Bewitching

Beauty is a very beautiful concept. I am saying ‘concept’ because all said and done beauty is subjective. What is beautiful to me may not be beautiful to you. That is why they say ‘Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder’. 

But if one dwells deep into the subject, it does throw up a lot of interesting things.

What is beauty after all? One that gives us immense pleasure just by looking at it/listening to it/reading it? 

We say ‘a beautiful landscape’. 

We say ‘a beautiful piece of music’. 

We say ‘a beautiful poem’. 

Now, the tamizh word for beauty- Azhagu - is another beauty. 

It is because it has the letter ‘zha’(ழ ) and the word Tamizh itself has ‘zha’(ழ) .'Zha' is a letter unique to Tamizh language and gives a very attractive sound when pronounced properly. 

It is of course a different matter that a majority of the people has forgotten this letter and the sound and pronounces it as(ல) ‘la’.தமிழ்-Tamizh then becomes தமில்-tamil. This includes people who call themselves as custodians of ‘Tamizh Culture’..oh..sorry 'Thamil Culture'.

The song for today-which is one of my all-time favourites- is also beautiful written by the beautiful poet whose other name is Kannadasan. 

The fact remains that there can never be another Kannadasan (of course there can never be another ILaiyaraaja!). 

Though many gems of Kannadasan were tuned by MSV sir, the Raaja-Kannadasan combination has also given some excellent songs like ‘KaalangaL MazhaikkalangaL’(Idhayaththil oru idam), ‘Kovil Mani Osai thannai’(Kizhakke Pogum Rail) ‘Minminikku Kannil oru Minnal’(Sigappu RojakkaL), ‘Vasanta Kaala KolangaL(Thyagam), ‘Sindhu Nadhikkarai oram’(Nallathoru Kudumbam), ‘Sridevi en vaazhvil’(ILamaikkolam) , ‘Oru Thanga Radhaththil’(Dharma Yudhdham) and of course my all time favourite ‘Engengo sellum’(Pattakkaththi Bhairavan) just to name a few.

It was his nephew-Panchu Arunachalam- who introduced Raaja into films and Kannadasan’s first song for Raaja was ‘Kola Kolaya Mundirikkai’ in ‘Paalootti VaLarththa KiLi’- Raaja’s second movie. He humorously(and sensibly too) added the phrase ‘Raja vaa’ in that song symbolically welcoming Raaja.

Incidentally, he wrote his last two songs for Raaja in ‘Moondram Pirai’ before leaving for the US. It seems he remarked to his assistant ‘Raaja is lucky.I don’t think I shall write again for movies after my return’.

He never returned. Only his body arrived here.

But he lives with his immortal songs and will continue to live for many years to come. 

I mentioned that the song for today is also beautiful. 

It is beautiful because of many reasons: 

1. Tune

2. Orchestration

3. Voice

4. Cinematography

and most importantly,

5.The Lyrics.

1.Tune - It is a very different tune and cannot be classified under one particular Raga. It has shades of Sivaranjani, Karnaranjani and even Madhukauns. But it follows a pattern consistently evoking a very different feeling.

2.Orchestration - For the Emperor, is this not a child’s play? He uses the voice of Yesudass as different instruments in the prelude. 

The beautiful Violins and the elegant Veena interspersed with sounds from electronic instruments in the first interlude (listen to the sympathetic chords towards the end..), the Bells juxtaposed between the Dilruba and the mesmerizing flute in the second interlude, the overlapping Bass guitar and the synthesizers in the third interlude.. 

Emperor is Emperor.. Let there be no dispute. 

In fact, a close observation suggests that each interlude is unique and independent but still is closely related to each other. 

Paradoxical?

Play the interludes one after the other and see. You can see poetry there. 

And of course the beats.. The Hindustani Type Tabla beats transport us to another world.

 3.Voice - I do not think any other singer could have sung this song in a better way. This kind of ‘ natural rolling and oscillating effect’ can be produced only by the gentleman called Yesudas. And do I have to say about the natural sweetness?

 4. Cinematography- Not many Raaja songs are shot well-at least to our satisfaction. But this song is an exception. As per the situation, the Hero- who is blind- tries to describe the beauty of the heroine by touching her and she in turn would sketch that description. It could have easily been shot in a glamorous (euphemism for vulgarity!) way. But the entire song shot in indoors shows the aesthetic sense of the Director (Singeetam Srinivasa Rao), the Cinematographer (Barun Mukherjee) and the actors (Kamal and Madhavi).

 5.Lyrics:

The Pallavi ’Oh..beauty..you are like an epic written by a thousand poets’.He uses the word ‘Paavalar’ and not ‘Pulavar’.Both may mean the same but there is a subtle difference.’ Pulavar’ is just a poet. ’Paavalar’ is an expert! 

