Afflatus

Getting inspired is a trait, I am sure all of us have. How, when and where, we don’t know.. But the fact is we all get inspired one way or the other and almost all the times, it results in a positive action.

Let me narrate a short episode from my life now.

About 18 years ago, I had a serious problem with my health and had to be confined to bed for a week. What it was and how serious it was are all not relevant here and are beyond the scope of this post. All I can say is that the ‘confinement’ was literal in the sense that I was not allowed to get up except for my eating sessions and for other small sessions. For a person who hates lying down on the bed beyond 5 am, this was indeed a very severe punishment. Moreover, I had to keep both my legs up and place them on a stool while an equipment with a pulley would be pulling me back.

My professional commitments forced me to be in touch with the office constantly through the phone. Though this was a positive distraction in a way, it was against the Doctor’s instructions. So, I was ill at ease.

To top it all, the ‘walkman’ was not working and I did not have i -pod (I don’t remember if I had even heard of that name then!).Reading anything continuously was ruled out too for medical reasons. ‘A great punishment’, I was thinking to myself when something caught my eye. One small creature peeped through the window sill and after a glance and a ‘tweet’ (not the ‘micro blogging’ one .The danger in writing about the past is that some words totally carry a different meaning and connotation in this digital world), the creature left only to return with its ‘friend’.

 I had seen this tiny creature since my childhood but only now did I spot the difference. The other creature, though it was looking similar, surely looked different in terms of the features. The first one had a uniform brown shade on its body and had a shorter tail while the second one had a kind of grey crown and black spots, which almost seemed like a beard below its beak. ‘Oh..How much to learn’ I thought. By then, I could somehow discern that the former was the female species and the latter, a male.

It was obvious that they wanted to set up a family and therefore, were looking to build a comfortable home. Within few hours, the male appeared with the grass on its beak. The female which was making more noise went around flapping its wings until it identified the best place to construct the house. Once this was spotted, it went on instructing the male partner which obliged religiously. In between, both the creatures spotted me too .They must have thought to themselves, ‘What an awkward position this man is in. Anyway, it is good for us since this bloke is unlikely to get up now and disturb our work!’

At the most, I could have shooed them away or at least asked one of my family members to perform that act on my behalf. But, I did not want to. There was a selfish interest of course, but the reason for my decision had more to do with my love for birds and most importantly my propensity to observe and learn things.

The next 6 days were spent just by watching the birds go about their tasks caring for nothing else. It was a great sight to see them plan their construction like trained architects and engineers ‘Would they by any chance have read Bhagawat Gita?’, wondered I.. Who taught them to be ‘Karma Yogis?’

After a week, as I rejoined my duty, I was lost in my own world of sales figures and budgets, but still I remembered the creatures. One evening, when I went to that room to check the status of their Home, I found to my dismay that it was deserted. Though I could not make out what went wrong, I felt sad and left it at that.

And I got fit within a couple of months with my physical pain gone with the wind. But the pain of seeing the ‘deserted place’ remains with me.

I am sure most of you would have made out that the creature referred to in the post is the Sparrow.

Today (March 20^th) is World Sparrow Day. 

The sparrow, that beautiful creature is now almost extinct and is likely to be declared as an endangered species soon. The same Digital World where Apples and Berries are no longer associated only with fruits, is the culprit. It is of course very easy to argue that if not for technology, we would not be sharing thoughts like this, just at the click of a button. Agreed, to a certain extent, but let us also lean back and think if we have ever felt that this world just does not belong to only us(meaning human beings) but also to millions of other living creatures. Let us start questioning ourselves as to what can be done to make the world a better world to live for all creatures.

Let me now take up a song-which in my opinion, is a marvel - and dedicate it to the Sparrow.

The beauty of ‘Chittukkuruvi Vetkkapadudhu’ lies in its rhythmic pattern. No, not just the pattern of the percussion, for which he is known for, but also in the way the lines in the Pallavi and CharaNams are designed and structured, albeit spontaneously.

