Sixth Sense

 

Quite often we come across statements like ‘I have a gut feeling that this is surely going to happen’, or even questions like ‘Do you have the guts to do that?’

What exactly do we mean by this ‘gut’? It is the gastrointestinal tract involved in digestion.

 It would surprise some (or even many) that this gut is inextricably linked to our feelings and emotions. The brain and the gut keep sending constant signals to each other from time to time. In fact, it is said that 90% of serotonin- the neurotransmitter which transmits nerve impulses between nerve cells, which contributes to well being and happiness, which is responsible for mood balance and whose deficit leads to depression- is produced in the gut. That is why, whenever we are emotionally disturbed, we instantly feel the pain in the abdomen; our digestion gets affected and in severe cases, the acid reflux is felt which in turn creates a burning sensation in the heart. We also feel ‘butterflies in stomach’ when we are tensed.

Now, this gut is also responsible for our intuition and that instinctive feeling which occurs to us suddenly without any logical reasoning. Interestingly enough, the solar plexus, which as per the KuNdalini theory is the third chakra and which is responsible for our self-esteem, ego and our personality as a whole is located in the same region. It is said that telepathy happens in the solar plexus. This explains as to why we get sudden strange feelings, thoughts and emotions. Though the connection between the brain and the gut exists, this is limited only to the neurotransmitters. There is a school of thought who believes that most of the times, the gut is independent of the brain and research on this is still on.

So, the next time if you want to take a major decision, should you listen to the head or the gut?

I can’t answer this as I am not qualified enough. But based on these studies and based on my following a music composer for the last 48 years, I can say one thing with guts:

ILaiyaraaja’s gut feel is mainly responsible for the beauty in his music.

By ‘beauty’ I mean the suddenness with which certain things appear in his compositions. It could be a guitar piece in ‘SiRu ponmaNi asaiyum’ or the flute piece in ‘Vedam nee’. It could be the transition from Mohanam to Shanmukhapriya in ‘KaalangaL MazhaikkaalangaL’ or the quick change of ragas from Rasika Ranjani to Revagupti to Sunaadavinodini to Lalit to Hamsaanandi, all in a matter of just around 10 seconds in ‘Neela kuyile’. Or it could be the graha bedam on a very rare raga like Lavangi to give Mandaari in ‘KaNgaLukkuL unnai ezhudhu’.

If these are just some samples of his intuition, the Rare Gem of the day is yet another example of the same. The difference between a sample and an example of course lies in the fact that while the former is mentioned in passing (these have been elaborately discussed in the Group), the latter is discussed rather elaborately.

‘Alai alaiyaayi pala aasaigaLe’ from ‘NaaLai Unadhu NaaL’(1984) is a fast paced composition. If I am not wrong, it is sung by a young woman, with her friends dancing with her on the beach. The situation is not that challenging and yet he has come out with a beautiful tune in Pahaadi. But there is nothing great about this as he has done this in many obscure movies directed by obscure directors.

However, the reason for my considering him as one of the greatest composers in the history of world cinema music is shown in the last segment of the second interlude.

The composition follows the 4-beat chatushram cycle. Now, there is a scale change at 2.34 and this is not uncommon in a film composition. But what happens after 5 seconds is surely uncommon, that is if one takes film music in general. The pattern suddenly changes to the 3-beat cycle tisram with the tempo being the same. Let me clarify that the 4 to 3 change occurs in a typical carnatic concert when the percussionist does the ‘vistaaram’ with the tempo undergoing a change. However, in the case of ‘Alai alaiyaai’, the 3 is made to fit in 4. In carnatic music parlance, this is called ‘gati bedam’ and as far as my knowledge goes, no other composer has even tried this in film music(the other song which immediately comes to my mind- where Raaja sir has done this- is ‘Pallaviye CharaNam’).

Most importantly, he has not used any percussion instrument here and it is the ‘clap sound’ which sounds the 3(ta ki ta) even as the saxophone plays a joyful melody with the bass guitar-as usual- playing a counter melody.

If this is not intuitive and instinctive, what else is?

The composition as such is great with the South East Asian flavour in the prelude and in both the interludes. The guitar, flute, trumpets and a host of instruments add glory to the composition (not to forget the ubiquitous bass guitar) while the voice of Uma RamaNan is unique in its own way.

But with geniuses who are intuitive, you must always expect the unexpected. And this is what happens in the end after the Pallavi is rendered again. Uma RamaNan hums ‘la laa la laa’ and the gati bedam happens again , this time without the backing of the sax. What we have are the vocals with the guitar responding now and then!

Guts at its Best!!

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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