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?

Evergreen

 About 4 months ago, something happened in a campus in Chennai. Some trees were mercilessly chopped off and some were ‘trimmed’. What makes this worse is the fact that the Institution is known for its aesthetic sense and the founder of the Institution- who in fact revolutionised the dance form in terms of breaking the shackles and bringing in some novel ideas on stage - was known for her love for nature. She will surely be turning in her grave as her ideals have been murdered by people who manage the Institution now.

Personally speaking, it affected me a lot not just because I love nature and trees, but also because I have a special attachment with that campus, my childhood memories being the main reason. Though I came to realise this much later, seeds for my love for nature and also my sense of aesthetics were sown in this campus. I also remember sowing seeds in that campus on the first day of Aadi every year. Though the two seeds in the previous two lines are different, there is an irrefutable connection between the two.

I have always wondered as to why a majority of humans do not pay attention to trees around them; as to why they do not respect the trees; as to why they do not love the trees; as to why they turn a blind eye to the cutting of trees.

In one of the recent books I read- The Island of Missing Trees- the author Elif Shafak says trees can communicate between themselves and that the trees have feelings though this may differ from the feelings of humans. As per Indian astrology too, each of the 27 stars is associated with a particular tree and if there is a defect in the horoscope, people are advised to plant a particular tree or at least water the tree. Note also that all major temples have a ‘stala vruksha’.

It is easy to brush all these aside as blind beliefs and superstitions. But what cannot be and should not be brushed aside is the fact that trees have the freedom to live in this world as much as humans have. Therefore, humans have no right to cut any tree.

The song of the day may not have any relation-direct or indirect- with trees. However, it talks about shedding violence and inculcating a spirit of camaraderie among humans.

The beginning of Kamsam Dhwamsam from Keecharallu (1991) itself makes me feel the pain of the trees. The humming by SPB, Chitra and chorus sounds like the agony suffered by those beautiful creatures whose language is not understood by humans. The drums, which play only the second beat of the 4-beat cycle prominently and the claps which do the same in the next half, show the depth of the pain. The piped instruments too sound a melody which is abstract.

The MaNipravaLam in the Pallavi-which has a mix of Telugu and Hindi- is more relevant as it talks about arts- fine arts at that! The irony here cannot be missed as the Institution under reference is known for teaching and training students on Fine arts!

The piped instruments continue sketching an abstract melody in the first interlude with the bass guitar and the rhythm guitar nodding their heads rather nonchalantly. The short silence in the interlude and the melody that follows, show images of violent acts.

It is the second interlude which musically depicts the inhuman act (or should I say ‘human act’ as humans have become immune to all these and have learnt to accept everything having lost the ability to question things which violate nature?). In the first segment, I see the first act of ‘cutting’ with the perpetrators going about their job with glee, while in the next segment the trees fall one by one. In the last segment, the trees utter a cry inaudible to insensitive souls.

Nothing can be more appropriate than the lines in the second charaNam-

You are the Temple of ‘ta ka tai/ ta tai’.

Naatya, Sangeetam, Shudhdha Dhanyasi..

Is anybody listening?

MaarkaNdeya

The universality of Music is too well known and appreciated to be explained again. Yet I write about it again as the topic is more on paper than in practice. What is surprising is that even within our country proponents of the two major classical forms vie with one another to plead ignorance about the other form despite the obvious similarities.

This is where the film music plays a major role in terms of dispelling the ignorance of a majority. Since it is not necessary for a composition in film music to follow a particular grammar, one gets to listen to a mélange of forms in a matter of less than 5 minutes. But let me hasten to add that I am talking about composers who know the real value of each form and are equally knowledgeable about the respective forms.

As we all know, ILaiyaraaja is adept in integrating many forms not just because he loves all forms but also because he knows the intricacies of each form. So, what we get to hear is a synthesis with each form coalescing with the other. But what makes him great is the way the forms mingle without in any way affecting the melody. It in fact enhances the melody.

