Idiolect

Xi Jinping is the most powerful person in China. This is a fact known to almost every creature in the planet (in case, any creature doesn’t know this, it will meet its fate, don’t worry!). But not many know that he was responsible, albeit indirectly, for making a person lose her job.

This happened in the year 2014 when the President visited India. A newsreader on Doordarshan pronounced his name as ’11 Jinping’( see how his first name looks a lot like the Roman XI. Thankfully, it is not ‘ix’!) and she was asked to get out. Of course, she was only a contracted employee and that made the job easier for the authorities.

But what irked me that time (and still irks me) is the fact that the authorities don’t care a damn if Indian names- South Indian names in particular- are pronounced wrongly. It could be because even the authorities do not know the correct pronunciation. For 5 years from 1987 to 1992, the President was christened as ‘Venkatraman’ and not ‘Venkataraaman’. The former finance minister is still called by many as ‘Chidaambaram’ and not ‘Chidambaram’. Curious case of ‘nedil’(நெடில்) becoming ‘kuril’ (குறில்) and vice versa.

In fact, people living in the north of the vindhyas hardly care about the South Indian names nor do they bother to give any respect. When Mooppanar formed ‘Tamizh Maanila Congress’, the channels thought he was seeking the help of people from Philippines. Otherwise, how could one explain their pronouncing the name as ‘Tamil Manilaa Congress’? The capital city of TN reminds them probably of a Red Dog, because it is ‘Chennaaai’. Examples galore but let me stop here and travel to the south of vindhyas.

Newsreaders here too, murder North Indian names, though it is less intense. Of course, they murder International names as well and one of the unforgettable gaffes was by a lady newsreader on DD long ago when she pronounced ‘Helmet Kohl’ as ‘Helmut Goal’(probably, she was symbolically suggesting the greatness of Germany in football!).

In my opinion, all these can be at least excused. What cannot be excused is the murder of Tamizh by the Tamizh people(not necessarily the media alone). Now, do this exercise. Watch TV serials, News channels and the latest movies for about 2 hours. Take a piece of paper and count the number of people who get ‘ல’, ‘ள’, ‘ந’, ‘ன’, ‘ண’ right. I am sure, your paper will be almost blank.

Go out to a crowded place. Listen to people. Even in colloquial tamizh, see how many people get all those right. See if even such a small word as ‘keezhe’(கீழே ) is pronounced correctly or as ‘keele’(கீல ).

Same is the case in writing as well. It is not uncommon to find people mixing up ‘ல’ and ‘ள’ and ‘ன’ and ‘ண’ .

Well, this is the state of affairs now. What is shocking is that people talk about ‘tamizh race’ and ‘pride’ and yet do not pay attention to the language which is 5000 years old and to the special letters which has made the language one of the most beautiful and unique languages in the world.

I am not here to analyse the causes for this decay. At the same time, my heart bleeds when I see/hear such murders. If I was into law making, I would bring some stringent laws to make people speak/write tamizh properly. But the fact is I am not. Therefore, let me write about a song, which in a way parodies such people.

No, it is not a song in ‘Sentamizh’.

The beauty of ‘Vaalvinil’ from ‘PattaNam Pogalaam Vaa’(1981-unrelased) lies as much in the ‘tamizh murder’ as in the very different orchestration. I am sure both have been done intentionally.

Not many would even believe that the music was scored by ILaiyaraaja, unless told. They can be easily excused if they thought the song was from the ‘40s if they listened to the prelude.

Before we get on with that, I must register my appreciation for Malaysia Vasudevan. It is not easy for a man known for his perfect diction of tamizh(despite being a malayali) to murder tamizh. See, how he says ‘ல’  (la) instead of ‘ள’ (La), ன (na) instead of ‘ண’(Na)  instead of  (and vice versa) and ல(la)  instead of ழ (zha). And how beautifully he has modulated the voice..

As regards Raaja sir, I read long back in one of the forums that he cannot bring out the essence of the old era and that he used the same kind of instruments and tune while trying to recreate that era. The comment quoted the ‘Nayagan’ song and the one from ‘Aditya 369’. People who make such comments should listen to ILaiyaraaja in full. In fact, they must listen to this song to see how the ‘Bhagawatar era’ has been recreated.

Though it has that ‘old era’ flavour, genuine followers of this genius can easily recognise his distinct style here too.

If the romance between the jalatarangam and the tabla tarang and between the clarinet and the strings in the prelude gives us a clue, the way strings are played towards the end of the prelude with the jalatarangam and tabla tarang striking alternately, suggests us as to who would have composed this.

