Kutch Rann Utsav 2012 - Part 2

Visit to a Kutch village

Cylindrical houses with roof made of wild grass is typical of a Kutch house. Women kept their small dwellings clean despite the desert being dusty and facing acute water shortage. One can find a hundred pots in their homes to collect water to get through the dry and tough summer months. For those of us used to running water in taps,  air-conditioned homes, microwaves and refrigerators, unlimited Entertainment, hospitals, malls and coffee shops, Kutch life can be a boot camp. Satisfying their basic every day needs (food, water, electricity to light home and run a fan) is living life luxuriously.

Beauty and creativity showcased with pride

Kutch women wear three piece clothing and also keep their heads covered to prevent their brains from getting fried.  The front piece of their clothing is beautifully embroidered with   bright colours and mirrors embedded into simple designs. they compliment this with big nose rings and bangles that go till their shoulder. lack of fashion education or lack of beauty parlours and urban life hasn't robbed them of an opportunity to showcase their beauty and creativity with pride. It is a feat to watch a decked up kutchi women.

Ever changing ground under the feet

Once the monsoon rains arrive the parched desert is inundated with water and the high tide also brings in salt water inland. Over the next few months the salt water evaporates leaving behind white salt deposits that shines beautifully against moon light. To ride the salt desert on a full moon night can be fun and the ambassador of the desert aka the ship of the desert, the camel, ferries a cart load of lazy and curious people along the salt desert giving them a joy ride.

Indo-Pakistan rekha

A four hour ride from Dhordo via Khavda takes you to the Indo- Pakistan border. Beyond Khavda only Indian nationals are allowed and mobile phones, radios, cameras and other electronics need to be surrendered with the military. One needs to get permission in advance to go there and the bumpy and deserted road can tire you out easily. But all that changes when you arrive at the border.

While explaining about the border the jawan shared some interesting information.

1. Only a portion of the border with Pakistan is fenced while remaining is WIP

2. 150m land beyond the barbed fence brings you to the "no man’s land" and there is similarly a 150m buffer land on the Pakistani side before you hit their fence. But Pakistan has not bothered to fence their border with India.

3. Two layers of barbed fences guard the Indian boundary and they are electrified from sunset to sunrise.

4. Surveillance cameras and alarm systems also help the officers to guard the longest and the most unsafe border we share with one of our dangerous neighbour.

5. Twice a day officers travel by trucks  in the 150m region beyond the fence to examine any activity on the border.

6. Government spends rs 10,000 to get a tanker of water from Khavda (60 Kms away) and it was impossible for any civilians to exist here.

Life on the front line

While at the border,  I decided to strike a conversation with a jawan whose name tag read "T. Sankaran". It is a common Tamilian name and the very moment I asked him if he was from Tamilnadu he stood up and greeted me with a wide smile running ear to ear and also offered me a glass of water. How long can a jawan stare at the dry and hot border devoid of greenery and even birds and animal life? When I heard his response to my question on the weather conditions and daily routines, I wanted to post those who complained about their jobs and hated bosses here for a week.

The jawan said the months of May and June were horrible with mercury touching upper forties and the desert wind showering them with mud and also reducing visibility to less than five meters. "Once the monsoon arrives it inundates the desert and turns it into a flood plain and a short walk along the border becomes treacherous", he said. Summer, monsoon or winter all bring them challenges, but their focus is to guard the border.

Saluting the real Barath Ratnas

When i asked about his family he said his eldest was in 10th grade and the Absence of cellphone towers in the vicinity makes it impossible to stay in touch with his wife and children. He needs to find a ride on a military truck to the nearest village to make a call and that is once in ten days. since the culture of writing letters is lost back in the cities he says every news that he hears from his wife and children is music to ears, even if stale and 10 days old. When he said he visits them once in 2 years and this was his 18th year in service guarding various borders of India, I admired his courage and commitment to protect the citizens of the nation though he was absent for his wife and family.

After hearing the sacrifice and hardship they had to go through to guard the border, I stood up in respect and awe. Do they guard the border for the peanuts Government of India pays? Do they complain about bad meals and weather conditions and no yearly raises? Aren't these the real Barath Ratnas? Don't confuse these with those who try to lobby for their Barath Ratnas in New Delhi. These are indeed the real ones.

Introspection before Feedback

That night comfortably lying on the bed and tucked between layers of wool in my tent, I replayed the cribs from my fellow riders during the visit to the border. Bathing in lukewarm water, having no television in the tents, and walking 500m to the dining hall seemed so frivolous and inconsequential compared what our jawans had to endure.  In the meantime I heard a voice from outside my tent asking if he can come in to hand over the feedback form. He promised to come back and collect it the following morning.

What feedback do I write about a Government that empowers youth, conducts Rann Utsav for the 7th consecutive year, turns a fallow desert land into a three star facility for 45 days, creates temporary jobs opportunities for local people, and also an opportunity for travellers like me to understand the life of people in Kutch and sacrifices made by our jawans guarding the national borders. Next time when you plan a vacation with your children or friends, think of the Rann of Kutch and the Rann Utsav festival held in December/January.

On the hindsight, why doesn't India make it mandatory for all the students to serve in the army for a year or two before they can take up jobs? Wouldn't that bring about appreciation for soldiers, commitment to their jobs and nation, bring about discipline to their lives and turn the entitlement generation into responsible citizens capable of cleaning up their country and guarding them against corrupt Netas? Let’s realize we have duty to deliver towards this nation though we may not be on the front line.

