Featured Post

Daily Project திருக்குறள்

Dear Readers / Friends, http://DailyProjectThirukkural.blogspot.com/    By interpreting various meanings for every word in a Thirukkur...

Showing posts with label Arts n Music. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Arts n Music. Show all posts

September 28, 2013

Vaishnav Jan To [One Who is a Vaishnav]

Vaishnav Jan To, sung by Bharat Ratna Shrimathi M.S.Subbulakshmi, is a song that freezes me everytime I listen to it. M.S.Subbulakshmi has given so much soul to such excellent lyrics. It was roughly in early 2008 I listened to this song, since then it has always been in my playlist. I listened to this again today and felt crying. Many singers have sung Vaishnav Jan To. But the one by M.S.S stands out. She is a legend. Her lesser known erraticaly written part of life has been excellently perceived in an essay by writer Mr.Jeyamohan at ஓர் அக்கினிப்பிரவேசம்  (click)

Video Linkhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHqhLHn6Ezc 

M.S.Subbulakshmi in sublime form [Photo Courtesy: Raghu Rai]

Song and Meaning
        Vaishnav jan to tene kahiye je
        [One who is a vaishnav]  
        PeeD paraayi jaaNe re
        [Knows the pain of others]
        Par-dukhkhe upkaar kare toye
        [Does good to others, esp. to those ones who are in misery]
        Man abhimaan na aaNe re
        [Does not let pride enter his mind]
        Vaishnav...
     
        SakaL lok maan sahune vande
        [A Vaishnav, Tolerates and praises the the entire world]
        Nindaa na kare keni re
        [Does not say bad things about anyone]
        Vaach kaachh man nishchaL raakhe
        [Keeps his/her words, actions and thoughts pure]
        Dhan-dhan janani teni re
        [O Vaishnav, your mother is blessed (dhanya-dhanya)]
     
        Vaishnav...

        Sam-drishti ne trishna tyaagi
        [A Vaishnav sees everything equally, rejects greed and avarice]
        Par-stree jene maat re
        [Considers some one else's wife/daughter as his mother]
        Jivha thaki asatya na bole
        [The toungue may get tired, but will never speak lies]
        Par-dhan nav jhaalee haath re
        [Does not even touch someone else's property]
        Vaishnav...

        Moh-maaya vyaape nahi jene
        [A Vaishnav does not succumb to worldly attachments]
        DriDh vairaagya jena man maan re
        [Who has devoted himself to stauch detachment to worldly pleasures]
        Ram naam shoon taaLi laagi
        [Who has been edicted to the elixir coming by the name of Ram]
        SakaL tirath tena tan maan re
        [For whom all the religious sites are in the mind]
        Vaishnav...

        VaN-lobhi ne kapaT-rahit chhe
        [Who has no greed and deciet]
        Kaam-krodh nivaarya re
        [Who has renounced lust of all types and anger]
        BhaNe Narsaiyyo tenun darshan karta
        [The poet Narsi will like to see such a person]
        KuL ekoter taarya re
        [By who's virtue, the entire family gets salvation]
        Vaishnav...
                            - Narsinh Mehta

னம் தடுமாறேல்.
Meaning: Never get disturbed

December 12, 2012

Pandit Ravi Shankar - R.I.P

Today 12-12-12, I woke up to read that Bharat Ratna Pandit Ravi Shankar passed away. As an icon for Indian Classical Music he took both Indian music and sitar across the globe. Many of his albums, to name a few - West Meets East in collaboration with Sir Yehudi Menuhin, Sounds of Sitar, Full Circle: Carnegie Hall are legendary. He was a simple human but his depth of understanding was great which was reflected in all his music.  His Swara Kakali with Menuhin will always ring in my ears. I feel it as a blessing to have breathed the same air he breathed and attended at least his last concert in India - Farewell to Bangalore in last February 2012. 

Pandit Ravi Shankar - Rest in peace.