When the percussion completed the aavartanam in the Pallavi, we can easily recognise the Raaja muthirai, a distinct mark like the water mark on the rupee notes!

Charukesi in its pristine form in the prelude, interludes, pallavi and in the charaNams reconfirm that this is the work of the genius.

So do the sober clarinet and the racy strings in the first interlude, the call and response between the strings and the tabla tarang, the soulful clarinet and the sizzling flute in the second interlude , the sudden appearance of the clarinet in the first CharaNam and the structure of the two CharaNams, one different from the other.

The naughty side of Raaja sir is seen again in the second CharaNam where there is impromptu rendering of kalpana swarams after ‘Oram Po’.

It may be recalled that ‘Oram Po’ and ‘Vaangonna’ were banned by AIR and DD those days for ‘vulgarity’ and ‘objectionable content’. Wonder how the authorities do not find any problem with the present day tamizh spoken by ‘tamilans’, while they could find simple rustic words used while learning cycling and the words used by a particular community, ‘vulgar’ and ‘objectionable’.

Shouldn’t such people in the media meet the fate of the newsreader who got the name of the Chinese President wrong?

And shouldn’t there be a ban on the murder of tamizh in our state?

But again, if there is a ban, then 90% of the politicians and 95% of the actors will be rendered jobless.

Isn’t it good for us then?

PS: This post is dedicated to all ‘tamilans’!

                  

                  

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Artistry

What is creative thinking? What is inspiration? Or these two mutually exclusive or inclusive?

In Management, a creative thinker is defined as one who looks at problems or situations from a fresh perspective and suggests unorthodox solutions. Inspiration is the process of being mentally stimulated to do or feel something, especially to do something creative.

All geniuses get inspired from others’ works. The episode involving Kamban and a farmer and the line ‘moongil ilai mele thoongum pani neere’ is well known to people who follow Tamizh Literature(people who are not aware of this need not worry.It will be part of a forthcoming post).

Some of the compositions of Raaja sir’s have been inspired from the works of some great composers. But the genius that he is, Raaja sir took just a few lines and expanded these in his own way. In all fairness to the great legends, some of the inspired pieces even sound better than the original.

In any case, this post is not about such pieces. It is about Raaja getting inspired by Raaja.

It is not uncommon for directors to quote some known popular songs and ask for the same tune(s). Here, I am talking about his own songs in other languages. A normal composer would simply give the same tune and the tracks. In fact, they would even thank the director mentally for reducing the ‘burden’. But not this genius..He sees to it that even in remakes, he adds some subtle changes. The case of ‘Lalita Priya Kamalam’ and ‘Idhazhil Kadhai Ezhuthum’ is a classic example.

I can of course quote many examples, but for now, let me focus on the song of the day. ‘Maanjolai KiLidhaano’, in my opinion is a masterpiece in Laya. I have written about the Laya aspect elaborately in my other blog (https://rajamanjari.blogspot.in/2014/07/laya-raaja-3.html)  and have also explained albeit briefly during the Laya Raaja presentation in Geetanjali-2016. I shall take this up more elaborately in the next Laya Raaja presentation.

‘Kizhakke Pogum Rail’ was remade in telugu as ‘Toorpu Velle Railu’, but the director was different. Yes, the music director was different too(SPB) and the tunes were totally different. This movie was released in 1979. Around the same time, ‘Panchabhootalu’ was released too. I am really not sure if the director of ‘Panchabhootalu’ wanted the tune or Raaja sir himself decided to use the tune(this is unlikely anyway) but the fact is ‘Kavvinche Kallalo’ was born.

While the tamizh version is a male solo, the telugu version is a duet in the voices of SPB and Suseela. But let us see how the Master has improvised his own composition.

To start with, the two are in different shrutis. Secondly, the ‘kaala pramaaNam’(aka as the tempo) is different with the tamizh one in a slightly faster tempo.

The tamizh version starts with the percussion(and what a ‘tani aavartanam’ it is..would make a carnatic percussionist proud!). ‘Kavvinche..’ starts with a very brief sitar piece followed by the sympathetic strings with the bell sounding different notes simultaneously. Suseela’s akaaram follows. SPB pitches in with his akaaram(what a beautiful and different counterpoint!). Suddha Dhanyasi sketched in a matter of seconds by the painter!