Here is the link to the pics: https://picasaweb.google.com/108289564546757100555/KutchTripDec2012?authkey=Gv1sRgCLaQwqD6vtjAhwE

Kutch Rann Utsav 2012 - Part 1

When I saw Gujarat Tourism advt in the newspaper (around Navrathri) promoting the Rann of Kutch in the name of Rann Utsav, I was curious about a festival being held in the arid, dry and water thirsty area of a Gujarat, the right hip of India. Government which is famous for sub-standard and run down facilities, lack of punctuality and professionalism among their staff, and all the joot (not jazz) that comes with it got me a little worried, but still what is life without taking a risk? Will this festival at the hip of India be the hep?

Government runs the corporate way!

Getting more information online or calling up the local Gujarat Tourism office to book a tent was a breeze. The Courteous staff mailed across the receipt, sent instructions on when, where to report via email and a day before from the Bhuj office called my mobile enquiring about my arrival and reminding how and where to reach them at Bhuj. The registration desk had a senior member to guide, but the show was run by youth. Bags were tagged and tent number printed on the tags and the registration desk at Bhuj functioned with efficiency giving clear instructions. And the buses left for Dhordo on time putting our airports and airlines to shame.

Cleanliness and Connectivity a given at Dhordo

There were banners and welcome signs done with care and it decorated the dry region of Kutch in a pleasing and pleasant manner.  I never saw or felt a pothole jolting my spine during the 90 minute ride despite Dhordo being a remote area in Gujarat. Turning a piece of uncultivable, fallow land filled with cactus and thorny shrubs into a huge campground with 200 tents, connecting them with well lit paved roads, providing clean water, uninterrupted electricity, free  wifi and offering clean facilities and delicious dining halls serviced by polite and welcoming staff is no joke for a Government. And they have managed to put up an impressive show.

A Youth empowered festival

To watch youth dressed in a presentable way, welcome and introduce themselves and also asking you to get in touch with them for any queries made my neck go up like camels neck. Watching them manage the huge dining halls and the camps ground was sweetly surprising. When did Government facilities turn so youthful, clean, organized and responsible? May be that's how it is in the land of Na Mo.

Simple, safe yet comfortable and stylish

I was staying in B enclosure and a huge empty space in the middle was punctuated by tents on the periphery. At the middle of the camp there was provision for a campfire and a medium size tent for an evening gathering.

Every tent had an easy chair on the porch along with news papers in English and Hindi. You also had individual fire extinguishers outside each tent making a big safety statement upfront. As you entered the tent to the right you had a study table and two chairs, and to the right were two single beds. Cross ventilation bringing in adequate sunshine and oxygen, a pedestal fan for pushing out exhaled air and a printed card outlining safety Instructions to follow made it feel like safe place. Though basic, the toilet is clean, leak-free, stain-free and functional. The tents to me looked like an ashram and there was only room for need and not greed. A lay out map with you are here pin point was available at various places in the camp. Why don't we find such simple information in the city? And why Can we get such an accommodation in the city?

The Food

It is Rann Utsav while the arrangements almost resembled a convention and the food reminded me of a carnival. Huge AC dining halls opened at 7.30 am for breakfast, 12.30 noon for lunch and 7.30 pm for dinner. From Salad to desert the whole three course Gujarati cuisine was served with no compromise in quality or quantity. Gujarati thali is loaded with ghee and specially their desserts like Mohan Thal and dry fruit halwa dripping with ghee and lavishly garnished with dry fruits is a testimony to quality.

Something for Everyone

The Government of Gujarat had also organized a huge exhibition hall to showcase the beauty, history, art and crafts, livelihood of people of Kutch. An open amphitheatre also played videos in the evening promoting the history, festival and culture of Gujarat. There were also opportunities for people to buy the crafts made by local people and a food court to engage in some fresh fruits and snacks like Bhelpuri and Pav Bhaji. For those who like to stretch and exercise the tents contained an enclosure to practice yoga and a stargazing event for elderly and kids to stare at the night from 9 pm - 11 pm. And for the movie buffs there was a movie hall in the camp ground that played movies in the evenings.

Here is the link to the pics: https://picasaweb.google.com/108289564546757100555/KutchTripDec2012?authkey=Gv1sRgCLaQwqD6vtjAhwE

Urban Jungle

I flipped through “Habitat” the newly rebranded “Property Plus” on The Hindu last weekend and looked at apartments mushrooming in every suburb and outskirts of the city of Chennai. But then the 10 year experience of living in an apartment made me quickly abandon the newspaper in shock and shame.

Nostalgic beginning….

Like every other builder in the city, he too marketed the apartment by its location, green cover, power back-up and other facilities to all prospects. And on the first day, he called for an apartment meeting to massage individual egos, play the role of a social catalyst and get the owners to form an association and manage the day-to-day affairs. Towards the end, he told the residents that all the apartments would be owned Brahmins and induced a sense pride, prejudice and responsibility to live like a model community. Is the community tag and the similarities in culture, cuisine and festivals enough for people to live together with unity and unending happiness?

Every coin has 2 faces….

We have always lived in a joint family and this was our first experience living in an apartment type of arrangement. My mother always says that we will need an extra supply of patience and tolerance when living in a community sort of setup. Amma also says irrespective of whether you live in a joint family set-up or in a nuclear family within an apartment set-up, there is no escape from responsibility and participation until one is alive. Most of the occupants in our apartment are Vice Presidents holding responsible offices and the remaining enjoyed respectable positions in the society and we assumed patience, owning up responsibility and tolerance wouldn’t be an issue.

Social fabric gets weaved….

The new residents ushered New Year together, organized a community puja on Ganesh Chaturthi, the women strengthened the social fabric during the Navarathri festival and kids came home to get blessings from elders on their birthdays. People took interest in governance, they regularly attended apartment meetings and it almost looked like an ideal apartment and that our politicians should learn from here. And the Tamil saying, "aasai arupathu naal moham muppadhu naal" didn’t apply to us. Pride, expectation, faith, trust, and security was slowing building and isn't that how all relationships begun?

