Eighth Wonder

 I keep asking this question often: How it is possible for ILaiyaraaja to bring out so much of emotions in music. Does he undergo such feelings while composing or does it just happen. A question very difficult to answer! But the fact remains that his music sounds great always. Is it because of his ability to evoke the right kind of emotions or is it because of his propensity to use classical techniques?

In my opinion, it is a combination of both.

Listen to ‘Kaalai paniyil aadum malargaL’ from ‘Gayathri’(1977). Even if one does not watch the video (in fact I am used to ‘listening’ to the songs and not ‘watching’ the songs), one is able to understand that it is sung by a young lady just after her wedding. She is shy, yet happy.

A very different tune, a very different voice (14- year old Sujatha) and a simply beautiful orchestration.. But look at the melody and the varying patterns of percussion in the CharaNams. Doesn’t the humming at the end of each CharaNam sound different and unique? It is because of a technique.

People who follow my posts in my other blog (https://rajamanjari.blogspot.com/ ), I am sure, remember the term ‘usi’. It is a technique in Carnatic Music in which the stress is given on even beats of a TaaLam. For example, if it is 4-beat Chatushra eka taaLam, stress is given on the 2nd  and the 4th beat and if it is a 3-beat tisram, stress is given on the 2nd(the 4th and the 6th if the 3 beats are broken down as 6 micro-beats) and so on.. This is more common in a Bharatanatyam performance-especially during the ‘alarippu’ which is generally the first item. In film music, ILaiyaraaja is the only composer to have used it so prolifically. One has to be very careful (and of course knowledgeable) while using ‘usi’ as the taaLa tends to sound off beat. It is absolutely like walking between two high-rise buildings on a thin but tight rope (in tamizh, we call it as ‘karaNam thappinaal maraNam’).

In ‘Kaalaipaniyil’(I am sure he used ‘usi’ for the first time in this song)-which is based on ‘tisram’ in the chatushra ekam cycle, he first changes the 3 beats to 4 beats in the percussion (tabla). He then gives stress on the 2nd and the 4th beat even as Sujatha continues to hum.

And what a feeling it gives!!

I feel even more romantic every time after listening to this song.

How about you?

 

Linear and Sinuous

What makes the Sea look so beautiful?

Is it that azure blue colour?

Or is it that grey and green shade?

Or is it that reflection of the sun rays during the day and reflection of the moon in the night?

Is it that sunrise or is it that sunset?

Is it that boat/catamaran/ship floating at a distance?

Yes, all these are beautiful and no doubt embellish the sea but in my opinion, there are two more things which combine to make the sea an eternal beauty.

One is the Horizon and the other is the Wave.

The former is considered to be an imaginary line but whenever I see the sea, I am flummoxed and astounded by the straightness of this line. Whoever has drawn it is the best artistic engineer ever. How can somebody be so perfect?

Talking about the waves, these are formed as a result of the wind blowing over the surface. This is what science says and I would like to be less of a scientist (anyway I know very little of science) and more of an artist(this too, I know I am not but who can stop me from imagining?). When I look at the waves, I look at the zig zag pattern and the way these approach the land, fade away and then come again. What an amount of energy these have! Don’t these tire at all?

When I look at the sea, I don’t look at the horizon first and the waves next(or the other way around) but look at both together. And whenever I do this-looking at the sea from a distance and then looking at the horizon and the waves at the same time- I can’t help marveling at the beauty of this sight. This is a perfect example of contrast. At a far distance, there is that perfect straight line and closer to us is this zig zag curve. Isn’t this poetic and musical?

People familiar with my posts know how much I love the contrasts in poetry and in life. If poetry and life combine together, don’t we get that ‘M’ word without which I cannot breathe?

Contrast in music is a very wide topic and it would serve little purpose if I were to take up that topic- which is full of technical details- here. However, this C word is also so simple that all it need are the ears, a little observation and focus.

What adds beauty to Raaja sir’s music is this C (oh, doesn’t it rhyme with ‘sea’?). People who attended Geetanjali-2014 , I am sure remember my presentation on ‘Contrasts in his music’.

