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

As you like it

Are events and happenings in this world preordained?

Is it true that things happen as per the congregation or combination of planets?

Well, I am a novice and surely not qualified enough to answer the aforementioned questions. Then why do I ask these? By asking these questions, will I be branded as a superstitious person and by brushing aside these questions terming them as silly, will I be considered as somebody who is rational?

I know questions lead to questions just like one lie leads to a hundred lies, but let me tell you that the reason for this series of questions has to do with what happened last Sunday-not in my personal life, but on this earth under the bright and not so bright sun.

Traditionally, the second Monday of the Wimbledon Championships is known by the name ‘Manic Monday’ and this is because of many reasons prominent among these being the fact that the Men’s and Women’s quarter finals happen on that day and since so many leading players (aka stars or to put it simply seeds) are part of thick action on different courts, it is inevitable that some of the stars/seeds are shown the door by lesser known players who in all probability will become future stars.

If you find the previous paragraph complex and somewhat difficult to comprehend, I must tell you that it was not written with the objective of confounding or confusing you and that it just happened.

Could this also be the handiwork of some planet or its conjunction with some other planet which resulted in my writing that paragraph in one single breath?

Oh, I am back to square one now. So, before the square becomes a circle- or rather a vicious circle-, let me give the reason for those 2 questions. In a way, it is not that difficult to guess in case you are a sports lover and in case that ‘lover’ is replaced with the word ‘fanatic’ and that ‘sports’ is filtered to mean just two sports-Cricket and Tennis.

Reams and reams have been written ad nauseam about the two Events-more about the one involving the bat and the ball-  which happened at a place called London last Sunday and therefore I am not getting too much into that. But what I will get into are what those two Events convey and what these teach about Life.

Firstly, what was common between the two Events?

See-saw battle with the game swinging from one extreme to the other, Winner(s) decided by ‘tie-breakers’(thankfully I didn’t spot anybody in the audience with a tie) and by a new rule, the one who was vanquished having more support across the globe than the one who emerged victorious, the vanquished missing their opportunities with bizarre tactics and rash shots(in the case of cricket it was a rash throw!)...

In more than one way, luck played a major role and that precisely is the reason for the first two questions.

Despite playing so well, why did the two lose? Was it because of the new rules or was it because of complacency? Or better still, was it because of ‘fate’?

That brings me to one very interesting video which was being widely circulated in social media in which a person who claims  he can predict the future, ‘predicts’ that the one who finally lost would lift the World Cup..At the top of the video blink these words- ‘recorded on the 1^st of Jan 2019’.

Now, if it is a fact that everything in this world has already been decided and that it follows a prepared script and that the planets are responsible for all actions, how is it that this ‘prediction’ turned out to be false?

By saying this, does it mean that I am a rational person?

I don’t know. But all I can say is that the beauty of life lies in its unpredictability and it is but natural for things to be uncertain. We just need to observe all these like an outsider and ‘just enjoy’.

Easily said than done?

Well, listen to this piece from ‘Sila SamayangaLil’(2018).

This piece, in my opinion gives the crux of life.

It is of course a pure western classical piece, but I find strains of Shanmukhapriya. This may have to either do with my familiarity with both forms of music or the composer’s propensity to meld the forms or both. But again, what do we achieve by breaking our heads with questions? Is it not KaNNadasan who said ‘Happiness or sadness, finally aren’t the questions which remain in a man’s life?’( ஏன் என்ற கேள்வி ஒன்று என்றைக்கும் தங்கும்/மனிதன் இன்ப துன்பம் எதிலும் கேள்விதான் மிஞ்சும்)

There are four layers to the first bit of the piece. There is that solo violin, the strings, the chorus and the guitar. How many layers does a human life have?

The chorus slowly raises its voice from 0.19 and start sounding prominent. How many people raise their voice in Life?

The music flows like a stream till 0.36. Life itself is a stream.

It is the chorus which dominates with its humming from 0.37. How many people have dominated/have tried to dominate/ us? How many times have we dominated/have striven to dominate/others in our Life?

An eerie sound appears at 1.13. Life is full of fear and dreadful things. Or is it?

The cello and horn follow (1.16) and give us a melange of feelings. Life is a mixture of all emotions and at times we are unable to define the emotion neither are we able to define the reason for that particular emotion.

The group of strings move again like a stream with the horn joining them. How we wish life was as smooth a river!

There is a sudden percussion sound at 1.58 and at 2.02. Sudden jerks do happen in our life and how we balance ourselves is in our hands.

The strings move back and forth from 2.02. Does it denote the sudden twists and turns in our life? Or is it the competition from others? Probably, it is the need to be more alert and active?

The music in the beginning repeats itself, albeit with some changes from 2.39. Life has come a full circle? Wheels of life changing?

Predictable or unpredictable, life is beautiful...