Take ‘SiRiya PaRavai SiRagai Viriththu PaRakkirathe’ from ‘Andha Oru Nimidam’(1985). The entire song follows the Charukesi scale. If we delve further into this raga/scale, we will know that the Indian melody Charukesi has been in existence in Western Classical form as Melodic Major since time immemorial.

The prelude is entirely in Melodic Major with the keys and the subtle bass guitar sounding a repeat melody which is repeated by the guitar and then by the strings in the higher octave, followed by the brass flute. Note the absence of the percussion here though it does follow a time signature. More on this rhythmic aspect, a little later..

Charukesi is present in the Arabic system as well and this gets reflected in the first half of the first interlude.

We get to see the Carnatic Charukesi in the first interlude with the chorus singing the swaras followed by the flute first and the veena later. Note that the second CharaNam is different from that of the first and the third.

Melodic Major returns in the third interlude with the first half sounding jazzy and the second half symphonic..

The starting music in the prelude, the Pallavi and the beats follow

1 2 3/ 1 2 3/ 1 2 3/ 1 2 3/ 1 2 3 4- with 4 subdivided into 16.

Does it indicate something?

It does, to me...

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Tone

What gives the right mood?

I know I have asked this question before albeit in a different form and have also discussed about this at length, but since I am now in a mood to talk about this again, I am trying to create the mood for the topic again so that I can influence and affect your mood.

The word itself gives some very different connotations. It is a ‘temporary state of mind’, ‘a distinctive emotional quality’, ‘general attitude’.

How many times would we have come across this statement or how many times would we have told others this- I am not in a mood now-?

At the same time, don’t we also say, ‘I am in a good mood’?

And generally, if we say somebody is ‘moody’, don’t we always say it in a negative context?

At the same time, we also say ‘this sets the mood’. This expression of course means that ‘we have the right atmosphere’.

If a simple four letter word (I meant only this word!) can give so many moods, then it surely must be very special.

This ‘mood’ applies to music as well. It is said that certain ragas have some specific moods and can be used only in specific instances-that is to create the mood a raga is meant to create.

Hindustani Music follows the ‘time concept’ strictly. A particular raag is to be sung only during a particular time of the day (or night). However, I have seen musicians render ‘Todi’(carnatic equivalent- SubhapantuvaraLi) during the evening though it is to be sung during late mornings only, but that is a different issue(and can be taken up in one of my forthcoming posts, as usual ).

But apart from the ‘time concept’, there is also the ‘mood’ created (supposedly) by a particular raag. A raag like Ahir Bhairav gives a pathos mood(in fact this applies to most of the raags in Bhairav thaat).  ‘Poorvi’, ‘Poorya Dhanashri’, ‘Lalit’ always sound plaintive. ‘Malkauns’ on the other hand(don’t ask me which hand) gives shringar rasa(or a romantic mood).

In Carnatic Music too, one often comes across this ‘mood factor’. One of the most popular ‘beliefs’ is about Mukhari, which is supposed to be a ‘crying raga’. That this ‘belief’ is just a myth will be taken up by me soon. However, I feel many theories about on the mood of the raags  are just myths. Or at least, that is what ILaiyaraaja has proved.

Though film music is a genre by itself and cannot be compared strictly with Classical music(isn’t this a myth as well?), ILaiyaraaja has time and again challenged this through his compositions and has come up trumps in such exercises.

For example, he has used SubhapantuvaraLi, which is considered to be a raga full of melancholy in a humorous situation (Kandupidichchen KaNdupidichchen- Guru Sishyan), in romantic situations( Porapattadhi- Ladies’ Tailor), and even in a sensuous situation(AlaigaLil Midhakkudhu-Andha Oru Nimidam).

Same is the case with Shivaranjani, Chakravagam etc., He has done the reverse too making happy ragas like KalyaNi, Mohanam etc., sound plaintive (no, I am not going to list the songs now).

That brings me to the basic question (at last...) – How does he create the mood for a song?

In other words- What makes him decide on a particular raga for a particular song?

It is of course complicated and can be answered only by him (really not sure about this too!).

 I was talking about him challenging the mood concept. But there have also been cases where he has stuck to the concept. Today’s Rare Gem is an example.

