Escape your papa in life with Punya

Sometimes all it takes is a few strings and chords to calm your thought packed mind and when it happens your eyes into a lotus pond. The first track in Punya Srinivas’s latest album Veena in Vienna is enough to set all our entangled soul free. Is it melancholy, is it rock, is it melody or is it a medley? What is it in Track 1?

Here is my strum by strum, beat by beat, and finally second by second review for the song.

At 0 min – track starts with a melodic hum of Kurunji (both a raga and 1 of 4 types of landscape mentioned in Sangam Literature) and few chords in the back supporting the open voice

At 1.04 - now the beat and cymbals transports you on another landscape

At 1.27 – the African chants makes the world of music wild and wholesome

At 1.40 – for the first time you get to hear the strum of the first string in her Veena and every passing second she ascends the frets with fluidity and without letting your fret

At 2.14 – the tune swivels and swirls in your head leaves you in a state of inebriety

At 2.50 – Punya moves to the second string and takes you the wonderful inward journey that mutes your present and the world around you and if you in a seated position then your hips move from left to right like a pendulum. Even elephants can dance on hearing this music!

At 3.00 – she holds back the second string and lets the vibration the travel fret without moving her fingers and delivers a big blow with her melody and knocks you down

At 3.14 – she then finally comes back to string one and helps you ascend the steps of heaven

At 3.26 – with full safety gear she lets your heart do a free-fall into Saramathi

At 4.10 – the sound of pause, congos, cymbals a brief silence rattle the BOSE in you

At 4.17 – she plays the 3^rd string in the Veena, very rarely used, and leaves you lost in the valley and with a volley of fresh music. The third string is also made of an alloy and this fusion all comes together on that string.

At 4.25 – She comes back to string 1 and slowly travels beyond the upper Shadjam and let you escape gravity

At 4.40 – She plucks  string 2, pulls it back to generate the sound of upper note on the lower note effortlessly. Then she does acrobatics on the string making your eyes close, your chin up stay up and jaws open.
At 4.56 – the cricket noise in the background makes you long for an endless night

At 5.06 – She almost touches and trespasses raga Saramathi leaving on your knees and eyes flooded with tears – divine and dulcet

At 5.17 - She comes back with a vengeance to string 3 and does her rock star kind of a strum and her Veena suddenly turns into a guitar

At 5.30 – She is comfortable walking alone the tight strings of 2 and 3 making life look like child’s play

At 6.14 – She strums the thala strings and the voice brings you back to the earth – almost a rebirth moment!

At 7.28 – by then you are ready to put this on repeat play mode and start your endless affair with her

This Saraswati on the Veena packs the tune of creation and recreation in this one track and lets you enjoy and escape life and enslave you at the end. I am just caught in her strings, to be clear, Punya Srinivas’s veena strings! Every time she moves from the strings on the front to the ones on the back and as she ascends the notes, I am being transported to worlds that I have never visited before, making it exciting and enthralling. Some moments are intentionally slow and at times silent like the old black and white movie, but then the sudden shift to the strings on the front and keeps the present relevant, fast and flowing. This is an easy escape route from your papas (sins) in life, so get hold of this Punya!

Glossary: Papa- sins, Punya- meritorious deeds

The Pearl in Mahabaratha

Some books and some movies can hold timeless wisdom for every stage of life and for me and many others and one such book is Mahabaratha and one such movie is “Karnan”. The last time I watched the movie was probably when I was in my early teens on Doordarshan. What fascinated me the most then was the way how a war was orchestrated and how arrows were fired back and forth more than the war of words between kith and kin and the games played by Krishna. Twenty years later at a different stage in my life, what was a watermark “essence of friendship, life and living” then now appeared in focus.

We live in an era where we celebrate a day for every relationships (Father’s day, Mother’s day, women’s day, Friendship day, etc.), we take pride in boosting our friendship counter on FACEBOOK and followers on TWITTER, but in real-life how many of us have a Karna or a Duryodhana besides us? Have we have diluted role of friendship or desecrated the grammar of friendship?

Birth of friendship

Call it discrimination or protection of varnashrama system, in those days’ ones profession was based on the traditional profession in the family and without knowing ones parents it was difficult for one to get accepted into a profession or switch. Doesn’t it look like Michael Porter’s Five Forces Model in Business Management and so Bollywoodish?

