the phrase elaborated etc. And should practice hard enough to achieve this status. And this will take time and it could be a minimum of 10 odd years, ofcourse prodigies are exemption.

My suggestion to the young performers is to do honest homework of neraval before trying it on stage. They can try some raga phrases, swara singing but if they derail while singing neraval it shows their total lack of understanding.

VR after sAvEri sang kalyani ragam and pankaja lOchana immortalised by SSI. Though his version may not convince the purists he created a magic to satisfy the listener. VR lost control of the shruthi very often which is not commonly seen in performers from US or Europe. Why I say so? Because shruthi alignment is prerequisite in Western classical music and those who are exposed to that form of music will definitely adhere to it. I was told by some members for the Cleveland committee that VR used to be a top performer when she was in the US. Should the lapses be due to her stay in Chennai, has it rubbed off on her like the other habits - traffic violation, unhygienic habits throwing filth all around.

VR you have a good voice which is not too high on the pitch so try to concentrate on it, practice well and then get on to the stage. You will definitely go a long way.

Incipient Confidence#5

On December 23, 10 I got caught in the wrong foot. A friend of mine used the rain cheque I had given her. She took me to Malladi Brothers at Brahma Gana Sabha. Don't worry, am not writing about this concert. I was around the venue by 3 pm and the Malladi concert is by 4.30pm. Instead of wasting my petrol, I went to the BGS hall.

The notice board said Akkarai Sisters (AS), Usha Rajagopalan, Poongulam Subramaniam, Sree Sundar Kumar. So I thought its a violin trio, dont ridicule at my guess. Usha had earlier paired with Meera sivaramakrishnan and performed violin duo concerts so thought this could be a new venture. I heard Akkarai Subbulakshmi accompany Munda Sudharani a week back at the same venue. I was very impressed with Akkarai's performance. So didnt hesitate a moment, just walked inside the hall. Luck was not in my favour. Akkarai sisters were singing. Its my mistake, should have read the notice board properly. Anyway as I had taken the mission of reporting on the nexgen performers, sat at the corner close to the canteen!!

When I went in Poongulam and Sreesundar were fighting with each other for the top position of the day. As soon as the fight was over, (I realised that they were complementing the finish of a song, yes they finished the song!!) Akkarai Subbulakshmi started sahAna raga, tried some twists & turns, glides & slides, pits & falls what not. I should thank my senses for identifying the raga correctly. They sang EmAninnE. They tried some neraval which turned out to be varuval (chips) meaning dry, stale, bland.

Subbulakshmi announced that the next composition is by their grand father Suchindram Sivasubramaniam. The composition is set to the ghana raga panchakam (nAttai, gowLa, Arabhi, varALi & Sri) on Lord Muruga.

I am reminded of Sri. S. Balachandar, During my YACM days, if am right in 1989 or 90, we had a 3 lecdem by Sri.SB on appreciating classical music. Typical of SB, he insisted that the last 1 hour of day 3 should be a Q&A session. The 1st question came from none other than our Lalgudi. The question was 'Why havent you composed any songs?". The answer SB gave was "I have not yet learned, practiced, played all the compositions of pre & post Trinity. Am not ordained to be a composer, more importantly I dont see an imperative need for new compositions". Just that this came to my mind, wanted to share with you all.... ;)

Coming back to the ghana raga panchakam sung by AS, the composition neither had lyrical value nor musical value. Probably the way AS sang did not reflect any of these qualities, I may be wrong. But as an average listener when I go to a new performer I expect them to sing popular kritis and exhibit their talent, understanding of the artform, etc. So when the performer sings or plays a not so popular kriti or raga its very difficult for me to absorb the music. I may be wrong in the approach but that's me - the average listener.

Anyway now lets get into the concert. But unfortunately my attention kept drifting away that day the same way its happening here when I want to write about it. AS senior started thOdi raga. Pyrotechnics doesn't work well in carnatic music. It should be used occasionally. Subbulakshmi may even prove what see sang was technically perfect thOdi. But unfortunately it lacked what it should have - music. Music is not all about permutations, combinations, arithmetic, algebra, physics. Its about aesthetics, finesse, nuances, subtleties, emotions. Remember shouting is not a musical emotion. The problem is that lot of carnatic music instrumental performers fall into this quicksand. Just because one duo, Ranjani & Gayathri, is scaling heights shifting from violin to vocal its not a rule of thumb that those who want to be a popular vocalist should first start off as a violinist and then jump vocal. What disturbs me that if AS takes up vocal or rather ditches violin, its certainly a big loss for the carnatic music. Yes I mean it. Particularly Subbulakshmi is a phenomenally talented, gifted, skilled violin musician. But she fell to abysmal depth as a vocal performer. The reason - she tried to produce all her violin ideas through her vocal chords. But her vocal chords are not tamed well enough like her left fingers and right hand. Her hands obey her like the police dog. Subbulakshmi may have or has brilliant musical ideas, unless they are executed and exhibited properly the value can't be priceless.