Jog is a raag which is supposed to give enchantment.

‘Podu Thanthaana tham’ from ‘Nalla NaaL’(1984) is based on this raag. If one looks at the mood evoked by the song, it is romantically sensuous. But what makes this gem shine with a special radiance is not just the raag and the way it has been used, but also the kind of instruments used and the way these have been used.

Take the prelude. The shrill flute in the beginning is somewhat deceptive as gives a folksy feel. But the bass sound from the keys, which backs it, gives us an indication of what could be in store. The fact that both play different sets of notes, makes it even more interesting and intriguing. Enter the sax in its unique tenor and the intrigue factor goes up. In fact, this sax plays a very significant role in the composition and can as well be called as the X factor. Raag Jog could then be the ‘Y’ factor and the percussion could be the ‘Z’ factor.

That ‘Z’ which starts along with the sax, plays 1 2 3/ 1 2 3/ 1 2 in two different sets, with one set  sounding only the first, the fourth and the seventh with resonance and the other set sounding all the syllables, though some are sounded subtly. The composer whose love for variety is well –known, changes this pattern when the sax stops playing and sounds only for one beat on the drums followed by one beat on the more resonant percussion. This goes on for one cycle of chatushram. In the next cycle, the same pattern continues but this time, the flute plays a short melody and takes us to the Pallavi.

The original pattern (the one played during the sax melody) continues but this time a synth sound is added on the 7^th micro beat once per cycle. That is, the chatushram cycle is divided into 16(I have explained this many times in many of my posts) with 1 2 3/ 1 2 3/ 1 2 occurring twice and the synth sound is played only during the first 7^th micro beat. But this synth sound occurs only in the Pallavi with the CharaNams and the first interlude following the pattern of the prelude. We shall come back to this ‘Z’ factor soon when the second interlude is discussed.

Now, for the ‘A’ factor - the vocals. If only I had the stamina, I would climb atop Mount Everest and would shout at the top of my voice that no other two singers would have done justice to this song except SPB and Janaki. Rather than my explaining this, it will be nice if you all listen to the vocals (especially in the second charaNam and in the end) and make your own judgement.

The ‘X’ factor comes into play in the first segment of the first interlude and in the last segment of the second interlude. If it is smooth in the former, it is rousing in the latter. But in both occasions, it gives a very special feeling which can be at best described as musically romantically sensuous.

There are other factors too and since I am not here to list out the English alphabets, I would refrain from naming these factors. One is the violin in the first interlude which gives the melancholic feel of the raag and two is the flute which follows, which sounds plaintive. If you wonder what these feelings play in a ‘romantically sensuous’ song, my answer is ‘Contrasts are poetic and show the genius of a composer’.

Then there is that wonderful instrument called as the guitar which suddenly appears in the second interlude elegantly and gives an exemplary display of brilliance etching some beautiful patterns.

That ‘Z’ factor comes into play again here keeping quiet when the guitar starts and playing 4 beats at the end of the cycle. After two cycles, it plays continuously. Note that that it is totally a different percussion instrument from the guitar section. When the sax(the ‘X’ factor) enters, the pattern changes again with the drums playing only the first and the third syllable and the sharp percussion playing all the 4 syllables as response. At the end of the interlude, the drums play 16 in faster mode (mel kaalam).

‘XYZ ABC’- Are these the ones which create the mood?

Or is the mood created in the mind of the composer with all the factors racing with and against each other?

Let me think when I have the right mood.

Until then, let me listen to songs like this one without bothering about any factor.

After all, Mood is a Mood is a Mood!

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VIBGYOR

Do swaras and ragas have colours?

This may sound abstract or even absurd but I feel it is a valid question. Long back, two very popular carnatic musicians (sisters in fact) raised this question to another musician. This was part of an item in a Tamizh magazine (yes, those days Tamizh magazines had more aesthetic sense and sensibilities) in which musicians interacted. One musician would ask a question to a fellow musician, who after answering the question would ask a question to another fellow musician. This chain was as interesting as the questions and answers and revealed a lot to a layman like me who wanted to learn more and more about music.

