Outcast Vocals

This was another musical shoot for Rosebowl. Planning had been going on since September but materialized only in November. Apart from Suchith I wanted few other young singers to be a part of this but somehow we worked it this way. Vineeth George was on the Piano in his typical jazz style and Siddharth too. We had Avial bass guitarist Benny also. Did a whole lot of melodies and fusion and semi classical and wotnot. Just had a dekko at the trailors today. Naming it was a big headache !!! First it was Coconut Machans then that was apparently sounding too whacky so finally we finalized with Outcast Vocals. It's going to be aired tomorrow on X'mas..from 10 AM ... Please do watch it and give me some great reviews (hopefully) ... bubyeee

Merry X'mas and fun filled new years to all !! :D

Single or married?

I was catching up with the re telecast of Talking Point on Rosebowl. The topic was about remaining single or married. The point was which gives you more happiness. It's hard for one to reach a conclusion on such topics and there was this huge argument on girls being forced to get married by 23-24. By putting a certain age limit for marriage does make one's marital life much much organized. But one must not be forced to an extent where we might end up taking a hasty decision about our companion. I think for women, getting married at 25-26 is apt for them to plan their family life and balance their career alongside.

This whole notion that women lose their freedom after marriage is an absolute myth. Of course we have to change or compromise in a way to blend well with the ways of our partner but that certainly does not imply that we have to give away our freedom. Perhaps the way we apply our freedom might have to change. But that only changes the route; it does not take away the freedom from us. For a woman to get married at her mid twenties helps her in planning her future, her companion's future and the future of the generation she is going to build thereon. Honestly I am today's woman but I do not see my self lonely at the age of 40 , nor do I see myself being a mother to my teenage child at sixty. A mother has to be physically and mentally fit to nurture her child's growth. It has a lot of biological factors too. I am implying only on women here because there was so much of fuss being created on whether women should get married by 20 or after 30. More than the age factor it depends on when we feel settled. Also God has made women in such a way that they mature my 13 or 14 already. But today's lifestyle, which has become a necessity, has definitely not prepared a 13 year old to nurture a family of her own like olden times. I remember that during school my classmate had a brother 7 years younger than her. Her parents had a late marriage and the kids even later. When she was telling me about their late marriage she suddenly realized that her brother would be 13 when her father would be 60. The amount of effort parents have to put on a child saturates at their teenage years. When a parent is not physically prepared for that it could affect their child who is bound to go through a risky path being a teen. I hope that explains why we have certain age strategies for women and men when it comes to marriage.

Education, career, a secure future had made today's woman very independent and capable of self decision making. But we must not forget about evolution. After a certain age I am sure none of us want to die lonely however popular we are to be surrounded by 'people'. To have that special someone is definitely much more than 'people'. Staying single until you find the person is justified totally :)

Growth has to be there in all forms be it the human brain, discipline, maturity or the future gen. Meeting of the two sexes is a beautiful purpose for cultivating the human farm. So one should stop being too insecure about losing out on their freedom and instead let things happen the way nature had bestowed upon us.

Nine@Night is featuring Neelathamara singer, Shreekumar at 9 PM exclusively on Rosebowl tonight. You can catch its repeat on Sunday morning 9 AM :)

Tribute to courage?

How can people believe to be paying tribute to the 26/11 martyrs by attending some stupid peace meet? 'Tribute to courage' held at the India Gate this evening is one such an example. 26/11 anniversary has already been media hyped but there are no productive results. Can we have slain ATS Hemant Karkare's wife sleep peacefully tonight? Or can we have Late Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan's parents heave a sigh of relief that tomorrow we would not have to shed blood for blood? Such gatherings don't have any positive motive to stop terrorism. We all love our country, want peace, and want to lead peaceful lives. Definitely lighting candles and holding charity events and materializing such social gatherings can never restore peace, or eliminate the fear of terrorism in our minds. The only possible way is by fastening the Kasab case and by revealing its content. Kasab has to be punished. From the time the 26/11 took place, media has always come up with flash news such as 'Pak is not doing enough', 'Pak is not serious'. That's all we've been hearing. It's been a year now, the Taj has got back to its feet, Karkare's family has moved on with hopeful eyes, but Kasab is not yet punished. We always land up focusing at the wrong things. We had a recent article and a photo clip of the PM partying with Obama when he visited the U.S. during this period. It was indicating that he was partying there as the nation acknowledges the 26/11 a year after its occurrence. What do you expect the PM to do? He was there to sort out the rising problem of terrorism, you can't expect him to mourn and start crying there. That's not how mistakes are rectified. For a change, focus on what we are doing. SRK wore a nice suit addressing how proud he is to be an Indian, Javed sahab with some of his beautiful poetry and the likes only expressed how sorry they all are. We all are sorry. But why is the Govt. taking so much time to punish Kasab? The Babri Masjid case came up after such a long time and I have never seen so much importance given to any other case as this one has been attended to by the media. Several debates and ‘tweets’, etc. has only shown how much of precious time we are wasting on such issues. I have never seen such a coverage being done on the state of the Policeman in our country, or the state of illiteracy in our country. What's more important is restoring the belief on Lord Ram within Hindus which at the first place has not gone at all! What restoring and proofs does one want to give to prove that Ayodha is an important historical place accounting to Hindu beliefs? Move on.