Today, I am taking up a song which typifies the word ‘Contrast’. In my opinion, ‘Kaalaipaniyil aadum malargaL’ from Gayathri(1977) should rank as one of the best compositions in the world.

Let me first mention what all I find to be unique in this composition and then move on to describe some of these. I say ‘some of these’ because certain things don’t need descriptions and this applies as much to music as to life.

First is the tune. Generally, an Indian film song follows a particular raga(not talking about exceptions-which are in fact too many now- which have only ‘rogaa’) or a scale. This topic too is huge and beyond the scope of this post. However, let me say that a composer composes the song in a particular scale which has a repetition of some particular notes while ascending and descending. This particular pattern can be said to follow a raga, but most of the composers take liberty with this and add alien notes.

Raaja sir is known for using some beautiful known, rare and unknown ragas in his compositions with or without alien notes. At the same time, he has also composed tunes which cannot be termed as falling under the classification of any raga. ‘Sendhoorappoove’ and ‘ILamai enum poongaatRu’ are just some examples of this. ‘Kaalaipaniyil’ too falls in this category.

The Pallavi has notes of Kharaharapriya while the CharaNams have the other ‘ga’(ga3) and also the other dha(dha1). What is amazing is the fact that in some phrases, both the ‘ga’ s and both the ‘dha’ s appear one after the other giving that chromatic effect. For example, in ‘kalaigaL aayiram’(first charaNam), the ‘dha’ s appear one after the other and in the third and in the sixth phrases of the humming at the end of the CharaNam, we see both the ‘ga’ s.

There is also change in the shruti in the first segment of the second interlude.

But what is wondrous is the ‘usi’ in the humming at the end of each CharaNam. The concept of ‘usi’ in a taaLa has been explained by me in some of the posts here and also during Geetanjali-2015. Wait for more detailed explanation in this year’s Geetanjali.

‘Usi’ is a speciality of Carnatic Music and we see the pattern is in usi when the stress is on the even count(2,4,6..). ‘Kaalaipaniyil’ is set in the 3-beat cycle tisram or one can even say in the 6-beat rupakam depending on the way we look at it. I know I am getting too technical but certain things surely need explanation so that the brilliance of the composition (and therefore of the composer) can be appreciated more. The pattern changes to the 4-beat cycle chatushram during the humming part towards the end of each CharaNam. Not only does 3 change to 4, but also the stress (percussion) is on the even beats.

Usi at its uchcham (best).

Now, count the contrasting elements-

1. two variants of two swaras occurring one after the other

2.tisram to chatushram

3.usi

4.change of shruti in the beginning of the second interlude.

There is one more (the fifth one) about which I shall explain soon.

So, does it mean that the composition has only the contrasts?

No..

It has a beautiful straight line called as ‘melody’.

One feels the evanescence of the morning mist while listening to the song.

The initial bell sound reminds one of the dew drops falling off the petals of the flowers while the humming of Sujatha(her second Tamizh song after ‘Kaadal oviyam’ from ‘Kavikkuyil’) is like the morning breeze. The santoor depicts the swaying of the branches.

The Pallavi is a blend of intuition and expression with the sangati after ‘maayam’ shining with a special radiance.

I mentioned about a ‘fifth contrast’ while listing out the C, didn’t I?

This occurs at the beginning of the first interlude. The sitar follows tisram while the rhythm guitar which backs it follows the chatushram.

 Cross-rhythm!

Crossing others’ path is not good manners generally but if the rhythm crosses like this, isn’t it lovable?

The violins and santoor-to the backing of the tabla in tisram - guide us to the first CharaNam.

This Laya Raaja can never rest. Or at least he will not let us rest. He loves to play with the TaaLa and he does it in the CharaNams too. The tisram  which goes as ‘1 2 3’ on the tabla in the first part of the first line(paarvaiyodu paarvai seRum ) changes as ‘1 2 3 4/1 2 3 4/ 1 2 3 4’ in the next half(bhavam mudhalil and siRu naaNam manadhil).

And ah yes..that wonderful humming where the notes go in pairs with the percussion in usi.

The second interlude is more powerful than the first with the santoor sounding like a bird in the beginning and the violins moving ardently. But the piece I love is the one by the violins after the sitar- which sounds with sobriety. There is a very brief classical touch in that piece of violins which always touches a chord in my heart. 