First CharaNam: 

‘Hair is as cool as the clouds’. We have seen poets comparing the colour of the hair with that of the clouds.. But this is a different thinking in deed! 

‘Ears like question marks Face and eyes like lotus flower’. 

Here comes the beauty. ’Mana kaNgaL sollum ponnoviyam’. 

The hero sees her through his mind’s eyes and this line immediately follows the description of her eyes. 

Mark of a Genius!

 Second CharaNam: 

‘Lips shine like an oyster’. 

There is pearl in oyster and that is the teeth. So naturally, one would expect him to write ‘Serntha pallin varisai yaavum Muththu pondrana’. 

But he says’ Mullai pondrana’(like the jasmine flower). 

Kannadasan, ILaiyaraaja and O’Henry - are they not in the same league? 

Expect the unexpected. 

Then the last line shows the naughtier side of Kannadasan - Oru Angam KaigaL aRiyaathathu’(sorry..no explanation needed!). 

Third CharaNam: 

‘Waist like a creeper, thighs like a plantain leaf, and feet like the mango leaves, you are the Vedas. There is no woman equal to you in this world.’ 

There is no equal to Kannadasan. There is no equal to ILaiyaraaja. 

Just like the letter tamizh letter ‘zha’.

Spoken and the Unspoken

 “Avoid using cuss words”- said I.

“But why? We are not Buddhas”- replied somebody.

I do not want to reveal as to where and when this happened. All I can say is that the topic was ‘How to stop energy leaks’ and that it was an online discussion.

Not many in the present times-whether it is Gen X, Gen Y, Gen Z- realise the power of words, and this is not a healthy sign. Though it is a well- known fact that without words expressing oneself is tough (there is ‘sign language’, but how many even know this or can understand this?), people do not understand its value. Said with proper intonation, the words spread vibrations- positive and negative. In fact, that is why slokas are recited and one is asked to say it correctly with the right pronunciation so that positive vibrations are created. This is common for all religions though the language may vary.

But tune into any OTT platform. Not a single movie or show passes without the characters uttering swear words. Even if the character does not (which is a rarity), people who write the subtitles see to it that it is part of it.

‘So what if I say cuss words’, is a question which will be asked by many, especially people who cannot survive without that (in fact, some even ‘breathe’ those words!).

1.When you use such words, it creates negativity in your subconscious mind without your being aware and it manifests itself later in your life.

2.It makes one believe that your vocabulary is very poor and that instead of saying the appropriate word for the occasion, you end up using such words.

3.Invariably, you end up abusing your life itself by using such words constantly.

What is of great concern is the fact that people take pride in using such words without realising the negative impact these are likely to give, later.

It is not without any reason that a very popular English monthly known for making readers digest information, has a section called ‘Word power’ and this is meant not just to improve one’s vocabulary!

Let us see a song whose first line talks not about words, but the absence of it.

 Like many other compositions of his, ‘Maata raani mounamidi’ (vocals: SPB and Janaki) from ‘Maharishi’(1987) is beautiful, but what makes it unique is the leitmotif.

Listen to the repetitive guitar piece in the beginning. As if to complete a circle, it occurs yet again at the end of the prelude. But the circle is not complete (can you find the beginning and end of any circle), because one sees yet another circle in the second interlude as the guitar piece occurs and continues even as the piped instruments (sax and allied instruments) and flute alternate with each other. But even before we beat an eyelid, there is another circle, this time in the form of piped instruments which play the leitmotif played until now by the guitar alone!

This composer who is always different and who makes a difference by understanding the different sounds of all the instruments, brings a difference in the second CharaNam. The entire composition follows the 4-beat cycle, but he just modifies the pattern of the cycle by changing the percussion instruments and also making these sound in ‘mel kaalam’(faster mode). Now, listen to the first CharaNam and skip to the second CharaNam, and you will know what difference it makes to the composition.

After all, subtle changes make a huge difference!

In fact, this difference occurs in the beginning itself when the piped instruments take over after the guitar piece, though this difference is different from that of the one in the second CharaNam.

A closer look also suggests that even the second interlude sees a change in the pattern with the percussion sounding

 ‘1 - 3 –‘ in the slower speed followed by another set of percussion playing ‘ 1 2 3 4’ twice. Note that the first one is equal to the second because of the speed (a.k.a kaalam).

Just towards the end of the first interlude, which sees the different forms of the guitar and the piped instruments, there is that ‘mel kaalam’ just for four micro-beats, but this time it is the bass guitar which sounds it.

