Like this song - sung by Dr.Rajkumar in Kannada:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNwFXRe9YIc&feature=related
Friday, February 27, 2009
Saturday, February 21, 2009
The Tug
Sitting by the window sipping my usual cup of coffee on a gloomy afternoon like this one, with 5 minutes to go before I get on to a call at work, I feel a tug...
A something tugs at my heart...a mad fleet into the past, a scream at the pesent and a something else for the future...
Isn't a human being such a fool? So wrapped up in this mere act of existence...so tied up in bonds and expectations...
A pity.
Life as it unfolds isn't a great design by the Creator...
Or maybe that's what is different? and that the very essence?
Who knows.
The tug at the heart is difficult to ignore...
A something tugs at my heart...a mad fleet into the past, a scream at the pesent and a something else for the future...
Isn't a human being such a fool? So wrapped up in this mere act of existence...so tied up in bonds and expectations...
A pity.
Life as it unfolds isn't a great design by the Creator...
Or maybe that's what is different? and that the very essence?
Who knows.
The tug at the heart is difficult to ignore...
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Kalyani
I was introduced to the "Kalyani" Raga today, and I simply love it!
Even though it can be sung at all times, Kalyani is as an evening Raga. It is usually sung at the beginning segment of a concert, since its Tivra swaras create the proper musical atmosphere.
Hindusthani Ragam Yaman (Yaman That) is the same as Kalyani. There are numerous Jugal Bandhis featuring the fusion of Kalyani - Yaman by Carnatic - Hindushani musicians. (Balamurali -Bhimsen Joshi; Seshagopalan-Ajoy Chakrabarti;
Ramani - Rajam; Ramani - Pandit Jog; Balamurali -Hariprasad Chaurasia, and so on).
Kalyani is also featured in Hungarian Music.
Tyagaraja's famous krithi: Nidhi Chala Sukhama, stand out as a masterpiece.
If Sankarabharanam is the flagship of the Suddha Madhyama segment of the Melakartha Ragams (1 - 36), then, Kalyani takes the position among the Parthi Madhyama Melakartha ragams (37-72). Kalyani is the Melam No. 65, and is called
Mechakalyani to confirm to the Katapayadi Sankhya counting to obtain the number 65.
Listen to it - it is BEAUTIFUL!
Even though it can be sung at all times, Kalyani is as an evening Raga. It is usually sung at the beginning segment of a concert, since its Tivra swaras create the proper musical atmosphere.
Hindusthani Ragam Yaman (Yaman That) is the same as Kalyani. There are numerous Jugal Bandhis featuring the fusion of Kalyani - Yaman by Carnatic - Hindushani musicians. (Balamurali -Bhimsen Joshi; Seshagopalan-Ajoy Chakrabarti;
Ramani - Rajam; Ramani - Pandit Jog; Balamurali -Hariprasad Chaurasia, and so on).
Kalyani is also featured in Hungarian Music.
Tyagaraja's famous krithi: Nidhi Chala Sukhama, stand out as a masterpiece.
If Sankarabharanam is the flagship of the Suddha Madhyama segment of the Melakartha Ragams (1 - 36), then, Kalyani takes the position among the Parthi Madhyama Melakartha ragams (37-72). Kalyani is the Melam No. 65, and is called
Mechakalyani to confirm to the Katapayadi Sankhya counting to obtain the number 65.
Listen to it - it is BEAUTIFUL!
Friday, February 13, 2009
The Overloaded Feb 14th!
I got a call from a friend this evening asking me "Hey, what are you doing tomorrow?"
I thought it was the usual what are you doing this weekend question. I said nothing special. And she goes "C'mmon it's the Valentines Day!".
Oh! I thought. And, so...? what does it mean to me?
What am I supposed to do? And what is expected of me - as a wife, as a mom, as a friend and whatever else?
I wasn't born in a household where we celebrated this. I didn't grow up among friends whose families celebrated this festival. Nor grew up exchanging Red Roses!
Yes, only after we went to college was when we girls wore Red one year and collected roses. That was in the final year of our engineering course! It was cute in a weird way :-)
BTW, I wasn't the girl who got the maximum roses - I actually took it only from one guy and later married him! Oh! do I get an award for that? Nah :-)
All of that background, and here I'm today! What now? Am I supposed to wear Red again and look forwards to the flowers? Am I supposed to flutter my eyelids with a coy smile at the guy in my house? And bite a rose between my teeth ;-) No - I don't need to. He thinks I'm the begin all and end all for him anyway. Nothing else matters to him. Okay, that's what he says anyway :-) We don't investigate and dig into each other's thoughts too much - it's an arrangement that best suits us both for all the right reasons!