The percussion takes over. Now, it is the same laya pattern like its Tamizh original but there is a change in the instruments. In ‘Maanjolai’, the friendly banter is predominantly between the pakhawaj and the tabla. In ‘Kavvinche..’, the mugarsing(or morsing) enters the fray and plays along with the tabla to add spice. There is a subtle difference in the sound of tabla and pakhawaj too.

The subtle difference is seen in the structure of the lines in the Pallavi and even in the way the tabla sounds in the background. It is sharper and more distinct in the telugu version.

One of the most beautiful aspects of the tamizh version is the sounding of the percussion for every third beat, leaving a gap of two beats in the beginning of the first interlude. It continues in the telugu version too. What is different is the combination of the instruments which follow. If it is the veena which sounds in ‘Maanjolai’, it is the jalatarangam in ‘Kavvinche’. Moreover, the sitar follows in the latter. There is a subtle change in the flute piece too, especially in the beginning.

The first CharaNam remains almost the same except that one sees a couple of more podi sangatis in Suseela’s rendering. Of course, that beautiful ‘ta ki ta/ ta ki  ta/ ta ki  ta / ta ki  ta/ ta ka dhi mi’ in the last line is retained without any change.

What happens in the second interlude proves my strong conviction that ILaiyaraaja is the greatest composer in Indian Film Music. In the tamizh version, the raga changes to Kharaharapriya( with some magical orchestration and laya exercises) and this continues in the first half of the second CharaNam.

The Master does not change the raga in the telugu version. Instead, he uses only the vocals (chorus and Suseela) in the entire interlude. He then improvises giving a totally new melody (in the same raga) in the first half of the second CharaNam(people who know telugu can appreciate the beautiful lyrics too here!). The tune in Suddha Dhanyasi, the different backing of the pakhawaj, the rendering of SPB and Suseela and the poetic lyrics transport us to a Musical New World..

The world of creativity..

Inspiration and Creativity-are these mutually exclusive or inclusive?

The Music of the Emperor will silently answer this..

                  

                  

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Similar..but Distinct

It is funny how a single word can give different meanings depending on the context. Take the word ‘Break’ for example. It means,

1.to shatter

2.to puncture

3.to malfunction

4.succeed in deciphering something

5.to interrupt

6.to take rest

7.to diminish

8.to relinquish

9.to surpass (a record for example)

10.to give way

11.to destroy

12.to undergo a change

13.to begin(dawn was breaking )

14.to pound

15.to make something public(news for example)

16.an opportunity(noun).

Oops...this is not an English class nor am I a teacher (though I love both, English as a language and me as a teacher!). So, why am I talking about this now?

It is because of two reasons with each one related to the other and both related to a song. If this sounds confusing, so be it. At times, it is enjoyable to be confused (of course, nothing can be more enjoyable than confusing others J).

Recently, I was forced to take a break (this one pertains to no.6 in the list). ‘Forced’ because I was diagnosed with an infection which is dangerously contagious and therefore I had to be ‘quarantined’ at home (don’t worry, the contagious phase is over now and by reading my post, you are unlikely to contract the infection!).

This meant that I had to be confined to home and some of the rooms were out of bounds for me. I had to depend on my family members on almost every thing. Moreover, the infection made me too uneasy. But I took this on my chin. I reasoned that somehow it had to happen and it happened. I developed my sense of gratitude, feeling happy and thankful that the infection was not that intense compared to many other adults. I felt more positive and stronger.

But I would be lying if I said that I always felt positive as there were phases when I felt extremely low. During those times, I either took a book and read or hummed some songs to myself. Of course, there is that social media as well and I took this opportunity to express myself on some of the ‘burning issues’. But what gave me real energy was the post (https://rajamanjari.blogspot.in/2018/04/ilaiyaraaja-virtuoso.html) I wrote last Sunday in my other blog. In fact, I wrote the whole post with the infection troubling me but I did not feel the discomfort(power of his music and power of analysing his music!).

What happened a day before that should be of interest. I was all alone at home and I had to go to the kitchen. It was exactly after 12 days since my infection was diagnosed. When I went to the corner, I felt some very odd feeling. It seemed as if the sink and the tap were silently telling me something. It was a feeling which I felt was familiar and yet one which I had never experienced before. Suddenly, a particular song started playing in my mind. It was so instantaneous that it gave me no room to think about the reason.

Now, last Sunday after writing the post I wanted to attend a Hindustani concert and stepped out of my home after 13 days. As the car crossed my colony, I again felt a very strange feeling, the same kind of feeling I had when I went to the kitchen 2 days ago. Each and every place looked so different to me despite being so familiar. And yes, the same song started playing in my mind.