Karna was Kunti’s son fathered by Surya (god of light who dispels darkness), but the entire world was kept in dark about his lineage. Though Karna was naturally blessed with talents to excel in archery and using armory and weaponry for combat and warfare, people like Kripacharya and Dronacharya questioned his caste and birth and refused to allow him to compete with Arjuna and rest of the Pandavas. Only a Kshatriya can compete with the Kshatriya was put forward for an argument.

Engaging in competitions and warfare to prove ones might is Kshatriya dharma and disqualifying a naturally innate and adept warrior was Karna’s sore point. How could he ignore the Kshatriya instinct in him? Watching the Lion in Karna wiggle like a worm from the insult, Duryodhana from the Kaurava’s side came to his rescue. Though he didn’t solve Karna’s identity crisis, but he bequeathed him with a kingdom and made him eligible to compete with Arjuna in front of the same audience where he was insulted and rejected.

Karna shared no relationship with his biological mother, who gave him away at birth, and he neither had any brothers from his foster parents to enjoy their warm and love. His relationship with Duryodhana was the only relationship Karna could count on apart from his foster parents. Duryodhana made him a King, helped me get married and stayed besides him all through Karna’s prime years. The spirit of Kshatriya in Karna was identified, respected, restored, and honored by Duryodhana. While the same Duryodhana was not willing give away even five houses to Pandavas after they lost in the game of dice. And Karna reciprocated with gratitude when he had to go to the field to fight against Pandavas and he even took his only son to fight for Kauravas. What an ode to friendship!

Ploy of Krishna

Krishna was very much aware of Karna strengths and Pandavas and Krishna would stand no match and a chance to victory if they were to engage in a fight.

He starts the ploy by sending Indra to seek Karna’s kavacham (vest) and Kundalam (ear drops) which had the power to make him invincible.

Then he send a bee to sting Karna while he is with Parasurama (to learn the finer aspects of archery), thereby exposing Karna’s kshatriya lineage (given by Duryodhana) and begetting Parasurama’s curse.

At a later point he reminds Kunti of her first son and convinces her to go and see Karna and seek two boons to save her other five sons.

On the war field, he breached the “rules of combat” by asking Arjuna to kill Karna’s child on the pretext of protecting dharma. May be Krishna was jealous to see Karna’s deep vein gratitude towards a friend? What is wrong in showing your gratitude to your friend who has given you a life that a mother and five brothers couldn’t give you? Didn’t Krishna bequeath wealth on his childhood friend Kuchela?

He breached it the second time by asking Arjuna to use the moment and get Karna when he had turned his back and was trying to get the chariot wheel from the pit. Krishna knew Arjuna and he could not stand Karna’s might and fury otherwise.

And finally a few minutes before Karna’s demise, he appears as an old man and seeking all of Karna’s punya. What a sucker!

Karna the pearl!

An oyster mothers a pearl, but never claims ownership and such is the tale of Karna. From a mother who gave him away on the day of birth and let him face slew of insults all his life from Pandavas, Kripacharya, Droncharya and his father-in-law, Karna didn’t let anyone take away the qualities of a noble soul. What could be more admired than sacrificing your son’s life as a mark as gratitude towards Duryodhana. He was the most betrayed character in Mahabaratha yet he remained a pearl in the epic.

Karna knew everything that was happening around him. Infact his guru Parashurama appeared in his dream and told him about the defeat of Kauravas and his curse, but nevertheless Karna stood by his friend, Duryodhana.

Karna never used any dishonest means to win the war like Krishna or Arjuna. During his battle with Arjuna, when a blow from one of Karna's arrows  renderes Arjuna unconscious, the cobra king Ashwasen creeps out of hiding from Karna's chariot and asks Karna if he may use his poison against Arjuna, because Arjuna had burnt his forest to the ground. Karna refused. He said he will not use a snake against any human, because it would be treachery towards humanity.

Should we live like Karna or should we die like Karna can be a very interesting debate.

He gave away everything that could make him invincible from his vest, kundalam, boons to his mother, and finally in his death bed even gave away his punya from earlier births, but held on to his friendship with Duryodhana.