Seepage in the weave of the social fabric….

Ours was a self-managed apartment and in the first few years the yearly elections for office bearers drew a lot of nominations, but as years rolled by nominations hardly came in and a portfolio was also dropped (social retrenchment) to keep the management group small and tight and quicker to make decisions.

As the concrete was exposed to a few summers and winters, cracks appeared, leaks began and the exterior paint began to turn a shade paler. On the inside, alliances and cliques started to form slowing eroding faith, trust, and respect. The Vice Presidents of the corporate world started to skip meetings and abstained from participating in the governance and started to fuel bickering and back-biting instead. As a result of this social withering the property began showing signs of neglect.

A few responsible retired souls continued to remain in the managing committee and contributed to the welfare of the community, but many others were enjoying the benefits from the toils of these genuine and sincere care-takers. The other disinterested ones were on a smooth palanquin ride with these real care-takers doing their job well. And those managing year after year were growing tired and restless. Soon the New Year party came to end, the stained glass image of Ganesha on the façade of the building and the yearly Chaturthi puja was also abandoned. People easily forget that that the social fabric that was once strong and new weathers and thins and is not strong enough to cover the nakedness of people’s egos and self-centeredness. Virtues such as patience, honesty, participation, tolerance and forgiveness that were supposed to be a part of the Brahmin community went non-existent.

Kashmir and its militants….

Some owners violated CMDA norms and converted their open areas into closed rooms. A few others began using common resources for their personal use; some tried to claim rights over common rooms, there were also rumors of money being misappropriated by one of the treasurer. In fact now, there is also a disputed area in the apartment which I sarcastically refer to as our "Kashmir". The builder says it belongs to him and the original land owners, while the apartment owners legally claim it to be theirs based on the achieved FSI. And people with respected social standing kept silent and a mini Mahabharata was brewing. Lawyers were consulted, but nobody took the initiative to settle it inside or outside Court. The environment within and politics in the apartment pretty much mirrored what happened in our political system.

The door closing ceremony….

What looked like a model apartment few years ago was slowly replaced with power struggle and animosity. Smiles replaced with stress, faith replaced with doubt and pride with prejudice and malice. Owners frequently engaged in a war of words amongst themselves and sometimes with tenants. One needn’t have to travel to Wagah near Amritsar to watch the gate closing ceremony. Neighbors on the same floor closed doors on each other face many times a day with equal force and animosity but did it with much aplomb.

The grain exposed....

The apartment culture has accelerated as a result of people unwilling to stay in joint families, tolerate the egos of their in-laws and exercise patience and forgiveness. Questions like why should I contribute and why should I accommodate and adjust was asked to break the fabric of joint family and claim their freedom and pick-up the apartment keys.

The apartment living has exposed our human frailties and proved that we are unfit to live in a community arrangement ever! It is also proof that people with similar value systems get along better than people from the same language, community, culture or cuisine. Today the vegetarian stench in my apartment residents attitude smells worse than the frying of fish or mutton and is reflective of why our country has degenerated to the way it is.

Too little and too late seems to be the diagnosis….

We’ve recently found a property management firm and outsourced the entire job, but still the property needs supervision and attention from the owners. Apart from the exterior badly needing a fresh coat of paint, the years of built trust has been eroded, exposed integrity and intentions need a fix. Will outsourcing agency take care of it?

Today everyone in on their guard and finds it difficult to even exchange pleasantries and courtesies, let alone establish eye contact and exchange warm smiles. And some are even thinking of selling off or renting their property and moving out.

Kids who moved in with their parents 10 years ago are now young adults and how can we expect them to be responsible when their parents are not standing examples. Remember the recent commercial from The Hindu – Behave India, the youth is watching. Watch it one more time.

So where does one go when we don't get along with relatives and neighbors and when we cannot participate and contribute to the society we live in? Where is tomorrow's society headed? Is this why they aptly termed cities filled with apartment blocks as urban jungles? I wonder…

Move around, if not I will Move on!

I received a mailer from KPN (Kovai Pazhamudir Nilayam, a local produce store) on my Facebook page educating me on the nutritional value in bananas/strawberries and pushing their imported strawberries and their hybrid bananas. Despite food companies making nutrition based marketing, are we making healthy food choices? That triggered a barrage of questions in my head and led me to think about the purpose of eating, evolution of our eating behavior and choice of foods we buy and we are made to buy. The entire thought journey was a mix of ponder and wonder.

Our ancestors were hunters and gatherers and ate to satiate hunger and didn’t bother about vitamins or vitality. After fire was invented, not sure if cooking was an accident or an experiment, but nevertheless with abundant time in their hands human mind and palette started to experiment and evolve. As we learnt the art of storing food to minimize the seasonality and the art of food processing we improved their shelf-life and usability. The purpose of eating has also evolved as we changed roles and as science developed. From produce that grows below the ground to shrubs to trees tops, and deep in the ocean man has looked around everywhere to seek vitality and to build immunity against common diseases and ailments.

In the last century Science and research has been busyfinding clues and cues on how food can be used/modified to combat diseases like cancer, diabetes, etc. keep us healthy and extend our longevity. We read articles that promote antioxidant rich Blue berries, Potassium rich Bananas, electrolyte rich Coconut water, Vit A rich Carrots, Vitamin E rich oil extracted from Cod fish Liver, and as a result an average human is much more aware of nutritional value in foods and what choices to make, yet they make the same mistakes across China, Calcutta, Cairo, California, Canberra, and Cancun. They’ve also helped diabetics and weight watchers continue to enjoy their sweets we’ve even discovered “sugar free” and “fat-free” substitutes, but we’ve failed to get people to exercise.