Pl. recollect what I wrote about RK yesterday. I had mentioned that RK has a sense of proportion and also aesthetics. As a vocalist AS lacked the sense of proportion in trying the various gamakas, brihAs, jArus etc. Let it not be like the famous Tamil adage which goes like this 'the cat with a hot rod stripped its body thinking the tiger got its strength from those stripes'.

This feedback is for AS to take cognizance, view this dispassionately and have a self evaluation.

Here again am forced to mention about the accompanists. During Usha's thOdi raga alapana the power played havoc. After a few cuts, Usha didnt stop and played a good alapana. Usha gave a brilliant support to AS. But Poongulam was showing his seniority from the moment I entered the hall. Pl. listen to the mrudangam accompaniment of Pazhani for Musiri's amba nAthu in the Music Academy concert which is available as a commercial album. You all will understand what I mean by good accompaniment.

Sorry if I had disappointed many of you, am helpless. I cant cheat myself.

Incipient Confidence#4

Ramakrishnamurthy's concert heard on Dec 21,10, let me call him RK. I know most of you would condemn me for the abbreviation, as RK refers to the legendary Ramnad Krishnan. Yes I intentionally call Ramakrishnamurthy as RK, reason being I wish he evolves as the newgen RK. Believe me RK shows a lot of promise.

For a youngster raised in California State USA what is expected doesn't show up and what showed up was not expected, atleast by me. He has had training in Carnatic music from many good teachers and now is under the guidance of Chingleput Sri. Ranganathan. I know you will wondering why I've mentioned training instead of learning. I strongly believe that RK has music genetically coded in him. I wish to stand by this statement. So RK would have been guided by his teachers like what Tiger Varadhachariar was supposed to had done to his disciples. RK has an immense crave for aesthetics.

Though he was incapacitated due to a bad throat, he never showed signs of compromise. Infact I had marked in my notepad a sruthi misalignment in the kEdAra classic rAmA nEpai which he sang as the 1st song of the concert. But then I realised his natural constrain. He could have canceled the concert if the situation was bad. But he spared us. He then ventured into a short crisp delineation of Anandha bhairavi, and started the Syama Sastri crafted Rolls Royce himAchala tanayubrO. My all time favourite rendition of this kriti is by Dr. S. Ramanathan and usually lend a deaf ear to other artistes. But RK slowly creeped inside my ear and settled in my thoughts. Here he showed signs of a fine amalgam of his training under Chingleput with his native grip over layam. The tempo is a very critical component in this genre of kritis, yes they are a separate genre.

What took me by surprise is the next song of the evening - emperor of the genre soundararAjam in brindavana sAranga. This kriti is on the lord of the temple at the shore town Nagapattinam in Tamilnadu. There are a lot of legends associated to this town in all the ramayana perspectives. I had been to this town and like Muthuswami Dikshithar have ogled at the temple structure. But unfortunately am not adept in any of his skills and talent to compose a kriti of this grandeur. But this town and the temple will inspire to sing. Visualise this kriti, you can see the waves gently caress the shore and roll back. My friend (yes the same person who was beside me during SS's concert) who knows my weakness for this kriti looked at me sitting 2 rows before and mimed to the effect 'unfair'. He did this because he knows that this one kriti if rendered well or to my satisfaction will get the artiste above 75% from me. I've DKP, TNS, TMT, SKR's version of this kriti. I have listed only those I like. Don't worry am not going to say that RK rendered it like one of them or better. Honestly RK's perfect layam accorded the kriti with perfect respect. I always have a strong conviction that rendering this kriti is no mean task. Particularly youngsters attempting this kriti should be encouraged provided they adhere to the pAdAntharam(the way in which it was taught). Why I say this? Its because rendering this kriti involves a phenomenal understanding of the composer, the mood he would have been while composing (its sort of evident in most of Dikshithar's kritis) and more importantly a perfect sustained tempo. RK did everything gracefully.

He sang a truly brilliant thOdi ragam. He sang dAsu kOvalEna. No adjectives for the kriti he rendered. You know why, just saying its a Thyagaraja kriti in thOdi suffices. No other composer has handled this rAga like Thyagaraja. My opinion if Thyaragaja has not composed in thOdi singers would have not attempted it at all. Musicologist in our group please throw some light on this. RK's neraval in this kriti should be mentioned specially here. I've mentioned many times about his layam. So am not saying about that but I've to mention something to justify my remark at the beginning - aesthetics. What to me is aesthetic singing? always having his/her weakness at the back of the mind and rendering with a sense of proportion. RK did exactly what I expected. His neraval was elaborate but not draggy. His swara singing was not just arithmetic combination of notes but very musical. So the bottom line is listen to RK on
27-Dec-2010-1:30:00 PM at The Mylapore Fine Arts Club.