Bass guitar in fact sounds throughout the Pallavi as well, making it powerful.

Isn’t it a fact that the patterns matter in life- whether in music or in the formation of words?

Profundity

Inspiration is part of creativity.

I have made the aforementioned statement many times in many forums . But the fact of the matter is, many find it difficult to distinguish between ‘inspiration’ and ‘copying’. The reasons for the difficulty vary depending on the people and their mental make-up.

 Long ago, I wrote about 3 poets belonging to three totally different eras and also about how the 2nd one  got inspired by the 1st one and how the 3rd one was inspired by the 1st and the 2nd one. I shall just give the names of the three poets and without any further elaboration move on to ILaiyaraaja.

The 3 poets were – Thirumangaiyaazhwar(8th Century), Kamban(12th Century) and KaNNadasan(20th Century). 

When it comes to ILaiyaraaja, there is a group which would criticize him even if he sneezes. Needless to say this group would have heard not more than 5% of his compositions. People in this group do not know that when he scored music for a full fledged play (MaasatRa Manam) way back in 1969, he used original tunes. Nor do they know that he did some movies for free even when his market price was the highest among Indian composers (one of the movies was the Malayalam movie ‘Sammohanam’ which even won an award at an International Film Festival). 

And it is mainly this group which with its half-baked knowledge, brands his as ‘copy cat’. One of the songs cited by this group is ‘Endha Poovilum Vaasam UNdu’(MurattukkaaLai-1981). 

Let us first look at the facts. 

Antonio Ruiz-Pipó was a composer from Spain who wrote and composed some beautiful pieces. One of the pieces is called ‘Cancion Y Danza No.1’. This piece is in fact part of Trinity College syllabus for classical guitar grade 8.

The accusation is- ILaiyaraaja copied from Antonio Ruiz-Pipó.

Is this true?

Listening to the piece, the first humming of Janaki and most part of the Pallavi resembles the piece. But then what happens after that?

The guitar strums for 6 seconds. Suddenly the flute appears from nowhere and sings like a bird. Record this piece separately and play it to anybody. I bet they would say, ‘Oh, South Indian folk with guitar as the background’. Even experts in WCM would not associate this with Antonio Ruiz-Pipó.

Play the following piece where the violins and violas alternate between the cello, with each set playing different melodies and WCM aficionados would ask, ‘Is this piece from a classical symphony?’

The bulbul thara piece with bass guitar in the background would of course make even people not exposed to any major form of music, sit up, simply because of the way it pulls the strings of one’s heart.

How is the CharaNam? A mix of folk and semi-classical? But there is more to it. 

The higher-octave notes-going up to ‘Ma’in the third and the fourth lines- would make an Indian classical musician wonder as to how brilliant the composer could be.

The second interlude would probably make a poet with musical knowledge come up with a caption like- When Thames met Cauvery. This is because of the sound of the strings in WCM style backed by the folk instrument. And what would people say if they listened to the romance between the flute, the strings and the keys in the next segment?

The bulbul thara at the end puts things in a nutshell:

If a musical piece of a great composer can be taken as the base from yet another genius and expanded so beautifully like this, does it not speak volumes of his greatness?

After all, what is life without inspiration and creativity?

Warbler

 In the year 2020, during the month of October, the picturesque hill town of Vaalpaarai, a place close to Pollachi in Coimbatore district saw something unique. The walls were full of posters. No, there was no byelection nor was the town being visited by a political dignitary or any Big Boss (pun intended!). The posters had a picture of a bird (yes, you read it right) with wordings which read ’Thanks for travelling all the way from the Himalayas to our Vaalpaarai to feed on insects and to protect our ecosystem.’

This bird which goes by the name Grey Wagtail (scientific name- Motacilla cinerea) travels from the upper Himalyan Region during the month of September and goes back to the Himalayas when summer sets in. It has a long tail, which it keeps wagging. While the tail is yellow in colour, its body is greyish giving it the name Grey Wagtail. It is also beautiful to look at. It feeds on insects and therefore is a dear friend of people in general and farmers in particular. It is said that it works with clockwork precision and has site fidelity-that is it knows the geography like the back of the palm, oh sorry, like the back of its tail!

Though there are some avid birdwatchers, the fact of the matter is a majority of us do not pay attention to the birds around us. It is a fallacy that birds are found only in villages. The recent pandemic has come as a blessing in disguise to the mankind in general. If you think I am crude and heartless, so be it. Rather than cursing nature or god or even that poor number 2020, it will be wiser on our part to try and understand what the Universe is teaching us. We get to listen to silence and we get to see birds now, birds whose existence we would have never got to know. For that matter, even the Vaalpaarai posters happened because of the pandemic.