Diabetes and Coronary Heart Disease has taken over the world and is a testimony to wrong food choices we make and the lifestyles we live. Though food packets come with calorie information, but hasn’t deterred the population from consuming in moderation. May be we must start to include Statutory Warning like that on Cigarette packets on our food products? Not sure if statutory warning will have any effect at all.

From eating to satiate hunger, today many of us eat for a variety of reasons from entertainment, social bonding, beat stress, while food companies are constantly trying to help us turn into intelligent eaters by feeding us with nutritional facts to develop immunity to fight diseases and increase our longevity. Today many of us are in desk jobs and lead a sedentary lifestyle, thanks for those big screen televisions, computers, sedentary lifestyles. We have our food home delivered and we order our flavored popcorns and high fructose corn syrup based sodas while we order our movie tickets online. and lead a sedentary lifestyle to compound the situation. Our eating habits have definitely become more complex, and unintelligent.

We also live in an era where we looks for quiz fixes be it health or otherwise. We are ready to throw money at people rather invest time in keeping us fit and healthy. More than 50% of those who pay for gym memberships at the begining of the year as a part of their New Year resolution dont make it to the second week. Every city has a dozen hospitals that offer bariatric surgery and liposuction procedures and every street has a weight watchers clinic, and gyms yet we make wrong choices. Doctors compete with their patients on the scale of obesity and unhealthy diet and living. And sadly many doctors are consumers of medicines they prescribe! Increasingly lack of exercise and food is becoming a threat to mankind.

Despite the howl and scowl by environmentalists, change in weather patterns and drought has not decreased our food production, and nothing seem to have an impact obesity. From food being a part of our life has now become epicenter of our lives. Today we find more crowd in the food courts at Malls than at gyms and play grounds. And today festivals like Diwali, Eid and Christmas have been purely driven by consumerism - shopping and eating more than philanthropy and sharing. Moderation seems to be a forgotten word! Shopping that was once an exercise is now soon becoming an online experience and exercise adding to our sedentary lifestyle.

By the time I finished typing this message, I receive an email from our HR informing about the demise of our colleague. The e-mail said he suffered a heart attack and asked us to observe a two minute silence. What is the use of observing silence when another soul has departed? Remember it is a crime to keep silent when you colleague, friend or a family member makes wrong food choices and lives practices unhealthy lifestyle. Think what you can do to help our circle of friends and family understand the purpose of eating, the importance of healthy food choice and moderation.

1. Start meeting friends and family for walks, swims and cycling rather than coffee, meals and ice-creams

2. Ration what you buy/consume and also buy the right food – stop using food like a suicide pill

3. Restructure our life around physical activity than food. Don’t ask what you going to eat, ask how you going to exercise today

4. Start BMI and waist-size based friendships - Big hearts are okay not big bodies!

5. If you can’t turn your friends/family from living healthy, severe ties with them – Move around, if not I will move on!

6. Also stop visiting our unhealthy friends/relatives when they get hospitalized

Until mother earth loses her fertility the race to consumerism will not end. And when she loses, we may have food wars and we may also go back to our hunting skills (animals and humans) and go back on the evolution chain. For now, lets us start our campaign and cult around living healthy and propagating a healthy lifestyle. It is not a marketing war, but a health war!

A Pi(e) in the Circle of Life

I sat down for prayer this morning; a daily routine for I don’t know how many years, and images of Piscine, his father and his faithful companion Richard Parker hadn’t left my mindscreen even 10 hours later. Despite the Copyright Violation Warning at the beginning of the movie to not capture still images or video shots of the movie, my senses had surreptitiously captured and brought home visual imagery and dialogues from the thrilling ocean ride with Piscine. The simple characters, powerful and poignant messages debating and deliberating secrets of nature and faith left me bewildered.

The Plot - A tale of faith

The plot is a simple struggle with faith in the middle of the ocean. The struggle with faith can happen anywhere land, air, water and to anyone between partners, within the family, between father and son or between man and nature.  The latitude and longitudes of struggle in this story is the Pacific Ocean and the characters were a zookeeper, his family and his animals.

Isn’t buoyancy more a science than faith?  Did their faith in science sink them? We don’t know, but we know the boy who had drank the holy water from the Church, prayed on a mat in the direction of Mecca and touched the feet of Vishnu before going to bed survives a ship wreck and leaves the rest to imagination and interpretation of the audience.

The Journey

A Japanese cargo liner filled with exotic animals of all kinds headed towards a new home for all capsizes in the middle of the ocean while encountering a thunderstorm. Piscine and a few animals find themselves on a boat, but have no clue where they are headed and what happened to the rest. With survival being the objective the wild dog hunts the injured Zebra and then kills Orangutan named Orange juice. And finally Richard Parker, the tiger, settles the scores with the wild dog leaving him and Piscine the only survivors from the wreck.

On the journey towards the shore, Piscine and Richard Parker battle their deadliest enemies – unpredictable nature, rough waves and sea full of predators, and their own hunger and fear, while faith turned out to be their life jack. During the journey they try to understand each other, the world around them and also discover an exotic (exorcist) island with Drew cats and with flora that digest human protein leaving behind bones.

The 150 min journey of Pi

Bombay Jayashree’s voice on the title track and animals walking into your life as names rolled in, and colorful Pondicherry turns the movie hall seat into a BMW/Merc seat and makes it feels like a ride on comfy and breeze ECR.

Though the life journey of Pi is much longer, but for many in the movie hall the movie this 150 minute journey seemed long, tedious, testing, and protracted, if not for the visual effects and graphics the hall would be empty midway.

Piscine’s curiosity to understand nature and love for animals, his puppy love with Anandhi, his deep belief in universal faith, to keep a journal, and lack of time to even grieve over his family’s disappearance made the audience find a piece of Pi in them or a piece of them in Pi.

