Rhapsody

If I say that ‘one of my most unforgettable days is the day my first child was born’, I am sure you all will agree with me- provided you are married and have a child. 

I still remember that evening very well when the nurse came out of the labour room and showed us the little baby. I cried with uncontrollable joy, the kind of joy I had not experienced before. It will be an understatement to say that we were on Cloud 9 for the next 2-3 years. Holding him and putting him to sleep on the lap (and later on the shoulders), changing the nappies, feeding him, smiling and laughing with him, playing with him were all things which became part of our life. Each and every day was different and unique. Life had never been so beautiful!

 The rare gem of the day too talks about the joy of fondling a child. Thenil Aadum Roja from Avar Enakke Sontham (1977) is as soft as the breeze and as sweet as the honey. The santoor in the beginning and the flute which follows that hundred-stringed instrument from Kashmir, are full of energy. These give way to the humming (Suseela) before entering again and leading us to the Pallavi. 

 The Pallavi personifies happiness and the flute- between the lines- and the santoor at the end, jump with joy giving us an image of a child jumping and dancing. 

 The duo dominates the first interlude as well before the veena takes over. The combination of  western percussion and veena is different and might even sound odd but that was the time when this composer started experimenting with different sounds, a fact known to people who grew up during those days and listened to his compositions sequentially in the order of their release. 

 One gets reminded of Darwin while listening to the flute piece just towards the end of the first interlude. Isn't this a musical definition of the Theory of Evolution? 

It is ‘listening between the lines’ yet again in the CharaNam with the flute and the veena playing two short melodies one after the other, at the end of the first line. 

The structure of the CharaNam too is simple and beautiful in keeping with the mood of the song. The melody in the beginning is played again in the second interlude but with the sound of the veena being a welcome addition, and this itself gives a rousing start to the interlude. The flute enters yet again playing as softly as ever and one sees the budding Laya Raaja here with the slap bass which backs the flute melody, playing in 4 while the composition is set in 3. The interlude ends with the flute melody yet again but before that something happens. The solo-violin plays a melody which scythes through one’s heart. 

Poignancy –isn’t it part of one’s life too? 

 Life Lessons!

Grey Cells

 

Generally, if a movie is remade in some other language, the tendency of the Music Directors is to use the same song tracks and the BGM tracks (I am not talking about a dubbed movie, but a movie remade either with the same cast or a different cast). But Raaja sir, who is known for his innovative thinking seldom does this. At times, out of compulsion ( by who else, but our ‘ignosent’ directors?) he would have had to compromise but even in such instances, he would have shown some variation-either in the tune or in the interludes.

I am reminded now of a news item in a Tamizh magazine in 1983 when the audio of Sadma was released, by none other than Amitabh Bacchan, who incidentally wanted to play  Kamal’s role in the Hindi version but was politely refused by Balu Mahendra). The news item said ‘ILaiyaraaja has simply recycled the tamizh tunes. Why? No creativity?’

I was put down by this comment and wanted to check out the veracity. Since ‘net’ those days meant only a fisherman’s net and since I was living in an island, I had no access to the album. Thankfully, during the vacation we went to Madras and Sadma had just then released. When I listened to the songs in the Cinema Hall, I was wondering if that reporter had plugged his ears with cotton. Anyway, media has always been like this, right? And yes, this role as now been taken over by Social Media and the number of ‘reporters’/’critics’ has increased manifold!!

Let us now look at a beautiful piece from a Telugu movie-which needless to say was remade from Tamizh. The Bharathiraja directed Pudiya vaarpugaL was remade as Kotta Jeevitalu with Suhasini and Hari Prasad in lead roles. This is the title track of the movie far as I remember, the title score of the Tamizh version had the tune of ‘tam tana nam tana’ being hummed.

Here the piece starts with the prelude of ‘ChoLam vidakkaiyile’! What follows is a beautiful piece in the Kharaharapriya scale with obvious shades of Andhra folk. The Flute brings serenity while the keys between 1.10 and 1.27 add a new colour. The guitar that joins the flute in the beginning and whenever the piece is repeated and the strings from 2.02 –that jump with ‘ta ka/ ta ka dhi mi’- give the western contours without any frills.