Hold on I promised not to write about the accompanists as they are elders. M A Krishnaswamy made me break my vow. I've seen him being very lackadaisical at times but not accepted when accompanying juniors. Seniors should live up to the responsibility. Expected to hand hold but in the contrary MAK just went haywire, played just the scale not the thOdi rAga. I expected a better brindavana sAranga from the Parur cub. A very disappointing performance by MAK.

Pl. bear with my grammatical and other errors, am half asleep now!!

Incipient Confidence#3

Am continuing in this thread after almost 2 years.
Couple of my friends and our members asked me to write about my views on some of the concerts in the afternoon slots I listen to during this year's Chennai Music Season. I try to write my opinion with all fairness, without any prejudices, biases, likes and dislikes. Am not academically or practically qualified enough to write about the technical prowess, capabilities of the performers. But I am banking on my listening experience to write what I felt honestly over the last 3 decades. Today when I look at the mirror and ridicule at myself for listening to some performers during the 1980s and 1990s, what comes to my rescue is the fact is that mistake is not on the performers or me. Infact am showing signs of maturity. What appealed to me then fails to even get inside my ears since 2000. My opinion is that we need performers who can bring in new listeners and admirers to our art form. For doing this service those performers who are all branded as light classical or semi classical performers should applauded and even gratified. Because the artform is far superior than the artistes and the artistes come and go but the artform has stayed and should stay for long. I think the introduction is enough.

Now let me come to subject line. The number mentioned is not the ranking of the performance but a simple count of recommendations, so the readers are expected to make their own judgment. and my views mentioned here are based on the performance I heard on the date mentioned and doesn't certify the performer in general. Am not going to mention any salutations for the performers. This is not because I don't respect them but laziness in typing and also they are all much younger to me by age. So don't take offense.

Performer to watch this year - Sriranjani Santhanagopalan (SS)
She performed at Narada Gana Sabha Mini Hall on December 19, 2010 between 4-6 pm with senior accompanists - Padma Shankar on violin, Melacauvery Balaji on Mrudangam and E M Subramaniam on Ghatam. Am not going to mention about the accompanists in this post as they are all seniors and am not reviewing the concert, just writing about the young performer. This concert is the 1st in a series of concerts organised by Charsur Arts Foundation (CAF), a division of Charsur Digital Workstation (CDW). Am not digressing but have to mention about CDW. I know Char(ulatha) and Sur(esh) from day one of their operations. I'm amazed at their business conviction. When producing commercial devotional music albums was at its peak in the last 90s Charsur embarked on a very committed journey of producing only carnatic music albums. Today they are a very successful label with a lot of top selling albums to their credit. As a carnatic music listening community we have responsibility of supporting their noble movement (if we think that carnatic music is divine and noble). Charsur's passion for carnatic music is very evident in their various acts. They seem to reinvest the money they earn thru carnatic music into propagating carnatic music. The way CAF is conceived and being executed is testimony to their committed and passion towards carnatic music. CAF is the banner under which they organise concerts of young performers and make the recording available for an affordable price in their online store. Let us patronise this noble cause by buying these albums from http://www.charsur.com/charsur/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=27.

Now coming to SS's performance. In one line I should say she shows a lot of promise of being the star performer of the nexgen.

Sriranjani is the daughter and disciple of Neyveli Sri.Santhanagopalan. Thanks to Sri.Santhanagopalan for his good music appetite, listening and tutelage under Maharajapuram Sri.Santhanam and Madurai Sri. T. N. Seshagopalan. He has passed it on to SS. BTW am not going to list the songs she sang etc. SS started with an invocation on Kanchi Paramacharya and sang the classical nAttakurunji varnam chalamEla. SS produced the expected gait in the rendition, as this varnam is a composition of a nattuvanar meant for dance, there are a lot of gliding phrases. She then sang a quick Gowrimanohari alapana which initially sounded like Narayanagowla to me. She sang Gurulekha etuvanti well and the neraval and kalpana swaras were layam laden sans arithmetic equations. She made me reminisce her father's singing in the 1980s & 1990s. After the brisk Gurulekha she sang Ivan yAro by Kavi Kunjara Bharathi in the tempo her paramaguru Sri.TNS used to sing long ago. I've heard this song rendered by Ramanathapuram Sri. C.S.Sankarasivam (thanks to Sri.Rajan Padaiachi for giving me this recording). Sri.CSS is the guru of Sri.TNS. Though Sri.TNS's version of this khambhoji song is different from Sri.CSS I enjoy Sri.TNS's version. SS has a good grip of layam and she maintains the tempo subconsciously - meaning its in her internal system.

