Fluffing your lines

Recently, I attended a concert by Karthik Lakshminarayanan and Kaushik Lakshminarayanan, two upcoming youngsters, organized by LOTUS (LOcal Talent UnderScored). It was an excellent concert featuring Mamava Meenakshi in Varali, Tulasi Jagajanani in Saveri (requested by yours truly), a beautifully rendered Tulasi Bilva and a mind-blowing Akhilandeshwari. The violinist Krishna Parthasarathy was quite upto the task and the mridangist Sriram Raghavan's playing was delightful throughout the concert.

Well, I managed to provide a brief review of the concert. But I wanted to bring up another important issue in this post. There have been endless debates on musicians having the lyrics of the song in front of them. I normally take the stand that as professionals, they should be memorizing the lyrics, especially because it's difficult to write down the sangathis. Also, I feel that one just learns a krithi to be able to sing it on stage without actually understanding the meaning of the song. If one makes an effort to understand the meaning and the emotion that the composer tries to convey, they shouldn't forget the lyrics, right?

On this note, I started paying closer attention to the sahitya on my runs and found some glaring mistakes by some of the popular names in CM. For example, BMK leaves out a whole charanam in Dudukugala, interchanges charanams in Endaro. In Taye Ezhaipaal, Sanjay sings

naayEnum paalanRi engE selvEn
pOdum ini muDiyaadu unadaDi
pOdu aDaiya idu pOdu varam aruLi

instead of

naayEnum paalanRi engE selvEn
naLina mruduLa sukumaara manOhara
saraNayugaLa maruLa taruNamiduvE en

(Lyrics: http://www.karnatik.com/c1544.shtml).

and then corrects himself. In Brochevarevare, he again forgets one of the charanams and interchanges it. Coming from professionals, this is a bit disappointing. While we need to applaud their ability to learn and memorize thousands of krithis, we should also expect some professionalism from them. In this respect, I have come to think that it's probably a better idea to have the lyrics in front of them so that they don't change the meaning of krithis or forget them entirely. This would enable them to sing with a lot more confidence I guess.

As long as they do not write down kalpana swaras like some artists have been known to do, they should be fine. :-D

To smile or not to smile

During my training runs on Shoreline Park, I come across many people who are either running, walking or just enjoying the scenery. As a runner, I'm a beginner who is not yet aware of the rules of smiling and greeting. I try to make eye contact with everyone I meet and if I managed to make eye contact, I either smile or greet depending on how tired I'm or how fast I'm running. But making this eye contact is difficult and is not reciprocated by most people I come across. People either don't make eye contact or look away, even if they aren't running. I can understand the runners being tired or trying to focus.

In India, we are not used to smiling at strangers and greeting them. If you did so, you were either assumed to be a thief or a bit out of whack. When I came to this country, it was a pleasant culture shock to be greeted or smiled at on the road. This has become second nature to me over the past few years. After moving to the Bay Area, I've noticed that Buffalonians are much friendlier than their Bay Area counterparts. I have been experiencing this on my morning runs and it's making me uncomfortable for whatever reason. I'm not sure if I'm making a mistake by smiling. Probably, you just get on with your business? Then I might as well run on the treadmill.

I've also started running with sunglasses on, recently and it's making things worse. Hmm, maybe it has to do with the fact that I listen to music while running. Well, it's not so loud that I can't hear a Good Morning or Good Evening. So to all Californians, smile. Don't earn your state a bad reputation. I'm just trying to be nice. :-)

Half a Marathon

My obsession with running continues. I signed up for the San Francisco Half Marathon (2nd half). I had been dilly-dallying on whether to run it or not. I finally decided to give it a go and have been praticising assiduously. I logged 36 miles last week including a 12 or 13 mile run with no bad side-effects. This week started with a rather hard run in the midday sun on Sunday (pun unintended). I skipped training today after being dehydrated by yesterday's run with a long run planned for tommorow.

I mostly run on Shoreline Park in Mountain View since it's close to my house. I recently started running from the San Antonio Road entrance through the Palo Alto Bay lands to the Sailing station. It's a nice 7.5 - 8 mile run on a gravel path that's not too hard on your legs. In the evenings, the wind is a little strong and the sun is directly in your eyes since you are mostly running west and north west.

I killed my trusted companion who used to accompany me on my runs. Yes, I'm talking about my Palm Zire PDA that I had been using to listen to music on my runs. I broke the LCD Screen while trying to stuff my phone in the same pocket where I had put the PDA. When I do something stupid, I do it big. I'm really annoyed that I did this but accidents happen. I'm going to try running without music, as suggested by a lot of veteran runners, tommorow and hopefully it'll not be too much of a problem. If it turns out to be, then I have the Creative Zen Nano Plus in mind.