Wish the ‘pedants’ and charlatans listened to such pieces. But will they? Even then, does it matter?

Raja4376 · Kottha Jeevitalu title music

Law of Thermodynamics

 Why do we keep Kolu?

First of all, for the uninitiated, kolu is the arrangement of dolls on steps ( not staircase!) during Navaratri. While the number of steps could vary depending on the space and resources available, the number should always be odd- though this may sound odd! The period of Navaratri, which is nine days (and nights) after the new moon in the Tamizh month of PurattAsi, is considered to be very auspicious, as it is dedicated to Shakti and the three forms of Shakti- Durga, Lakshmi, Saraswati. Shakti is Energy and it is believed that the spiritual energy is at its peak during this period.

So, what is the significance of Kolu (a.k.a.Golu) which is kept essentially in South India and how is it related to spiritual energy?

It is a proven fact that one's energy levels go up while indulging in any form of art. This indulgence could be performing could be performing or watching or listening to others' performances. Secondly, when like-minded people gather for and with a purpose, the level of energy goes up. Therefore, keeping Kolu, inviting others to their homes and make them sing, make people more vibrant and positive. Thirdly, arranging the dolls itself is an art and is a form of expression. Fourthly, it is said that those days, clay was a by-product obtained while desilting the irrigation canals and dolls were made of this clay. These dolls became popular and the process continued. Note that the desilting of canals happened during the months of Aadi and AavaNi - the months preceding Purattaasi.

Whatever it is, Kolu has come to stay though with a lot of innovation. Let us celebrate Kolu and Navaratri, with a song.

Recently, my son and I were discussing the Raga Shree and the use of 'padhanipama' in the raga. Just to deviate slightly by getting a little technical, let me tell you that quite a few ragas in the Carnatic system of music, has what is called 'prayoga', which is the same group of swaras appearing ubiquitously in the raga. In fact, this is loosely and equivalent of leitmotif  and this gives a particular raga, its identity. As far as my knowledge goes, 'padhanipama' prayoga is a later addition. 

I told my son, "Even Tyagaraja did not use it" adding "because he did not like it". I went on to add "ILaiyaraaja does not like it too". When he asked how I knew this(the second one), I told him in jest that he himself mentioned it to me. 

My thoughts veered to this song based on Shree and my fingers clicked on the song stored in my system. I decided to write about that song instantly and the reason is obvious. In fact, I had elaborately written about this song in my other blog long ago (https://rajamanjari.blogspot.com/2008/11/ilaiyaraajas-music-is-rich.html). But revisiting a song and writing about it again, gives me pleasure, a kind of pleasure not easy to put in words.

Starting with the drone of the tanpura followed by a sloka on Vinayaka, the beginning of 'Devi Durga Devi' (Sankeerthana- 1986), is auspicious with the very brief dance jatis ( Madurai Srinivasan) enhancing the divine feeling.

Energy flows in the voice of SPB and Vani Jayaram. Backed by the mrudangam and the subtle sound of the ankle bells, the Pallavi brims with energy. Even before one bats an eyelid, one feels the raga.

Is this potential energy or kinetic energy?

The veeNa and veNu reverberate with powerful phrasings of the raga in the beginning of the first interlude. As if being challenged, the mrudangam, which dashed off syllables with pulsating weight in the Pallavi, enters again and plays with intensity. It is of course a friendly banter with the veeNa- veNu blowing like a gentle sea breeze.

It is beauty personified as the mrudangam reverberates with different patterns in chatushram in the CharaNams.

The second interlude has a volley of swaras rendered with lucidity and grace even as one gets to see the shimmering beauty of the raga(yes, without 'padhanipama'!). The mrudangam and the tabla alternate between the lines, the former being sounded when the female voice renders the swaras and the latter being played when the male voice renders the saahitya.

Creativity + Innovation = Energy.

Energy can neither be created nor destroyed, but can be transformed!