She showed signs of enjoying her own singing and am reminded of Sri.S.Balachandar saying during one of YACM's lecdem - a true artiste should first enjoy and be satisfied with their production and if that happens the audience will certainly enjoy. This is very true as I have enjoyed the music of Mali, Karukuruchi, Balachander, SKR, MDR, Ravikiran - i believe these artistes first performed for themselves which enthralled the audience automatically.

SS sang a brilliant Shanmughapriya raga alapana. Believe me she showed traces of MLV in her singing may be influenced by MLV or a coincidence. I should say even Manda (as she is discussion now). SS produced some aesthetic phrases of Shanmugapriya. There are very few kritis in Shanmugapriya and it was mainly used in RTPs by stalwarts of yesteryears. This raga is being referred to as the forte of nadaswara vidwans and Thiruvengadu Subramanian Pillai in particular was accorded a special status by even TNR for his shanmugapriya. SS did make some mistakes while singing some phrases and am happy about this. A singer in the mid 20s singing shanmugapriya as taught by the teacher is not something great. Whereas a singer of this age tries something new, different on stage then it should be encouraged. But the singer should reach a stage where he/she understands their limitations and settles at a comfortable place (both to them and the listener) and perform accordingly. Keep it up SS. She also seamlessly performed gruhabedham in the alapana. What irked me is the choice of kriti after such a brilliant raga alapana. Though there are few kritis in this raga the one by Thygaraja and Patnam Subramania Iyer are grand classics. She sang a song of Thanjavur Sankara Iyer 'pAmAlai chUdiyE'. The song not just fell flat but dropped the whole concert to abysmal depths. SS started a short kannadA sketch and sang the dikshithar kriti pAlayamAm pArvatIsa which I have not heard over the last 25 years in Chennai concert platforms. Fortunately by singing this beautiful kritis, slowly and steadily, she not only surfaced from the pit after the disastrous shanmughapriya song also lifted me from depression.

Then came one of my live wires - kEdAragowla ragam. The sweet little girl sang a spirited alApAna understanding the nuances of this raga. She effortlessly avoided the mistakes most singers do - showing us traces of yadukulakhAmboji in kEdAragowla. My friend who is a very difficult person to impress as he expects the composers to sing for us and a great fan on Alathur Srinivasa Iyer wrote in my notepad - saraguNa pAlimpa. Actually its expected from this lineage as TNS has sung saraguNa pAlimpa exceptionally well many times over. The child in her popped up and she started the grand classic Thyagaraja kriti thulasI bilva from the anupallavi at the higher octave. And my friend sitting next chair started screaming for the immaturity. And i reminded him that the solution to his allegation is in the allegation. yes its nothing but lack of maturity. This kriti's beauty is in the way the pallavi is rendered. But SS wants to start from the higher octave and she did it well but unfortunately did not suit the persona of the kriti. Dont worry SS, there is always an other concert for you to correct this, and we are looking forward.

After the concert, I saw her chatting with her mother and friends on the driveway, I just stormed in between and remarked 'you sang a shanmugapriya which reminded MLV to me' and before she could acknowledge I was on my way to Music Academy for her paramaguru TNS's concert!!!

I think I have bored you all enough with such a long mail. Anyway to summarise - follow SS this season and report how consistent she is.

Listen to her this season: (I told you that am lazy - just copy pasted from their blog no formatting done, pl. take care)

JAN
2ND-rasika fine arts,
8th-Nungambakkam cultural,
9th-asthika samajam-thiruvanmiyur

All the best Sriranjani Santhanagopalan, keep it up.

Carnatic Music in perfect Harmony

The below anecdote was sent to the sangeethapriya group by Sri. V.Aiyah

Your message kindled memories of yore days from the bottom of my heart.
I belong to Kallidaikurichi in Tirunelveli Dist. which patronised fine arts for a long time. As you mention, I had seen "Terukoothus" , "Villu Paattus", "Bommalattam" and the like also. Nawab Rajamanickam Pillai's troupe would camp in our village every year. But, CM was uppermost in patronage. We had good opportunities to listen to the stalwarts of those days at close quarters. Every marriage would have at least one concert and there were number of "Satir Kutcheries" ( Bharat Natyam!) and "Katha Kaalakshepams".

I would like to mention here an interesting fact.

One wealthy Muslim gentleman celebrated his son's wedding (Nikah) and he arranged two concerts. One was by Karukurichi Arunachalam (just, he had made his debut) and the next day, much to the delight of inhabitants of our village as well as nearby villages, it was the concert of GNB with Kumbakonam Rajamanickam Pillai on the fiddle and PMI on Mridungam! (If one desires to under the real character of a Raaga (Aashiptikam) without any adultration with 100% melody, one should listen to Kumbakonam Rajamanckam Pillai). The concert was held in front of the gentleman's house a few yards away from the main mosque of the village! The audience which included people from all communities listened to the whole concert with rapt attention.

I think that this is a unique occasion!