February 07, 2011

December Music Season 2010 @ Chennai

This December 2010 I planned to catch few concerts of Sanjay Subrahmanyam (@ Nardha Gana Sabha), Nithyashree Mahadevan (@ YGP Auditorium), Kanyakumari and Embar Kannan (@ Music Academy). It was really a fulfilling experience.

I went to Mylai Karpagambaal Mess and had the following as breakfast
  -- Nei-Pongal
  -- Podi dosai
  -- Idli

All these with 
  -- Thick Paruppu Sambar(konjam perungaayam)
  -- Thengaai Chutney
  -- Thakkaali Vengayaam Vadakkiya Chutney

And finally finished off with a nice coffee. It was a great breakfast. 

One of the refreshing things is that there were lots of Mylapore / Mambalam Mami girls in a typical classy style -> 
      i) Well combed hair to the skull, 
     ii) with a slight layer oil in their face 
     iii) one small pottu in their face 
     iv) small line of sandanam/vibudhi and 
     iv) adakkam








Some of the snaps taken in ECE, Mylai Kapaaleeshwarar Temple, Baristta



August 09, 2010

Art is independent of language






On 6-Aug-2010 Friday, I planned to attend the second day event of the Parampara Festival 2010 at Kamani Auditorium. I was keen to attend the Violin Duet of Ganesh and Kumaresh. However each day had a dance performance followed by a musical performance. The first one was an Odissi (a dance form in Orissa) Dance performance by students of Sri Guru Gangadhar Pradhan. Initially I was not much interested in it. Because I don't know much about Odissi as well as Oriya language. However I tried to follow it up and started taking some snaps. The first choreography was not drawing my attention. However the second item was a Dhasaavatharam performance, about which everyone has an idea. Now I was really engaged in looking up to their performance. The students did a brilliant performance. Among the students I found a father-son together performing (Sachindananda Pradhan) in Dhasaavatharam. The girls also did an excellent performance.










Last choreography was on a small spat between Krishna and Radha before their reunion, announced the anchor. Sachindananda played the Krishna character. He and his partner Lakshmi Rekha Menon bowled the audience with a classy performance. It was simply brilliant. Radha expressed her disappointment that she was unhappy with the separation and Krishna apologised. However Krishna apologised for a long time to give the best at the end to the audience. They expressed their love beautifully with a subtle divinity which should be felt. It was like a butterfly, dancing and circling to rainy tunes of a piano, is collecting nectar from a sunflower, which is oscillating to the gentle breeze.  (i.e., sunflower not allowing the butterfly). Krishna and Radha were crawling, dancing, kneeling, and fighting. But Radha was completely over control of Krishna in the spat. Krishna's plots didn't work easily. Somebody next to me murmured that people who really don't love are expressing love but people who love are not able to express it.  I guess it has to be debated. Meanwhile I noticed Sachindananda father, relaxing on the wall, on the right, in the audience side. He was watching his son's romantic performance. He was twisting his head to every expression and his eyes glittered with joy and pride.  As the choreography came to an end, Krishna and Radha reunited to give us an aesthetic feel of love. Their cuddle was felt. Krishna and Radha enacted Unjal Urchavam beautifully [Unjal is a wooden swing or a porch swing]. I guess many in Kamani Auditorium would have felt like themselves romancing with their beloved (if any or spouse or spouse to be) at the Valley of Kashmir on a dusk with little showers from heaven. And I really don't know how these ninety minutes went. Sachindananda and Lakshmi performance would definitely be in my minds for a long time. 