God save my stuff from me!!

--Sripathi

P.S: I bet no one listens to MDR while running except me. ;-)

How it all started!! (Part 2)

The time has come to write part 2 of this rather interesting (yeah, right) story on how I became interested in Carnatic Music.

So one day I was watching Thillana Mohanmbal, a popular Tamil movie. In that movie, Sivaji Ganesan plays a Nadaswaram vidhwan. The story is set during the British rule. He is invited to play in a Zamindar's house but at the last minute is told that he can't play since the English sahibs wanted to dance. A short-tempered Sivaji storms out and finds that a huge crowd of villagers had gathered in front of the Zamindar's house to hear his playing. After some prodding, he starts playing outside the Zamindar's house which disturbs the Englishmen's dance. They challenge him to play something to which they could dance and he starts playing the famous English note also known as Madurai Mani Iyer note (important). The crowd starts dancing to the music and everyone is happy.

The English note was composed by Sri Harikesanallur Muthiah Bhagavathar, a renowned Harikatha exponent and composer in the late 19th century and early 20th century. Madurai Mani Iyer, who spent some time under the tutelage of the Bhagavathar popularized this composition in his concerts. Almost all of his concerts ended with the English note followed by the Mangalam and even if he did not sing it, the crowd invariably demanded it and he always acceded to their request.

After that scene in the movie, my Mom told me about the significance of the English note and made me listen to the original version by MMI. I found it very enjoyable and out of curiosity started listening to the other songs in that tape. The contents of the tape are:

1. Thathvamariya tharama - Reetigowla (Yes, the same Madisekaran Magane)

2. Nijamarmulanu - Umabharanam

3. Maa Janaki - Kamboji

4. Sarasamadana - Kapinarayani

5. Sarasamukhi - Gowda Malhar (Garuda Malhar)

6. Eppo Varuvaro - Jonpuri

7. English Note - Sankarabharanam

What an awesome cassette!! That was it. I had become hooked to CM!! I kept listening to that tape again and again. Whether it was MMI's magical voice or his simple style or my age (teenager) or the music I'll never know. Am I glad that my Mom made me listen to that tape? You bet!! :-)

How it all started!!

Anyone who knows me even a little knows that I'm obsessed with Carnatic Music. This obsession leads me to sing along to the music which can have a strange effect on your brain depending on the kind of person you are. :-). The primary reason for that effect should be attributed to the fact I have no formal training in Carnatic Music. So, this post is about how it all started.

When I was a kid, I had no inclination towards music at all. I never hummed a tune, never listened attentively to any piece of music . Well, not entirely true because when I was 2 years old I was supposed to have played around with a small Casio keyboard. But I don't have any memory of that though I have a picture of that. My parents are very much interested in CM though they didn't have any formal training either. My Mom likes emotion-packed krithis sung by the great M.S.Subbulakshmi though she lends an ear to other artists too. My Dad is more indulgent and sings quite well. He has a gifted voice and he often comments that if he hadn't become a businessman, he'd have become a musician. I'm sure he'd have done quite well in that field too.

My brother who is 4 years younger to me was thought to be more musically inclined than me. Can't fault anyone for thinking so. My first tryst with CM was when my cousins who had started learning music, came to our house and my grandmother asked them to sing. They started singing the Sarali Varisai (beginner exercises). One particular line goes "Sa Ni Dha Pa, Sa Ni Sa Ni Sa Ni Dha Pa" if I remember correctly. My mother tongue is Kannada whereas I was born and brought up in Chennai. So I'm fluent with both spoken Kannada and spoken Tamil. Now, Sani means cowdung in Tamil and Dhapa means fat in Kannada. So you can see how it's an obvious source for leg-pulling. Endless torture of my cousins this way led my folks to confirm their suspicions of my musical inclinations.

My Dad always used to hum this particular line "Madisekaran Magane" from the song Tatwamariya Tharama by Papanasam Sivan. I remember asking sarcastically as to who this Madisekaran was and why he was calling his son. Madisekaran is Lord Shiva and Magane means Son in Tamil. So this krithi in praise of Lord Ganesha refers to him obviously. To think of how that song would affect me later.

This has already been a long post. I'll continue with the rest of this rather interesting story that you are so eager to read, in my next post.

-Sri

Coffee &^%*!!