He was never worried about death and puts his chest out readies to face the judgment, while almighty Krishna felt ashamed and comes around to seek forgiveness for his deeds. Karna gave all his life and in the end he forgives almighty for his deeds. Even Dharma devata tears to see her son, Karna collapse. That is the power of dharma, even god is not excluded. What an honor at death!

If not a birth like him, a life and death like him would be the greatest boon.

Kapalieshwar Temple gearing up for Annual festivities

Kapalieshwar temple is gearing up for its annual panguni festival. The outer praharam is getting covered with coconut fronds and tin sheets and the vahanas (palanquins) are getting cleaned for the festivities.

Here are important dates for your calendar
Mar 28 - 6 am- Flag hoisting
Mar 30 - 6 am - Adikaara Nandhi
Apr 1 - 10.30 am - Rishaba Vahanam
Apr 3 - 7.30 am - Ther (Car Festival)
Apr 4 - 3 pm - Arubathumoovar procession (63 Nayanmars)
Apr 6 - 8.30 pm - Thirukalyanam  (Shiva Parvathi Wedding)

Here are some pictures.

Simha Vahanam (Lion Palanquin)

Fishes fighting for rice crispies in the tank

Cowu cowu...holy cowu...

View from Inside the temple

Rajagopuram @ Kapali Temple

The Shadow man

Alter ego and altered ego

Before the scorching summer made its way into the city (read as Chennai), I made it back. It has been four weeks since I moved to Chennai and I feel really happy to be back in the city that I dearly call my home. One of the perks of moving back home is that I get home cooked nutritious meal for lunch.

My office is on IT Highway (OMR- Old Mahabalipuram Road) and at this place called Thoraipakkam. From being a battered IT park to being a Battery park today, OMR has come a long way. Suburban trains to share autos to air-conditioned Volvo busses and from Kanakambaram to Victoria Secret everything is available on this side of the city.

I was still new on the IT highway so I decided to drive the first day to work and find out about nearest the rail station, bus station and best time to leave work to avoid traffic. It took me an hour to reach work in the morning and it took me 90 minutes to reach home that evening. With summer around the corner commute will soon get from being a pilgrimage to sweatgrimage. But nevertheless home is home!

Alter ego!

The next morning I was at Mandaveli train station at 8.30 am and the crowd was nothing compared to what you see in Mumbai suburban train stations. But nevertheless people were impatient and formed a circular queue around ticketing kiosk (I call it the Standard Indian Procedure). I let the guy go ahead of me, but I put my hand on his shoulder and asked him to wait for a second.

I said, “I think I know you from before.” I tendered the exact change the clerk behind the desk pushed my two-way ticket through little crevice like an automated machine. He froze in awe, while he patiently waited the sweat came trickling down his forehead.

I said to the guy, “Come let me tell you an interesting story on the way to the platform.” I have a twin brother and he was bully right from the very moment we came to life. He used eat all my food and breath all oxygen and watched me turn blue and hungry. He even used to kick me and give me no space to sleep comfortably in my mother’s tummy. And finally he even managed to journey ahead of me through the birth canal.”

The guy looked surprised hearing my Kahaani, but the delayed train gave me all the chance to make this story longer and scarier. I absorbed his emotions and started again, “But you know, my twin still continues to be a bully. He looks exactly like me, bald, but very cold and bold and he earns me a bad name all the time. Once he even slapped the auto driver for overcharging and kicked a man for jumping the queue. So watch out for him and don’t jump the queue. If you jump the queue next time and get whacked from behind, remember, it is not me but him.”

There were no kirtan singing groups in the train to do the background score for my story. The guy turned blue and flew towards the end of the platform when the train touched down Thiruvaanmiyur. Before he vanished I said “I am a nice guy, but watch out for my twin-brother (this sounded like twin-tower to him)”. Not sure if it is the elevated train, but this experience gave me a high from creating my alter-ego and altering my ego.

Altered ego!
As soon as one exits Thirvanmiyur train station what hits you is not the mega Tidel Park, but the movement of people towards the IT Park. Nobody seems to care about traffic rules and signals and the crossing of the road looks very similar to herd movement in Masai Mara. It is a sight to watch a wall of IT people suddenly move towards the median making every motorist on the road merciless hit on their breaks while traffic cops helplessly watching their movement. None can come between them and their IT dreams!

