23 posts tagged “india”

December is an engaging month in our household.  Partly because for more than half of the month, the kid returns home early, and the remaining hours of the day are spent driving everyone crazy.  "Nice" crazy, not "crazy" crazy.  But more because the music season is in full form.  While this year seems a little more subdued than last, thanks to the un-seasonal rains, we managed to squeeze in a few concerts so far.  Having influential parents on both sides helps, since we have passes from them to attend concerts in two leading sabhas in the city - the Music Academy and Mylapore Fine Arts. Dude, as ever, is very methodical about it (as with everything else), and has a detailed time table worked out, and I am sure in due course he will post reviews at his blog.  I won't have the time or patience to sit through all the concerts on his list, but I am sure I will attend more concerts than last time.

Much before the "season" began, an impulsive dude, dragged me kicking and screaming, one Saturday evening to a concert at Krishna Gana Sabha by somoene I have never heard of - Senthangudi Jayaraman.  According the "Entertainment" section of the Hindu, the theme of the concert was "Sharavanabhava".  I grumbled about the price we were paying for the tickets to a concert, which, in all probability, we would walk out in five minutes, for it would be an old man singing bajanais off-key.  It has been more than two months since I attended that concert, and I don't even remember what he sang. All I remember is that I sat through, tears streaming from my eyes, completely mesmerised.  There was nothing spectacular about the concert - none of the vocal acrobatics please.   What it had was a "wholesomeness" that modern concerts seem to sadly lack.  The creativity of the artist arose from complete grasp of music and there was no need to divert attention through cheap tricks and gimmickery. There were a total of 20 people among the audience, but I believe that the 20 people were indeed a blessed lot to have been there that evening.   Years ago, my blind grandfather  would listen to the radio with his eyes closed and bliss written all over, as Ariyakudi, Semmangudi or Madurai Mani Iyer filled the room.  I got an idea of what that bliss must have been on that day . Dude gave me the "this-is-why-you-should-always-trust-me" look at the end of the concert, a look that I rightfully deserved.

We attended Sri Ravikiran's concert the weekend before last at Nungambakkam Cultural Academy.    A great way to start the season.  Fellow has magic in his fingers.  You'd almost expect the Chitra Veenai to melt into a puddle halfway through the concert. I think that if Ravikiran has to play out of tune or make a talam mistake to save his life, he won't be able to.  Music seems instinctive to him, like breathing.

Last weekend, we attended Sanjay Subramaniam, also at NCA. I had waxed eloquent about Sanjay's concert last year.  This year, I walked out of the concert soon after the sub-main piece in Purvi Kalyani with a splitting headache, not caused by the carbon dioxide in the closed auditorium.  At the risk of getting hate mails and death threats from hard-core Sanjay-fan trolls, I hope that this concert was an exception to the rule and not a new trend.

Sunday saw me at a concert which I was specially invited to, because the singer's wife and I happened to share a few ancestors.  The singer held his tune well, maintained good talam, and well, is related to me.

I have often heard my grandparents use the idiom "Vengala mani Kural", (voice like a bronze bell), Had I heard Smt. Vasundhara Rajagopal then, I would have known exactly what they meant.  I first heard her a few months back in her pet project with Sri Vellukudi Krishnan - Pasurappadi Ramayanam. The lady has the clearest voice I have heard yet.  The risk with such clear voices is that if the singer made even the faintest mistake, it would sound like finger-nail on black board.  Vasundhara Rajagopal, I have begun to believe, is simply incapable of making the faintest mistake. Her flawless voice, coupled with her intricate knowledge of the nuances of Carnatic music, make her concerts a pleasure to listen to.  I could not stay through the entire concert because I had to pick up junior from school, but her Saveri after which I left, rang in my ears for hours afterwards making any kind of logical activity impossible.  As I think back about Smt. Vasundara Rajagopal's concert, one word stands out more than anything else  - STYLE.

I confess that it is nothing short of arrogance for me, who has had the most insincere and indisciplined approach to her own music, to even attempt to comment or criticise professional singers who have practically dedicated their life and soul to their passion.  This however, is the "have blog, will write" era and I make full (mis)use of it. Perhaps I will write more about this season, perhaps call it quits at this point. Let's see.

எந்தரோ மஹானுபாவுலு.  அந்தரிகி வந்தனமு.
 

An immensely entertaining, informative and ego-boosting talk by Hans Rosling.  A must-watch.  Thanks to dude for the link.

தீபாவளி நல்வாழ்த்துக்கள்.  வாழ்வில் ஒளி பெருகட்டும்.
Wish you a happy and safe Deepavali.

Right after a deadline got out of the way at noon, I packed my bag and set out on my sojourn to the homes of all the people who had invited me to their Navarathri kolu.  Finished four so far. Impressive for three hours, with each house in opposite ends of town, what ?

Here is the catch.  I have harped many times here and elsewhere that I am, what is called, a "sweets" person.  But perhaps I over-stated my palatal preference. The moment people saw my head on the horizon, they loaded their plates with sweets of all colours, flavours and kind.Ghee-dropping fruit halwa, chocolate burfi, milk Kowa, rosogolla, coconut bufi.  Each, on its own, would have made me drool from now to eternity, but one after the other within three hours, most of which spent within the closed confines of a car, especially on a day after a rather sleepless night working on a deadline, is NOT good news.  And topping the whole corunucopia of sucrose overload with a cup of instant coffee is pretty much the icing on the cake, so to speak.

Now the stomach is on a hyperdrive, somersaulting and threatening to spill its unpleasant content one way or the other. 

I have four more houses to visit this evening.  I sincerely hope, for their own good, that none of them dares even mention the "S" word within my earshot.

You are invited.

I have a question for all ye people out there who wear saree casually, i.e. not for occasions alone, but just-like-that.  When you have worn a saree and are at home attending to the million chores around, do you or do you not pull up the pallu around you and tuck it into your waist (see picture below, of course, minus the "oomph")? 

I do, and I just realised I don't know why I do it.  Like dude says, it looks untidy, and doesn't serve any purpose.  Yet I do it ever single time.
Any ideas?

This thanksgiving, here are a few things our family is grateful for:

A whole lot of totally unrelated strangers who toil in their field to get the food on our table.
A country whose weather is conducive to growing the food, that gets to our table.
The innumerable animals and plants that sustain our life through the food on our table.
Good health that makes it possible to eat a healthy meal with no restrictions.
A family that makes it possible to have a peaceful meal at the table with no worries that catch the throat.
Jobs that pay sufficiently to get wholesome daily meals.
Parents who helped us get the skills used in the job that pay for the food on our table.
Guests that drop by and partake of our meals, making it more wholesome by their company.
Friends that add just that little sparkle that adds to the peace of enjoying a meal.

It is so easy in the humdrum of daily existence to overlook little things that make life worth living.

Thank you.