The composition is in the normal Aadi taaLam in Tisra gati(aadi taaLam is the most commonly used cycle and has 8 beats and ‘tisram’ is 3 beats. So, typically a composition set in this TaaLam and Nadai should have 24 beats. Each beat will be further sub-divided into micro-beats.  I do not want to get too technical here as that is reserved for my other blog Rajamanjari. However, to highlight the hidden beauties, certain details and explanation are required.

First, look at the last line of the Pallavi which goes like ‘Muthirai Oththadam Ittadhum Nidirai Varume’. Here, each phrase follows 1 2 3 4(ta ka dhi mi) in the faster mode and there are 5 phrases. It is therefore 20 micro-beats. The remaining 4 are left blank, 2 before the first phrase and after the last phrase.

The CharaNams go a step further and the last line - Pattu chiRagu PaRavai Paruva Sumaiyai Perume- goes as 1 2 3 4/ 1 2 3 4 /1 2 3 4/ 1 2 3 4 /1 2 3 4/1 2 3 4.

Let me try and make it more simpler (if at all, that is possible!). One Tisram= 3 beats. So, the two lines quoted above should have 12 beats each. But the Laya Raaja doubles the speed and makes the vocals render in that speed. Generally, this is done (and mostly by him) for percussion alone even as the vocals render in normal speed. But the Laya Raaja that he is, he shows he can do it for vocals as well!

Not surprisingly, once when Vairamuththu was asked as to which one was his most difficult and toughest song, he quoted this song instantly.

Credit also goes to SPB and Janaki as it needs a lot of breath control and also a firm grip on the taaLam to render this.

In fact, this marvel occurs in the prelude itself though there are no words in that. Listen to the humming of Janaki and SPB. The first ‘Tara ra tara ra’ has ten  ‘1 2 3 4’ s rendered by Janaki(with SPB’s voice peeping up in lower octave now and then) and the two ‘1 2 3 4’s are rendered by SPB after that. The following humming sees twelve ‘1 2 3 4’s with Janaki in higher octave and SPB in lower octave.

Laya Harmony!

The percussion plays three  ‘1 2 3 4’ in faster mode, whenever it is present. Note that it is absent when those ‘special lines’ are rendered by the vocals.It is absent in the beginning too -when the sparrows kiss in Tisram with the flute casting a magical spell mesmerised by the spectacle.

The melodic instruments too play this ‘ 1 2 3 4’ in the prelude with the strings playing two and the flute responding in the third ‘1 2 3 4’.

Just because Laya dominates the scene, by no stretch of imagination should it be misconstrued that the melody takes a back seat. In fact, the song abounds with melody.

The sliding and gliding of strings in the first interlude, the singing of guitar and the cooing of flute and the ‘leitmotif ‘of the guitar in the same interlude, the majestic melody of the acoustic guitar to the backing of its ‘brothers’ and the call and response between the strings and the guitar in the second interlude are just some of the melodic aspects apart from the bass guitar, rhythm guitar and the flute melodies which back the vocals.

The composition also follows a very different scale. Though it is set in the minor scale, it eschews ‘dha’ while descending. As per the Raga texts, the raga which follows this structure is ‘Udayachandrika’, a raga not used by anybody before. But let me caution you that this composition cannot be said to be based on ‘Udayachandrika raga’. One can probably say that it follows the ‘Udayachandrika scale’.

And now for the inspiration. The first two phrases- ‘Chittukkuruvi Vetkappadudhu’- have been inspired from the Czech composer  Antonin Dvorak’s Symphony no.9, ‘From the new World’.. Mind you, it is just the third movement in the symphony, which has an entirely different tune in the other 2 movements. And surely, Dvorak wouldn’t have even imagined the ‘mel kaala tisram’ divided into 24 micro-beats, and rendered with gusto by two great legendary singers from India.

This is what a real inspiration can do.

A mortal, who loves nature, got inspired by two tiny birds and overcame his serious health issue, changing the way he looked at life, in the process.

An immortal(at least as far as his music is concerned) got inspired by just one line in the 3^rd movement of a 19^th century symphony to produce an outstanding composition which made that ‘mortal’, who got inspired by the sparrows , and who is always inspired by the immortal works of the genius, decipher the significant intricacies in that composition.

Long live Inspiration! Long live Music! Long live the Sparrows!