Do I tell my little one that I love her? Why only today - I love her every single day of the year. So, nothing new there either :-)
My friends? Hmmm...I love them too always.
My family - whose doesn't love their family? Very common - so why specially the day?
Red Roses, candied strawberries, fake seduction, pouting for attention or the exposed curves - all fall into the category of frivolous behavior for me! I hear sirens wailing "insecure!!!" in my mind when I get to be audience :-)
Who needs all of that when you have the real thing - a real warm glow in your heart? the natural blush on your cheeks, and a racing heart beat at the very sight of...
Okay, landing back on Mother Earth...
As I drove home today after all these thoughts, I decided to call my friend I talk to every evening. I realized - Duh! No phone! I had left it at home :-(
There was absolute silence in the car. Nothing to do and no one to talk to. Just me and my thoughts!
Suddenly there were a thousand reasons to call so many people - oh, I had to tell him that, tell her this, and everything else...but no phone! It felt as if I had gone dumb and numb!
It was then that it struck me - these are the people I'm surrounded with, these are people I rely on, these are people that need me, these are people I care for and the other way round too - people I can't live without! And I take them for granted every single day! I yell at them, get angry, get irritated, run away from them, hide from them and everything else, except tell them that they are special to me!
Maybe that's why there is a special day to think about it! Think about our loved ones and tell them that they are special to us! We work well with tasks - don't we? Everything needs to be scheduled in! And, maybe this is a way to get that done too :-)
That's it then!
What if I don't get another chance to say this - so I want to do it now...
I want to take a moment today to tell everyone I have ever met, have be-friended, have spent a moment thinking about or have crossed paths with - I want to tell you that you are a wonderful human being, and that I love you - and love all of you!
Be good!
================================================
Related History
In the third century after Christ, Valentine was the bishop of Terni (Italy). He performed weddings for couples who were not allowed to get married. They may not have been allowed to get married because the parents did not agree with the connection or because the bridegroom was a soldier or a slave, so the marriage was forbidden. Valentine gave to the married pairs flowers from his garden. That's why flowers play a very important role on Valentine's Day. This did not please the emperor. On February 14, 269 AD, Valentin was beheaded because of his Christian faith.
I thought it was the usual what are you doing this weekend question. I said nothing special. And she goes "C'mmon it's the Valentines Day!".
Oh! I thought. And, so...? what does it mean to me?
What am I supposed to do? And what is expected of me - as a wife, as a mom, as a friend and whatever else?
I wasn't born in a household where we celebrated this. I didn't grow up among friends whose families celebrated this festival. Nor grew up exchanging Red Roses!
Yes, only after we went to college was when we girls wore Red one year and collected roses. That was in the final year of our engineering course! It was cute in a weird way :-)
BTW, I wasn't the girl who got the maximum roses - I actually took it only from one guy and later married him! Oh! do I get an award for that? Nah :-)
All of that background, and here I'm today! What now? Am I supposed to wear Red again and look forwards to the flowers? Am I supposed to flutter my eyelids with a coy smile at the guy in my house? And bite a rose between my teeth ;-) No - I don't need to. He thinks I'm the begin all and end all for him anyway. Nothing else matters to him. Okay, that's what he says anyway :-) We don't investigate and dig into each other's thoughts too much - it's an arrangement that best suits us both for all the right reasons!
Do I tell my little one that I love her? Why only today - I love her every single day of the year. So, nothing new there either :-)
My friends? Hmmm...I love them too always.
My family - whose doesn't love their family? Very common - so why specially the day?
Red Roses, candied strawberries, fake seduction, pouting for attention or the exposed curves - all fall into the category of frivolous behavior for me! I hear sirens wailing "insecure!!!" in my mind when I get to be audience :-)
Who needs all of that when you have the real thing - a real warm glow in your heart? the natural blush on your cheeks, and a racing heart beat at the very sight of...
Okay, landing back on Mother Earth...
As I drove home today after all these thoughts, I decided to call my friend I talk to every evening. I realized - Duh! No phone! I had left it at home :-(
There was absolute silence in the car. Nothing to do and no one to talk to. Just me and my thoughts!
Suddenly there were a thousand reasons to call so many people - oh, I had to tell him that, tell her this, and everything else...but no phone! It felt as if I had gone dumb and numb!
