My Music Journal- 3

The indomitable Sanjay!

6th December:

From the time, the schedule of MMU has come out, I have marked this day in red and with mounting expectation and started a count down!  If you wonder what all the hype is about, I am coming to that! It is the evening of Sanjay subramaniam’s performance and I had to complete all my work/responsibility in time to attend the concert.

When the stars of classical carnatic music perform, it is like first day-first show of Super star/Kamal/Ajith/vijay movie particularly in the MMU. I should say, it is a great work that Shubashree is doing for the promotion of this music form. I keep seeing many NRIs with their young sons/daughters who aspire to make it big in this field (or should I say the parents aspire and dream for their children?) 

Sanjay is traditional yet innovative and his voice traverses in all octaves effortlessly.  And curious about how he was going to present the theme, ‘Divyaprabandam’ within the structured format, I was happy to start early. People come to the gates of the school around 2.30 pm itself, I think. They patiently wait in the broad and wide corridors, catching up with fellow rasikas and friends. The gate opens at 4.15 pm only and so, I reached there by 4 pm and what do I see? A huge queue snaking around the corridor is what I saw and I had to go round the hall in the corridor to join the queue.

I normally do not get bored for the people around me provide an interesting picture! So, I was not disappointed. All around me, I saw people with sreechurnam in different sizes on their forehead,  Iyengar mamis in their graceful ‘madisars’ walking here and there and mamas reminding ‘நெடியோன்  himself with their personality. I could not connect it to anything till the friendly and chatty lady standing next to me pointed it out! Yes, of course, it was ‘Naalayiram’ that Sanjay was going to sing and Vaishnavites had turned in great numbers. The friendly lady proved to be very communicative and I enjoyed my time with her.

It was a beautiful and poignant moment when I could observe the affection and companionship of an elderly couple with friendship maturing with age in their gesture of holding hands to climb the steps and taking turns to stand in the queue. If nothing else interests you during this waiting, you cannot but be drawn to the paintings- copies certainly- of Ravi Varma.

Hmm….. After the long but interesting wait, the door opened and we filed in. Mind you, there was another kutchery by Manimaran before Sanjay. It is like a package! One has to be patient. A carnatic music kutchery in Chennai is inclusive of all these besides the ‘Sabha canteens, without doubt!

Now to the Star performance!

He had arranged aptly and suitably the ‘பாசுரங்கள் of the 12 ஆழ்வார்கள் that was aesthetic and showed an understanding of the background stories of the ஆழ்வார்கள். பெரியாழ்வாரின் ‘பல்லாண்டு in Nattai provided an impressive start! Sanjay gives voice to Thamizhisai wherever and whenever possible and we could see that he enjoyed this particular occasion immensely.

Yadhukula khambodi brought out the utter devotion of திருப்பாணாழ்வார் in a soft and gentle manner.(‘கொண்டல் வண்ணனை').the next three pieces formed the main pieces in Simmendra Madhyamam, Sama and Bhairavi.

My curiosity was satisfied  in the ‘Simmendra madhyamam’’ piece of ‘மாயா, வாமனனே  by நம்மாழ்வார். Keeping the meaning intact, he used each of these names of the Lord to say’நீ அருளாய்'. He could beautifully work out a pallavi out of these phrases and elaborated the raga with sangathis.

When he   began essaying ‘Sama, it evoked the feeling of  deep longing and bhakti typical of ஆண்டாள். And so, he took up, நாச்சியார் திருமொழி,  மாதவன் என் மணியினை‘.

How do I put into words, his Bhairavi! Looked like he became another தொண்டரடிப்பொடி ஆழ்வார் to melt and immerse in arangan’s beauty. The popular ‘பச்சை மாமலை போல் மேனி in his rendering took such a poignant meaning and pulled the soul to fall at the feet of திருவரங்கன் in complete surrender like the ஆழ்வார்- especially when he took up the line, ஊரிலேன் காணி இல்லேன் for niraval.

Pasuram of Kulasekarer, Thirumangai alwar and the first  three(mudhal alwaars) all were gems. He concluded the programme with திருப்பாணாழ்வாரின் 'ஊனின் மேய ஆவி நீ in surutti.

I cannot but mention the wonderful support by varadarajan and Neyveli Venkatesh. As  always, they worked as a team with the perfect understanding of Sanjay’s flow.  

After all the research, he sincerely must have absorbed the songs and internalized them because he never referred to any notes.

His answers to audience questions call for a separate write up, I guess. So, I end it here.