The next journey on the amazing race to work is the commute by share auto. I have never before in my life shared an auto ride with strangers. It is exciting to get new co-passengers for every ride.

The two tier seating arrangement in the auto almost resembled the steps to the river bed and traffic outside was flowing to the brim. With 8 people cramming on the rear seats, it looks like a horizontally moving elevator. And sometimes one gets ride with down to earth men on women who bring in our daily lessons.

That morning the share auto drive was very soon to become a care auto drive. Within minutes after crossing the toll gate, the girl besides me spotted an old man faint on the highway. She screamed at the auto driver to stop and pulled out the water bottle from her bag and ran towards the old man. The others in the auto had disconnected long back from the immediate world and busy surfing net and talking to their loved ones on the phones (including me). The auto driver peeped out and assessed the situation to see if he should wait for her and keep the auto going. She sprinkled water on his face and then got a few passerby men to help nurse him back to consciousness.

And finally when she made it back to the auto I didn’t know if I should congratulate her or stay away from her. Should I admire her kindness and courage? Isn’t it common sense to help a person in need? But then why did I not exhibit that behavior?

In a world where we get carried away by looks and perceptions, this girl definitely made me a fool. Now I examined her face and qualities in close proximity. Her face was devoid of sunscreen and age-defying creams, nails naked and natural, while their unpainted, unpermed and un-straightened hair laced with a feet long jasmine pollinates the polluted air in the city. Her forehead was decorated with streak of viboothi and small red kumkum spot, and unadulterated warmth and kindness in her gesture quickly intoxicated your heart with respect.

When I finally managed to speak to her, I found out that she was from Kancheepuram and she had just moved to Chennai. No wonder she pounced out of the auto to help. Why do city bred men/women shy away from helping people in need and why do we mind our business even at the time of emergency? Who is to be blamed, us or the city? Aren’t we all landscaped personalities? I was feeling numb and lost that day.

This train and share-auto journey was enriching me with basic human values, and keep me connected with the world around me, rather than driving by myself in an air-conditioned car, boorishly honking and living in a fort of comfort. From playing up my alter ego to an ego altering experience that morning, life became a full circle.

The Issue of National Shame

What ticked me off to write this blog was our Prime Minister’s unveiling a report on Malnutrition this week and proudly declaring it a national shame. He is just an example on how Indians in the seat of power and authority fail to deliver and take pride in showcasing their failures. So what is Mr. PM doing about malnutrition more than just admitting it as a national shame? Does he take accountability?

Another study that came to light this week also revealed that 68% of milk in India is adulterated. In a shocking revelation, the Food Safety Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has found that around 13% of food stuff is contaminated across the country.

We have a corrupt Government (doesn’t matter State or Center) and to top it off our food is adulterated. Is India really a safe place to live? With 1.3 Billion people, and 50% of them being less than 30 years, are we creating a good crop of  citizens to lead the nation and the world?

But before criticizing the Government and its officials, I decided to take a look at the attitude and genetic make-up of population by and large. So, who is the national shame? Is it the government or the citizens?

So let us walk down the streets in our respective cities to understand our civic duties and disciplines.

To many from outside this may look appalling, but for Indians it has become the way of life. So what is it that you see in Indian streets?

Hygiene, cleanliness, civic sense, honesty all take a back seat!