Tribute to courage - was a mere social gathering of a lot of celebrities from the entertainment field and the politicians. But apart from that I don't think that the people feel any safer now. Like how Karkare's wife had very diligently put across how 'superficial' all these ways are to show India's tribute. Lighting candles, gathering people over a few consoling words, talking great promising words on the security is not going to being about the change we are looking forward to. It's only going to waste wax and time. The bottom line is that the culprit has to be punished. And definitely not after permitting a time span of 20 years but to materialize ASAP. That is the only way we can restore the faith in the people, restore belief in our Government and restore faith in eradicating Terrorism forever.

A tale of self proclaimed King and his slaves

K.C.Singh had exactly the right words to use when he was asked to speak at the Times Now Debate. It was nice to see a patient Sitaram and Mr. Manish should definitely take some anger management classes from him. Obama having given China the 'opportunity' to play cupid for Indo-Pak relations probably forgot about how legitimate it is for China to carry out this responsibility. Having an almost broken Tibet maybe Obama should realize what their 'actual' responsibility is. I will pour out any sarcastic comments here like the journalist but yeah! We definitely do not have to be envisaged by China and of course we can look after our selves!!! Mr. Singh did have something to point out. Our response on this issue came 24 hours later which actually portrays us as a tube light of some sort. I absolutely feel that we do not have to waste time on wondering if to be diplomatic to Obama as the PM will be visiting the U.S. in sometime. We have to be more vocal if someone is taking us for granted. Granted is not the word. I would say it's some sort of sweet subjugation! Sometimes it's within the nation sometimes it's some self proclaimed king and sometimes it's some superficial movie. 2012 is not the world end for heaven's sake! I wonder about being an inactive blogger when there's peace around. Obviously I would not be inspired then the way I am nowadays to blog about such appalling happenings. Would I prefer being a positive saint meditating in a peaceful world or would I prefer to blog and fulfill my 'journalism' dreams? Let me think about that over a cup of coffee...

What does the MNS think of themselves? Get a life people !!!!! (on Abu Azmi being attacked for taking the oath in Hindi )

All work and no play really rejuvenates me :) I guess today's gen are pretty much workaholic cos majority are enjoying what they do. I really have some quality work coming up soooon. That's one thing I will never give up for any best reason. I so believe in quality and that doesn't necessarily have to portray me as a perfectionist. I keep making a lot of mistakes... and will do so in the future because I am a creative person. And people who make mistakes are the ones who try to be innovative.

Stagnant growth

Fatwa against Vande Mataram? As if India is such a peaceful country that we need to actually sit down and think of giving birth to issues long forgotten to ruin the peace! I wish it were so...How many ever preachings and even practices and campaigns and wotnot cannot change the mindset of the religious thinker. The thing we can cry about and boast about is unfortunately the same thing : our culture. I think what I loved the most about Chak De apart from the script, direction and SRK is the dialogue which was enacted with so much of depth. The face that we need to start thinking from the point of few of India as a Nation and not as a Country of many States. Competition is healthy only when we compete with ourselves and not with other castes.


I don't want to get into politics yakking about how different politicians favour their States or religion. It's much beyond all that if you are looking for upgrading from a 3rd world country tag. Vande being unislamic or not is far away from the fact that we all belong to one Nation. How many wake calls can we give? Or perhaps it's the ignorance of a jobless man. There are a hundred million issues to be sorted out and assessed and we again end up wasting ample time upon issues which have no scope to extinguish. There should be an awareness among the men to educate their women and to give provide equality. Instead, decades after we have the anthem we have communities who find this way more important than sorting out the real issues. If this is a call for a bigger Pak then they are foolish enough to try it at this stage. Open your eyes and look around at all the injustice being done from Bribery to serial rapes and superstitions and we'll be surprised to see that what we are trying to debate on is absolutely worthless. We hardly recall the Anthem on a regular basis so it's high time we put a stop and start progressing in ascending manner .