Recently, I also read a very interesting article in The Hindu in which a reader describes about a bird being caught on the window pane, as to how its mate arrives listening to the plaintive cries and as to how the little bird manages to extricate itself after seeing its beloved.

These are life lessons for humans!

Talking about lessons, music is a lesson too-rather a series of never ending lesson- and in the hands of an expert musician, it teaches us a lot about life just like how a bird teaches us naturally.

The most beautiful thing about ‘KaNdo KaNdo’ from ‘Innathe Chintha Vishayam’(2008) is the bird call. The sound of the birds keep occurring through the song and one can even call this the leitmotif.

It is not that this alone is responsible for the song sounding nice. The folksy tune in the different voice of M.G.Srikumar, the orchestration in which the synth melodic instruments meld with the folksy percussion make it a classy song.

The twin-violin backed by the synth instruments in the beginning gives a sleek silhouette and if you get instantly transported to a forest in the Western Ghats, you are not to be blamed.

The Pallavi starts after the ‘welcome music’ by the birds and it takes a different turn in the second half. Poignancy is not bad after all!

The flute mimics the birds in the first interlude but what is different here is the ‘call and response’. Generally, ‘call and response’ happens between two different instruments. But here is the case where a flute responds to another flute. Symbolism perhaps!

What happens after this is interesting as well. The synth melody (strings) moves with poise and with an unmatched elegance. There is a profusion of synth sound but this time it is backed by Jaalra. I can guarantee that if only Edward de Bono were to listen to this, he would give a charming smile.

The different bird calls follow in the CharaNams as well. So do the synth melodic instruments. The sudden entry of the tavil in the second half is yet another example of lateral thinking.

The melody picks up pace in the second interlude giving even shades of jazz. Rich and imaginative indeed!

Ah yes, aren’t birds rich without knowing what money is?

Sixteen Forever..

 I cried a lot when my mother passed away in August 2013.

I cried more when my father passed away in June 2019.

I cried inconsolably on the 26th of September 2020 and the reason is obvious. If there is one person's death I am yet to come to terms with, it is this gentleman's death. Even now tears well up in my eyes when I listen to his songs and even if I simply hum the songs mentally(attendees of Raaja Deepam -25 know this!).

"You have a very nice voice. But let me tell you two things. One, you tend to imitate Mohammed Rafi. Please do not imitate anybody. Have your own style. Two, you are looking very weak and puny. If you aim to become a professional singer, you need to have good stamina. Please become more strong physically..", said a leading female singer- when she presided over a Inter-College Music competition.

Even in their wildest dreams, the two would not have dreamt that they would sing together one day and go on to become one of the most successful and loved Duet voices of South India.

The female singer’s name is Janaki and the ‘boy’ was S.P.Balasubrahmanyam.

He tried to follow her advice but could not shed his imitation of his idol Mohammed Rafi for at least 10 years ,a fact reflected in his earlier songs like ‘AvaL oru Navarasa Naatakam’(Ulagam Sutrum Vaaliban) and ‘Thoduvathenna thendralo malargaLo’(Sabhatam).The last mentioned song is special for some other reason and I shall come to that soon.

We all know how religiously he followed her second advice!

Sripathi Panditaradhyula Balasubrahmanyam was born in a village near Nellore. His father was deeply into music and used to perform Harikatha. He was steeped in classical music. However, Balasubrahmanyam did not have any formal training on music despite this. He wanted to pursue a career in Engineering, and joined the Engineering college in Anantapur.This is when fate intervened. He developed typhoid and had to discontinue his studies.

With the tag of ‘Engineer’ in his mind he travelled to Madras and enrolled himself for the AMIE course. Of course, he could not forget his ‘Hobby’ and regularly participated in Inter-College Music Competitions.

Having won the first prize in a prestigious event-Music Competition organized by the Madras Telugu Cultural Academy, he was offered play back singing by the great legend S.P.Kothandapani (don’t be misled by the similarity in the initials. Both are not related).SPB recorded his first song in the year 1966 when he was just 20 years old. He continued to pursue his studies since there were not too many offers.

Once Director Shridhar heard him sing in his office and immediately put him on to MSV sir. The great MSV who never fails to spot and appreciate talent gave him a chance to sing in a movie called ‘Hotel Rambha’. The movie was dropped and SPB was waiting for that big break.

His first recorded song that also appeared on the screen was from the film ‘Paal kudam’, MSV being the MD.

And then it happened….

SPB was practising a song in a studio when a person called MGR passed by. The great Rasika in MGR was instantly impressed with the voice and he decided to give a chance to the new kid in his forthcoming project ‘Adimaip peN’ with music by K.V.Mahadevan.