Does this answer the question asked in the beginning?

Rajghat

 

What does religion mean to me?

On the face of it, the question may sound inappropriate on Oct 2^nd but scratch the surface and you will agree that it is not more relevant than on this date. I say this not with a sense of triumphalism but with a sense of pain which is indescribable and to a great extent incomprehensible.

Rather than answering the question directly, let me quote what the gentleman who was born exactly 150 years ago at a place called Porbandar had to say:

‘’While I believe myself to be a Hindu, I know that I do not worship God in the same manner as any one or all of them’’.

If that statement sounds slightly complex, let me quote one more:

‘’The need of the moment is not one religion for the whole of human kind, but mutual respect, equal regard and tolerance of the devotees of different religions’’.

Not many statements can sound as candid as this one and not many statements are as relevant as this one in 2019.

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was a multi faceted personality- one which had varied dimensions. But personally speaking, it is his genuine belief in treating all religions and faith equally which appeals to me the most and this is not without any reason.

At the cost of sounding politically incorrect, I feel I should not hesitate to voice my opinion on the happenings in the country now. If lynching and questioning the other person’s right to eat what he/she feels is right have become a practice, forcing others to ‘chant’ the name of ‘our God’ has become the new norm.

If these can be called as pernicious, what can one say about the fight for a piece of land just to build a structure which is supposedly meant for worshipping ‘our god’. One wonders if God can be owned by somebody and if ‘your god’ can ever be inferior to ‘my god’. This is not as ludicrous as the venomous public statements by the so-called leaders who seem to have any qualms in talking ill of other religions and more importantly, people who follow those faiths. What that 'other' is, I am sure, is obvious to all.

If the Mahatma who said ‘ all worship the same God under different names’ and ‘to revile one another’s religion, to make reckless statements, to utter untruth, to break the heads of innocent men, to desecrate temples or mosques is a denial of God’ was alive today, I am not sure what he would have done looking at the way people fight in the name of God.

On this special day, I thought no song would be more appropriate than ‘Ram Ram’ from ‘ Hey Ram’(2000). But before that, I thought I must clarify one thing. ‘Ram’ to him was a more a symbol of universal love and less a religious deity. 

And now to the song..

Not many have the guts to chant Ram’s name in Salaat style. This composition starts with that. Is the call of the Muezzin for praying in the name of Ram a case of blasphemy or is it for communal harmony?

I shudder to think what would have happened if this song was released in 2019. Would there not have been a call to ‘ban’ the song as it ‘hurt the sentiments of the majority’? How dare can Ram be prayed that way? I cannot help recalling what happened sometime during last year when lumpen elements spread malicious information about carnatic singers singing ‘Christian songs in praise of Jesus in pure Carnatic ragas’ with a call to boycott such singers who were ‘involved in conversion’!!

Hats off to Raaja sir for composing those lines and to Kamal for singing those lines.

It is not that only the first line reminds one of Islamic prayers. The entire song, based on Sindhu Bhairavi has the contours of Arabic and Persian music and this has not been done without any purpose.

What is also amazing is the high-shruti on which the composition is based on. If high-shruti itself is not so easy to render, higher-octave in this is tougher. But the singers come out trumps.

The Salaat is followed by the percussion which plays ‘4/2/4/2/4’(ta ka dhi mi/ta -/ta ka dhi mi/ta -/ta - - mi). The ghatam , essentially a South Indian percussion instrument follows the western percussion. The piped instruments enter now and play Sindhu Bhairavi.

The seamless starting of the Pallavi is equally amazing.

The first interlude has the Arabic flavour first and then a Persian flavour. But the fact that it has the western classical shades cannot be denied.

Same is the case with the second interlude as well, though it must be said that there is more of Persian flavour which even makes one dance like a snake-that is if at all snakes can dance!

The call and response and the harmony in the CharaNams indicate just one thing to me.

‘Call’ your conscience whenever you are disturbed.

‘Respond’ to the atrocities without violence.

Spread ‘Harmony’ across the nation.