A Peck on the cheek to Mr. Tharoor for telling all young Keralites when he had been to the Inaugural function of the gurukulam named for Ezhuthachan - " to know the world u must know English, to know Delhi u must know Hindi, & to know yourselves u must know Malayalam"

The Gen Gap

I don't know what's with the old generation comparing the quality of today's music with their's. After watching a lot of interviews I decided I should write about what I think about this argument which has been happening for quite some time. Why should one even compare two generations? If it is mandatory then do it on fair grounds. Music recorded in the 80s are extremely commendable and I doubt if any of the young singers today can record a song in one take.We have lot's to learn from the olden style of recording.But I totally disagree with the notion that today's music is not golden enough to be heard on a repetitive basis and that few month's after a song's hit status it is discarded . Now you see why this problem arises is only because today we have a lot of sources for the promotion of a song. In olden times how often could one listen to their favourite song? Maybe if they are lucky to catch it on the radio that is if they own one. And that is exactly why they value the song each time as they get to hear it exclusively. And today we have a hit song being played 24/7 on the Television, Radio, Ipods, and even Jukebox where you can request you favourite anytime you want to listen to it. So just think how many times you get to listen to your favourite song? Almost 300 times before the movie releases. So basically you get to listen to the song and watch it's video quite a number of times before the movie comes out in the theater. By the time the movie releases the next hit number ranks the list and everyone moves on to that. But in the olden times you get to listen to you favourite songs 300 times maybe ages after the movie releases. It's the wait for your clock to tick to tune in your radio hoping that tonight they will be playing your favourite number. That is why they never got bored of those songs as they hardly ever got to listen to it. I do accept that there a lot of rhythmic numbers which we soon tend to forget but there are so many wonderful melodies produced even today. Music has become so big that we have lakhs spent over a 4 minute promotional video for a movie which is soon forgotten with it's bon voyage from the theaters.

Another reason could be the range of music people used to listen in older times. In Kerala film songs were subjected to very few artists such as Yesudasji, Janaki amma, Susheela amma, etc. At those time we had 3-4 exclusive singers singing in almost similar genres for a period of time and today we have 5 new singers singing in 5 different genres for just one movie. Music listened to at those times were limited and the attachment to the existing ones kept growing. Music created was also raga centric as situations provided to them were also matchable. You never had a situation of kabhi kabhi aditi or a Blue at that time.


For example I love McD burgers. But if include them in my daily diet I will eventually end up hating it or will probably get bored of it. I love Devarajan master's Rajashilpi but if I only listen to it on a daily basis I will end up hating the song, the voice and everything related to it. Same applies here. We listen to different kinds of music in different languages and genres to enhance our knowledge and this way we never get bored of it. Where was the interest and opportunity provided to listen to different genres and world music at those times? Technology grew and so did man's quest to deepen his knowledge in World music. The change is so evident in the sounding of today's songs. Be it the mixing or the contemporary singing or be it the inclusion of fusion or be it the unplugged style or even the programming. Where does one have the time to recollect a beautiful melody created a year ago when everyday millions of songs are being produced worldwide and all available just a click away ? An analyzing of today's songs not being able to create a historical magic is subjected to each one's personal liking. But on the whole I would say it's very wrong to compare the music created in older generation to the present as it's not being done on fair grounds. The foundation is still the same and in fact has become more stronger but technology, medium and the like have upgraded to an incomparable position. Let Old be gold and let's help the new ones from not getting rusted. Lets accept the fact that our tastes have changed and that today every musician is much much brighter than the older times because of the facilities provided today. Instead of pin pointing on what's wrong let's see the glass half full ...

One of them from my big list of principles are to keep professional things 10 yards away from personal. I really dread working with those people who can't follow the above . Be it in any field , one should never ever remain silent to any injustice done but should at the same time take care of the society and the time one has to execute the consequences. Sometimes at work I hate to work with some people because of their unprofessional attitude. It kills me to give my 100 % in such situations and to accept the fact that united we stand. Team work is always a success and we just need to ignore a lot of things that happen at work in order to be professional. But I do voice my opinion when it crosses the lakshmanrekha.

Done with Nine at Night shoot for this week. Was as usual fun to do extempore conversations with celebrities. But my best till date has been with Baluji. Firstly his violin is one mesmerizing object which can probably be used all the while. Secondly he speaks so informally that it makes the anchor feel big and nice :) To top it all the last jamming session we made up in Jog. I had asked him to play anything he likes and when he kept thinking about what to play I suggested him to do some piece in Jog to which he kept thinking more. Then he came up with this brilliant plan of jamming and asked me to try out some aalaps.. was daaaaaamn nervous but to jam with him is one helluva experience and was the most appreciated part of the episode. All's well that jam's well ;)

Tiaaaaaaaaaa

Twittering all the way

I never liked Twitter before because I didn't get the point of tweeting . But now I am beginning to enjoy tweeting along with all the birdies... so you can now follow me on Twitter. Have sung for few jingles and now involved in few good shows. Will update all that in a while. Was watching the kids from Balika Vadhu in Koel's show and I must say that these kids are pretty smart. Sometimes I wish I had half the energy they have . Shyamaprasad sir and Rahul ji are getting the Vayalar award for RITU and I feel thankful to be able to play a small role in this. I and Suchith will be singing for the show on the 26th. Also on the 27th at the Tagore Hall the Vayalar group is holding a show dedicated to the great poet. Tc

Diwali was not great fun this year but did manage to enjoy with basin ka laddoo :) From the time I began to take music seriously one thing I knew I would never be a part of is composing. I just felt it was one of those 'tough' jobs in the world which I should never even in my dreams try to attempt. Funnily , I had this huge discussion and debate on the survival of a playback singer in the industry with Suchith and Jeetu. Suchith was playing songs from his band Udaan and I and Jeetu were appreciating him for his efforts that's when I felt maybe I should try composing. It's been a month and almost 8 songs are done :) What's funny is that I never in my dreams imagined that I could write in Malayalam. Thought it is not too poetic but yes did manage to fit in :) Hopefully planning for a better platform to showcase my creativity in composing. As of now I need to get started with munching on to my so called whole meal salad.
TIA

We need to kill it first within us ...