Not sure if it is a coincidence, but Mr. Sharma who acts as Piscine in the movie is in the first year study of Philosophy in college. His performance in the movie will definitely take him to places across and beyond oceans and home turf, but he must be now ready for any tempest journey.

My 3 complains in the almost perfect movie

1. A mother is like nature – there is so much nurturing, giving, caring, etc. to be exercised. The mother character in the movie failed to carry any individuality and was like a flotsam moving around. The character could have had more depth.
2. Not sure if Tabu was the right choice. Her acting was elementary compared to Mr. Suraj Sharma in the Piscine role. Tabu has used no dubbing in the movie and has spoken a paragraph of Tamil, which sounds no music to Tamil ears. Her pronunciation, accent and diction are horrible in an almost perfect movie.
3. Screen play in the first half could have been tighter and screen time used in a better way to sculpt the characters. It almost turned everyone in the theatre sea sick and check below their seats for a life jacket or sickness pill.

The final message - Life larger than a picture!

In the ocean of life, faith is a dingy to many, a paddle to some, a life jacket to few. The dingy can get full, the paddle can grow thin and tired and the life jacket can wear out, but it gets you ashore dead or alive. And we have the power of taming and turning animals (did I include humans too?) we encounter in us and in our lives. The movie leaves life to individual interpretation, while showing only the fittest and the most faithful survive.

If life is an exam, this book has to be read and this movie has to be watched! And for me the movie is a Sea hangover more than sea sickness.

Agam: Rock the Raga or Raga on the Rocks?

I came across a short Hamsanadam clipping by Agam, a self-proclaimed Progressive Carnatic Rock band, on the Hindu website while I was in San Jose in October. When I checked out The Hindu November Fest Website, I realized they were playing this year at the festival in Chennai. Though concept of Carnatic Rock sounded abstract to me, but to my friend, a music enthusiast, the concept of jamming Hamsanadham sounded very much novel, innovative and exquisite that he immediately hooked on the laptop to the flat screen television to give Agam a bigger canvas and platform in San Jose.

My search begins...

On my return to Chennai I started to keep closer tabs on the November Fest and specially Agam. I didn't know if I was coming out of the Carnatic closet and morphing into a curious one? And as days passed by I logged on The Hindu November fest registration site to see the reaction of Chennai audience to a contemporary progressive Carnatic Rock and also keep tabs on number of vacant seats.

Though walking away in the middle of the concert is not new to the Carnatic world (both Musicians and Rasikas), but for some reason I was reluctant to book my seat for the show. Years of listening turned me into a wise listener, and these days I only wanted to expose myself to music that I enjoy the most.

I searched Agam on pages of Wikipedia and also sifted through the video content on the You Tube. On my search, I came across their interpretation of Bantureethi, which I felt was a blasphemy and moved on to hear the song titled Brahma where they effortlessly ascended the raga scales of Valaji and Chakravaham with bringing in hues of Hindustani raga Jog. I also heard their version of Malhar played for Coke Studio and Sree Ragamo track and before sending out an email to some Carnatic Musicians and aficionados in Chennai.

It is an unwritten rule among the Chennai Carnatic Connoisseurs to exchange notes, share views and opinions on music and musicians – old, established, new and upcoming. And within a few hours one responded positive asking me to check out their version of the Dhanashree Thillana, a composition of Swati Thirunaal which was popularized by the Legend MS Subbalakshmi. I decided to savor the flavor from Malhar and Sree Ragam and keep Dhanashree piece for the live performance.

Will Agam satisfy the enormous appetite of Chennai audience who effortlessly savor a dozen Thodis’ and Bairavis’ almost every day in December and leave them hungry for more or poison, paralyze and shut their system down for nomore Carnatic Rock? Will it really be Rock the Raga or Raga on the Rocks? Will Agam find a permanent place in the agam of Chennaites? Come on let’s find out…

At the Venue

When I turned up at the venue I noticed popular Carnatic musicians dressed and decked down, while the Mylapore Mama and Mami mafia were clad in their regular concert attire - silk saree and jibba thronging the venue. And to my surprise I noticed many youngsters who I never saw at the Carnatic music Concerts. And not to my surprise, I noticed people standing along radially straight lines swarming the ticket examiner outsider the door. Somethings about Chennai never change!

Let us not forget that both this Metro and Carnatic Music has always been progressive. Muthuswami Dikshithar, one of the Trinity Composers from the 19 Century, was inspired by the British Band that played at Fort St. George and composed the noteswaras, which are still played at concerts. And Prasanna, a guitarist from Chennai also plays Carnatic music on the guitar.

Will the Mamas’ and Mamis’ of today love Dhanashree and Sree Ragam with their Champagne instead of Filter Coffee was yet to be seen. Will the Agam inspire Carnatic musicians to try something new on their concert platforms or will it leave them threatened or will it further push Carnatic musicians higher on the pedastal of superiority was to be seen today.

Agam’s journey begins….

To survive Chennai audience is the most difficult of all litmus test and all the more difficult when you call yourself Progressive Carnatic Rock! Agam kuliruma? To a full house at Music Academy, Agam, sharp at 7.30 pm embarked their litmus test with an invocation number on Ganesha and Brahma.

The vedic chant on Ganesha tuned in Valaji was followed up with a brief Thanam exposition and then quickly moved on to invoke the blessings of Brahma tuned in Chakravaham bringing along the hues of Jog, like the breeze carrying the fumes of clarified butter (ghee) from the neighborhood kitchen.

Names Shiva, Ganesh, Harish, Jagdish, Praveen, and Swami, didn’t sound too blasphemous for Carnatic Rock, and their long hair, studs, tattoos, holding guitars to their waist and violins to their shoulders and amalgamating Carnatic with Rock. The critic in me promptly opened my iPad to make copious notes for you.

