TM Krishna @ Gayana Samaja

On 19th Jan attended a concert of TMK at Gayana Samaja, Bangalore as part of the 3rd edition of Aanandaa Cultural festival. Aanandaa is a non-profit foundation that helps promote Indian Classical Performing Arts globally. The theme for the day was "Compositions of Muthuswamy Deekshitar". TMK was accompanied by HK Venkatram on the violin, Shri Trichy Shankaran on the mrudangam and Shri B S Purushottaman on the Khanjira.

The concert commenced with a brief presentation on 'Muthusawmy Deekshitar' by a sprightly and enthusiastic young lady called Priyanka Prakash. It included information regarding his ancestors, his contribution to Carnatic classical music, various features of his compositions, differences between the ragams he has composed on, etc.

TMK began his performance at 18.30 sharp, as planned. During his first song, his throat seemed to be in some discomfort as he was frequently clearing it. It seemed to us as though it was one of his off days. But much to our (and probably his as well) relief, our apprehension was short lived. From the very next rendition, he hit top form. In the main piece "Shree Subramanyaya Namaste" in Kamboji, he struck a purple patch. He took the audience from unfathomable depths to dizzy heights with his expansive exploration of this majestic ragam. HK Venkatram beautifully matched him phrase for phrase. Trichy Sankaran and Purushottaman played a mesmeresing and resounding thani avartanam that had the packed audience asking for more, so much so that TMK had to wait for the claps to die down before he could resume with the closing phrase.

His performance included the following:-

01.) dakSiNAmUrttE vidaLita dAsArttE - shankarAbharaNaM/mishra jhampa
02.) paHncabhUta kiraNAvaLiM candra mauLiM - kiraNAvaLi/khaNDa EkaM
03.) kamalAmbAM bhajarE rE mAnasa - kalyANi/Adi (2 kaLai)
04.) vINApustaka dhAriNIMAshrayE - vEgavAhini/mishra jhampa
05.) vAtApi gaNapatiM bhajEhaM - hamsadhvani/Adi
06.) vINAbhEri vENuvAdyAdi - AbhEri/Adi
07.) rAmacandrabhaktaM bhaja mAnasa - gEya hEjjajji/Adi
08.) shrI subrahmaNyAya namastE namastE - *kAmbhOji/tishra EkaM


All in all, a fantastic concert that I shall cherish for a long time

Happy New Year 2008 !!

Dear Friends,

Blooming with
the
beauty of
love,

Blossoming with the
warmth of good wishes,

& Budding with the
Joy of celebrations.

May this New Year be a
beautiful
bunch of
Happiness for you!!

Wishing you a
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Aaj madhosh hua jaaye re..
Mera mann, mera mann mera mann!
Bina hee baat muskuraye re..
Mera mann, mera mann mera mann!

Sometimes unknown people oblige as well !

today was just another day to work. the distance to office from home (around 2 km) is such that auto drivers do not agree to an easy ride, unless you are willing to shell out some extra bucks or get off half-way. yea, thats how auto-wallahs in Bangalore are typically. which is why I prefer to travel by bus. of course these are few and infrequent, so you need to be there on time in case you plan to take these. today was one such day when I was there on time and the bus was there at the stop, as if waiting for me to board and was almost ready to leave. I boarded, got my ticket and settled. suddenly I spotted a medical shop across the road and recollected that I needed some lozenges. I had been longing for these for the past couple of days thanks to my sore throat and cough. I quickly got down and requested the driver who was just about to rev up the engine , to wait for a couple of minutes so that I could get my lozenges from the medical shop. he just smiled and I knew he was OK with it. I got back in exactly 2 minutes and the moment I boarded the bus, we started off! It was a pleasant surprise in a world where auto-wallahs look askance at the mention of any place less than 2 kms away, and bus drivers are in an eternal race against time and against other buses.

My Latest Craze ..

Ye Ishq Hai ....from Jab We Met !