Strikes in a way is some kind of a terrorism I believe. Whatever maybe the situation it's consequences are only looked up to achieving the purpose. The whole fun part of studying in India is to experience strikes and have exams cancelled due to them. In fact even today being a final year student my whole class waits for the long bell to just get rid of the lectures. Yes! it's fun . But not all the time. At some point all of us want to study and complete our portions to get a decent 70 % .

It was appalling to read headlines everyday regarding the strikes being held by pilots of reputed airlines. Some must have missed their loved ones, some their most important meeting in their career, some a vacation to free themselves of all the mess happening around and for some a flight could mean another side of lifetime. But little do we think of what's going to happen on the other side rather than being jealous of it. I don't think strike is anyway to achieve any of our 'wants'. Some people are way more greedy to be wanting more than to be satisfied with what they 'need'. I also agree that at some cases some of them don't even get their 'needs' and ask for them. But there is no point in getting them by avoiding your duties. I have always noticed that everyone talks big when it comes to their rights and their requirements being an Indian citizen. But what many of us tend to forget is our duties. Only when we exercise our duties can we legitimately extend our hands towards our rights. I have many a times realized it myself when I ask for something without even performing my duties. We have a little terrorist inside us and we need to kill that first to take anti terrorist acts against the others. We talk of equality and peace by eliminating terrorism and bias. But we ourselves have ignited the flame and now it's going to take a while to extinguish it.


I was just having a small conversation with one of my lawyer friends who supposedly fights cases where her client is the rightly accused one. When I asked her if she takes the help of lies she denied . One wonders how they are successful in winning such a case. When the masters of law fiddle with the law then there is no point in preaching about following the 'right path'. It's been a world with man made rules and with it's distortion we are never going to grow as a planet, a nation and most importantly as a human being. What goes around comes around. This boomerang theory always works so think before you take each step. Being selfish for your needs is not a crime provided your surrounding is not affected by your decision. The time to realize all this was suppose to happen ages ago but it's never too late and maybe now we should stand up and serve for the purpose of humanity.

September 14th : My special day

And... I lose my teen-ship :D

THE BIG ONAM SPLASH

which was telecasted in Rosebowl Channel on September 3rd have given me some really negative reviews. Lot of people called me after the telecast to tell me how hilarious it was but at the same time there were people who thought it completely threw of the image of some of the anchors. I wanted to write on this earlier but thought of it as a fun show but now after receiving some shrewd comments I decided to write on this though I am late by a week.

Firstly, this whole 'prankster on the prowl' was not planned! None of us would wantingly throw our dignity to raise the TRP of the channel. None of us need that. Each and every anchor is extremely professional when it comes to their work and we don't need any sort of short term publicity stunts to raise the TRP of our respective shows. So those of you who think it's planned I think I have cleared your doubt. Secondly, I do not know about the rest but I didn't feel good about it . I was absolutely helpless at that point. I don't have the rights to speak about the other gags as I was not present there while those were being taken. I can only speak to you about the gag played on me. I was told that Sudipto (Prankster) was a percussionist who has worked with A.R.Rahman and Himesh Reshammiya. I was also asked to hold a small interactive session with him asking about his experience and his future works. And apparently he was also asked to interact with me so that I can sing few songs and speak about my show, Nine at Night. Once the cameras were rolling he obviously started to speak about fake things to trap me. Now, some of the spectators had a problem with me not responding back and disagreed with me agreeing to all the nonsense spoken by Sudipto. Just look at it from a different angle. I am actually interacting with a percussionist from ARRs den so I need to give him the respect he deserves even if it's utter crap that he is speaking on National TV. In fact many of the celebrity guests in my show speak a lot of things that could work against their image. But since everything is cut off in the editing room you guys never get to watch it uncensored. When the gag was being played all I could think was that I am suppose to diplomatically handle this making sure I do not hurt Sudipto's feelings. So naturally I had to oblige to everything he had to say be it Kumar Sanu raag or Kutra raag or ramdev raag . I don't think I would appreciate any kind of rebelling in front of the camera on such a situation. It's also for the same reasons that I actually sang the different versions of Pardesi. I am a singer who is asked to use my creativity at various unprepared situations... and at that point I did feel that as a singer I proved my creativity even if a bunch of them had a ROFL. No regrets .. all was done to entertain each and everyone of you. But it would be nice if you could also think about the other side.

