H2O

I read something very interesting yesterday about thirst.

A recent research at California Institute of Technology has found a reason for animals and humans ‘gulping’ water-that is, drink very fast- when they are thirsty. It seems the speed at which the liquid is consumed plays a role in inhibiting the thirst neurons which get activated when we feel thirsty. Let us understand first as to why and when we feel thirsty. We feel it when there is a reduction in the volume of the blood or when the levels of Sodium and Potassium become elevated in the blood. The brain sends a signal to our throat which in turn becomes dry and starts crying for water.

Now, when the moment we find water, we tend to gulp it and that quenches the thirst instantly. However, it takes about 15 minutes for the water to get absorbed in the blood. So, shouldn’t we all be feeling thirsty during those 15 minutes despite consuming water? It is here that the neurons play a role. It commands, ‘Ok, enough!’ and the signal reaches our throat. But if we were to drink it slowly, we would still be feeling thirsty!

This might sound too basic as to drink water very fast when thirsty, is a natural process. But when we go deep into this, we will know the significance as this might help diabetics and also people with hypertension.

Having thirst is of course natural..I mean thirst for water. In a similar vein, having thirst for knowledge is natural too.

Or is it? Well, for some people it is natural while others are made to discover the thirst. But for all, the discovery of thirst happens only when one starts exploring things. Only when one gets out of the comfort zone; only when one thinks differently; only when one wishes to do things differently; only when one is a radical.

And these people invariably succeed in not only quenching their own thirsts but also in quenching the thirsts of others.

Take the song ‘Daagam Edukkura Neram’(Enakkaga Kaaththiru- 1980). The movie for which the song was composed ran for 1 week (or probably 2 weeks). Please do not compare this with the present day ‘runs’ when even a 10-day run is considered to be a Hit. Those days, a movie had to run at least for about 8 weeks (in ‘A’ ‘B’ and ‘C’ centres) to be called as ‘fairly successful’. 

Now, there is a reason for me to talk about the movie and its so called ‘success’. Nowadays, you find popular and established film music composers signing up only for projects that are huge. They may have their own reasons for that and I do not think it is necessary on my part to comment on that. However, ILaiyaraaja has never hesitated to work with debut directors and with people who make movies which would go back to the box (this is the opposite of ‘Box-Office’) in no time. But most importantly, he has created compositions which are gems. This is because to him music matters the most and it is this quest which has driven him all these 4 decades. This is precisely the reason for his compositions sounding so fresh after so many years, and after listening repeatedly.

‘Daagam Edukkura Neram’ is one of his thousands of compositions which shows his thirst. I have not bothered to watch the visuals as that would leave me disappointed. I care more for the musicality and the imagery the music creates in my mind and less for the sequence or the placement of the song in the movie. It is (probably) a romantic sequence. To me, it creates a vision of a young girl sitting at the foot of the Himalayas watching the snow-capped mountains and the clouds which hang above, and singing with innocence. It must be said that Uma RamaNan’s voice fits this song to a T.

The tune in pure Madhyamavati is alluring, no doubt but as I keep saying often it is not the raga which matters as much as the way it is used. And in this composition too, the raga assumes some special shades and colours because of the way the Pallavi and the CharaNams are structured and also by the way the instruments are used. We shall see this soon..

But before that, in my opinion, the percussion and the rhythmic patterns play a major role in making this composition an outstanding one. Let us see how.

The first line is rendered first sans percussion though one hears the strumming of the guitar in the background. The percussion starts after the first 6 phrases are rendered (which takes 8 taaLa cycles). Now, there are two sets here (like most of his compositions) with the first set playing 1 2 3 4/1 and the second set playing 3 and 4. The 2^nd micro beat is left blank. While 2 sets playing alternately or leaving a blank are not new, the first set playing the beginning of the next 4(it can be called as the 5^th micro-beat, but since the division happens distinctly, I would rather call it as the 1^st beat) is surely innovative. The different kinds of sound produced by the two sets also make this unique.

What is also unique is the silence at the end of the Pallavi(after ‘Makarandam’) which exactly lasts for one 1 2 3 4. This is slightly modified when it is rendered after the end of the first CharaNam and we shall see this later.

The first segment of the first interlude moves without percussion. The strings enter in higher octave in the following segment and the percussion enters now along with them. But now, it sounds only the 3^rd micro-beat! The brief strings section moves without percussion. So does the guitar segment which follows. But there is a difference. Even as the acoustic guitar plays a melody in Madhyamavati, yet another guitar backs it but only with one string which sounds the 1^st and the 3^rd micro-beats. In short, the second guitar acts as a percussion instrument. But this is not all. The flute plays a very brief melody and sounds 1 2 3 4 in faster mode(mel kaalam). The tuned percussion repeats this and this happens twice..

Magically Musical!

The pattern in the CharaNams is almost the same like that of the Pallavi. Well ‘almost’ because there is an addition here. The tuned percussion sounds – 2 3 4 at the end of every alternate cycle. This continues till the end of the CharaNam. Now, the silence for one entire cycle (4 beats)-which occurs at the end of the Pallavi is replaced by silence for just one beat. The next 3 beats are sounded by the tuned percussion.

The percussion takes rest during the first strings segment in the second interlude.It enters only in the middle of the segment and sounds the first micro- beat with resonance for 2 cycles. A different percussion plays the 1^st and the 2^nd micro-beats during the flute segment.

So many variations in just mater of 3 minutes..

We see the variations in the melodic instruments too.

There is that South East Asian instrument in the first interlude, followed by the higher octave strings with the keys making brief appearances.. And of course there is that acoustic guitar and followed by the flute which mimics a cuckoo call.

The beginning of the second interlude sees the strings moving like waves-highest-high-medium high-low.Then there is a special sound(probably guitar with some contraption attached to it), followed by the flute which makes us feel as if we are in the midst of a green field, and finally the keys, strings and santoor, all moving in a flash. And then there is that ubiquitous bass guitar which charts its own course.

Now, can we say that the thirst was quenched?

I would say No, because it continued after this and still continues even after 4 decades. And our thirst continues too..

The reason is simple!

The inhibitory neurons got submerged in this great ocean of divine music!

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