'ஊடல் முன் கூடலா' அல்லது 'ஊடல் பின் கூடலா' .. எது சிறந்தது ? பாப்பையா எங்கப்பா


August 08, 2010

வயலினில் லயித்தேன்

[Translation: Got immersed in Violin]


Since July 2010 I was reading all newspaper regularly looking for the Parampara Festival 2010. Fortunately I saw the advertisement last Thursday (5-Aug-2010). Paramapara is a three day annual festival organised by Sri Raja Reddy and Srimati Radha Raja Reddy, and Srimati Kousalya Raja Reddy on behalf of Natya Tharagani (A school for Kuchipudi Dance). This year the premise of the festival was duet. On the second day of the series they had an Odissi dance performance by the students of Sri Guru Gangadar Pradhan followed by a Violin duet performance by Ganesh and Kumaresh (G&K). I went mainly for G&K. However the Odissi performance was also a highlight which I have discussed separately.




After a divine romantic performance by students of Guru Gangadhar Pradhan, the stage was set aesthetically for G&K. Brothers started with a contemporary music (This piece was Ragha Prabhavam in Ragam Gambira Naatai in Adi Taalam) which is not a traditional Krithis, Varnams.  The performance was like a cut shot sixer  hit by Sehwag in the first over the match. After that they performed a Muthuswami Dikshitar’s Krithi,  an Alaapana, a Thyagaraja’s Krithis and Mangalam which had one of my favourite Harivarasanam (A song rendered while closing the Lord Ayyappa Temple @ Sabarimala). Their rendition of the Thyagaraja’s Kirthi showed their mastery. On the whole the Violin performance, which lasted for ninety minutes, had all ingredients of a fruit salad which everyone in the Kamani Auditorium enjoyed. For couple of minutes, audience praised  with a standing ovation.  Once the concert was over, I took the opportunity to get autographs from G&K as well as from Jayanthi Kumaresh (Venna Artist, her programme was scheduled for the next day). Here I got introduced to a friend Varun Koundinya from Hyderabad. We shared about our list of collections of G&K. We quickly shared a good wavelength. Varun happily accepted my request to take a photograph of G&K & I. Later I and Varun were discussing with G&K about their future albums. G said they are working on their new album in lines of CC. I am waiting for it …….. On the whole it was a unique unforgettable day for me.








About the relationship between RBA and G&K

In early 2007, I started learning Violin (Carnatic Classical Music). Around this time there was a hoarding, in Mount Road (aka/alias Anna Salai, Teynampet, Chennai] advertising the album ‘Carnatic Chills’(CC),  by Violin Duet Ganesh & Kumaresh (G&K), is released by AR Rehman. Only for the name AR Rehman I went exploring about Ganesh Kumaresh. But reading about G&K I was stunned by these child prodigies. In the subsequent week ‘The Hindu’ praised the album very highly.  Now I didn’t had a second thought to buy the album. I straight away went to Music World and purchased CC. It was the first CD album I have brought even though it was too costly for me at that time. But CC was worth buying it. Couple of the tracks [‘Dance like a Man’ and ‘Flights of Fantasy’] in the album are some of the best I have listened so far. This album is not regular classical stuff. It was neither a fusion nor Carnatic music with a western flavour. It was straight from heart to heart and it was fresh, scintillating. Since then I became a big fan of G&K. They have become an inspiration for me to learn Violin much better. While writing I guess in future I would try my hands on a duet performance. And would even try  a Jugal Bandhi with my friend Xavy playing Veena. It would happen one day

(RBA, Ganesh and Kumaresh)


(Varun, Ganesh, Jayanthi Kumaresh & Kumaresh)

January 28, 2008

Thiruvaiyaaru Araadhana









It was a wonderful trip to Thiruvaiyaar, 161st Aradhana of Sri Thyagaraja.
All Pancharathna Krithis sung by all musicians and played by all instrumentalists along with the humming of the rasigas(im also one of the rasigas) was a treat to feel. On the trip to Thiruvaiyaru(15km from Thanjavur) we(myself(budding Violinist :-) and my friend Lourdu Xavier, budding(already few petals came out) Veena Vidwan) went to Brahadeeswar Temple

Here are few snaps of the trip