Haan hai Koi to wajah
Jo jeena ka maza yun aane laga
Yeh hawaon mein hai kya
Thoda sa jo naasha yun chane laga
Pucho na pucha mujhe kya
Hua hai teri raahon mein aakar (pucho na pucha na)
Pucho na pucha mujhe kya
Milega teri bahon mein aakar

Yeh Ishq haaye baithe bithaye
Jannat dikhaye haan
O raama
Yeh Ishq haaye baithe bithaye
Jannat dikhaye haan

Todi maine sare hi bandhan zamane tere
Todungi na mein vada
Aadha hissa mere to dil ki kahani ka tu
Piya mein baaki aadha
Dekho na dekho mujhe kya
hua haiTeri yaadhon mein kho kar
Pucho na pucha mujhe kya hua hai
Teri baton mein jeekar

Yeh Ishq haaye baithe bithaye
Jannat dikhaye haan
O raama
Yeh Ishq haaye baithe bithaye
Jannat dikhaye haan

Mere jaise lakho mile honge tujhko
Piya, mujhe to mila tuu hi
Tu hi mere hooton ki khilti hui si hasi
Gila bhi piya tu hi
Dekho na dekho mujhe kya hua hai
Tujhe sapno mein lakar (dekho na dekho)
Pucho na pucha mujhe kya hua hai
Teri baaton mein aakar

Yeh Ishq haaye baithe bithaye
Jannat dikhaye haan
O raama
Yeh Ishq haaye baithe bithaye
Jannat dikhaye haan

Haan hai koi to wajah
Jo jeena ka maza yun aane laga
Yeh hawaon mein hai kya
Thoda sa jo naasha yun chane laga
Pucho na pucha mujhe kya
Hua hai teri raahon mein aakar (pucho na pucha na)
Pucho na pucha mujhe kya
Milega teri bahon mein aakar

Yeh Ishq haaye baithe bithaye
Jannat dikhaye haan
O raama
Yeh Ishq haaye baithe bithaye
Jannat dikhaye haan —2


Its a lovely song full of zeal and enthu. Have'nt yet got to see the movie, but have listened to the song umpteen times...Its truly amazing..Shreya has done a wonderful job yet again!

Kya maal hai !!

Wondering what this is? This is the cheesy, crass, tongue-in-cheek comment that I got from one of my office colleagues, when I wore a skirt to work the other day! I was completely taken aback by this kind of a reaction...which was accompanied by, "aaj terepe line maarneka Mann kar raha hai !"
Though a little shocked, I had the presence of mind to retort "achha hai ki mujhse aakar bole...kisi aur se bola hota to tumhari khair nahi hoti"..

Well, as I have come to realise, there are guys staring at you all the time, no matter what and how much you wear. But I have just resigned to the fact that - guys will be guys, desperation in their eyes, demons in disguise.

Navratri 2007

The last 10 days were filled with fun and enthusiasm. This was my second kolu after marriage. I had a small little 4-step kolu which had a gauri-ganesha pair, a shivar poojai set, a wooden band of 4 traditionally attired musicians, a wooden set of 5 fat women in descending order of height and weight. Since amma was around this time, she made the occasion even more grand and interesting with her shlokams , poojais and ofcourse her wonderful sundals and various varieties of sweets everyday.

I had invited all office friends home for 'vetrilai paaku' or 'haldi kunku' on a friday during the 10 day festival. We had a nice mehfil which lasted for almost an hour with guests as well as hosts taking part in singing carnatic music as well as filmy songs. We visited relatives and friends over the weekend and admired the wonderful kolus that they had in their houses. The festival concluded with 'Saraswathi Poojai' and then 'Vidyarambham'. For Saraswathi poojai we follow a tradition of keeping books and musical instruments in the poojai. On this day, kids usually get an excuse not to study :-) On the last day i.e 'Vijaya Dashami' or 'Vidyarambham' we are supposed to study from the books and play the instruments kept in the poojai. This day is considered auspicious for all good beginnings. Usually children start off with their music lessons, etc on this day. Also the entire house is adorned with flowers and everything at home blessed with a dash of chandanam and kumkumam.