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Contrafactual

Once writer Jayakanthan wrote, ‘I have become a bundle of contradictions’. And he enjoyed making this statement.

I love contradictions too. As written in some of my previous posts, contradictions are poetic.

But why am I talking about contradictions now?

Let me explain. In my yesterday’s post, I spoke about the importance of appreciating music without getting into the technical details. But today, I am going to mention the raga details in a song, albeit briefly. Would it then mean that I am a bundle of contradictions too?

Yes and No (ah, isn’t this statement itself contradictory?).

In any case, I am not against discussing the raga details of a song. If that was the case, a majority of my posts –especially in my other blog- wouldn’t have been written at all. What I meant yesterday-and what I mean now- is that one need not break their heads in deciphering a raga as that would collapse the beauty of music. At the same time, appreciating a raga gives a different dimension to appreciation. One just has to strike the right balance between the two.

Considering the kind of phenomenal work Raaja sir has done in terms of using Carnatic and Hindustani ragas, it would be an injustice to music itself if his raga usage is not brought to light. Raga itself is a very broad term and it requires reams of writing to define and describe it. So rather than getting into reams of writing now, let me focus on something else which of course is totally relevant to what is being discussed now.

Recalling my yesterday’s post again, I mentioned about different categories of film songs. The song of the day falls in the category of ‘raga being used as a scale’.

While it is not uncommon to use notes of a raga as a scale in film songs, what Raaja sir has done in ‘Chamaku Chamaku Chaam’(Kondaveeti Donga- 1990) is unique. Saaveri is a raga in carnatic music which is not only very classical but is also known for distinct use of a couple of swaras(‘ri’ and ‘dha’ to be specific). Even if one sticks to the ascending/descending (aroh/avaroh)pattern, it cannot be called as the raga(Saaveri) unless the swaras are sung in a particular way. Therefore, it needs a lot of gumption to use such a raga in the form of a scale. And that is what Raaja sir has done in this song!

Generally, in such experiments, the composition would sound stale as the raga would have lost its unique charm. But surely it cannot happen with a composer who clearly knows what he is doing and has the courage of conviction.

The entire composition follows the structure of Saaveri and yet sounds so different.

Yet another beauty of the composition is the prominent bass guitar which sounds with resonance and appears now and then. Whenever it appears, it seems as if a cobra is showing its hood, dancing and then disappearing fleetingly.

In fact, the ‘snake feel’ is present throughout the song as we are ‘charmed’ right from the beginning.

Listen to the beats from the tribal drums for one full cycle followed by the ‘special syllables’ rendered by SPB for yet another cycle. Most importantly, listen to the sax backed(or should I say ‘fronted’) by the bass guitar. And to the synthesiser which plays the tune of the Pallavi(just the first three phrases) I am sure you have already started dancing, swaying your upper body to and fro.

And the dance continues in the Pallavi with SPB and Chitra singing with gay abandon even as the bass guitar, the family of guitar and the synthesiser nod their heads in glee.

What can one say about the interludes?

The first interlude sees the camaraderie and also the friendly banter between the guitar and the strings. The strings repeat the melody of the guitar but the guitar does not want to remain as a passive spectator even during this ‘response’ and therefore plays along with the strings. It plays a melody again in the higher octave and after a brief rendezvous with the flute, lets the strings play on their own. And what a melody it is! Doesn’t it make us fly even as we keep dancing? The guitar finally plays yet another melody before the first CharaNam and it seems like ice skating.

The second interlude is more playful. The guitar first plays with a touch of insouciance. It then combines with the synthesiser to produce some amazing funny sounds. The strings then move as waves to make it a stirring experience. All through this, the bass guitar involves itself but without in anyway compromising on its uniqueness.

The lines in the CharaNams flow, gush, rush and spout with the strings-in the last segment- blowing like a breeze and the bass guitar going against the stream.

Swimming against the tide is exciting indeed provided the swimmer knows to go with the flow.

Does this sound contradictory?

Well, contradictions are poetic..you see!

PS: Ugadi Subhakankshalu!!!

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Beyond...

Theory or vidwat might appeal to the intellect, but it is what you experience that will touch the heart..no one can form any rule for the arts.