• I caught my educated neighbor fling a plastic bag of garbage from her balcony into the dumpster across the street. She missed the target by a few feet, but walked back into her living room with a sense of winning an Olympic Gold for getting her trash on the streets.
• 18 months ago while the house was being built, construction happened 24 by 7, and they dumped raw materials and material from the broken down building right on the streets, making the neighborhood uninhabitable.
• The sidewalk in every street is built for pedestrians, but instead they are used for drying clothes, dump heaps of rubbish from their house, parking vehicles, put up shops that sell tea and cigarettes, and sometimes for illegal activities such as drinking and smoking weed.
• We painted notices in our compound wall to ask people not to spit, throw garbage or defecate. Then a year later, we painted pictures of Hindu Gods and Goddess on our compound wall to prevent people from defecating. But nothing prevented them from doing what they want to do.
• 5 years ago, one of the owners in my apartment complex turned their balcony into a room without seeking permission or taking necessary approval from the civic body. This is a culpable offense!
• Every area in the city has a slum or illegal settlement. This almost resembles a beehive and politicians use these hives as vote banks and thus stay away from disturbing the hive.
• We find motorist jump red lights, constantly honk, engage in road rage, and treat pedestrians like cattle to find they way through the traffic.  
• We take pride in paying bribes to get our passports, get out of traffic tickets, obtain driving licenses, building permits, birth and death certificate, electricity, sewage and water connection.
• We falsify rent-receipts, medical bills and LTA claims to evade taxes. But we want to bring back the stashed away black-money in Swiss accounts. Double standards, huh?
• We jump queues, engage in road rage, throw anything and everything on the streets, and commit white collar crimes without any compunction or sense of responsibility.
• Travel on Indian Railways and Buses and find the amount of garbage thrown in the compartments. Toilets in trains and public places make us wonder, what our people eat that it smells so bad.

What does it say about our citizens?

• We can go back to the oldest debate in the world, which came first, the chicken or the egg? But let us understand and acknowledge that we’ve not delivered our civic duties. Why do we expect the Public Works Department to lay roads and maintain them if we cannot keep them clean, safe and habitable?
• We elect our representatives to form the Government and run the Government, when the society on the whole lacks discipline, why do we expect the Government and its office to function efficiently and be bribe free.
• Our literacy rates have improved since independence, but sadly education and literacy doesn’t seem to direct correlation to improve the society and quality of life. We have found education and literacy are used to circumvent law and commit intelligent crimes.
• For an average Indian today, it is all about “I” and “Me”. I want my house to be clean, I want to go fast, I want my greed to be satisfied, I want to be happy even if I violate rules and cause inconvenience to the public. We don’t mind bribing government officials, breaking rules and laws to make things work for us.
• Why are we so selfish and hypocritical? Why are we expecting the Government and its officials to be squeaky clean and deliver on their promises when we can’t dispense our civic responsibility and take accountability?

This is an ideal example of what happens when the value system in a society collapses. So who is the national shame? 

We have the next generation growing up in a corrupt society, where lawlessness is the way of life. May be the PM is right about the malnutrition report being a national shame. We as a society suffer from malnutrition of values and are willingly passing it on to the next generation.

There is nothing wrong in being a poor country, but everything is wrong if you are a corrupt country. Next time you complain about the Government for being inefficient and corrupt and the judicial system being for blinded, look at the mirror and ask yourself: have you delivered on my promises and have you been a law abiding citizen? So let us be the change we want to see in the world around us.

Neel starts with A for Ahiri and goes to D for Dhanyasi

My nephew is just 4 years and 10 months and is learning music, but he has not been taught Mayamma in Ahiri.  He has just heard his mother sing this difficult Ahiri krithi by Shyama Sastri. He doesn’t put taalam, yet starts at the beat, sing most of the sangatis, shows the swarupam of Ahiri and gives finishing touches to the song as well. He holds his breath to complete the long phrase, and even sings in mandra and thara sthayi. Dikshithar/Shyama Sastri songs are loaded with not so commonly used sanskrit words and he gets most of them right. Ahiri is not an easy ragam, but for him it seems like childs play.

We discovered him sing Mayamma by accident. We thought he was playing by himself in the living room, but we faintly heard a voice singing. At first my mother thought it could be someone on the radio or music from neighbors house, but when we came closer he was rendering Mayamma.

I definitely don't want to misuse or loosely use the word prodigy here. It is the power of hearing and kids repeat what they hear, be it Mayamma or Kolaveri di. During my morning prayers I stopped chanting Pancha Sooktham and made him sing this for the puja. The innocence in his rendition is what I loved the most. I didn't want to miss capturing and sharing such moments with you. Taking what we've been blessed with and offering back to almighty was the Trinity way. It doesn't matter if he doesn't become a performing musician, but I want him to sing with atmost devotion, the Trinity way.