My Music Journal-2

5th December, Margazhi Maha Utsavam
I looked forward to Sowmya for her intelligent approach and crisp essaying of ragas. I was happy on both counts. And the bonus was the earlier kutcheri by V. Shankaranarayanan, who has a soothing voice and clear diction. Nagai sriram excelled in giving support(violin).
Sowmya shared interesting information about 'Swathi Thirunaal'- he has composed in many languages and many genres like varnam, padam, jaavali and thillana besides kritis. Sowmya, together with Embar Kannan, Neyveli Narayanan and Gopalakrishnan presented an enjoyable aural treat.
During the season, the people, the so called 'rasikas' also present an interesting picture. I like watching the different types- those who come because it is 'in', others who come to listen and enjoy and still others who take notes (perhaps teachers?). Then there are 'regulars, who greet each other, discuss about the artist's performance in another sabha and throw some musical jargon for good measure in their conversation. for most of them, kutcheris are great outings where they can show off their finery.  

Chitra Nagesh's Random Thoughts: My Music journal

Chitra Nagesh's Random Thoughts: My Music journal

My Music journal

As always, had been looking forward to this time of the year to soak in the music that becomes the identity of the city particularly in December. As it is again expected, there were some hitches, too disturbing my plans! All in the game, I guess!

My idea was to make something like a  journal entry as and when I get a chance to listen to an artist. I did record my impressions in the old fashioned way using ‘old faithful’ pen in a note book. The technically advanced means of communication takes its time!

3rd December:

My musical outings for December started with TM Krishna’s concert for the As always, had been looking forward to this time of the year to soak in the music that becomes the identity of the city particularly in December. As it is again expected, there were some hitches, too!

My idea was to make something like a  journal entry as and when I get a chance to listen to an artist. I did record my impressions in the old fashioned way using ‘old faithful’ pen in a note book. The technically advanced means of communication takes its time!

3rd December:

My musical outings for December started with TM Krishna’s concert for the Margazhi Maha utsavam and what a start it was!

When every other artist presents a well researched performance on a specific theme, our artist of the day desired freedom ‘without boundaries’ (I can hear comments like ‘Is it any surprise?’) ‘Maverick’, ‘non conformist’, ‘unconventional’ are some descriptions people use to refer to Krishna’s music.  Either an appreciative sigh or the other extreme of a derisive snort is the response to TMK.

Me? I am interested in the way he creates music and when he answered questions that day he said that his music/performance is his reaction to what music does to him.  And that day, I think, he had a free flowing communication with the ragas to give yet another memorable performance.

The divinity of the compositions of Shyama Shatri never fails to move me! Language becomes immaterial as the meaning, feelings of the poet comes through beautifully in the way the song is set to tunes. That too, if the song is taken by an artist who sincerely tries to reach the heart and soul of the composer, it is an uplifting experience. That was what I experienced with ‘Marivere’  that day. When he went on to linger on the phrase, ‘nammithi, nammithi’ and Meenakshyamma, I was standing before Meenakshyamma.

The soft gliding notes of Shankarabharanam, followed by the magnificent Thodi, pulling along the lilting , teasing tunes of Kalyani with the sonorous and formal Dharbar rounded up the arrangement of ragas for his pallavi,சங்கராபரணனை அழைத்தோடி வாடி கல்யாணி தர்பாருக்கு '. There was a sense of oneness for a brief period with the singer, song and listeners and that filled every cell and accompanied me through all my work for quite some time. If it is not good music, what is?    

Small is Beautiful

Another Freedom lecture time for Samanvaya and I normally look forward to be  part of the celebration and contribute  a wee bit. In my process of reinventing myself, Samanvaya team under Ram has a primary role! I rediscover my singing ability and every year, I gain a little more confidence to sing in front of people. This year, I realised, I couldn't do that as I had a severe cough! But then, I felt I had to give something for the day

and worked myself into a frenzy calling for help to find a poem or verse on the theme, 'Small is Beautiful'.

A friend of mine mentioned  about those tiny dots metamorphosing into a beautiful and intricate Rangoli' design. That set into motion- my stringing together words into a verse.Never thought that it would strike a chord with many people there! Here, At the request of one of those people, I am posting it here with a little explanation. Let me make it clear that all the situations/similes found in the verse are ideas of great poets like Valluvar, Bharathi and others.

************************************************************************

Even a small patch of water can reflect the moon in the sky;

The beginning of a huge Peepal tree is in a small seed;

Tiny little dots come together into a big design;

Like a Goliath felled by a David, a small force can

defeat a huge army with the timely moves and strategy;

similarly, a venture begun with conviction and confidence in self

will certainly bring success and success can be infectious-

a small spark can set off a big fire as Bharathi has mentioned!

***********************************************************

சிறு முயற்சி என் முதல் முயற்சி 

குளமோ சிறிது - ஆயினும் அது 

காட்டுது , வட்ட நிலவதனை.

ஆலமரமோ பெரிது, விரிந்த நிழற்குடையது,

பிறந்தது , சின்னஞ்சிறிய விதையில்! 

