Reflections

It has been raining continuously in Chennai from thursday evening thanks to Cyclone Thane. I braved the downpour and made it to the Music Academy along with my family for Nisha Rajagopal's afternoon concert. I expected to just breeze through and get a parking slot at the academy which was not the case. By the time I parked at St.Ebbas and walked back in the rain, Nisha was into the aalapana for what was most likely her second song. The ragam reminded me of some popular Ilayaraja songs. I learnt later that it was lataangi. Conscious of the canteen closing time, we had headed straight to the canteen. After taking a took at Iyengar's elaborate menu, a special one at that - with urulakezhangu vadhakkal, paavakkai pitlai and so on, I smacked my lips, rubbed my hands and sat down. As the items were lined up one by one, I noticed that the crowd was pretty good despite the rain and ankle deep water on the floor. As I started eating, Nisha started on "Pirava Varam vendum" thr...

‎2 concerts at the academy today .. had a good lunch and then briefly heard the violin maestro TN Krishnan wind up before settling down for Sandeep narayan's concert.. The guy next to me at lunch was still at vatha kozhambu when I finished, that too after 3 or 4 appalams and 2 rounds sambar and he muttered to me "130 roobaikku onnum perisa illaye". I walked away with a smile. after all it is such characters also who make the sabha experience interesting Sandeep narayan who has let go of the NRI tag to become a full fledged carnatic musician was impressive .. took a strong coffee in the break and followed it with Amrita murali which made it back to back concerts yet again ..Amrita dealt with Akshaya linga vibho in detail which was heart warming .. however made the mistake of staying till the end, the whole area goes mad before the 4:30 pm concert and I could not take my car out .. So took a short walk to Parthasarathy sabha and had some snacks .. badam halwa and kuzhi pa...

was at 2 concerts today .. concert 1 - Nisha Rajagopal at NGS was like a breath of fresh air, the maama next to me kept prompting the raagas as she moved from charukesi to dhanyasi and so on and took Rama Rama Guna seema which I was told was a Swathi thirunal composition in Simhendra madhayamam as the main piece .. Claps at regular intervals and an overflowing crowd with 20 odd people standing in and outside the mini hall showed her rising popularity.. the poli, bhajji, coffee combination at gnanambiga afterwards was good but didn't make so much impact after such a fascinating concert! concert 2 was Malladi brothers at Indian fine arts .. I realised that when a duo is singing there is lot more scope for creativity which makes the concert more vibrant. Umayalpuram sivaraman on mirudangam made the concert lively and the viiolinist was also good. They sang one of my favourites - sogasugaa mrudanga thaalamu .. the guy next to me this time was sunil raj, so no raaga prompting though ......

Making good use of maargazhi .. what a month! after some delicious food over the last few days, I think the liking for carnatic music also rubbed on or should i say re ignited .. listened to an old bombay jayashree CD on the way to office. the rendition of Kanden Kanden seedhayai was really touching . Coming back to food, was at NGS today, Venpongal with gosthu was simply heavenly. Finished for the day with a crispy onion rava dosa and a strong Coffee :-)

Sometimes artists take the less popular ragas / krithis but leave you with a memorable expereince. At the music academy today Padmanabha Iyengar had made a questionable choice for the concert but managed to surprise with some real improvisations.While the Vazhathandu thayir pachadi was a nice aalapana .. manathakaali vatha kozhambu was a neraval .. Pienapple thakkali rasam was the kalpana swara.. all the thani avarthanams were well orchestrated with thirupullani payaasam taking the lead .. on the whole the experience was a good korvai with no kuraippu :-)

I am a collection of unanswered questions I am a bundle of unresolved conflicts My successes give me confidence My successes give me complacence My failures give me fear My failures give me the resolve to fight My beliefs are my strengths My beliefs are my limitations My actions give me joy My actions give me worries I am a bundle of unresolved conflicts I am a collection of unanswered questions I am a reflection of what I have met I am an aberration of what I haven't met

கடற்கரை மணல்வெளியில் கால் தடம் பட்டதும் கடமை உணர்வோடு கடல் அலை கலைக்கும் நான் என்னும் எண்ணம் மனதில் தோன்றிய மறுகணம் தான் இன்னும் இருப்பதைக் காலம் தவறாமல் உணர்த்தும்