Guess who said this. Keep guessing even as you read the post. No, this is not a ‘whodunit’ puzzle or a conundrum and it is better that we focus more on the content for the time being. I shall reveal the name of the author of this quote only at the end. 

If you are that kind of a person who sees the last page of a mystery novel and then reads the novel, I would suggest that you set aside your curiosity for some time and there is a reason for me to say this. This post is precisely for people who are more into specifics and are less into details.

Not very infrequently, most of us get into a trap while listening to a musical piece. Take a typical concert goer for example, especially in a place like Chennai. The moment the musician starts the aalapana, this person would get restless. One can feel his restlessness in his body language. A grimace on the face, the shifting of legs, swaying of the upper body, taking the arm up and striking the forehead with one or more fingers, furtive glances at the neighbours- either some of these or all these can be witnessed..Reason for the discomposure and disquietude?

It is nothing but the quest for finding the raga being sung. Let us assume that he/she succeeds in identifying the raga. If you assume that the restlessness in all likelihood would stop now, you are in for a disappointment. Next on the agenda would be the name of the kriti. Guess work would start again and if there is a ‘companion’, the two will start debating on the kriti which would be sung by the musician. Here, the past experience with the musician, the amount of time the ‘rasika’ has spent listening to that particular musician -and for that matter any musician- will all play a huge role. A pocket-sized handbook would also come handy(in fact, this notorious book will also be referred if the ‘rasika’ fails to identify the raga during the aalapana stage and the moment the musician starts singing the first line).

Now, there are various categories here- privileged rasikas who can identify most of the ragas at the drop of a hat, rasikas who take time but finally succeed after a few tries or minutes, rasikas who seek the counsel of the neighbour..and many more too. Since I am not here to take samples and plot them in a graph or open an excel sheet and divide the categories and calculate using a formula(is it pie r square or 2 pie r?) and finally hand it over to a market research company for them to advise their clients on the right kind of product to be designed and marketed during the next ‘Music Season’, I shall stop here, move on and say the objective of my narrating all this.

Music is for appreciation. But is knowledge of raga a sine quo non for music appreciation? Does the lack of knowledge make a person a lesser Rasika?

 Not for a moment I am saying that one need not know the ragas. No doubt, Raga identification is also part of appreciation as the Indian music’s uniqueness is the raga system. However, isn’t this just a tool? Can it come in the way of appreciating the beauty of music? If it does, doesn’t it defeat the purpose? Aren’t we missing the larger picture? Aren’t we missing the woods for the trees?

If one knows the raga, well and good. If one doesn’t know it, still it is well and good.

In the case of film music, it is even worse. It is not necessary for a film song to follow a particular raga. In fact, the film music composer has a great liberty. Though I have written about this aspect in one of my posts in a forum, I shall touch upon this aspect again but in one of my future posts.

There are songs which follow the structure of ragas to a tee. There are songs in which the notes of a raga are used just as a scale. There are songs in which the accidental notes occur frequently though the base follows a raga pattern. There are also songs which do not follow a particular pattern –that is pattern in the strictest sense of Indian music.

What runs as a common thread in all such compositions is the musicality..What one experiences while listening to such compositions cannot be explained and can be experienced only by/through the heart. Intellect is involved too to a certain extent and if one strikes a balance between the two, one can have a good experience. If one lets the heart dominate the intellect, one can have a great experience.

‘OrmagaLai’ from the Malayalam film ‘Oomakkuyil’(1983) falls in the category of songs which do not follow a particular pattern which can make us say with certainty that it is based on ‘so and so raga’, and therefore is an ideal composition for enjoying with the heart dominating the brain.

The prelude itself has a unique melodic charm with the keys striking softly, lingering tenderly and repeating the brief melody even as the guitar intrudes and moves with felicity. The two sets of strings take us through some unknown alleys giving us a feeling of uncertainty, certainty, joy and nostalgia.

The Pallavi in the voices of Yesudass and Janaki continues to give us same kind of feelings in addition to some unknown and indefinable feelings.

Indefinable again is the melange of sounds from the piano keys, the flute and a host of guitars in the first segment of the first interlude. Suffice to say the instruments indulge in a conversation in a language called music!  But how beautifully this conversation strikes a chord with us, warming the cockles of our heart in the process..