Last night he was in bed and looked like he suddenly remembered Mayuranatham Anisam. He started singing loudly and I was in the other room and my mother didnt disturbed him and immediately called me from her mobile. I heard him sing the whole song and I was thrilled and moved. When he finished i opened the room and got him in my arms and gave him a big hug.  

I really don't know how many songs this kid has stored in his memory, but every song he renders excites me and inspires me.

Musical Agnathavasam and post come back!

After a span of nearly 20 years I heard Sankaran Namboothiri (SN) at Music Academy this December season. There was no doubt that it was SN’s musical talent and pedigree that earned him a slot then and now, and there was no back-door entry or Tatkal route.

Sometimes I wonder if such an agnathavasam is required to season their music and leave a lasting impression in the minds of the audience. Before filling the halls with not just audience but fans and earning the Sangita Kalanidhi (SK) title, Late Maharajapuram Santhanam was away in Colombo, Srilanka teaching and heading the Music College. Similarly SK T. Viswanathan had been teaching at Wesleyan University, North America and this year’s Sangita Kalanidhi Dr. Trichy Sankaran at York University, Canada and away from the local scene for 40 years. Should we attribute their success to their sabbatical from the local scene? Is such an absence a necessary in every performing musician’s career?

In their years that they were away so many musicians sprouted, established their roots in Chennai and shoots in Cleaveland and vice-versa. But none of these musicians were worried about their absence, bothered by insecurity from the raise of other musicians and their peers, and abruptly leaving their fans behind. They believed good music will always have an audience and will fill halls.

Thought 1: Should we re-run the experiment with the popular artists of today like Sudha, Sanjay, TM Krishna, Bombay Jayashree, Aruna Sayeeram, etc and reintroduce them into the scene 20 years from now. Would their music become more melodic with mellowed down egos?

In the early 90s Carnatic music world saw some towering musicians like Sangita Kalanidhis’ Dr. S. Ramanathan, ML. Vasanthakumari, Maharajapuram Santhanam pass away. The scene was perfect for new breed to youngsters to be introduced.The next breed of crop like Sudha, Sowmya, Sanjay, Unnikrishnan and many others like Bombay Jayashree arrived from across the country to fill the void of their masters. Music connoisseurs didn’t know where to go and fondly thronged the halls to hear the maestros’ songs in the voice of their young sishyas’. As young and upcoming musicians it was always not easy to fill-in their guru’s shoes and deliver against their expectations. Their brisk and fresh music won them ardent fans and took them to places. But sadly the learning curve for many of these musicians failed to keep in pace with their growth curve. Rasikas who felt stagnated moved on to learn and hear other musicians. Shouldn’t artist help the rasikas gradute to the next level? Why would rasikas want to hear the same songs from the same musician again and again? Does predictability bring in boredom?

My friend argued that SK MS Subbulakshmi in her last 20 years of her career pretty much repeated the same songs again and again. I heard his dismay and unhappiness when OST sang Akshaya Linga Vibho for the nth time at Music Academy this year.

The years of SN’s agnyathavasa, (not mine, but his) had only bettered and not battered his music. But had it only matured to get him from 12noon slot to 1.45 PM slot in twenty years? Every member in the house that afternoon had the same questions: Where had this musician vanished all these years? On that day, he didn’t render rare krithis or use gimmick of any sort to win back the audience, instead SN rendered popular songs in popular ragas to fill the house and hearts again.

Thought 2: Sometimes it makes me wonder why the same Vathapi Ganapathim, Jaya Jaya Swamin, Bhajare Rechita and the same ragas Hamsadwani, Naatai and Kalyani have won people a chance back in the performing arena and earned them Sangita Kalanidhi? Is it the potency of the lyrics, choice of ragas, or above?

What happens when the artist arrives after many years of agnathavasam to empty halls? After a decade gap Hyderabad Brothers sang at Music Academy to almost an empty house. The last time they sang at the same venue they were crowd pullers like other popular artists of today. I must tell you they had a lot of room to stomach an empty hall when the curtains went up. May be this is what agnathavasam does to you. May be the Brothers are at a stage in life where they need not play to the gallery or for personal records. Did Thyagaraja, Dikshithar or Shyama Sastri sing for audience or money?

Thought 3: At Music Academy, you either get slotted or slaughtered!

Come back for more rumblings and ramblings….