The brief rendezvous between the  sitar and the keys in the end, is musically romantic.

In fact, everything in this world is romantic- sky, sea, horizon, waves, music.. and.. ..contrasts.

Check this out on Chirbit

Linear and Sinuous

What makes the Sea look so beautiful?

Is it that azure blue colour?

Or is it that grey and green shade?

Or is it that reflection of the sun rays during the day and reflection of the moon in the night?

Is it that sunrise or is it that sunset?

Is it that boat/catamaran/ship floating at a distance?

Yes, all these are beautiful and no doubt embellish the sea but in my opinion, there are two more things which combine to make the sea an eternal beauty.

One is the Horizon and the other is the Wave.

The former is considered to be an imaginary line but whenever I see the sea, I am flummoxed and astounded by the straightness of this line. Whoever has drawn it is the best artistic engineer ever. How can somebody be so perfect?

Talking about the waves, these are formed as a result of the wind blowing over the surface. This is what science says and I would like to be less of a scientist (anyway I know very little of science) and more of an artist(this too, I know I am not but who can stop me from imagining?). When I look at the waves, I look at the zig zag pattern and the way these approach the land, fade away and then come again. What an amount of energy these have! Don’t these tire at all?

When I look at the sea, I don’t look at the horizon first and the waves next(or the other way around) but look at both together. And whenever I do this-looking at the sea from a distance and then looking at the horizon and the waves at the same time- I can’t help marveling at the beauty of this sight. This is a perfect example of contrast. At a far distance, there is that perfect straight line and closer to us is this zig zag curve. Isn’t this poetic and musical?

People familiar with my posts know how much I love the contrasts in poetry and in life. If poetry and life combine together, don’t we get that ‘M’ word without which I cannot breathe?

Contrast in music is a very wide topic and it would serve little purpose if I were to take up that topic- which is full of technical details- here. However, this C word is also so simple that all it need are the ears, a little observation and focus.

What adds beauty to Raaja sir’s music is this C (oh, doesn’t it rhyme with ‘sea’?). People who attended Geetanjali-2014 , I am sure remember my presentation on ‘Contrasts in his music’.

On this World Music Day, I thought it would be very appropriate if I took up a song which is full of contrasting elements. In my opinion, ‘Kaalaipaniyil aadum malargaL’ from Gayathri(1977) should rank as one of the best compositions in the world.

Let me first mention what all I find to be unique in this composition and then move on to describe some of these. I say ‘some of these’ because certain things don’t need descriptions and this applies as much to music as to life.

First is the tune. Generally, an Indian film song follows a particular raga(not talking about exceptions-which are in fact too many now- which have only ‘rogaa’) or a scale. This topic too is huge and beyond the scope of this post. However, let me say that a composer composes the song in a particular scale which has a repetition of some particular notes while ascending and descending. This particular pattern can be said to follow a raga, but most of the composers take liberty with this and add alien notes.

Raaja sir is known for using some beautiful known, rare and unknown ragas in his compositions with or without alien notes (for more details on this, check out my posts in my other blog http://rajamanjari.blogspot.in/). At the same time, he has also composed tunes which cannot be termed as falling under the classification of any raga. ‘Sendhoorappoove’ and ‘ILamai enum poongaatRu’ are just some examples of this. ‘Kaalaipaniyil’ too falls in this category.

The Pallavi has notes of Kharaharapriya while the CharaNams have the other ‘ga’(ga3) and also the other dha(dha1). What is amazing is the fact that in some phrases, both the ‘ga’ s and both the ‘dha’ s appear one after the other giving that chromatic effect. For example, in ‘kalaigaL aayiram’(first charaNam), the ‘dha’ s appear one after the other and in the third and in the sixth phrases of the humming at the end of the CharaNam, we see both the ‘ga’ s.

There is also change in the shruti in the first segment of the second interlude.

But what is more wondrous is the ‘usi’ in the humming at the end of each CharaNam. The concept of ‘usi’ in a taaLa has been explained by me in some of the posts here and also during Geetanjali-2015. Wait for more detailed explanation in this year’s Geetanjali.