வெளி வாசலில் விரிந்த கோலம், அது,

சிறு புள்ளிகள் செய்த மாயம்!

அசைந்து வரும் பெருந்தேர் - அது,

உருளுவதோ, சிறு அச்சாணியால்!

தோற்று விழலாம், பெரும்படை கூட - தக்க 

நேரத்தில் தாக்கும் சிறு படையால்!

ஊக்கமும், உறுதியும் துணையாய்த் தொடங்கும் 

முயற்சி அது சிறிய பொறி தான்! 

பெரு நெருப்பாய் எரியத் தடை என்ன!

பாட்டிற்கொரு புலவன் பாரதி சொன்னது போல் 

"தழல் வீரத்தில் குஞ்சென்று மூப்பென்று முண்டோ?

தத்தித்திரிகிட தத்தித்திரிகிட தத்தோம்!" 

The first little step!

Another Freedom lecture time for Samanvaya and I normally look forward to be  part of the celebration and contribute  a wee bit. In my process of reinventing myself, Samanvaya team under Ram has a primary role! I rediscover my singing ability and every year, I gain a little more confidence to sing in front of people. This year, I realised, I couldn't do that as I had a severe cough! But then, I felt I had to give something for the day
and worked myself into a frenzy calling for help to find a poem or verse on the theme, 'Small is Beautiful'.

A friend of mine mentioned  about those tiny dots metamorphosing into a beautiful and intricate Rangoli' design. That set into motion- my stringing together words into a verse.Never thought that it would strike a chord with many people there! Here, At the request of one of those people, I am posting it here with a little explanation. Let me make it clear that all the situations/similes found in the verse are ideas of grat poets like Valluvar, Bharathi and others.

*********************************************************************************

Small is Beautiful

Even a small patch of water can reflect the moon in the sky;
The beginning of a huge Peepal tree is in a small seed;
Tiny little dots come together into a big design;
Like a Goliath felled by a David, a small force can
defeat a huge army with the timely moves and strategy;
similarly, a venture begun with conviction and confidence in self
will certainly bring success and success can be infectious-
a small spark can set off a big fire as Bharathi has mentioned!





  


  

Proud moments

Youth looks at the world with enthusiasm and every day, each moment is new and alive for the young. Walking the path of life with a partner or a full boisterous gang or going it alone – does it matter when you are young? But, you cross the mid life mark; there lurk all of life’s irritations, problems to attack you! Post retirement period for some people is not necessarily a peaceful time. Financial worries nag some of them and yet another group may be faced with creaky and worn out limbs and joints. But the grand daddy of all these problems is loneliness and the feeling of being left out.

I am glad to be associated with colleagues who are sensitive to this issue and what more- have the drive and initiative to give a form and shape to their thoughts!

So, here we are – a bunch of DAV teachers (mostly out of service due to retirement) who have come together to form our association, to share our thoughts and feelings and to be there for our old colleagues in times of need. It gives me immense joy to see that some of our students want to lend a helping hand.  As one of the colleagues pointed out, our association may be the first of its kind in this part of the country.

Why do I say so? When our neighbor came to know of this, he appreciated it and he immediately brought out a Mumbai- based magazine-‘Harmony-the magazine for silver citizens’. Its January, 2011 issue carried an article, ‘Guru Dakshina’. It is surprisingly about a similar action (of caring for the senior teachers) but from the other end-students.

The alumni of kolkata’s South Point joined hands to establish a ‘not-for-profit-association called ASPEXS (Association of South Point Ex-students) in 1995.

“We learnt how to walk holding their hands, now let us give them ours”, says a practising charted accountant and a student of 1981 batch.

True to the reputation of the school, many former students are successful in life at present as doctors, lawyers or teachers. Despite their demanding lives, they feel they should pay their debts to ‘those who made them see magic in mathematics, lyrics in literature and heroic characters in history’

CARE wing- a branch of the ASPEXS has also come into existence ‘to provide emotional support and companionship to teachers in the age group of 60-85; to make them feel part of a large and extended family’

Some of the ex students have observed that ‘prolonged interactions have resulted in strong bonds of trust and dependence’. It was so moving when I read that the teachers, like parents, eagerly await the visit of their students turned children.

I feel (I think that applies to all my fellow teachers) that the most joyful and exquisite moment in our lives is when one of our students/children remember and seek us out after a long time. In a way, we are blessed to be amidst young people and to be constantly sharpening our wits and it keeps us alert and young mentally.

An external trigger pushed me into the profession, no doubt, but I’ve found my calling in the constant interaction with the young minds. I cannot visualize myself in any other professional garb. Thank you, my children, particularly boys (?!!) for giving me a fresh lease of life! 

(The link for the magazine is: mag@harmonyindia.org)