Harish the lead singer of the band, undoubtedly had a powerful voice, was perfectly aligned to shruthi and importantly his vocal chords was able to travel effortlessly ascend the scales of the raga and also bring out the nuances along with appropriate gamakas. He surprised the audience when he heldup the violin and regurgitated the phrases which he vocally displayed and kick started the hunger in the audience. Jagdish and Praveen on the guitar left the audience mesmerized.

Chasing away the Swans of Saraswathi

After having invoked the blessings of Ganesha, Brahma and the audience, Agam moved on to perform the Hamsanadham piece that they titled as Swans of Saraswathi. Hamasanadam is a peppy raga and Bantureethi, a composition of krithi of Thyagaraja know very well to even a layman in Chennai was taken up. The Pallavi was followed with a garland of swarms reminding us of immortal composition of our Maestro Illayaraja Swaragamey yendralum.

The sedate Hamasanadam kriti was turned into a high-decibel jamming session burying the mood and meaning behind the lyric. Bantureethi was definitely a blasphemy, chasing away the Swans of Saraswathi. Is this Progressive Carnatic Rock?

Fury of drums bury the lyrical beauty

Be it a Carnatic concert or a Rock Concert, the principles of engaging with the audience and the co-artist on stage and the fundamentals of connecting with the audience through the song remains the same.

Both songs, Minnidum Ghanamey a Malayalam song tuned in Saramathi and Lakshya Paathai penned by Swami, the key boardist in the troupe had mellifluous melody and niaque infusing lyrics to savor. But sadly the over enthusiast drummer killed the lyrical beauty and mood in the melody numbers.

Many Carnatic percussionists also make the same mistake of trying to steal the thunder and moment with some high decibel playing, while the same thunder can be won with some prudent playing to accentuate the mood and lyric in the composition.

Falling flat on AR Rehman Compositions

A prudent music director like AR Rehman has appropriately used beats, chosen pauses, and has highlighted notes to evoke and accentuate the mood to create everlasting melodies. Taking AR Rehman’s pathos number Uyire Uyrie, slow number Vellai Pookal and peppy number like Dil Se and bringing in inappropriate high wattage beats failed win the applause of the audience. And sadly none of these songs had any classical flavor in it and Agam failed to reproduce the original mood or enhance it with their classical touch.

This brings us to the fundamental question, if loud beats are characteristics of a rock concert, what kind of songs should be played? Shouldn’t they stay away from melodies and warm and pensive poetry that gets lost in high decibel jamming?

Dhanashree, not new to Chennai even when sung at the middle

In the middle of the concert Agam played a popular Thillana in Dhanashree, a composition by Swati Thirunaal. OMG, now I know where one of our popular musicians picked up the quirk to start the concert with a Thillana and end with a Varnam. Didn’t I say at the beginning that Carnatic Music, Musicians and Chennai metro is progressive?

Can a projectile be shaped like a car? No!

Be it Singaravelaney Deva, an old melody by S. Janaki or Kannodu Kaanbathellam by Nithyasri Mahadevan, our Tamil Film music Directors have explore and embellished Dhanashree in a variety of formats with creativity and including complex swara patterns, instruments and beats. Agam could have come up with their version of Dhanashree with some exotic mélange of instruments, and accompanied by rhythmic swaras and beats rather than playing a Thillana with some deafening beats. They must not forget that Thillanas were composed for Dance and have been adopted in the Carnatic concert platform and will have to be adapted to fit in the Rock Concert platform rather than forcefully fitting it in. Shouldn’t we write songs to fit the context and platform rather than trying to give wings to cars and making them fly?

Chennai loves Darbar as much as it loves Dappankuthu

You must be wondering if I am on a trip to berate the band and pulverize their hard work into pieces, not at all. One must remember to aptly must choose the right platform, right audience and right composition to showcase their music. With the next set of songs, Agam was getting back on the track again.

The folk melody from Kerala with catchy jathi in Aarabhi and Durga got the audience engaged and involved with the band.

This was followed dappankuthi song Kadai Kaan Paarvayil written by Swami and tuned in Kapi with an interesting and infectious rhythm cycle built it in. A cup of Coffee after 5 pm keep me awake till late night, but this Kapi vanished from on my mind the moment I exited the hall. And at the peak of it the drummer broke into a thaniavarthanam. And for the first time the Chennai audience didn’t walk out during the thaniavarthanam. May be it is time our Carnatic musicians learn a trick or two from here?

With many popular Carnatic musicians surrounding themselves with reams of paper on the dais, it was a welcome to see Harish, the lead vocalist in the band sing without the need to constantly peep at the lyrics. Is the band well rehearsed and prepared or is it they have a limited repertoire? But nevertheless they had some best practices that Carnatic musicians can take home.

Moving towards the final half hour of the concert, the band unleashed some solid metal rock, followed by Aaromale.

As the penultimate piece they played the song Dum Damaru Bhaje invoking Rudra with some high-wattage beats and chants. Harish shaking his long hair enhanced the mood of the song.

Chennai knows traffic and Kissan jam, but how about Malhar Jam?

Chennai lips that are used to uttering Sabash to soulful Shanmukhapriya and Bale to a brilliant thani, were taught when to say Wah and Irshad by Agam. As the last piece Agam played the Malhar jam, a piece that they played on the Coke Studio. And recited a few lines from Hariharan’s gazhal and the Chennai crowd punctuated their lines of poetry with Wah and Irshad at the appropriate moment and encouraging Agam to ended the concert with some beats that we hear on the way to Krishnampettai.

And the Verdict

A hall that usually resonates with sedate Tampura Shruti that evening reverberated with strum from three guitars, rhythm from an array of drums and powerful vocals. That evening Chennaites overwhelmingly approved Agam and expressed their taste for Filter Coffee flavored with Chicory and Kahlua.