Unlike what some of you must have guessed, it is not a pathos song. On the other hand, it is one of the peppiest songs ever in the history of Indian Film Music.

If there is one song which can do what even a pep talk cannot achieve, it is ‘Rojaappoo Aadi Vandhadhu’ from ‘Agni Nakshatram’ (1988). Just listen to the song when you feel down and see the way your body, mind and the soul react. Yes, it is meant to be a ‘gym song’(the heroine does more acrobatics and indulges in real exercise than the hero who just moves his ‘fat filled body’ here and there J) but tell me one gym song or a disco song which is filled with so much of energy and melody and I shall give up writing and move around with ‘half-moustache’ throughout my life!

What makes this song great is rather a difficult question to answer because it is a combination of many factors. However, I would like to first focus on a technical aspect and then move on to the other aspects. Though it is technical, I shall try and make it as simple as possible.

Carnatic music is known for its taaLa structure and the different unique patterns. But apart from the patterns, there are also certain other techniques. 

Let me just take up two.

1.Vinyaasam and 2. Gati Bhedam.

The first one is done when the percussionist switches from one pattern to another-say from 4 to 3- keeping a common meeting point which would be a count which would be divisible by both. For example, take a simple aadi taaLam which has a count of 8. The percussionist starts playing in tisram till the 24^th beat where 8 and 3 would meet. This is just a simple example(very soon, I am planning to make video presentations on You Tube and I am sure this will be clearer then).

The second one is said to take place when the ‘nadai’ or ‘gati’ undergoes a change but the count remains the same. For example, ‘3’ will be made to fit into ‘4’. One can put 3 beats as well as 4 beats for the same song or rather for that particular line.

In film music, I cannot think of any other composer apart from the legend from PaNNaippuram. He did it in the ending lines of the CharaNams in ‘Pallaviye CharaNam’ (https://rajamanjari.blogspot.in/2016/05/ilaiyaraaja-phenomenon.html). He did it in some more songs as well and this includes a very rare song about which I shall post soon here.

But in ‘Rojaappoo ..’ the entire composition has ‘Gati bhedam’. One can count 4 and at the same time count 3 too. The Master that he is, he has made the drums play 3 in faster mode(called as ‘mel kaalam’) while the 4 go in medium speed(‘madhyama kaalam’). So, instead of three, 6 beats are fitted in 4. I know this is somewhat (very) technical but shall soon demonstrate live.

And look at the kind of introduction the Master gives. It starts with one percussion instrument sounding only the 1^st beat and the other one sounding the 3^rd beat(no ‘gati bhedam’ here). After four 1 2 3 4(rather 1 – 3 - ), another percussion instrument joins in the 3^rd beat and this goes on for another 4 cycles. The ‘gati bhedam’ starts then..

...and it continues till the end. In between, Laya Raaja gives some special effects at the end of each line in the second part of the Pallavi(can we probably call it as ‘anu pallavi’?), in the first interlude when the drums and bass guitar indulge in a romantic play, after the last line of the CharaNams, and in the beginning of the second interlude when the drums play just briefly after the humming of the chorus.

There is ‘usi’ too in both the interludes when the chorus sings ‘chaa ..chaa cha chaaa’ in the last segment(s). What is ‘usi’ has been explained in some of the posts in my other blog, and I shall do this again in one of my forthcoming posts here.

Apart from this, there is of course the dazzling guitar, the joyful strings, and the mystical bass guitar which are present almost throughout either together or one after the other.

The construction of the entire song –in terms of the swara pattern- too needs a special mention, but since this post is already pregnant with technical details, let me succinctly say that the sudden appearance of higher octave notes after the mid-octave notes and the sudden appearance of the latter after the former, make our hearts jump(for example, in ‘Chinnanjiru Paruvam Innum Kodippadho’, the first phrase has the mid-octave notes, the second and third have the higher octave notes and the higher octave give way to the mid- octave in ‘Kodippadho’ in ‘adho’ giving that ‘sliding effect’(for a change, watch the song too and see what happens during this section J).

Ah, yes, the romantically sensuous voice of Janaki is undoubtedly an asset in this song.

So many things look the same in the song and yet they are different-whether it is 3 in 4 or it is the mid-octave and the higher octave.

And that typifies my feeling when I went to a corner in my home or saw the roads in my colony!

                  

                  

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