‘Usi’ is a speciality of Carnatic Music and we see the pattern is in usi when the stress is on the even count(2,4,6..). ‘Kaalaipaniyil’ is set in the 3-beat cycle tisram or one can even say in the 6-beat rupakam depending on the way we look at it. I know I am getting too technical but certain things surely need explanation so that the brilliance of the composition (and therefore of the composer) can be appreciated more. The pattern changes to the 4-beat cycle chatushram during the humming part towards the end of each CharaNam. Not only does 3 change to 4, but also the stress (percussion) is on the even beats.

Usi at its uchcham (best).

Now, count the contrasting elements-

1. two variants of two swaras occurring one after the other

2.tisram to chatushram

3.usi

4.change of shruti in the beginning of the second interlude.

There is one more (the fifth one) about which I shall explain soon.

So, does it mean that the composition has only the contrasts?

No..

It has a beautiful straight line called as ‘melody’.

One feels the evanescence of the morning mist while listening to the song.

The initial bell sound reminds one of the dew drops falling off the petals of the flowers while the humming of Sujatha(her second Tamizh song after ‘Kaadal oviyam’ from ‘Kavikkuyil’) is like the morning breeze. The santoor depicts the swaying of the branches.

The Pallavi is a blend of intuition and expression with the sangati after ‘maayam’ shining with a special radiance.

I mentioned about a ‘fifth contrast’ while listing out the C, didn’t I?

This occurs at the beginning of the first interlude. The sitar follows tisram while the rhythm guitar which backs it follows the chatushram.

 Cross-rhythm!

Crossing others’ path is not good manners generally but if the rhythm crosses like this, isn’t it lovable?

The violins and santoor-to the backing of the tabla in tisram - guide us to the first CharaNam.

This Laya Raaja can never rest. Or at least he will not let us rest. He loves to play with the TaaLa and he does it in the CharaNams too. The tisram  which goes as ‘1 2 3’ on the tabla in the first part of the first line(paarvaiyodu paarvai seRum ) changes as ‘1 2 3 4/1 2 3 4/ 1 2 3 4’ in the next half(bhavam mudhalil and siRu naaNam manadhil).

And ah yes..that wonderful humming where the notes go in pairs with the percussion in usi.

The second interlude is more powerful than the first with the santoor sounding like a bird in the beginning and the violins moving ardently. But the piece I love is the one by the violins after the sitar- which sounds with sobriety. There is a very brief classical touch in that piece of violins which always touches a chord in my heart. The brief rendezvous between the sitar and the keys in the end, is musically romantic.

In fact, everything in this world is romantic- sky, sea, horizon, waves, music.. and.. ..contrasts.

Check this out on Chirbit

The Fourth Dimension

Time!

A word used at least in 12 different occasions each time conveying different meanings (note that the previous sentence itself has two words- occasions and time- denoting this word). Without this, we cease to exist.  It just moves on without waiting for anything or anybody. If one puts it to use effectively and uses it efficiently, it becomes one’s friend. I get very surprised when people say ‘to kill the time’ or ‘time- pass’ or ‘boring’. If we want to kill the time, it will kill us; if we want to ‘pass’ the time, it will pass over us; if we find it ‘boring’, it will get bored of us and the result will be there to see.

Recently, I read that a famous personality remarked that he found the music of the ‘70s and the ‘80s boring and that is why he decided to ‘ bring about a change’. In fact, about 6 years back, the same person in an interview to an international channel said “People were bored of the same kind of instruments like Tabla, Violin etc., and ‘I’ changed it.''

People are entitled to have their opinions and most importantly music is subjective. So, should one not leave it at that and move on? Answer is ‘Yes’ and ‘No’. ‘Yes’, because I agree about respecting others’ opinions and music being subjective. ‘No’, because I felt I must voice my opinion too.

Three things are common in the two statements made by the famous personality-‘ I’ ‘Change’ and ‘Bored’.  I shall leave the ‘I’ now because there is no single person on the earth now who has shed the ‘I’. We always feel great about ourselves and most importantly when others heap praises on us (only deep inside we know we don’t deserve it, but why should we accept it..).

