Athirapilly Waterfalls

Waterfalls are something I thought would be fun and something liquid. But who in the world would know that it is b-e-a-u-t-i-f-u-l !! I always wanted to watch the Niagara Falls but Athirapilly is quite a temporary substitute. After parking our cars, all my cousins were discussing about Aishwarya Rai's shoot here and blah blah..It was interesting until we reached the commencing point. Then all mouths shut and not even an A was uttered of the Aish....

The journey is loooong but since we need to move downwards it wasn't too stressful. Also the scorching heat was not felt cos of the cooling effect of the waters. I don't know how to describe the falls and the beautiful nature embracing it but I can express them through some photos I took. There was a thin rainbow but couldn't take any pics of that cos my cam had undergone a water ride and the lens were adamant about doing any work at all...

You can check the pics out HERE.


*** MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL ***

Voices Within - Interview of Bombay Jayasree and T.M.Krishna

To catch a glimpse of the video GO HERE.


The rest of which I could not upload is here:

Neha: Sir, could you comment on the growing popularity of fusion music?
T.M.K: There is always going to be a form of music which is appealing worldwide in terms of the mass. It tries to bring in few forms of music together in one platform. I have nothing against fusion provided it each form is presented well which is easier said than done. There have been few failures and some who have been successfull but as far as the performers know their music well, it's a good way to attract people who haven't been open to Carnatic and Hindustani music. Today, everyone thinks fusion is about asking someone to play a drum and then asking another to sing an alapana .

Neha: What about fusion between Carnatic and Hindustani?
T.M.K: I won't call that a fusion at all...

Neha: I meant their style of rendering is different.
T.M.K: What usually happens is that a performer of one form tries to sing the other and vice versa which leads to a show of rythms between the tabla and the mridangam or the drum or rythm pad ,etc. That's when it loses it's real essence. If done, should be done with a lot of taste which is not easy to find.

Neha: Mam, You are a playback singer too. I have heard that doing a lot of riyaz in classical music could effect the style of rendering in light music. Is it true?


B.Jayasree: I think your query is very subjective and differs from person to person.Being a classical singer who dabbles a little bit into playback ,if the song suits me ,I don't think the above statement is true. It only helps the singer in moulding the voice and in no way can it harm the style. If that would be the case then no classical singer would be able to do playback which is the order of the day. If you know how to compartmentalize it and if the music director knows what he wants to get out of you and is clear about why he wants you to sing a particular song , then there should be no confusion.

Neha: Sir, could you explain me the differences between major and minor ragas?

T.M.K: Firstly, I don't think there is any classification such as minor and major ragas in Indian music. In Western music we have minor and major scales which could be considered equivalent to the swaras in Shankarabharanam and Kheeravani .I would interpret your question as major ragas are commonly sung and minor ragas are seldom used.

Neha: What is voice culture all about?

T.M.K: It's about having the right way of production of the voice for the system your are practising. You may have a greta culture for opera singing doesn't mean you can sing a Carnatic concert tomorrow. Certain people having better voice culture than the other is completely false. Like you had asked Jayasree about playback singing ,it's about being able to adapt to that system of singing depending on what form you are rendering. Each form requires a different way of production, aesthetic flavour and a different intonation.

Neha: Mam, do you Classical singing helps one in being versatile?
B.Jayasree: You have to be versatile to sing Classical music. (all smiles)

Neha: Versatile as in Ghazal singing,etc..
B.Jayasree: The process you go through mental, physical training of the voice is a huge training. One can adapt to another form of music easily.

*Glooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooom*
my voice is still a goner :( I watched Vaaranam Aayiram day before and I loved it. I got a lot of mixed reviews especially from a couple of friends in Chennai who said it's a total flop. But apart from few slips between the cup and the lip the movie was awesome and so were the songs. I start and end my day with mundhinam. Without any guesses the best part is at the beginning itself when Surya starts with the dialogue 'Hi Malini'. Too bad for those who couldn't enjoy it.I watched Rab Ne Bana di Jodi too which is average. I think the new girl in the block is pretty and has quite some skills but then Adi just messed up the ending bit especially when she finds her "rab" only at the last minute and stuff... My next target : Ghajini..much talked about I know. Sonu's humming in Guzarish..hands down...