As I exited the hall I came across few Carnatic musicians with whom I exchanges notes and opinions. They didn’t feel threatened, but rather overwhelmed to see youth in the concert halls, and happy with Agam’s attempt. They also brought out the need for lyricists to pen down songs for Carnatic Rock rather than move Carnatic compositions directly to fit their format. One of them was even anxious to hear Mukhari and Bairavi on rock and ready to ask Agam to rest the Jog and Arabhi. By the time I hit the Agam stall to grab a CD for my friend in SFO, it was all sold out. The stall manager asked me to check http://flipkart.com to buy the CD or download tracks.

The purist in me was not too impressed with their song selection, noise levels, but that night I was impressed with their talent, on-stage presence, how they got the audience involved, how they’ve worked hard to come this far. It was beyond doubt or deliberation that Agam was a big hit with Chennai audience and I am sure will come back for the next edition after more homework, expanding their repertoire of songs, and draw more youth into music halls.

Here is the review from The Hindu - http://www.thehindu.com/arts/music/agam-scores-an-a/article4115421.ece

Mylapore Mamis’ get their Vitamin G from Timepass

Not sure if fission reaction will fire the nuclear reactors at Koodankulam and end the power crisis in Tamil Nadu, but daughters-in-law have fired their reactors and turned most family set-ups into nuclear homes in Mylapore, Adyar, West Mambalam, and Nanganallur and causing a gossip crisis across Tamil Nadu.

Spotting Mamis’ with ample free time and deficient in Vitamin G (from nuclear living conditions), Ananda Vikatan, a leading weekly magazine in Tamil Nadu has brought in a new publication, Timepass. “Timepass will be an 'out-and-out' entertainment title aimed at young at heart, irreverent readers, says Ananda Vikatan Publication in their press release.

Ananda Vikatan used to be famous for political satire, but today with Timepass they have moved into supplying gossips across political, movie and other celebrity circles to the Mami circle at 4G speed. “Priced at Rs. 5, cheaper than a cup of tea (a steal deal), Timepass provides a good source of Vitamin G,” says a malnourished Mamis’. I caught another Mami say, “Timepass veetila irundha Dengue kosuvey varathu” and intelligently marketing Timepass to their clan. Now Mami’s can feel younger at heart, nourished in their brains and flippant as ever.

Ananda Vikatan has also tactfully removed their mascot (the the figure of a frail, bespectacled, bald, laughing man) from this magazine. I am waiting to catch my Father stealthily read Timepass when my mother is away at the temple. May be it is time Ananda Vikatan should introduce a Mami mascot, if not a motta paati on their Timepass publication?

And now every Mami is giving away a Time Pass magazine along with vethalapakku and kumkum. OMG, I couldn’t fathom my mother giving it away to my neighbor and asking her to include that as a part of her healthy diet. Be it for the mother, father or the son, sometimes life is all about Timepass! So get your copy and equip your household (especially your wife) with Vitamin G!

Lesser known facts about the Thanjavur Brihadeeshwara Temple

I have asked myself the same question - Why is Thanjavur known as the seat of Art, Music and Culture of South India and greatness of Chola dynasty? I found some answers to my question at a lecture by Dr. Chitra Madhavan on Thanjavur Temples.

1. Thanjavur Brihadeeshwara temple is a Royal temple - a temple named after the King qualifies for the royal status -Rajarajeshwaram is the original name of the temple. The temple was built in 1010 AD and a few years back it celebrated 1000 years of existence.

First Gopuram is named Keralanthaka Thiruvaasal - rajaraja was the first king to capture the Chera kingdom. Second Gopuram is named Rajarajeshwaram.

2. The main vimanam is not made of a single stone and the shadow falls on the ground against the popular fallacy that it is a monolith and the shadow doesn't fall anywhere. During Rajaraja’s time the vimanam was covered with gold sheets. Muslim invaders plundered the temple wealth did some damage to the structure before the vimanam.

3. Rajaraja built the two Gopurams, the huge vimanam, Brihadeeshwara and a Nandi in the Nandi mandapam

4. Marathas added another small entrance to the temple along with 108 shivalingas in the outer prakara.

5. Brihanayaki was added to the temple by the Pandyas, Subramanya added by nayakas and Ganesha and huge Nandi that we see were also added by the Nayaka Kings.

6. Temple contains sculptures of Shiva in 108 karanas in the order specified in Bharata's Natyasashtra. Only temple in the world to have these sculptures after the ones in Indonesia.

7. Tripuranthaka sculptures (Shiva with a bow and quiver full of arrows) is depicted on the entire second tier of the vimanam.

8. Though they call this temple an architecture marvel, there is mismatch of the size of many idols to the size of its opening. As a result of mismatch, some of the idols are only partially visible.

9.  The temple was only partially complete at the time of Rajaraja and the subsequent rulers of Thanjavur added structures to the temple. Though the temple was only partially complete, Makuta agama followed at this temple, one of the 28 types of Saiva Agama, provides an expection to do pooja, thereby  making it a functional temple.

10. At a time when the the hymns of Appar, Sundarar, Maanikavasagar were almost lost,   Rajaraja brought them from a locked room at Chidambaram temple, set them to tune and made it a part of the Oodhuvaar tradition at Shiva temples.

11. 400 devadasis were moved from other Chola temples and lived in the four streets surrounding the temple. Their names, remuneration, etc are contained in the inscriptions on the outer wall.

Click here to hear the audio from her lecture.

Here is another lecture by Dr. Chitra Madhavan on temple architecture of India - http://vimeo.com/17671788. She covers some features about Thanjavur temples in this lecture. She reminds me of my history teacher from school. Wish she can record some vidoes for our school children.