The strings backed by the double bass with the flute appearing towards the end, make us feel as if we are in swing swaying back and forth, a swing hanging from the heavens.

The first half of the CharaNams is tenderly textured and move with sobriety while the second half moves with buoyancy and kindle a feeling of romance. There is of course that spiritual radiance too.

Talking of radiance and spirituality, the second interlude has both in abundance. How would you define the way the piano sounds in the beginning with the brass flute responding with the strings backing subtly, the same pattern getting repeated with some minute variations and all these happening sans percussion? Or the way the guitar joins suddenly, playing from where the piano left with the strings entering at will and flowing like a steady stream? Isn’t this meditative?

How about the guitar vamping in the end with the flute giving a melody which can be called as plaintive and also as joyful?

Even if one doesn’t know the difference between piano and the guitar or doesn’t know what stringed instruments are or for that matter can’t even make out what a flute is, does it matter? Does it come in the way of appreciating the beauty or the niceties?

Does minor or major scale or the shift from one to another matter? Or are names like KiravaNi, Natabhairavi,  ShankarabharaNam, KalyaNi important?

‘Theory or vidwat might appeal to the intellect, but it is what you experience that will touch the heart..no one can form any rule for the arts’.

Let me tell you the name of the person who said that. His name is ILaiyaraaja, who also happens to be the gentleman who composed this song and thousands of immortal songs which have many intricate details.

He knows better, doesn’t he?

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Bittersweet

It is normal to be happy.

It is normal to feel sad.

Of course to some it is abnormal to be happy and to some it is abnormal to be sad. In fact, happiness or sadness is a state of mind and it is more internal than external. But let me not get into this now.

What I would like to talk now is about a state which I am sure all of us have experienced at least once in a while- a state which is an equal mix of happiness and sadness. Modern research on the brain suggests that happiness and sadness involve different areas in brain. For example, when somebody is happy, the activity in the cerebral cortex regions-more precisely the region very close to the ears and just behind the forehead- decreases. Mind you, these regions are used when we are involved in complex planning (does it mean that planning is sad?only brain experts can answer this!).Most importantly, the left prefrontal cortex is more active when we feel happy. It is the reverse when we feel sad.

So, what happens when we have both the emotions at the same time?

Well, I am not here to analyse this. But all I know (out of my own experience) is that it is possible to feel both the emotions simultaneously and that this is an ineluctable fact. And since I cannot separate music from my life, if I say ‘experience’, it means ‘experience with music’.

I can list out many songs and also ragas(performed by some select musicians) to substantiate my claim, but for the time being let me stick to one composition.

I have listened to ‘Kodaikkala Kaatre’(Panneer PushpangaL- 1981) infinite times and irrespective of my mental state, it has given me that ‘happy-sad’ feeling. Surprisingly enough, the tune is in major scale(here it is based on ShankarabharaNam scale, though there are many accidental notes) and generally any composition in this scale evokes happiness. But coming from a composer who is known for defying logic, this should not be a surprise.

Let me just think as to why I feel happy while listening to this song.

It could be the sound of the bass guitar which strikes exactly at every fourth beat with resonance in the prelude. To me, it sounds as if it is in a kind of meditative bliss.

Then it could be the first part of the Pallavi in the very different voice of Malaysia Vasudevan- voice which sounds as if he is revealing a secret.

Or it could be the chorus which sings in perfect harmony in the second half of the Pallavi.

It could also be the guitar-synth-chorus in the first segment of the first interlude which bristles with melody with nonchalant grace.

Ah, yes it could be the first part of the solo violin piece- backed by a single-stringed instrument-which has a rhythmic sway holding a sway on the listener.

Probably the reason could be the structure of the first two lines of the CharaNam where the notes pair and repeat(dhapa mostly and gapa and dhasa once) and also the  structure of the following two lines where the notes mostly descend) and sound very softly.

Oh..it could be that marvellous interplay between the different flutes-with one literally ‘calling’ and the other two ‘rolling’ with the bass guitar watching and smiling- in the first segment of the second interlude.

Ok, let me now think as to what gives me that melancholic feeling.