Let us look at the ‘change’ aspect. Film music has changed over a period of time and I am not an ostrich to bury my head in the sands. From the days of MKT when pure classical music ruled, to the days of MSV when classical music was given  a lighter shade without in anyway affecting the melody(in fact, melody ruled the roost despite this).  Since this is not about the history of cinema music, I am leaving it at that.

But at the same time, I must also write about what happened after 1976(purely from my perspective). Until then, though the tunes were melodious, not much attention was paid to the orchestration .It was only after May 1976 that orchestration acquired a new meaning. I would say that the sounds heard in the preludes and interludes (did anybody know these words before 1976?), were not heard in Indian Film Music until then. Very different and new instruments were used (and not just the ‘same tabla, violins and veena). New kinds of experiments like ‘superimposing techniques’, ‘song using only the chorus voice as instruments’, ‘using only a solo voice in humming’. And I am not getting into the new ragas part anyway since the discussion is on something else.

Despite all this, if people who are into music, say that the music during those days was boring and not accepted by the West (this is the only criteria, you see!), then there is something wrong somewhere not the least in the thinking process of the persons concerned. That reminds me. Paul Mauriat, one of the greatest musicians of all times was spell bound after listening to ‘Edho Mogam’ and this happened in 1983 when ‘music was boring’ here.

What is more amusing to me is the way some people in social media have concurred with the ‘boring’ view and have ridiculed the music during that period. I bet that all these people have hardly listened to the gems during that era. I don’t have any problem in agreeing to disagree. At the same time, I would like these people to first listen to the gems and then say ‘Oh..boring’ rather than simply criticising sitting in an arm chair and in the cool confines of the air conditioners.

The rare gem of the day is surely one such song in my opinion. ‘Nee illaadhapodhu..’ from ‘ILamaikkolam’ (1980) is an evergreen melody. I call it evergreen not only because it gives goose bumps and gives me nostalgia moments whenever I think of it but also because the song is melody personified.  The entire composition is beautifully structured (done spontaneously in one go and not in ‘bits and pieces’). But what steals the show here (too) is the way each instrument is sounded.

It has a rather unusual start. A very special sound from the Keyboard fills the air. The sustained notes  for 3 cycles and the descent for the next  1 cycle of Chatushram prepare us for an eerie song. The Strings sound sustained notes for one cycle. We then hear the sound of ankle-bells (only). A special sound (similar to a santoor ) from the Keyboard joins. The Guitar, another Keyboard and the Bass Guitar enter with a brief response from the special sounding Keyboard. A single Violin appears and plays in Indian classical style and this is backed by the double bass. The Keys respond after two cycles for one cycle and this happens twice. The group of Strings takes over and plays for two cycles. The Keys repeat the notes of the Strings which now play subtly. 

And then.. the Pallavi starts!

So many variations in a matter of 42 seconds..

The Pallavi starts in the voice of Malaysia Vasudevan. The first phrase ‘Nee..’ itself is sustained for one full cycle. A very different combination of swaras of ShankarabharaNam follows in the second half of the first line, ‘yengum nenjam’-(paga3 ma1ri2 ga3sa ri2ni3). The Tabla too plays the Chatushram very differently as ‘ta ta ta ta’. The Keys sound at the end of the second and the third lines. There is a twist in the lines that follow. ‘ma2’ appears suddenly making it KalyaNi. Though it does not have the ‘ni’, one can surely feel the KalyaNi shade. The last line reverts to the ‘ma1’.

Sujatha(her fourth song for the maestro and her last song before she got married) joins now and sings the first two lines of the Pallavi.

The twists and turns continue in the CharaNams too. The first two lines use only ‘sa ri2 ga3 pa ni3’ making it Hamsadhwani. The third line is in KalyaNi(sans ‘ga’) and the fourth line is in Valaji scale-with ga3 pa dha2 ni2. The last line has both the ‘ni’ s!

But these changes and variations appear and sound innocuous to me. It must be because these were conceived spontaneously and not over a period of time (weeks/months).