Once all of us got to know that it was a gag it was way too late to respond. But for that one person who commented against this , please, if you did'nt like it and if you think we lost our image then you may kindly switch the channel and watch something which probably matches your dignity levels. After all man and science have come up with a wonderful electronic invention - the remote. Thank you once again for all the good , bad and very bad reviews :D ... Keep watching Rosebowl and have a wonderful post-onam week.

Bollywood strip club

To see actors being really passionate about their acting is a good sign but not to an extent where people feel embarrassed to watch them even if the 'role demands it'. John, Neil, etc are some of the brightest actors of the future of our Filmdom. Though I am very supportive of most of the things they come up with nudity is something I do not support. Their justification is pretty convincing but even if the role demands, to watch it on screen with your parents... or even friends it's embarrassing. Maybe it's my mindset. Reality is not necessarily required to be copied on screen. Something’s are understood or they could cover it up in a way that it is understood. It's moving in a too-fast pace. The growth from flowers kissing each other has now brought us in a situation where we get to see love making even before wedlock. Even if we say that people have moved on and have started to support pre mature sex and old traditions have died, onscreen it's a different picture altogether. I don't support premature sex but I am sure that those who support also will not be comfortable watching it with their parents .There is a line drawn to mark a certain saturation point and when that is crossed it's a feeling of being a stranger. Almost all have a goof body to flaunt but when used in the right time at the right situation it doesn't feel awkward. One of the finest examples is Chandni Bar. Be it a two piece or no pieces I wish I soon become comfortable watching all this or soon I will be ditching the movie theatres near my place.

It pissed me off when so much hype is created about a movie with just a big star cast and no script. I never go to watch them and I am glad that public is giving thumbs down for such a heap of waste. I admire Bebo's wardrobe in Kambakht Ishq but I am glad that it was not declared a hit just cos of Stallone and Richards. I guess people have developed a sense of understanding the criteria for a hit movie. It's not about making a serious cinema like Black or something jazzy like CC2C..It’s about providing a story out of it. In some movie of the recent times I just love the acting of some of the superstars but it's such a disappointment to call a friend after the movie and tell him/her that I didn't get the story!

And another thing people should avoid is comparing movies Khamoshi should not be compared to Hum dil de chuke sanam and nor should Ore Kadal be compared to Ritu. They are fresh in their aspects and just show the various interpretations of the director's ideas on that subject. Being one of the singers of Ritu, people shoot questions like why was Asif shown as a gay in the movie. Apparently it was irrelevant. But my take on that subject is that it is relevant. Depends on one's perception. His gay shade was not portrayed cos of the recent hype created about the laws regarding gay rights. Sharath is a friend who believes he knows his friends better than himself and that no one knows him the way he has learnt them. At the point when he is told by some fellow worker that Sunny is a secretly a gay ,it's a moment where Sharath feels that the value created of his friendship is all gone. It' a moment when he self realizes that he never knew Sunny. It actually indicates that what we always see on the outside is not true. So he being a gay attributes a lot to Sharath's evaluation on the understanding he had about his friendship. It took him that long to realize it and that is the importance of Asif being a gay. To each his own.. This is just what I understood from the movie.

Nine @ Night will have some special interviews this whole week cos of Onam. I am not sure about which one will be telecast when. But tonight at 9 PM in Rosebowl channel we have Naresh Iyer opening his heart out. And on the 2nd of September we have 'The Big Onam Splash' on Rosebowl itself from 8 30 AM to 9 30 PM... catch it if possible.. Will be uploading most of it online anyways... till then advance Onam wishes...Ciao!

Muthoot Scion Paul George Murdered

These are one of those times where I really regret not taking up Malayalam as my second language. I was travelling by the Shatabdi which is an extremely good train but I shall comment on it later. I read in bits and pieces about the murder and with whatever I read I am shocked. To the core. It's just not explainable why a bunch of people would do that in business rivalry. Whoever maybe the wrong one revenge in this form is absolutely disgusting. In fact I always believe that God is there watching high above to take revenge with each one's enemy then why should we increase our burden by taking up his job? It freaks me to have to believe to the fact that our security is a big '?' ... till when ? God knows for what reason is someone going to murder me in the future. They don't even need a reason. I just hope that the law comes up with a good verdict in this case cos I don't know I am feeling really bad about this case. Young ,happy lad having some fun driving and booom.. he's dead!