Is it the initial mouth organ piece which conveys what words fail to convey?

Or is it the brass flute which appears along with the vocals in the second line(Manam Thedum Suvaiyodu, DhinamthoRum Isai Paadu) ?

Or is it the sudden appearance of the other ‘ma’and the other ‘dha’ in the last two lines with even chromaticism in the phrase Sugam Kodi KaaNattum?

Or is it the second part of the solo-violin piece which again is chromatic?

Or is it the ‘silence’ between the flute pieces in the second interlude which suggests too many things?

Or the ‘fading’ of the santoor and the harmony between the two sets of chorus?

Or the toning down and slowing down of the percussion in the second charaNam ?

Hang on!

Looking back, I feel the same features or factors which gave me happiness, give me sadness too and vice-versa.

Why do I feel it? Can I explain?

I can’t... 

Can you?

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Obverse

A couple of nights ago, when I was surfing the channels on TV, I found a channel playing ‘Raaja songs’. I clicked ‘Ok’ on my remote just to check the kind of songs that were being played. I must admit though that I have not had a great experience with such programmes in the past because of varied reasons, four of these being-1. Same songs played repeatedly, 2.Only ‘popular’ songs played, 3.Non-Raaja songs played, 4.Pathetic picturisation.

While (1.) and (2.) are ok and acceptable to a certain extent, as his songs can be listened to repeatedly without feeling tired or bored-though my first preference is always for his ‘lesser known’ songs- (3.) is irritatingly amusing(once they even played a song from ‘Kizhakku Cheemiyile’!. Wonder how they missed out ‘Roja’ J). It is (4.) which gives me mix of all negative feelings because apart from the fact that no film maker can do full justice to his music, my mental vision of many of his songs are different and I wouldn’t let anything disturb that vision. That is why, I have still not watched the visuals of most of his ‘70s songs-songs which are very close to my heart(this includes ‘MalargaLile Aaradhanai’, ‘Devathai Oru Devathai’ and many other songs).

Going back to that night, a song was just ending and the next one was about to start. Since my ears and the heart are trained to listen to his music and can easily make out any of his songs in a split-second, the moment the prelude started, I could sense that it was one of my evergreen favourites. Though I have listened to the song innumerable times, little had I realised(that is until that moment) that it was a song composed for a film in which an actor known for his ‘flamboyant’ dress sense played the lead role. Nor had I realised that his pair(female lead) was an actor in whose lexicon ‘graceful dance’ never existed.

Added to this were the gaudy setting and inaesthetic lighting. My dismay and discomfiture cannot be put in words now.  But what can be put in words are my feelings about the composition.

‘Arumbagi Mottaagi Poovagi’ from ‘Enga Ooru Kaavalkaran’(1988) has never failed to excite me and calm my senses at the same time. If this sounds like an oxymoron, so be it. As I always keep saying, it is the element of contrast which makes a poem or a musical piece beautiful.

And there are many contrasting beauties in this composition.

Listen to the bass guitar and the special bells sound which back the piercing flute in the beginning. And the two sets of bells which follow one after the other in different octaves..And ah , yes, the two sets of strings in two different octaves playing together. How contrasting each one sounds!

The percussion-which is totally silent in the prelude, making an entry only after one and half cycles in the Pallavi- plays rather gently for 3 beats and resoundingly in the 4^th beat. Do I have to say that ‘C’ word again here?

In any case, I must mention about yet another ‘C’ word- Charukesi- the raga on which this composition is based. This raga is eternally pleasing. What is also eternally pleasing is the sound of the flute and in the hands of the Master it sounds even more pleasing. The prelude piece and the one in the beginning of the first interlude are classic examples.

What about the twin-flute which appears in the first and last segments of this interlude? It is no doubt pleasing but the ‘C’ element appears here too, with each flute playing in two different octaves, though the notes are the same. In fact, this happens in the second interlude too and the sound from the twin-flute in two different octaves surrounds us like a friendly bee (bees can be friendly too, anyway!).

The two sets of strings in the first interlude which follow the flute and romances with it though briefly, offer pleasing contrast too. So does the special sound which intercepts the higher-octave strings in the second interlude, moving from left to right!