We should be thankful to those stalwarts who made CM immortal!

V.Aiyah

Incipient Confidence#2

Mahathi

Surfing across TV channels, is one of my morning rituals, for some music programs. Yesterday while doing so, I saw a pleasantly looking lady singing in Zee Thamizh. It was Mahathi (hope the spelling is correct). Mahathi was singing pandureethi koluvaiya rama. Believe me she sang the neravals with good creativity (manodharma). I have heard her long ago in some chat show, she sang the bhavapriya kriti sri kaanthanee of thyagaraja saying it’s one of her favourites. She actually sang that kriti well then too.

I was told that she has sung some film songs. I’m not advising just a caveat. Like Jesudas she might end up messing both. For me she comes across as someone with an identity crisis. My take is that she can be a most sought after Carnatic musician if she concentrates and practices Carnatic music. She is naturally talented, that’s what I feel.

Natural singing

For her, sangathis flow with élan. More importantly she has a good pitch/scale range. And she is also able to sing 2 octaves without any strain. She doesn’t show any strain in her face or make it look unpleasant. I was told that she is training under TNS. My only suggestion is to take the best from his music and reproduce in her voice and ease. One shouldn’t try to emulate him.

Mahathi should identify aspects that suit her best and perform. Another important point I want to quote here is that she has got the lyrics memorized and didn’t refer a book, small piece of paper or a laptop. This is very important because multi-tasking on stage doesn’t bring out the best music. You can even afford to sing the lyrics wrong but not the ragam!! And I feel that the performers are not respecting their profession. A professional should be well equipped with the necessary skills to excel.

I’m looking for more of Mahathi’s Carnatic concerts. With what I heard in the 15mts capsule and the talk show may not be the right samples to arrive at an inference. If any of you have recordings of her Carnatic music, pl. forward them to me. I would like to listen to more and write more!!!

Indian Archives - A perfect oxymoron

In my early teens (1978 to 1981) I used to play tennis at the Corporation Stadium (now called the Radhakrishnan Stadium) in Egmore. Mr. Robin Mansfred was our coach then. From Triplicane I’ll go by the PTC (now called MTC) bus. I’ll get down opp. the Egmore Railway Station at the doorstep of Buhari & Vega Vasantha bhavan restaurants. Walk my way to the stadium. While walking, on my left, I used to see a red colour building built similar to the Madras University Senate house in the Indo-Saracenic style with a enameled board saying the Archives Department. I used to pronounce it as Archi as in Archies + ves.

What does Archives mean!!???

I never bothered to check, in the dictionary nor with my parents or teachers, the meaning of the word Archives. And to my dismay I find till date most of we Indians never bothered to understand the word Archives and its importance.

For those who believe in sentiments like being born in a blessed land (punniya bhoomi), born in a place or staying amongst the illuminati, you may then consider me blessed. Yes I was born and raised in thiruvallikeni (triplicane).

• One of the oldest settlements of Madras
• the illustrious Hindu High School was started
• where Bharathiar stayed during his last years
• where U.Ve. Swaminatha Iyer lived
• where the great GNB lived
• where Satyamurthi lived
• where Vai. Mu.Kodainayaki lived
• where Srinivasa Ramanujam lived
• the list is endless

You will be thinking why I have mentioned a list above. The reason is very simple you’ll find no traces of the above expect the ruined building of The Hindu High School (reminds me of the short story ‘leave no traces’ in the book Quiver full of arrows by Jeffrey Archer).

By now you should have started thinking about the meaning and importance of Archiving. Yes Archiving is the quintessence of life in the West. More importantly the Westerners market their archived materials well and make money to maintain the value. We lack the social responsibility. Let’s stop blaming the government machinery. What have we done as responsible citizens of the country? We have been thoroughly ruthless in defacing the monuments, destroying the materials, demeaning the contents, what not.

I can hear you all say – so you are one of those folks who emerge to advise the en masse. Sorry am not here to advise or lead you by example. I’m no Buddha, Jesus or Vivekananda. Am just an ordinary mortal but with an eye & ear for detail, if I could say so!!

Ok, let me tell you my listening experiences

My father despite his economic constrains started recording Carnatic music concerts (both vocal & instrumental) since 1965 and passed on the baton to me in 1978. With the limited financial and equipment resources, we recorded some of the finest concerts of the likes of Madurai Somu, Dr. S. Ramanathan, MDR, Mali, Balachandar, DKJ, Kalyanaraman, TRS, Balamuralikrishna etc.

And my regular attendance to these concerts connected me to a few like-minded teens (then) like Tharak, Sanjay, Madhu and some names I have forgotten now. Myself and Tharak used to pool in money to buy a cassette tape to record the concert. We never had the wherewithal then to buy tapes in bulk.