Here is the ASI Site on Brihadeeshwara, Gangaikondachozhapuram and Dharasuram Chola Temples - http://asi.nic.in/asi_monu_whs_cholabt.asp 

The lecture was followed by a concert by Dr. Vijayalakshmy Subramaniam as a part of her Kshetra Sangeetham series. Click here to access information on temples covered earlier in the series.

1. Varnam - Naataikurunji - Ponniah pillai - Brihadeeshwara

2. Pamara Jana Paalini - Simendramadhyamam - Muthuswami Dikshithar - Brihannayaki

3. Brihadeeshwara Mahadeva - Kaanada- DR. M Balamuralikrishna

4. Thirumangai Azhwar Paasuram - Ratipriya

Maararatipriyam - Ratipriyam - Muthuswami Dikshithar

5. Amba Neelambari - Neelambari - Ponniah pillai - Brihannayaki

6. Prasanna Venkateshwaram - Vasanthabairavi - Muthuswami Dikshithar

7. Varali - Bangaru Kamakshi - Shyama Shastri

8. Dani Bodhana - Surutti- Javali - Thanjavur Quartet - Brihadeeshwara

9. Anjana Vel Vizhi - Thirupugazh - Kaapi

10. Thillana -Sankarabharanam - Thanjavur quartet - Brihadeeshwara

11. Karunajoodu - Sri- Shyama Shastri

Please email me if you need a copy of the concert rendition.

From Hurricane Sandy to Cyclone Nilam

I was still groggy and tired from the Halloween party on Saturday night, while the East coast of the US was getting ready for Sandy. Since I was flying out of the West Coast of the US I really didn’t bother tracking Sandy. But as soon I spoke to my friends Uma and Stephanie on the East coast, I realized its impact, though both of them sounded prepared more than anxious.

On the Dubai Chennai sector of my flight from SFO, a septuagenarian Adyar Mami sat beside me and revealed about the low pressure in the Bay of Bengal. I didn’t experience any turbulence on hearing her, since low pressure and cyclones are common part of the October and November weather in Chennai. When I asked her about the source of the information, she said she had spoken to her brother in Adyar before she boarded the flight in Seattle. And just before the descent, the Pilot came on the PA system and briefed about the weather in Chennai. He said the temperature was 27 deg C, rain-free landing in Chennai, but he said there was a low pressure sitting South of Chennai.

I reached home I pinged my friend Stephanie in NJ to check on Sandy’s tantrums. She said while at Walmart that evening, lights flickered and that she was expecting power to go off any moment. She said she was conserving her cell phone batteries for emergency, so I decided not to call her. Within the next 30 mins, must be 5 am in the morning, it started to pour cats and dogs and it turned windy in Chennai. Nilam was making her presence felt, while every news channel in Tamilnadu was tracking her coordinates. I knew I had escaped Sandy, but had to endure Nilam. There is no escape from nature especially when she does her cleaning act. Hardly 10 months after Thane in December 2011, it felt like nature was playing a cruel halloween joke on us here in India and in the East coast of US.

The day before, Mom had made a trip to the nearby supermarket and filled the refrigerator with fruits and veggies. We have enough candles to hold a vigil and Duracell batteries to power our apartment. I stayed home watching CNN and reading NY Times, Providence Journal and Washington Post tracking the impact of power outage, flooding and death from the hurricane. While local channels were showing visuals from Nilam making landfall. Wind started to pick up speed and very soon it almost felt like a howl. I was petrified to stay in my second floor apartment watching trees ominously sway. Nilam had possessed the green cover in the city. Not able to tolerate the howling wind, I closed all the windows in the apartment. Electricity was turned off for 5 hours while the cyclone made landfall.

Here is a short video taken from my terrace:

  

The morning after – People were back and faith was back!

I woke up at 4.30 am, eight hours after Nilam crossed Chennai. There was an unusual calmness - the sky was still cloudy, but it didn’t shed a drop of rain, and the trees remained stand still. I heard the Aavin milk van honk, I knew I didn’t have to worry about my morning coffee.

I decided to take a long walk along Luz Church Road, St. Mary’s Road, Dr. Rangachari Road and CP Ramaswamy Road to access the damage and check on the normalcy of life.

As I passed the Varasiddhi Vinayakar temple on Luz Church Road, I heard MS Subbalakshmi singing Suprabatham and the flower and coconut vendor opening up their shops. On St. Mary’s Road people had gathered for their morning prayer at the Church. Faith was back!

The usually busy Nageswara Park wore a deserted look and appeared like Ashokavanam post Hanuman’s visit. Many old trees had fallen making way for young ones to grow bigger and stronger. Green leaves were strewn everywhere and broken tree limbs precariously hanging from the tree. But that didn’t deter dogs from taking a poop-walk and mamas from taking a health-walk.

The servant maids were returning back to work, while some where already cleaning the leafy mess outside the house and decorating the entrance with a simple Rangoli and welcoming another day.

At 6 am Corporation workers rolled in their handcarts and were getting ready for another busy day. I also saw busy newspaper boys pedaling across Dr. Rangachari Road, while a few mamas standing in their balcony holding freshly brewed filter coffee and impatiently waiting for the newspaper.

At 6.30 am on CP Ramaswamy Road I saw engineering students and those who were employed at the Sri Perumbudur Manufacturing facility (Ford, Hyundai, etc.) waiting for their busses.

I got back home from my walk and turned on CNN to get an update on the clean-up after Sandy’s visit to the East Coast. As I got ready to send a message to my friend Stephanie, I received a message from her brother in-law that she was safe but was without power. I called a few of my friends in Rhode Island, NYC and NJ, some answered their phones and confirmed their safety. Some were happy that they didn’t lose power, while some said they were busy picking up the broken tree limbs in their yards. Nature has it way of showing its emotions and people had their own way of coping up with the fury. Every nation gets its Sandy equivalent. Life is slowly returning back to normal in both cities and this will always be a memorable Halloween.