* RIP SIREN*

"Sach Ka Samna"

The hype created about this show is just way too less than I had expected it to be. This whole debate on whether India is prepared for it or not is absolutely baseless. TV being the largest medium for publicity, there are umpteen shows today be it reality or fiction... you can just simply switch the channel if you find any particular programme obscene. There are very few people left in this kalyug who want to free themselves off the burden of their sins.. if not all atleast the lies. One should appreciate and someone rightly said that politicians should definitely take up the hot seat. I really salute all those contestants who really have the guts to take up the hot seat and reveal some of the most deadly secrets of their life. And the best part of the show is it is voluntary decision of the participant which actually illuminates the purpose of the concept. Cos it shows the confidence in him/her. HT was discussing about this at centre stage and there was this big guy who was bragging about how unprepared India is to face this. But the best part of the whole debate was when Rajeev Khandelwal asked the big guy about teaching our children to lie instead of facing the truth to which the guy gave an absolutely vague answer. Funnily, the people who have big mouths to say the worst are the ones who end up not missing a single episode...People should learn to accept the good things of our society and should also digest the fact that it's a heap of truth and not a heap of crap. For those who give it a thumbs down .. please make the effort of extending your hands to this gadget known as the remote which is magically the mode through which one can exercise 'ignorance is bliss'.

I need to thank Rahulraj for a hundred million reasons. But I'll mention one for the meanwhile. Promotiong Shyamaprasad's upcoming flick 'RITU' was absolutely fun. Actually the fun part was unexpected and now I am addicted. The whole team including actors and singers were called by a channel for promotion. The shoot was delayed by 3 hours and surprisingly all of us had a jolly good time. Ritu's music has an exceptional guitarist Sumesh who had come along with his guitar to play for us during the shoot. So initially Rahulji was just making us practice which ended being a complete unplugged session. Now I understand what it feels to be like a family! Another such event was when the movie was being promoted in technopark where major portions were shot. It was funny cos Rahulji informed me on the morning of the event and I was the only singer present there! As usual we had a gala time promoting as Shyamji was shot with a lot of questions and the I just jammed with Sumesh and Rahul. Before the shoot he was asking me to listen to Taylor Swift's music cos he thinks it will suit my singing. And trust me, IT DOES !! I am completely in love with the fun lyrics and her singing... If any of you have some good collection of spanish numbers do ping me :D

Ciao till then ....

'Nine At Night' videos available !

The show I am hosting for Rosebowl Channel, Nine at Night is one of the best experiences I have had so far.I wanted to upload all the videos in my video blog but just never had the time to do so..

Today I was simply checking out few videos on the net and I found that the one I did with Cello Sekar and Ramesh Narayan ji were already uploaded in asianetindia.com

Do have a dekko

Here goes the links

Cello Sekar: http://www.asianetindia.com/videos/cello-sekhar-part-1_60893.html
Cello Sekar part 2: http://www.asianetindia.com/videos/cello-sekhar-part-2_60895.html

Rameshji: http://www.asianetindia.com/videos/ramesh-narayan-part-1_61307.html
Rameshji part 2: http://www.asianetindia.com/videos/ramesh-narayan-part-2-2_61302.html


*TIA*

Ritu- A Shyam Prasad- Rahul Raj combo..

April 21st: I wished Mom on her birthday and I thought of taking her out for dinner.. so I asked dad to chill out cos he wouldn't be asked for his credit card.. so we made plans for a movie and then thought of going for dinner. As planned we got the tickets and sat inside the theatre I got a call from Rosebowl regarding a show..so I asked my parents to continue watching the movie. Once done with the meeting my dad gave me a call saying someone called to his number asking for me and said it was urgent! So I went back to the theatre and gave a call to that anonymous number and the person on the other line was casually asking me where I was.. I asked him to intro himself and he said he was Rahul Raj! He asked me to come for the recording two days later and said it was for Shyam Prasad's next.

Two days later I started off to Cochin and reached there by around 2 in the afternoon. We were signalled to wait outside the recording room and I was so tired that I unknowingly took a quick nap. After half an hour of napping and waiting a man with average height stepped outside the room.. and the moment I saw him I knew who it was! He shook hands with dad and introduced himself as Shyam Prasad (as if the intro was required). After a little while Suchith, Jeetu and Job came out along with Rahul sir and they requested me to wait for 15 more minutes as they wanted to do some pet-pooja.

Finally they were done with the lunch and I was given the lyrics. I was made to sing every line twice or thrice with the music and so was Job asked to. After a little bit of rehearsing I was asked to go first and record :).. being my first proper playback experience in Malayalam I was a daaaaaaam nervous.. but Rahul ji always makes you feel comfortable with his lame jokes of course! Back in the recording room all I wanted to do was focus.. but with all the joking and pulling the leg.. all I could do was laugh and laugh :D ... But the most tension-ing part of the recording was that Shyam Prasad was there throughout! But the person is awesome infact I had such a nice time talking to him after I recorded the initial portions. Shyam sir had said it's a club song and said that we shoudln't record it thinking it's another semi-art movie ..hehe..great fun with such awesome people to work with..Job was awesome.. the feel he emotes so naturally is something we should have in us naturally...For dinner we all had chapathi and chicken and it was around 11 that I started from there for Trivandrum !!