Those recordings were done using some mono recorders, I had a Panasonic 1857, Tharak had a Grundig etc. We used to buy prerecorded cassettes of any genre in the discount sale and copy the concerts we recorded in these prerecorded tapes. Sanjay inherited some recordings done by parents and grandparents.

We used to listen to one Madurai Mani Iyer concert with Lalgudi & Palani often. MMI’s rendition of kaana kan koodi vendum in khamboji in this concert and Palani accompaniment used to entrance us every time we listen to it. Sanjay also gave me couple of Ramnad Krishnan concerts which I treasure even today.

My first blush with a serious collector

Sri. C V Narasimhan, father of Bombay Balaji, mrudangist was an avid collector of Carnatic music. Sri.CVN was the secretary of a sabha in Bombay and also in Cochin. Sri.CVN had an enviable collection of spool recorders/tapes, cassette tapes. Infact he was the one who introduced me to Sri. T. K. Rangachari’s music. Sr. CVN gave me a concert of Sri. TKR with Sri. Chalakudy & Palghat Sri. Raghu organized by him in Cochin. It’s one of the finest concerts I have heard. I met Sri. Raghu at their home in Krishnapuri, Chennai 28. I vividly remember Sri. Raghu instructing (!!) me to listen to lot of Sri.TKR to enhance my knowledge of Carnatic music.

Unfortunately, before I could take his entire collection Sri. CVN passed away and I also lost touch with Balaji. Tharak told me that Balaji is somewhere in the Middle East. I'm keen in re-connecting and share my collection to him.

I can hear you all ask – What have you done?

As mentioned earlier, the recordings I did and some got from Sanjay, Tharak was passed on to likeminded people. And slowly we got connected with some other collectors as well. But to our dismay, they declined to share their collection with us. What they had were all priceless music by the stalwarts of pre1960s. We were desperate to have them. This urge rather humiliation made us think.

Tharak, myself and few others decided to go on a goose hunt. And saw some light. Incidentally Tharak’s father knew Sri. Tanjore S. Kalyanaraman too well. Tharak used to go to Sri.SKR’s home and nag him to copy his concerts. And Sri.SKR was very magnanimous. He gave few concerts of his. And our collection started bloating.

We then got connected to some people who had spool tapes. We then bought a spool player and transferred them to cassette tapes. Slowly our financial condition improved to buy more tapes and collection also increased. Tharak then bought a Marantz double tape recorder for making copies of the concerts we get from other collectors. Tharak then spent a fortune in 1980s to set up a good listening environ. We went to test Onkyo and the impulsive buyer in Tharak brought it home. We used to have long listening sessions at his home.

OMG, am crippled!! Yes this Tharak fellow suddenly disappeared from my vicinity. No clue about his whereabouts. So I used to go to the concerts with my father and my neighbor Raja, who is about 4 years younger to me. Raja was learning guitar under Ravikiran (yes chitravina ravikiran). Raja was recommended to Ravikiran by Sri. M.O. Srinivasan a great connoisseur of music particularly bhajans. MOS had an organization called Dasanjali and was teaching bhajans, abhangs etc to children. MOS passed away and Raja shifted from Ravikiran to Dr. S. Ramanathan who was staying in our area, Triplicane.

I have to mention the great experience I used to have. I have had the privilege of travelling in the local bus sitting beside Dr. S. Ramanathan. We used to go to Sastri Hall together for concerts. Dr.SR was one of the finest human being I have come across till date. Absolutely down to earth. I realized his value only during the 1990s when people started talking about his vidwath. He never showed his persona to anyone around. He used to interact freely with us as if he is our classmate. A perfect practice of ‘sowseelyam’.

My cassette collection started growing leaps & bounds. My small apartment couldn’t take on more. Just then I got the first blush at a PC. And the 1^st Creative SoundBlaster card burnt my pocket by Rs.22,000/- in 1998. I started digitizing the tapes to wav format. The cost of a blank CD was (hold your breath) Rs.35. Brands like TDK and HP were only available.

Next to music, technology always entices me till date. When I got connected to the internet,

I was totally flabbergasted. Here again I have to mention my first experience - the power of the internet.And oh again it’s with Sanjay and another friend. In the later 1997 the internet was used only for Emails and ICNET was the company offering the inevitable link. Sanjay called my office one day morning and said that he is coming in the next 30 minutes. He rushed into our office asked me and my colleague to leave immediately. We never knew for what. Sanjay just said, we are going to have a whole new experience. We went to Rosy Towers on Nungambakkam High Road. Sanjay dint have the patience to wait for the elevator, literally jumped over the stairs and reached the 4^th floor. The name board read Microsense. They were the distributors for VSNL’s internet connection and a demo was happening there.

Sanjay had fixed an appointment with them for the demo. We went into a small room, the executive asked us to close the room. We had only 2 chairs, Sanjay and that executive were on the chair, my friend and I stood behind them. They were obviously in front of a PC. That executive then started explaining about the power of Internet. I still remember the 1^st word I searched over the internet – its tyre manufacturers. You know why I searched for rubber manufacturers, I wanted to see MRF’s name in the search results!! So mean of me right!!!