The special sounding Keys enliven the first half of the first interlude. After playing alone for 2 cycles, it is joined by the higher octave Strings which are then joined by another set of Strings after one more cycle. The two romance very briefly to the backing of the Drums which sound just now and then and that too subtly. Another new sound from Keys and now it is the Tabla which backs as the percussion. The bending of the Keys continues before the Strings take over. Do these take over normally? No..One set of Strings race in the mid-octave while the other set goes in the higher octave. In Western Classical Music parlance, this is ‘March music’.

In the second interlude, the Keys and the Strings combine to give a dash of poignancy perhaps to depict that feeling of ‘missing somebody’. 

The piercing Flute brings back the romance with the ‘santoor’ acknowledging it. The Strings sound with a unique emotion and play in Hamsadhwani- exactly the same notes as the first part of the first line of the CharaNam.

The song composed 35 years back has always excited all the time. At the same time, I can’t help feeling sorry for the people who claim Times have changed and like ostrich bury their heads in sand. But this time I can see something smiling at them. ..

…It is called as the Time..

Check this out on Chirbit

Value

Recently during the World Cup match between West Indies and Zimbabwe, a question popped up on the screen. It was the usual kind of question where 4 options were given and the viewers were asked to cast their votes. I am sure most of you remember that it was a match in which a batsman by name Chris Gayle got a double hundred, the first in any WC

The question was- Which is the best  ever World Cup Innings by a West Indies batsman and the options were 1.Clive Lloyd 1975, 2.Viv Richards 1979  3.Brian Lara 1996 4.Chris Gayle 2015.

A majority voted for Chris Gayle. This was not surprising since people were still in the euphoria of having watched the innings just a few hours before. But what was disappointing to me was the percentage of votes for Clive Lloyd- an abysmal 2%.

Why was it disappointing to me? Am I a Lloyd fan? Or was it because I recalled that innings and the radio commentary on BBC (please remember that the Indian viewers saw a WC match for the first time on the 25^th June 1983 and until then one had to depend on the radio commentary on BBC) and that the West Indies recovered from an early loss of quick wickets solely due to this innings and his partnership with Rohan Kanhai? Or the mental vision of the ball flying from his bat when ODIs were in a nascent stage was so enthralling to a school boy who until then had known only test match cricket(again through the radio) and Ranji Trophy?

The reason for my disappointment is a combination of all these. But there was something else too. And that was- This generation does not seem to respect History and things which are not familiar to them.

Ask any Indian born after 1980 about the most memorable moment of World Cups in the previous century and the reply would be Kapil Dev holding the Cup at Lord’s on the 25^th June 1983. While there is nothing wrong in basking in the glory of an Indian cricket team’s first ever success in a major tournament, I feel people must also make an effort to know about happenings before that.

Yes without a trace of doubt, that day was a very significant day not just in terms of pride but also in terms of inspiring youngsters across the country. But does that mean that one should be totally ignorant of History?

Now consider this. ODIs were played in all whites with the red cherry and without any fielding restrictions. Bats were not heavy and boundaries were not short. Analysing the opposition teams in terms of SWOT and using videos(what is that?) were all unheard of. Despite all these unfavourable factors, a batsman scored his hundred in 85 deliveries with 12 boundaries and 2 sixes? If this is not an achievement, what else is?

No, I am not the one who believes in living in the past and criticise the present crop saying ‘You know those days..’ Nor am I a cynic who believes that the ‘present’ is nothing and has zero talent while the ‘past’ is everything and nothing can match the talent. But at the same time, it pains me that hardly a few are even aware of the inaugural World Cup and one of the most remarkable innings played with limited resources.

I find a lot of similarities between this and the way ILaiyaraaja’s music is being perceived. A majority of his fans (and this includes the so called ‘die-hard fans’) does not know much about his songs from his early years. Between May 1976 and Nov 1980, he scored music for 100 films. At the most, people can list out about 20 movies and some 50-60 songs. The impression in many- ‘70s songs are not great, his magic started only in the ‘80s’. This impression has more to do with the mindset which in turn is due to ignorance. It is a fact that some of his greatest compositions happened during this time and if ILaiyaraaja has to be seen as whole, his ‘70s songs must be listened to and cherished.