..whether it is the overthrow or the overhead smash.

All the world is a stage and all men and women merely players, said the Bard of Avon.

Yes, it is true..But the only difference is that the players (pun intended) script the play.

Check this out on Chirbit

Essence

‘Appa, I am not able to sleep’, said the young boy.

‘Dont’t worry. I will sleep only after you sleep’, replied the father.

‘How will you know if I have fallen asleep or not’, asked the nervous boy.

Pat came the reply-‘I know. That is why I am your father’.

 Do fathers know everything?

Not really. However, when it comes to conversing with his child and when it comes to comforting his child, a father does seem to know everything. At least, in my case, it is true.

Needless to say the conversation mentioned in the beginning happened between me and my father when I was just around 6 or 7. I was timid, shy and was scared of darkness then.

Somehow in India, the relationship between a father and a son is not as widely written or discussed as the one between a mother and a son or the one between a mother and a daughter or even the one between a father and a daughter.

My relationship with my father was somewhat special, intriguing and even weird. Being the only son, I was ‘protected’ by my mother who would not even let me go out and play without her monitoring and supervision. My father would be away at his workplace but whenever he was at home, he would ‘protect’ me too, and this continued even when I went to school. Probably, this explains the reason for my timidity when I was young.

However, once I started growing up and once I was in my formative years, I started developing independent thinking and was slowly shedding the conservative outlook , much to the chagrin of my mother. But my father encouraged my independent thinking.

There are many things a son can pick up from his father. I essentially picked up two things- Reading habit and appreciation of music. When I was a child, I would wonder what he was up to when he would literally burn the midnight oil to be engrossed in a book. After watching him do this for many years (‘many’ here would be about 8 years), one fine day I went to the cup- board where some old books were stocked, picked up the one with a glossy cover, dusted it and started reading it. On top of the front cover there were these wordings- ‘The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes’.  

Thus began my tryst with books and it still continues.

He would also tune in to ‘Madras A’ radio station at 8.20 am everyday even as he was getting ready for work. Carnatic music would fill the air. Honestly, this was not music to the ears of Yours Truly then, a fact which would surprise many now. I found it to be boring and even irritating. How my perspective changed after the entry of one gentleman in 1976 and how it transformed me, are all known to people who have been following my posts here. However, in hindsight, I feel if I was able to appreciate the music of that gentleman right from the beginning and was also quick to identify and appreciate the intricacies, it was because of the musical environment I grew up in and the influence it had on my subconscious.

It is not that I have not had difference of opinion with my father. In fact, there were many. However, he respected my views and opinions. During the later years, he even went to the extent of saying, ‘the amount of knowledge my son has, is hard to fathom’.

Cut now to Circa 2019.

The gentleman who pacified and put his little son to comfort long ago, was lying down on the hospital bed struggling to breathe and this time he was calling out his son’s name repeatedly. Is it a case of role reversal? However, the son could not do much as he was already briefed on his father’s medical condition. Unable to see his father suffer like this, the son also started praying for his suffering to end. This is another case of ‘reversal’, for obvious reasons, reasons which are better left undisclosed.

Finally, on the 21^st of June- which is celebrated as World Music Day, a connoisseur of music, a gentleman who believed in and who practised giving unconditional love, a father who guided his son to the right path, left this mortal world peacefully with his son by his side.

The only song which came to my mind instantly that time was a song which without a doubt, is part of my Top 25, and the reason is not far to seek.

In life, simple things are always beautiful and the most beautiful things are simple. If someone were to ask me an example, I would cite ‘Kaattuvazhi Kaalnadiyaa Pora Thambi’ from ‘Adhu Oru Kanaakkaalam’(2005), without batting an eyelid.

Now, see this.

The third and fourth lines of the Pallavi are a replica of the first two lines. The CharaNams are almost mirror images of the Pallavi. Both the interludes are the same. Coming as it does from a composer who is known for his dislike for ‘repetitions’ and who is known for his proclivity for ‘variety’, this is a huge surprise.

And yet, even repeated hearing of this song is unlikely to tire anybody. On the other hand, it can only soothe the pain, soothe the senses and soothe the soul. This is made possible not just by the tune but also by the lyrics and most importantly by the singing style and quality. What is more special is the fact that all these three are done by the same gentleman.

Based on the major scale (ShankarabharaNam), the composition has the flavour of an Irish folk song. The two sets of strings(one in lower octave and the other in middle- octave) playing simultaneously, depicts life itself, in my opinion.

The parallel drawn between river and life conveys layers and layers of meanings albeit in very simple terms.

Life is neither a dream nor a reality. It is Truth itself, says the last term.

For a person who was scared of darkness when he was a child, for a person whose father was an inspiration, for a person who turned more philosophical after the recent episode, can anything be truer than this?