SPB was thrilled. His Dream finally came true!

The ‘D-Day’ arrived. Fate intervened yet again and SPB was down with very high fever on the day of the recording. Opportunity of a life time lost!

After about a month or so, he was pleasantly surprised to see a car waiting outside to pick him up. He was told that it was sent by MGR who wanted to know if he had recovered from the fever. The excited SPB rushed in the car and saw MGR surrounded by a posse of press people. MGR quietly introduced him as the ‘young singer’ who was going to sing a song for him! 'Aayiram nilave vaa’ was recorded after 11 takes.. and the rest is history.

SPB’s association with Raaja sir started around the same time. Raaja sir and his brothers joined his light-music troupe on the recommendation of Bharathirajaa (who was an assistant to Puttana Kanagal on the recommendation of SPB!).

The ‘Five-man army’(Raaja, Gangai Amaran, Bhaskar, SPB, Bharathirajaa) became very close sharing almost everything!

SPB started singing fairly a good number of songs. The ‘Sabhatam’ song quoted in the beginning was composed by G.K.Venkatesh with Raaja playing the lead-guitar.

As he recollects his nostalgic moments, SPB would never fail to mention the spark he found in the eyes of the ‘guitarist’ when he played in his troupe!

Frequently, he also talks about ‘Naan pesa vandhen..’ because that was his first song for his long-term friend.

Today’s song is also special for some other reason. This was the first song for his yet another close friend.

The song is ‘Mudhal mudhalaaga Kaadhal duet’ from the film ‘NiRam maaratha PookkaL’(1979).

But was this not Bharathiraaja’s 5th film? Why did he not sing in his first 4 films?

Another interesting story!

Songs for ’16 Vayathinile’ were being recorded and SPB was the obvious choice for ‘Aattukkutti Muttai ittu..’.On the eve of the recording, both the Raajas warned him to be careful and give up his ‘nocturnal habits’ at least temporarily. But SPB being SPB would not listen to them and arrived at the recording studio with a bad throat!

But Bharathirajaa is not MGR. He refused to accept any excuse. The song was finally sung by Malaysia Vasudevan.

Bharathirajaa was angry beyond words. Yes..he was the one who introduced him to Puttanna. He was the one who helped his close friend. He was the one who helped all of them whenever there was a problem. In fact, even the script of ’16 Vayathinile’ was with SPB for a long time(it was called ‘Mayilu’ then).

But how could he make himself not available in his very first movie?

The first 4 movies -16 Vayathinile, Kizhakke Pogum Rail, Sigappu RojakkaL, Puthiya VaarpugaL- had the voice of Malaysia Vasudevan, Jayachandran and ILaiyaraaja.

Finally, it was truce and SPB’s voice made its first appearance in ‘NiRam Maaratha PookkaL. Ironically, the Pallavi is ‘Mudhal mudhalaaga kaadhal duet paada vanthene’(I have come here to sing the first Love duet for you).It could also be that Gangai Amaran wrote this line intentionally.

The song is a kind of comedy song with the hero trying to pacify the heroine.

The song starts with a very different music that straightaway makes us visualize a comical scene.

We see the hero running after the Heroine on the street with the Heroine giving him a short shrift.

Can any other composer even think of giving such a Prelude?

One cannot miss the Rafi influence in SPB in the Pallavi.

The use of trumpets and other wind instruments in the first interlude gives a jazzy feel. And suddenly what do we hear? The Harmonium!

Seamless transition..

The first CharaNam is interesting with the Heroine throwing rotten eggs at the Hero as the Hero is busy acting in a play with another woman.

Janaki’s voice typifies a possessive woman while SPB’s voice cringes like a hen-pecked husband.

The second interlude starts with a differently sounding flute followed by the strings and the wind instruments. Do not miss the Bass guitar!

The next part is what makes SPB, a singer nonpareil. He changes his voice like a ‘AaNdi PaaNdaram’( a roadside beggar). Who else can make a soft voice sound so differently?

That is where the greatness of SPB lies.

What differentiates a genius from ordinary is the ability to adapt to situations.

He waited patiently and sang for a great legend- saying ‘Oh..you are equal to one thousand moons!’.

He waited patiently for his musical close friend to make it big as a composer and sang for him-‘I came to speak to you but am lost for words(looking at your genius and success!)..’

He waited patiently and sang in his yet another close friend’s movie-‘Came to sing my very first duet for you..’

SPB -The Maarkandeya!

Ps: Indha Degam MaRainthaalum Isaiyaai Malarvaai. You will emerge as Music and will live forever!