The guitar is a loner(in the first interlude) but being alone when preceded and followed by a group of intense instruments itself is a contrast.

I see the contrast even in the way the Pallavi and the CharaNams are structured. The Pallavi is in ‘ateeta eduppu’, with the taaLa cycle starting after the vocals while the CharaNams are in ‘anaagata eduppu’ with the vocals starting after the beginning of the cycle. And see how the Pallavi is rendered only by the male singer and the CharaNams both by the male and female.

This might sound outlandish but somehow I feel Deepan Chakravarthy’s voice  sounding soft while Suseela’s voice being more aggressive.

Coming to think of it, isn’t there contrast between the audio and video , with the former pleasant, aesthetic and fulfilling and the latter ..........(fill up the blanks)!

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Shakti

A majority of Indian Film makers are followers of Manu, though they would deny this when told so.And I am not talking about their love for castes and casteism now.

It is an irrefutable fact the portrayal of women in our cinema would have made Manu proud -that is if at all such a character existed. Women are either deified or glorified- Gods are pleased and reside in that household where women are honoured- or shown as seductresses- It is the nature of women to seduce men- or shown always as subservient to men and depend on them for everything throughout their life- her father protects her in childhood, her husband protects her in youth and her son protects her in her old age.

The last mentioned, in fact, appears verbatim as part of a dialogue in a movie released just a decade ago and in which a female lead actor plays a dual role. I am not going to examples for each ‘sloka’ of Manu as depicted in our movies as this would consume reams of pages. But in general, the true power of a woman is not shown and what are shown are the greatness of motherhood, the sacrifice of a wife, the ‘affection’ of a sister.. In short, women are symbols of love and affection while men who are meant to control them are majestic and valorous.

There have been some exceptions here and there and one of the exceptions is the song of the day. Not often does one find a female lead character ‘phoo-phooing’ the male ego.. Though this song does not specifically target or attack the male ego, I said that due to a reason. The hero of the movie was/is known for his misogynistic dialogues in almost all his movies. Moreover, if anybody(a lady in particular) challenges him or even is seen to be challenging him, that person would be subject to verbal attacks and even physical attacks by his ‘followers’ and ‘fans’. And this movie came in the year 1979 when that ‘star’ had already turned ‘super’. There is even more significance to this year as this was the end of the ‘70s, a decade when conservatism was being hailed as modernism and ‘women’s lib’ movement had begun to sprout in our country, but was hardly seen in movies (‘AvaL Appadiththan’ was different but here too the director veered towards ‘sentimentalism’, the bane of Tamizh Cinema. This movie calls for a separate post).

By no stretch of imagination should it be misconstrued that the movie from which the song of the day is taken spoke about ‘women’s independence’. It was a movie with all commercial elements and the story revolved around the hero only. But this song per se, is different in that it dares the hero who refuses to give an interview to the lady scribe. Perhaps the director had streaks of modern thoughts in him and decided to show that at least for 4 and half minutes.

‘Ada Poyyaa Poyyaa Ulagam Perisu..Nee Oru podi Dabba..Indha Pena Perisappa’ from ‘Dharma Yuddham’ , in my opinion is an embodiment of an ideal woman who cares less for people who insult her in particular and womanhood in general. Yes, the song revolves around a scribe and also reiterates that the ‘pen is mightier than the sword’ and the reference to the ‘Modern Woman’ appears only towards the end. But I feel, the lyricist M.G.Vallabhan, who was a scribe himself, used ‘writing’ as a metaphor.

Sample these :

I am the mirror of Time/I am a pioneer/I am eternal/ I have knowledge/I don’t care.

The musical part (and this includes the tune and the orchestration) needs a very special mention because one feels the bubbling energy throughout the song. The flip side is the voice and it would have been nice if somebody else had rendered this song as I find Shailaja’s voice to be very immature with a questionable diction.

Set in the minor scale, the composition flows like a beautiful stream. As always, the percussion is used wisely and brilliantly. See how it says ‘Go back Go back’ in the Pallavi, jumps and dances in the second half of the first interlude after being virtually absent in the first half, how it changes the pattern in the CharaNams, how it switches to folksy beats in the first half of the second interlude, how it goes with military precision towards the end of the same interlude, and how it goes in faster mode in the third interlude.