The duo who asked the question even named some ragas and the colours associated with those. What they meant was this- Whenever they played a particular raga, they visualised a particular colour. They wanted to know if other- musicians that is- too had similar experience. Though I don’t remember who answered this question, I found this to be very interesting. Nearly 15 years after this, I happened to interact with a musician- a child prodigy who plays a very beautiful instrument- in a Dance camp and asked him this question. He paused for a moment, looked at me and said ‘It is a very interesting question. Why don’t you ask me in the forum after I finish my lecture?’

Unfortunately, I couldn’t due to reasons I don’t want to get into now. But I have always related colours with music and vice versa.  Coming to think of it, the basic swaras are seven and the rainbow has seven colours. I don’t mean to say that each colour corresponds to one swara but this coincidence (or is it?) is striking.  Colours are dynamic, full of energy, and at the same time give a sense of calmness. Music does the same.

Let us now celebrate Colours and Music with a song. Surprisingly enough, the word ‘colour’ appears only in the first line and yet I feel the song is very colourful.

I really don’t know as to ‘Rangulalo kalavai’ from ‘Abhinandana’(1987) giving me visions of various colours and I am sure the reason has to do more with the whole composition and just a little with the first word. It is a composition with many specialities.

1.Janaki- In some of my earlier posts, I had mentioned as to how he has used Janaki’s voice as an instrument. In ‘Rangulalo..’, Janaki renders only the Pallavi and that too only twice-after the first charaNam and in the end. Otherwise, she just hums. Indeed, this ‘just humming’ has the capacity to take us to the heaven. The composition starts with her humming. To start with it seems like a plaintive cry of a bird. But this is just an illusion. The moment the next part of the humming starts, we spot the romance in that voice. The final ‘akaaram’ makes it classic and classical.

The ‘akaaram’ appears in the second part of charanams too and the rolling of the voice…isn’t it amazing and mind blowing?

2.SPB- That this gentleman can change the voice to suit the occasion is a known fact. Here, his voice is shrill and gets shriller in the higher octave making it a thrilling experience.

3.Acharya Athreya- Not many in Tamizh Nadu know about this genius. Known for his aesthetic sense and his word plays, this legend shows yet again that he is a romantic at heart. Look at these words- ‘Colourful dream’, ‘Art inside the heart’, ‘Sculpture’, ‘Embodiment of art’ ‘Swinging imagination’, ‘Beauty like the blooming spring’, ‘Honeyed arrow’ ..

This is how he describes the Lady Love. He even calls her as his ‘viraha taapam’.

Height of beautiful imagination (or is it swinging imagination?).

What he does in the end is a masterstroke. Throughout the song, he asks questions- ‘Are you this/that’. But at the end-when the Pallavi is rendered, he affirms that ‘yes, you are that’. Not many songs end like this.

I am also told that generally Athreya gaaru wrote the lyrics and these were later set to tune by the music composer. I believe this song also was written first. That brings us to the gentleman who set this to tune.

4.ILaiyaraaja- What can one say about this tune in Hindolam? Sorry, can’t find a suitable adjective. Even the accidental note in the CharaNams enhances the appeal. The structure of the CharaNams is a lesson for all aspiring music composers. Look at the last line where he splits the chatushram into 16 maatras as ta ki ta/ ta ki  ta/ ta ki  ta/ ta ki  ta/ta ka dhi mi almost like a pure classical composition.

Ah yes, the rhythmic pattern almost throughout the song is a kind of leitmotif. One set of percussion sounds the first 4(ta ka dhi mi) and then sounds only the first syllable(ta) thrice while the second set(vamping of guitar) sounds all the 16 albeit subtly. Both these happen simultaneously!

If I say that the orchestration is beautiful, it is like saying ‘The moon is beautiful’ or ‘the flowers give beautiful fragrance’. Stating the obvious may sound clichéd but in the case of Raaja sir, this cannot be helped.

The Prelude has the rhythm guitar backing Janaki’s humming. The ankle bells follow during the second part of the humming with the tabla tarang and jalatarangam showing subtle shades of Hindolam. The bass guitar winds up the Prelude in its own style.