After all, doesn't Truth drive away darkness?

Check this out on Chirbit

Amygdala

‘Aapko wahaan se Bharat kaisa dikh raha hai?'

(How does India look to you from there?)

‘Saare jahaan se accha’

(Most beautiful).

People who grew up in the ‘80s can never forget this conversation which was broadcast ad nauseam on AIR just before the 9pm news bulletin. The person who asked the question was the late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and the one who replied was Rakesh Sharma, the first ever Indian citizen to go to space. This conversation took place when the latter was still in space (he spent 7 days in space).

Though 35 years have passed since this happened, the conversation still rings in my ears not least because of the excitement in the voice of the cosmonaut; ‘excitement’ which is difficult to define. As a matter of fact, I was too excited as well when the first Indian went to space but my excitement is different from the excitement of a man who was seeing the entire world from top. And even now when that voice is replayed in my mind as I write this, I can easily make out that the cosmonaut did not quote that first line of Iqbal’s poem just for the sake of doing it or for grabbing headlines (he had already grabbed the headlines because of his achievement anyway!). I could feel that unmistakable genuineness which stemmed from not just a sense of pride but also from that sense of ‘wow’. It was a kind of expression reserved for people who have that sense of aesthetics. In any case, the expression was very special.

So, very recently when I read that researchers from the University of Pennsylvania’s positive psychology centre are involved in a mission of studying the emotions astronauts commonly recount when they look at that oblate spheroid shaped body called as the Earth from space, I felt very excited. They call this as ‘Overview effect’ and it seems the researchers watch sunsets in beautiful places to understand the emotions and feelings of the people on the spacecraft who ‘watch’ the earth from top. They are in the process of studying the excerpts of interviews given by the astronauts. Though the research is still on, they are unanimous in saying that the experience of the astronauts(and therefore the emotions) are more extreme than any general or natural phenomenon and that it is overwhelming and even life changing.

In a way- or rather in many ways- certain human emotions during certain experiences cannot be defined nor can it be explained. I have often written here about the emotions evoked by music in general and certain songs or background pieces in particular. It might surprise many if I say that what matters to me the most are the feelings/emotions when I listen to music more than the raga or the swaras. No doubt a song is composed using swaras and concomitantly a raga/scale, but these play a lesser role when it comes to the overall experience. There is something more than just swaras/ragas which give us that overwhelming experience. And when we have that experience, everything loses its meaning and ceases to exist.

Whenever I listen to ‘Adhikaalai nerame’ from ‘MeeNdum oru kaadhal kathai’(1985), I undergo such an experience. Of course, it doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen with many other songs but somehow this song is very special.

What makes it special is its unpredictability. 

Generally, his pallavi and charaNams follow a logical pattern. The lines may not be predictable but at the same time these will be organised. Most importantly the tune doesn’t deviate. Same is the case with the interludes. In other words, the composition will be unpredictably predictable. Then there are songs which can be called as predictably unpredictable. I shall talk more about this category in one of my future posts. But there are also compositions where the tune deviates from the original and may not look organised (at least on paper). These fall under the unpredictably unpredictable category. And it is such compositions which give that very special feeling. ‘Adhikaalai nerame’ is one such composition.

If you listen to the song, I am sure you will understand the real import of my statement. As per the story of the movie, the hero and the heroine are special children. They live in their own sweet world totally oblivious to the noise in the external world. The tune is suffused with that special innocence. But more importantly it is very unpredictable.

Take the pallavi. The first line makes us see the dew drops on the petals of flowers. The second line shows the light and darkness and the third line shows the moonlight. Feeling wise, it is happiness, pain and pleasure and nostalgia.

No, beyond this I cannot define the feelings/emotions I undergo when I listen to the lines in the charanams.

Even the beginning is so beautiful and very different. The three sets of strings rise slowly but steadily one after the other with the keys that follow giving a special bell sound and moving constantly. Is there a connection between the strings pieces and the keys sound?

Listen to the first interlude. The first section is dominated by the different sets of strings with each one playing different melodies. Suddenly, the flute takes over and plays a melody with unobtrusive energy. It reminds one of a plaintive wail of a bird in a forest which is separated from its mate. The guitar/keys lead to the charaNam, but again how different each melody sounds.

The strings appear again in the second interlude yet again in different sets welling up a gamut of emotions. It hurts; it pains; it makes us cry; it makes us sob; it makes us smile. But what follows is magical and also mystical. The twin-violin to the backing of some bass instruments plays a melody. Is it a lullaby? Is it peppy? Is it melancholic? Is it lovable? Is it love itself?

The strings join together and play thrice giving a pause in between.

Are there pauses in emotions?

 Isn’t silence itself emotional?

Are emotions predictable?

Do these questions carry any meaning?

Check this out on Chirbit

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!

Check this out on Chirbit