Cindrella.mp3

I hope you guys had a wonderful time listening to this smashing number!! Do give me honest feedback :D



The Video




For the trailor click HERE.

Check out few posters of RITU Here.

To check out Shyam Prasad sir speaking about Ritu go here

The Hindu on Ritu

The article on Ritu... right hand side my lil name is mentioned :D

Picha vecha naal

After a looooooooooooooooooooooong time .... trust me !!!!


One absolutely great song by Deepak Dev for the movie Puthiya Mukham... check it out

Picha vecha naal muthalku nee...ente swantham ente swanthamay


Shankar Mahadevan... HANDS DOWN !!!!


World Music Day programme on Rosebowl is available HERE.

World Music Day - Rosebowl

Check out the World Music Day special On Rosebowl tomorrow from 11 am to 9 pm..again a 10 hour Telethon!!

Anchors are:
Lekha Sreekumar, Roshni, Sidharth Nair, Neha Nair and Tao.

Do not miss it .. and do send in your valuable comments !!!

The Shiney Ahuja case has completely shocked me cos I never expected him out of all the stars to do so. I never got time to watch the channels as I was busy with my own work but when my mom told me about this I was completely taken aback. The guy has just started off and is pretty much talented.. then what made him do so in the absence of his infant is quite horrifying. It's so sad to see such cases where one is completely helpless . The whole thing of the fashion world and Filmdom being corrupted is only being proven right day by day. The respect for the industry falls so low and it's very hard to just ignore it.

About child labour regarding the child artists who are acting in Balika Vadhu, etc. should not be made a big deal about. I mean if the children are comfortable with it ,it's a good way to boost themselves at such a young age besides serials like Balika Vadhu impart a lot of knowledge one has to know. It may not change things immediately but if an effort is being made , it definitely does not become a waste. Also the child artists are doing a commendable job. So talented! and I wonder where they find the time to juggle up their homework’s with their shooting schedules. The children are the light of the serial. Without them the title itself is so meaningless. I hope they are not removed on the basis of 'child labour'.

The other day I was listening to Page 3 expert Simi speak on Sheetal Mafatlal case. What Simi said about the case was that the treatment given was totally unfair. Something like things worth more than 2 crores are not allowed to be carried. She gave this very interesting example of one who is probably carrying a gown or an Armani worth 3 crore aboard, he would have to be detained for paying the extra duty! kaise baat ka batangad bana gaya is a definite look out in this case and I won't comment much as I really haven't dug into the details but of what I heard from Simi I did feel that Sheetal was definitely being targeted for another purpose altogether.

A chat with Balabhaskar

The moment I was told that I am suppose to interview Balabhaskarji I was excited because I am his biiiig fan.. from the time I have heard him in the Soorya Fest. So last night I was busy googling about him and got in touch with some of his close friends to get some itsy bitsy masala stuff for the show. I was told that he would reach by ten and I reached Mascot Hotel ,the venue around ten. The wait is horrible but when you know it's for someone special it's worth it. In between Venu Nagavalli sir had come there for an interview and since he is my distant relative I went up and introduced myself.. Apparently my face is familiar :) God knows how !! By around 11:30 am we were getting anxious about why he didn't arrive on time and voila! he was waiting for us from the past one hour on the other side. Why was there no communication done between the producer and Baluji is still a puzzle in mind... Anyhow the shoot started and I had rehearsed my introductory lines about him. On the side he was testing his violins and was tuning them. I was extremely conscious at first but he is soooo smiley and so natural that he makes you want to be a kid. I mean we were literally giggling and smirking and I was making why-are-you-so-humble-looks for which he returned I-am-born-humble smiles :D The best part of this session was his explanation about one of his works namely pa-less. It was one work which was appreciated by his Guru and it was a small thing that he composed in Vasantha ragam. As Vasantha is a raga that does not use panchama he names his piece pa-less :D :D... Now I don't really have to explain about his humor! One of a kind I tell you! I made him communicate through his violin a lot and he also made me sing. I hate to sing when I am not the guest or the 'main' person. But my producer was hell bent on me singing and blah blah so I eventually sang a Hariharan ghazal. It will be telecasted on Rosebowl pretty soon and will update you on that!

I have finally joined the gym to pull down but guess things are working the wrong way as I lost around 0.5 day before and today when I checked again.. gained one! So I am following a strict diet and blah blah .. oh! Life's totally depressing nowadays. Day before yesterday Jai Hind channel had come over to my place to shoot Mr. B.Sasikumar . They liked the upper hall of my house and thought that it would make a beautiful musical ambience for the shoot. I was in class the whole morning and was upset about not being able to witness the shoot but thankfully that day we were sent back home early and I could make it on time. Met up with my all time favourite Balabhaskar ji!! Also present were Gopan uncle, Kavalam sir, Rajasree Warrier, etc. The shoot went upto 5 in the evening and the anchor was nervous as it was her first time apparently. Sasikumar sir is absolutely chilled out and happens to know my very first Guru Shri. Ramesh K. Narayan in Muscat. He even remembers how he looks. You can have a good look at my house when the shoot is telecasted.