The sitar responds to the first two lines of SPB with elan.

The first interlude starts with the call and response between the strings and the tabla tarang. The strings then go up the stream to the backing of the percussion(playing in the pattern explained before 3 paragraphs). The percussion decides to take a break with the strings taking a straight path and the flute that follows blows with joy. The keys sounding like a stringed instrument guide us to the first CharaNam.

The flute now follows SPB in the first section of the CharaNam(the following sections of course have that original instrument called Janaki’s voice as explained earlier!).

The second interlude is a class by itself and has some variegated patterns which can be conceived only by one gentleman in film music. It starts with the flute-sans percussion- which plays an amazing piece in Hindolam to the backing of the bass guitar with brief repartee by the tabla tarang. We then see the western contours of Hindolam with the strings showing some glistening strands. The harmony between the violins and the cello has to be heard to be believed. After drenching us with honey, the sitar and tabla tarang take us on a blissful journey to the backing of the percussion.

It is indeed a spiritual journey. Don’t I see the white colour now?

And after all, what is white?

Probably, this answers my question..

https://soundcloud.com/raja4376/rangulalo

Being a wo(man)

‘’Is God a man or a woman?’’

When a little kid asked me this question, I did not know how to react. I was shocked too. Somehow, I got reminded of the dialogue from one of the most popular Tamizh films- ‘Are you a good person or a bad person?’. Like the protagonist in that movie, I too replied ‘I don’t know’, though not in his tone.  Sadly enough,I did not have the backing of the leitmotif of the Maestro.

But jokes apart, the question made me think. ‘Why should a 10 year old girl worry about the gender of God? What would have made her do this?’

I asked her the reason. She said ‘’ I am sure it is He. Otherwise why do only girls have some problems? If it was a She, this wouldn’t happen’’.

The reply left me dumbfounded. She was of course talking of physiological problems unique to women. Nowadays, schools educate the children about many things and this includes certain things considered as taboo traditionally. Forward thinking people should definitely welcome this. Therefore, I had no qualms about her getting to know about some details regarding the anatomy and physiology. But what troubled me is the way a girl perceives her being a girl. Is it a healthy trend or not?

Is it a fact that women undergo a lot of hardships in the world when compared to men? Is it then a sin to be born as a girl? Then why did the Mahakavi sing ‘Mangaiyaraai piRappadhaRkku maathavam seithida veNdumamma’?(it needs a lot of penance indeed to be born as a girl). This is a very vast subject and requires reams of pages to discuss. Therefore, let me try and touch some pertinent points here.

The main point in my opinion is not so much the physiological problems as the emotional and the mental trauma. By this I mean the way the society looks at and treats women. The term society has a larger connotation and without any doubt, includes women too. We Indians have a confused mind when it comes to women. I am not exaggerating when I say that we are a bundle of contradictions. At one end of a spectrum, we put a woman on a pedestal, make her an epitome of patience, tolerance, love, compassion and shower encomiums on her. At the other end, we look down upon her giving some stereotyped roles and go to the extent of saying ‘Being a woman, you can’t and shouldn’t do this’. 

It is in this band of spectrum that we see her as a glamourous creature created for men and to satisfy men in all aspects. We expect women to act as per the whims and fancies of men. No, not just ‘of men’ but also ‘of women’ who carry the tag of ‘mother’ by law (or is it in-law?).

Both the ends of the spectrum are dangerous. We deify women so that they remain on the pedestal like statues without any emotions. ‘Oh , how many sacrifices a woman makes!’ we shed crocodile tears. We trample them at the other end, first by branding them as symbols of beauty and then setting rules. How confused we are!

Isn’t there a disconnect between the two ends here? Yes and no. ‘Yes’ because the two are contradictory. ‘No’ because the other is responsible for the one.

No, I am not contradicting here. We put women on the pedestal because we know that if we do that, we can get away with everything. ‘God created mother because He can’t be present all the time’, we say (here itself there is a contradiction anyway as God is supposed to be omnipresent). After saying this, we go ahead and disrobe women (literally and figuratively).