I don't know if coffee addiction is a good thing or a bad thing. I love the taste of coffee. It's not just about being able to kickstart your day or staying awake. It's the sweet smell and exotic taste of coffee that lures me towards it. Knowing perfectly that coffee wakes me up I had a cup of Madras filter coffee at Saravana Bhavan and now I can't go to sleep. As usual it's a 6 hour sleep session for me tonight since I wake up at around 6.00 daily.

If you don't know me, I'm a Software Engineer, Carnatic Enthusiast, Computer Geek/Nerd, Voracious reader living in Indiatown also popularly known as the Silicon Valley.

I have tried giving up coffee but I have failed miserably every time. I was certainly addicted to it when I was in grad school. There was a time when I used to drink around 10-12 cups a day. Well, I was going to Starbucks 2 times a day which was proving to be expensive. I got my own coffee maker from Walmart and the consumption went up gradually. I was taking this course (punishment) called Theory of Computation as a prerequisite to apply for the Ph.D program and I got only around 4 hours of sleep a day. Currently, I limit myself to 2 or 3 cups a day or less.

I try out different flavors of coffee from Starbucks. My current favorite is the Gold Coast blend which has a strong taste. I also tried out Guatamelan Antigua last week but it was not as strong as I like it to be. I have now given up on trying to give up coffee but somehow I have this feeling of guilt that I'm addicted to something. With all the research studies which say that coffee is actually good for every part in your body, I don't think I have a good reason to be feeling so!!

- Sri

Here I go again !!

Over the past six months, I have developed an annoying habit. It has everything to do with this blogging fad. Anyone and everyone is blogging these days never mind the content. There are some days when I get fascinated by a blog and develop an urge to blog myself. I immediately go to the blog site, register a fancy name and start blogging. That's it and then I forget all about it. I figure I have done this six to eight times now. That's so Sripathi!! :-D. Hope I can maintain this blog on a regular basis.

Though it's nice to blog your thoughts and experiences, it's a time-consuming process. It requires a lot of effort and I feel that I could be doing something more useful. But I have come to recognize that it might be of some help. For one thing, if I get angry at someone, I could rant here rather than shouting at them. Of course, I should refrain from publishing those blogs. Could be an useful stress reliever. :-)

Right now, I'm at Herbert Hoover Theatre, San Jose CA. I volunteer for South India Fine Arts, a non-profit organization that organizes Carnatic concerts here in the Bay Area. We are currently conducting a two-day music festival comprising of Bay Area artists and a few artists from India. I'm a Carnatic Music fanatic and one of the first things I did after coming to the Bay Area was lookup the organizations that arrange concerts here. I wanted to volunteer for such organizations because of two reasons. One is that these organizations are badly in need of volunteers and two is that I wanted to make up for not being able to perform. SIFA is one of the primary organizations which does that and by happenstance (lack of volunteers) I was elected as one of the committee members.

I have come into contact with a lot of wonderful people during the past few months. Their dedication to Carnatic Music is unbelievable. Some of these people are well above 70 and their enthusiasm and energy at this age puts me to shame. I had the opportunity to deliver a Vote of Thanks at the end of a concert and some people thought I did a good job so I have been made the Official Thanker :-). Though I'm enjoying doing it I have also become wary of overdoing it and becoming cliched. But I thoroughly enjoy all concerts and always have good words to say about the performers. Perhaps that is an important reason why I don't write down my speeches. I have come a really long way from the nervous 14-year old kid that backed out of a school drama at the last minute.

Now that I started writing this, I can't stop. I hope this becomes addictive enough that I'll keep doing it. I'm a very inconsistent person and subject myself to my numerous whims and fancies. Not harmful ones though. I just want to do a lot of things in life and feel bad that there is so less time. I do become obsessed with some things from time to time and tend to habitualize them. Carnatic Music was one such obsession. Programming was another. My latest obsession is Fitness.

I was tired of being overweight and complaining about it. Though I did work out once in a while and play some sport once a week I was compensating by overeating. Also eating the wrong kind of food. I'll describe the whole process in another blog but I have managed to lose around 8 pounds. My goal is to lose another 10 pounds in the next 4 months and then control it from there. I do weigh a healthy 153 pounds right now but I figure I'll get down to 145. I'm well on my way to achieving that goal. Weight loss is not such a difficult thing after all. You just need to become addicted to it. My other obsession with running is also helping me in this process I guess.

All rants come to an end and so does this one. This post has mostly been unorganized but I'm hoping to capitalize on this start and make it more interesting and informative. Stay with me on this one :-).

-Shri