College has closed and now I am looking forward to ten days of total fun .Still planning where to go for New years and Christmas.. Any suggestions?

Powerless...

I feel like a superwoman without her cape. Post wedding and after all the hush bush..I naturally had to fall sick...but I had never even in my dreams thought that I would sound like Rani Mukherji. I have always loved her voice and would even try to maintain it once it got that rough when I get a cough. But then I miss my singing voice and came to a conclusion that no Rani Mukherji or whoever can beat mine :D
Now ,with all the cold and cough my voice is a total goner. And I am *Glooooooooom*

The Navarathri track for Doordarshan

Has finally been uploaded God knows after how much of patience. You can listen to it HERE. Gopan uncle, Ravi Shankar, Archana and I were a part of this. It was my first recording for Doordarshan and I consider it very lucky for me cos it happened during the season of Navarathri and under the guidance of my guru, Perumbavur G. Ravindranath who also happens to be the music director of this particular piece. I was asked to learn these songs on a very short notice and it was some experience! To read the earlier post on this go HERE.

Snapshots re-loaded!

Yesterday I and the newly wedded couple and my cousins went out for a 'break' from the wedding mess....the beach...

After a looong time I got to use my photography skills (just a little bit).And please don't complain about the flash... I think it just looks good that way...One is with a thin, tall prominent coconut tree which you can view HERE. It was after clicking this one that I kept cribbing about my stupid camera and its battery and blah blah. I couldn't figure out the problem a few months before cos none of the batteries worked. Then I figured we needed alkaline and when I told dad that, he said that's what I have been trying so far. That did burn my brain cells but I required the camera to work for obvious wedding related situations. Wanted every single moment to be captured. And hence my cousin finally got me this pair of batteries which can be charged when it runs out of some :)...So much for cameras and batteries. Anyways... the second one is without the coconut tree... I don't know any other way to describe it...check it out HERE.

Next pic is the one with the caption me..So don't miss this one... GO HERE.

My Big Fat Sis Wedding

Finally!! All the phone calls and close whispers and the put-me-to-sleep-days were finally on the cards when my sister's fiancé landed here. The best part is the one inclusive of preparations for the big day. It's more fun than shopping... cos I ain't a shopaholic :) (In spite of being a girl). I was basically in charge of nothing not cos I was getting through a busy schedule but cos my dad (I assume) must have found me clumsy. Anyways I was all the more busy dieting and shedding kilos to look great (I am well aware of the fact that I am not the bride!!). In fact I and my sister were rivals cos I wanted to lose more than her and vice versa. You can call it fate if you want ... but she won... and as usual I am still plump :). Now when you read 'preparations' things that bounce into your mind are catering, lights, wedding hall, transport blah. But to me preparations were supposedly trying on costumes, testing the food prepared for the pre wedding guests and things similar to that. I am never going to grow up isn't it?

The day before the wedding, sis was busy posing for shots and so was I .FYI it is a day where a lot of invited (and uninvited) guests land up with gifts posing for the camera. Many of which I have never even heard of. And the worst part is when some guys you don't know turns up asking if you know them and we obviously nod expecting them not to ask you 'ok who am I?’. And that expectation totally cracks and to add fuel to fire you are stuck with absolutely no help. Food was fun ... it was the best cos that was the last dinner with my sister as a bachelor. Loads of fun, food and scary remarks like -uh-oh your getting married tomorrow, or - oh no!! With one guy forever! And etc.

Wedding day went super fast I must say. And carrying myself in that golden net sari was not the 8th wonder but yeps! Somewhere near that. Sadya was awesome except for one of the payasams made of banana apparently. I reached the reception hall late in the evening cos apparently it's fashionable for girls to reach late at parties :). Hogged some food and some hot caramel custard (which was yuck!) and then it was Barry Manilow's 'The lion sleeps tonight'...Zzzzzzzz

The next day a whole lot of people came over for lunch and obviously I had to sing songs and so did everyone except for dad who is still shy when it comes to singing in public... no wonder I still have stage fright. Mom says stage fright is my kooda porappu..but woteva...and there ends it all... and I apologize to all my blog readers for updating after a month.. but my only sister's wedding did keep me committed.....so back to singing and blogging and everything... Ciao