That is why, we have men who say ‘If a diamond is displayed on the road, dogs will surely take it’, ‘ It is the girl who invites the boys with ‘inappropriate dress’’, ‘ There is nothing wrong in a rape. Boys just want to have fun’.

Mind you, these were said by men who are supposed to be ‘leaders’.

But when we have the leader of the country himself saying ‘Depite being a woman…’, can’t we understand the kind of stereotyped images we all have in our mind?

So, where are we now?

‘ Durga’ to ‘Maa / behenji’ to ‘kya maal hai yaar’ to ‘girls should not wear jeans’!!

If this is not a bundle of contradictions, what else is?

However, the solution lies within us. Let us stop deifying women. Let us stop denigrating women. Let us understand and appreciate the problems of women, respect them in the real sense and treat them as fellow human beings without any set of written or unwritten rules.

The rare gem of the day ‘PaavaiyargaL Maan Pole..’ from ‘Ore Muththam’(1980)  precisely talks about this but in a slightly different way.

The brilliantly written song by Kaviyarasar puts across both the viewpoints- the ‘traditional typecasting’ and the modern one. Needless to say that the former is by a man (brilliant rendition as usual by SPB) and the latter by a woman (again a beautiful rendition by Janaki).

What is most striking is the way the composition traverses through two totally different genres, qawwali and modern pop. Brilliantly symbolic!

Qawwali, a genre which was ubiquitous in the old Hindi songs(till late ‘70s) has appeared in some old Tamizh songs too. But here it is very special because of the seamless transition. The Maestro has also tuned it in Mishra Khamaj, a Hindustani raag used prolifically in qawwalis.

The song starts with the harmonium playing with sensitivity and making some smooth glides. It plays without percussion for 3 cycles of chatushra ekam and then moves along spreading warmth for the next 10 cycles.

The pallavi is in anaagata eduppu and the male sings ‘ Women are like the deer; like the Cauvery river; If only they tread the path laid for them and live accordingly, they are angels. Why this modernity?’

The first interlude gives the quintessential flavour of a qawwali with the shehnai, the clapping and the harmonium. It is simple and at the same time zestful.

The first charaNam talks about having beautiful plait decorated with flowers and at the same time says ‘ Jewellery and dress don’t make you beautiful. Sport a smile and walk with a proper gait.Read Tamizh’.

 Let it be understood here that ‘reading tamizh’ is used as a euphemism here for ‘following tradition’.

Musically, the stanza is marvellous with the akaaram after ‘choodungaL’ shining like gems on a nose ring.

There is a sudden shift in the interlude which follows. The electric guitar appears with a grin and moves along dancing. The saxophone follows and traverses upwards. 

The healthy competition between the two is amazing!

The female now sings, ‘ A good woman can live anywhere. I know what I am doing and let there be no barriers . I am like the pure Ganges’.

The TaaLa pattern now changes to tisram as the saxophone again goes on a melodious spree. After a brief intervention by electric guitar, the male sings ‘Wear a silk saree and you are protected. God comes rushing to you when you wear  bindi and flowers’

(Doesn’t this contradiction between the first charaNam and this charaNam typify the mentality of the society?).

The female replies that even if God comes here now, He will accept me as times are changing.

Now, it is the shehnai that follows and moves with a verve.

The stanza that follows has the male sarcastically refer to the smile of a woman.

‘Those days, women would walk with their heads bowed down. And now you all smile directly looking at our faces.’ The old adage about a lady’s laughter being very dangerous, used even in Mahabharata, is used after this.

The saxophone follows with unobtrusive energy.

‘Ok, now let us come to an agreement. Point out if I make a mistake.  And I shall point out your mistakes. After all, are’nt women and men equal?’

This is a beautiful line and one sees Bharati in KaNNadasan.

The last part is rendered by both the male and the female saying ‘Let us be friends. There is good and evil in everything. Let us unite’.

The inherent message is obvious.

So, will we all follow this as well?

And by the way, is God a man or a woman?

Well..Only God Knows!

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