Has any other composer used each and every instrument efficiently, effortlessly and brilliantly to not only suit the occasion but also with heightened musicality? Listen to the funny sound which is ubiquitous in the song, symbolising sarcasm. How about the strings in the beginning which plays in the higher octave showing the woman power? Or the sax which follows giving a ‘clarion call’? Or the flute which goes in a circle in the first interlude or the shehnai and the sax in the first interlude? Aren’t these giving a feeling of auspiciousness?

Or the South Eastern instrument and the electric guitar in the second interlude? Or the flute and the strings in the same interlude which go to the major scale and revert to the minor scale? Don’t these show the flexibility and the range of knowledge a modern woman has?

Or the higher octave strings, the shehnai , the sax, the electric guitar and a host of instruments in the third interlude which depict versatility?

I am the mirror of Time/I am a pioneer/I am eternal/ I have knowledge/I don’t care.

Applies to the Woman power.. Applies to the Composer too..

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Idée fixe

Is ‘Obsession’ a bad word?

A reliable dictionary defines ‘obsession’ as ‘an idea or thought that continually preoccupies or intrudes on a person’s mind’. So, if a person is said to be obsessed with something, it is generally considered to be a negative trait. In psychological terms, it is even a disorder.

That being the case, if I said that I am obsessed with his music, would it mean that I am suffering from a disorder? But didn’t this obsession also play a big rule in my getting into music, beginning to like it, beginning to love it, trying to learn to appreciate it, trying to know more about it, trying understand the intricacies and nuances, trying to express what I observe and trying to share it with people?

If I were to describe in just a few words about the impact he and his music have had on me, I would say ‘I saw a rainbow on the horizon/I fell in love with it/It entered my Life/It became one with my soul and has become inseparable’.

Do these lines ring a bell somewhere? Probably yes, to people who have been following his music with passion. It is a take-off from one of his ‘Early Years’’ song, a beautiful gem.

‘Oru Vaanavil Pole En Vaazvile Vandaai’ from ‘KaatRinile Varum Geetam’(1978) is very close to my heart not just because of the lines in the Pallavi but also because of many reasons.

See the way Guitar has been used in the composition. In fact, the song starts with the guitar melody which repeats itself albeit with subtle variations. It is surely not an exaggeration to say that this piece sets the tone.

The same guitar sounds slightly different in the first interlude with two strings played together. And how does it sound in the second interlude? Isn’t the melody soaked in romance?

Three different guitar melodies and each one sounding different and romantic..

This is the case with the flute as well. A close observation suggests that the flute follows the guitar(all the 3 times!). In the prelude, it enters after the guitar melody and continues to play even as the guitar is still on. It plays a kind of folksy melody with the guitar backing it playing a repeat melody. The melody in the first interlude air lifts us to green paddy fields while the one in the second interlude makes us see a wild forest!

The strings play a huge role too and sound in higher-octave in many places. There is an alluring quality to the strings when these play in higher octave. There are 2 sets in the prelude with one set in the higher octave and the other one in the mid-octave. The strings play briefly in the beginning of the first interlude and yet attract us with the sinuous pattern. But these simply excel in the third segment (after the flute) as these start in higher-octave and move on to the mid-octave and indulge in a very short ‘call and response’ with the flute.

The strings play a supporting role too in the second interlude as these act as a bridge between the guitar and the flute, then join with the santoor towards the end gliding down and leading to the second CharaNam.

If the voices of Jayachandran and Janaki enhance our experience, the bass guitar which accompanies the vocals in the Pallavi and which is substituted by the vocals when the Pallavi is rendered the last time in the end-with the male humming when the female sings and vice-versa- the structuring of the Pallavi (eschewing ‘ni’, a key note in the KalyaNi scale), the chromaticism in the CharNams(two variants of ‘dha’ occurring together) and the introduction of another alien note ‘ni2’ make this composition simply a beautiful one!

So, now tell me if it is wrong to be obsessed or if I am suffering from a disorder?

If the answer is ‘No’, I am happy.

If the answer is ‘Yes’, I am happy.

..because this is a disorder which makes me and others happy!

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