Back to my music collection. With the help of the Soundblaster card, I started digitizing the tapes I had. And the bait I had for other collectors was the CD with the digitized music. Today my digitized collection is confined to a box of size 2” x 4” x 6”. Yes this is the physical size of my 1TB external hard drive.

Fortunately last Sunday the New Indian Express carried an article.

The benefit of the above article about archiving has literally opened the eyes of many. Calls keep pouring to my mobile, I don’t know how they managed to get my number. Those who call me after congratulating me for the effort without fail offer their collection for digitization.

My objective of recording and digitizing is to transfer this finest art form for the future generations. I am afraid if we fail to do it now, Carnatic music will face the same problem what neem, turmeric, basmati are facing now in the international patent arena.

But what hurts me most is the attitude of most of the Carnatic music performers of today. They have all imposed an embargo. Literal policing is happening in concerts of some performers. The sleuths of the performers check the audience for possession of recording gadgets and take them away. If only the recordings of yesteryears artistes are not available how could have the present day performers learnt some of the kritis, ragams.

I request those of you who have good music, pl. digitize and share with as many people possible.

Double Sundae

Nice to be back, though not with a full update on my experiences during December 2008 in the sabhas.
But before I write about my December 2008 experiences, I wanted to share with you all my experiences on January 10, 2009 at Narada Gana Sabha. Rasika Ranjani Sabha - one of the oldest patrons of fine arts in Chennai are conducting a series of concerts. That day was the arudhra darisanam day.
Thanks to my friend Mr.Hariharan for prompting me to attend. He is a very strict disciplinarian when it comes to attending concerts - he will be in the hall much before the start of the concert, won't leave the hall in between, won't talk, et all. So I was very careful while listening to the concerts (yes 2). Infact couple of times when I wanted to tell him something, thanks to technology,I typed the message in my cell phone and showed it to him. A worth while way of listening and emulating too. I request you all to try it.
Coming back to the concerts. I actually went late to the first concert of Gayathri Venkataraghavan (GV) which started by 4pm. When I went in she was singing Hindolam ragam, she sang 'nambikettavar evar aiya'. I have heard this kriti very often sung by Sri. DKJ. I always felt there was a lot melodrama in his rendition, where the lyrics always prevailed over the ragam. But GV sang it brilliantly. I know her since 1988 when we were in YACM. Honestly I never thought she would come up to this level in the carnatic music arena. She was a very lovable friend, never had any cliched persona. And am happy that she is still the same. But what am writing about her performances are not because I know her, my views are as genuine as her music.
I had a feeling of listening to MLV in her last days despite her ill-health. What I mean by saying so is that I find a clear emergence of a distinct style of singing. She has an ingenious ability to produce good music. And she has understood that.
One important aspect I want to highlight here is the mutual appreciation and respect the artistes showed on stage that day. GV was thoroughly enjoying Charumathi's raga renditions and so was towards Manoj Siva on the mrudangam and Anirudh Athreya on the kanjira. They made a perfect combo!!
Coming to the music delivered by this team, it was harmonious in the true sense of the word. GV's singing is very ingenious and true. She never tries to imitate anyone. She only delivers what comes best to her. It was a real audio-visual treat for us that. What I mean is that the stage was very pleasant to the eyes too. None of them showed any strain, infact very warm towards the audience too.
Anirudh's smile was very infectious as much as his playing. A perfect pedigree he is. He showed a lot of respect for Manoj, as a upa-pakkavadhyam, understanding his position on stage. I want to compliment Manoj in particular. I also know him since 1986. He is a good musician not just a percussionist. I know he used to like TNR, Ramnad Krishnan's music a lot. The sensitivity in thier music has ingrained in Manoj too. The way he got involved in the music of the evening and the space he gave Anirudh should be commended. But the pinnacle stays in his way of setting the shruthi while the raga alapana by Charumathi was getting to a close. He shifted the mrudangam away from the mic and checked it showing perfect finnesse. Keep the good attitude going Manoj.
Charumathi Raghuraman, probably the youngest disciple of Prof. TN Krishnan. She is just too good for her age. Her playing shows that she is an ardent listener. I have seen her in 2004 (if am right) sitting beside me in a Sanjay's concert at Gurukulam at R A Puram, Chennai. She was present till the concert ended around 9.45 pm. She should have been in her teens then. I still remember the attention she showed in the concerts and I dont her as a violinst then. She is living up to the promise she showed 4 years ago. May this tribe flourish. Actually the violionists of this decade are too good in terms of their playing skills, music value. I should say violin as an instrument has matured over the years.