It was then that it struck me - these are the people I'm surrounded with, these are people I rely on, these are people that need me, these are people I care for and the other way round too - people I can't live without! And I take them for granted every single day! I yell at them, get angry, get irritated, run away from them, hide from them and everything else, except tell them that they are special to me!
Maybe that's why there is a special day to think about it! Think about our loved ones and tell them that they are special to us! We work well with tasks - don't we? Everything needs to be scheduled in! And, maybe this is a way to get that done too :-)
That's it then!
What if I don't get another chance to say this - so I want to do it now...
I want to take a moment today to tell everyone I have ever met, have be-friended, have spent a moment thinking about or have crossed paths with - I want to tell you that you are a wonderful human being, and that I love you - and love all of you!
Be good!
================================================
Related History
In the third century after Christ, Valentine was the bishop of Terni (Italy). He performed weddings for couples who were not allowed to get married. They may not have been allowed to get married because the parents did not agree with the connection or because the bridegroom was a soldier or a slave, so the marriage was forbidden. Valentine gave to the married pairs flowers from his garden. That's why flowers play a very important role on Valentine's Day. This did not please the emperor. On February 14, 269 AD, Valentin was beheaded because of his Christian faith.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Sunday, February 1, 2009
The Slum Dog Experience
Last evening, I had the pleasure of spending some time with a couple great friends - after dinner, we decided on watching the much spoken 'bout Slum Dog Millionaire!
Rush...rush...and we were at the theatre in 20 minutes flat :-)
Okay now for the part on the movie.
Open scene - little kids, slums, dirt, heaps and mountains of filth, landfills of plastic...everything that would make one look away.
This followed by gory, torture on kids. A little kids eye is scooped out with a spoon. Made you wince just reading? Watch it and you will want to throw up too.
More filth, more poverty, and more torture all entwined around a flimsy thread of a boy met girl as a child and fell in love well past into his adulthood. Co-incidence that he keeps chasing her and finds her under multiple situations?
You are wrong - coincidence doesn't end there. He goes onto a reality show and all the questions asked there have an incident and very traumatic at that, associated with it.
A good movie idea to connect it with the reality show. But, my regard for the movie and the movie maker ends right there.
I was ashamed that we had to expose this side of us to get to the Oscars! Okay now you might say that Oscars just happened like an afterthought - Hmmmm...not really. Not when the movie maker is trying to shove an artsy movie made for the main stream down your throat laced with atrocities against the most innocent - the children.
It is like showing your wounds to gain something from the other person. It's all about playing the sympathy card, to gain those brownie points.
Yeah, there is a lot of terrible things, a lot of grief and a lot of foul play out there in this world - so what?
What exactly was the movie trying to capture? A story of a kid? There are better stories. Co-incidences? Better ones present. Slums of India? Better movies exists there too.
Atrocities against kids? Was that the attempt?
In the end, I was disgusted at the attempt to make bucks and race to the awards using the raw side of our existence.
Pathetic.
Rush...rush...and we were at the theatre in 20 minutes flat :-)
Okay now for the part on the movie.
Open scene - little kids, slums, dirt, heaps and mountains of filth, landfills of plastic...everything that would make one look away.
This followed by gory, torture on kids. A little kids eye is scooped out with a spoon. Made you wince just reading? Watch it and you will want to throw up too.
More filth, more poverty, and more torture all entwined around a flimsy thread of a boy met girl as a child and fell in love well past into his adulthood. Co-incidence that he keeps chasing her and finds her under multiple situations?
You are wrong - coincidence doesn't end there. He goes onto a reality show and all the questions asked there have an incident and very traumatic at that, associated with it.
A good movie idea to connect it with the reality show. But, my regard for the movie and the movie maker ends right there.
I was ashamed that we had to expose this side of us to get to the Oscars! Okay now you might say that Oscars just happened like an afterthought - Hmmmm...not really. Not when the movie maker is trying to shove an artsy movie made for the main stream down your throat laced with atrocities against the most innocent - the children.
It is like showing your wounds to gain something from the other person. It's all about playing the sympathy card, to gain those brownie points.
Yeah, there is a lot of terrible things, a lot of grief and a lot of foul play out there in this world - so what?
What exactly was the movie trying to capture? A story of a kid? There are better stories. Co-incidences? Better ones present. Slums of India? Better movies exists there too.
Atrocities against kids? Was that the attempt?
In the end, I was disgusted at the attempt to make bucks and race to the awards using the raw side of our existence.
Pathetic.
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