The Rare Gem of the day has some interesting stories behind it. The first story  which is rather simple- though not known to many- is that this was singer Sujatha’s first ever Tamizh song(a fact not known to even her daughter Swetha, who in one of the TV shows mentioned that ‘Oru Iniya manadhu’ was her first). This song was released a full 3 years before ‘Oru Iniya Manadhu’.But if one goes to you tube looking for the visuals, they can never find it.

Yes, the song was released as part of the EP record, but the song was unceremoniously ‘chopped off’. This in fact is the most interesting and intriguing story.

If at all in his early years Raaja sir was very upset with something, it was the film ‘Kavikkuyil’ and the reasons were many.

One- For the first time, his album had 7 songs.

Two- For a person being accused of having little knowledge in Carnatic Music, he composed two songs in pure Carnatic ragas and made a great Carnatic legend sing those two. To top it all, the raga of one of these songs was never used by any film music composer until then and the ragas of the other song were specifically from a particular chakram in the mela karta system. Almost all are familiar with the former which is in a raga called Ritigowlai while many are still not familiar with the latter, a song which I took as a special song in Geetanjali -2012.

Three- He did some beautiful experiments with a particular song but this song was not ‘liked’(no, not again!) by the distributors who insisted that the song be taken out from the movie so that the movie will appeal better to the masses.

Four- Despite his best efforts, the movie bombed.

Let us now focus on the third one and see if it appeals to you and me.

The song starts with a very simple humming of Sujatha and this happens to be the prelude.

The Pallavi is simple too-or that is what it seems to be.

However, there are some hidden intricacies. First, we have the ‘podi sangatis’ in ‘Oviyam’ and also a sudden jump from ‘pa’ to the upper ‘Sa’. ‘KaNden’ ‘Kanavo’ ‘Ninaivo’ also have some beautiful sangatis with the last mentioned going in lower octave as ‘dha. pa.sa’. The last line is interesting as well with prayogas like ‘ga ma dha ni pa dha ma pa ga ma’.

The composition essentially has the swaras of Harikambhoji with the last line in the CharaNam mixing the other ‘ni’. However, the unmistakable Hindustani flavour forces me to classify this under ‘Mishra Khamaj’. In any case, nomenclature doesn’t matter as long as one is able to enjoy the song.

The CharaNams too are beautifully structured with some pleasing sangatis(note the one after ‘maalai pozhudhinile’ in the first CharaNam which extends for 12 cycles of Tisram) and higher octave swaras predominantly in the second and the third lines.

The Tabla is the only percussion which goes in the ‘mel kaala tisram’ from the second line in the CharaNam(s).Apart from this, of course there is that subtle bass guitar which backs the vocals.

Now, for those interludes.

The norm those days was three CharaNams and Raaja sir consistently gave three different interludes.

The Violins which start innocuously in the beginning of the first interlude effortlessly touch the higher octave. The subtle Santoor and the Bass Guitar are not to be missed. The Chorus suddenly appears from nowhere and sing in perfect harmony as the Strings and the Bass Guitar back it with elegance. The Strings take over and play in Indian Classical Style with gamakam , while yet another set of Strings responding briefly and gracefully. The Santoor follows and adds a different touch totally. One hears traces of Raag Mishra MaaNd here.

The second interlude is dominated by the Veena (played with finesse by E.Gayathri) with the humming of the Chorus super imposed and the Santoor nodding its head now and then. It is two sets of the Strings again involved in a brief ‘call and response’.

It is the third interlude which is my most favourite. In fact, it never fails to give me goose bumps even when I think of it.

A single Violin first plays very briefly as if to give a cue and the set of Strings play a melody. The Tabla alternates between ‘ta ka dhi mi ta ka’ and a gap for the same number of beats. After two rounds of this dialogue between the single and the group, a couple of more Violins join the first one and sketch a melody with the other set of Strings playing their original melody. The Bass Guitar plucks a String and then starts the magic. The Chorus hums with exactitude with the Bass Guitar caressing the humming with some beautiful patterns. The VeeNa joins and plays its own melody. Now, this is heavenly indeed! It seems as if Tyagaraja and Bach meet in the heavens with the angels showering the flowers. Finally, the Strings enter and the VeeNa responds to them with an unmatched majesticity!

Is it possible to evaluate the purity of this Gold?

I don’t think so. How about you?

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