GV sang a brilliant Kedaram ragam and as expected sang the immortal dikshithar composition 'aanandha natana prakaasam'. And the swara patterns she sang were very impressive and spontaneous. The slow tempo rendition of kedaram was succeeded by the brisk bhavapriya kriti 'sri kanthane yadabalaathi'. She made the audience sit up in this song. The kharaharapriya ragam and the very rarely sung thyagaraja kriti 'koori sevimpa raare' was a real treat. A soothing desh and ragamalika with sama, ranjani finished the concert. I had to mention the thani avarthanam played by Manoj and Anirudh. I was very soft on our ears. Infact during the 3 song Dr. Venkat prompted Manoj to instruct the PA guy to increase the volume for mrudangam. I remember an anecdote of ARI refering the mic as micasuran. It is valid even today. For Pete's sake, why can't the organisers engage a good person to handle the public address system. Let me do it as an organiser sometime and set the trend!!!
I met the team on stage and gave my compliments from the bottom of my heart. I have requested Dr.Venkataraghavan (GV's husband), incidentally our family ophthalmologist, to send me pictures of this concert to include in this page. Will upload as soon as I receive them.
The 2nd concert of the day was by the living legend TNS. This is the 5th concert of TNS in this season am preparing myself to listen.
TNS started the concert with the Sri ragam varnam. He then sang 'sivaloga nathani kandu' without singing even a short sketch of the ragam. He compensated with a good panthuvarali ragam, I have heard some more brilliants by him earlier in my collection of more than 150 concerts of his. His voice was very good, heard that he had a tooth extraction, probably the antibiotics he took as post operative therapy helped his voice. And the audience were the obvious beneficiaries. He sang 'siva siva yenaradha' with his usual kankku in the kalpanaswarams.
A short digress. I forgot to mention about the accompanists of the day for TNS. The best violin TNS can ask for MC was there. I say this because LGJ, TNK, VVS, MSG have all stopped playing as accompanists. And the younger ones who are good haven't started yet. Though my take will be Mysore Nagraj, Manjunath, MA Sunderaswaran, Embar Kannan, Varadarajan, Lalgudi Vijayalakshmi (infact its very sad that she is not accompanying these days), for reasons best known these artistes are not seen with TNS over the last couple of years. Guruvayur Dorai (GD) was on the mrudangam, a great admirer of TNS. Guruprasad on the ghatam. I've to mention the way Guruprasad carried himself on stage was not pallatable to me. Particularly after seeing Anirudh Athreya an hour ago, the difference in attitude was very loud. No doubt he plays well and infact grasped most of the korvais TNS sang well before GD got them. But that shouldn't give him the audacity on stage. I have seen TNS ruthlessly slaughter the pakkavadyams and even went on record saying that they can't accompany him. And Guruprasad remember this, if TNS gets a clue that you are trying to over power him then that concert will be your Waterloo. So better be careful.
TNS then sang sahana and a song I haven't heard before - 'appa naan venduthal kettarul puri'. Alas TNS is starting kedaram ragam. We were for sure he is going to sing 'aananda natana prakaasam'. And he did. But, believe me, it was very refreshing. Infact I typed in my cell phone and showed it to Sri. Hariharan too. The rendition was totally different from what GV did. The tempo was much slower than her version. At places GD didn't play enhancing the effect. 'innamum santhega padalAmo' was the next kriti TNS sang. Kiravani is another ragam TNS freaks out. Particularly his 'amba vaani nannu' is one rendition I like very much.
In the 150+ concerts of TNS I've, one RTP I used to yearn was in aabohi. And TNS fulfilled my desire that day. Yes he sang one of the finest abohi ragam (I have heard a rendition by MLV in one of her US concerts, where she announced at the start that she will sing 'manasu nillpa' and changed to a RTP, my mother always used to talk high of this concert. I rate this the best abohi rendition). This one TNS comes next to it. He sang the phrase 'oru tharam sivachidambaram enruraithaal modhume' as the pallavi in khanda triputa 2 kalai. The ragamalika he sang after the kalpanaswarams was something I can't write about. Because the way he brought the ragams' full structure in a minute was amazing. He sang ahiri, amrithavarshini, hindolam, kaanada etc. After the thani TNS sang a virutham 'paal ninaithu uttum' again in ragamalika - the ragas he choose were saveri, yadhukula khamboji, boopalam, hamsanandhi, darbari kaanada, yamuna kalyani and shankarabharanam. Here I have to mention the large heartedness of MC. In all the concerts this season I heard of TNS & MC, MC was gracious enough to say that TNS has sung enough in a ragam that he wont play it. MC did it for y'kalyani. TNS sang a mangalam praising all the celestial pairs and concluded the concert.
Now you know why I have named this post as Double Sundae. Yes it was.
To rasikas - Try and listen to more of GV's concerts.
To GV - please maintain the consistency in your performances and provide us with some good no gimmicks music.