Yesterday I was invited to the drama written and directed by Soorya Krishnamurthy sir named 'Pulari'. It took place in Swathitirunal College and will be going on till the 15th. I never knew that he was a writer until he owned up that fact when I went to his place couple of weeks back. He was saying that he is a theatre person basically and music and dance is something he learns from the artists that take part in his tours! I don't think it will be right to explain the whole story here but the performances was superlative. Especially the Tea shop guy and the old man. All the other characters were too good but these two touched my heart. There would be no life in the play without the tea shop guy ! It's been a long time since I got to watch a play and was looking forward to this . I was worried if I wouldn't get the passes or not but surprisingly there were no passes required .. you just need to be an art lover ! I can't even use paisa vasool here !! :D So if you guys want to catch it there's still time till the 15th. Gates close by 6:55 sharp and the play starts at dot 7.

My lappy is formatted and is looking brand new. *so proud of it* ... It's mother board is totally messed up due to which my CD drive is damaged... so I am just leaving it that way but I really miss watching Friends. I used to keep watching them anytime I feel bored.. and now I'll have to catch it's reruns late night... For now.. adios amigo!

Great news!

for all Rosebowl channel lovers! as a survey has been put up ,a Market Research for the channel. All enthusiastic fans do participate in the poll in order to give the channel an opportunity to be innovative. All you need to do is to click in the link below and accept the right one from the choices.

http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?hl=en&formkey=ck12VW9VbzY5ZGR4Wm4yZ3RmWkNqX0E6MA

Ciao till then !!!

Rajanigandha season 3

I never expected them to work with the team again!! After last year’s success with Srini sir I guess I would be asking for too much... but things worked well with me and I ended up going to Muscat for the show. But this journey without dad was painful for the cause that though he is bugging when it comes to practicing and maintaining discipline... if it wasn't for him... I would probably be in TV Today. M.G.Sreekumar was the guest singer for the show and I got to share the stage with him for ramayana kaate. The other songs I sang were Singaravellane and chandu thottile. A memorable show after all it's my first without Dad! But this would have never been possible without my Gurus Ramesh sir and Khalid sir. I would also like to thank Dr. Thomas , Sasi uncle and Ramani aunty, Ramdas uncle and Sindhu aunty and the sponsors for making this happen!


To check out few pics during rehearsals.. Go here.

Like I had promised you I have finally got a little portion of the Rosebowl show 'Thank you for the Music - A tribute to A.R.Rahman' uploaded in you tube and I have posted it in my video blog. Thanks to Vishnu Vishakh for uploading this !!!

Click HERE to view it.


Catch it's paper write up HERE.

The death of Prabhakaran is another milestone in India's Most Wanted list... definitely an achievement and I must say that after quite some time (after election catfights) we are having something good to speak about to discuss about. Every time they flashed saying 'we are near his hideout place' or 'just few more days and we'll capture him' honestly I used to feel that this story is going to be never ending. But when I came back home after my exam my mom very casually told me about his death and I was taken aback cos that's something I least expected. And then I got to know that his son passed away too. Wasn't it bound to happen someday or the other? I feel bad for his wife and daughter. They must be living in a world parallel to heaven. Or maybe the lady has been preparing herself for this day. But how much ever preparations one does for a tragedy the end result cannot suppress one's depression. At the moment tears are destined to fall. The day people learn the significance of tolerance would probably be the day where we can commence into a world full of peace. And like Tagore has said... I also have faith in humanity as it is like the sun which can be clouded but never extinguished.

Yield not to temptation, for yielding is sin
Look ever to God, he will carry you through


It is not only about religion and fighting for a particular community's right but it is also about how much others are affected by this. In Kalyug, God himself will come and slay the devils at the end of the world. Maybe the end is nearing and God will disguise himself to slay all the devils one by one... will we or our succesors ever be able to see a world where peace dominates and a world where everyone is tolerant? Will God actually come to slay the sinners? I think he will... whether Hindu, Muslim or Christian is up to your imagination...

I am an optimistic person and I, like any other person would like to see a safe secure future ahead of us. We can make a difference, not by voting... but by making a difference in our lives ourselves. Rather than choosing from a bunch of options it's better if we make the options ourselves and execute them. You will definitely see the difference...

It's so messed up... who? The Kerala University! They don't give the dates in advance and expect us to cancel or reschedule whatever we have in mind for the sake of their own-sweet-time-decision-making-system. I had a show just a day before my main paper and had to travel to Trissur and then back to Trivandrum the same day. And now my next headache is that I have a show on the same day as my language exam, the only problem is the venue... it's in Muscat!!! After a lot of thinking I finally decided to take up the show and thought of writing the exams in September. I really wish the University would give us the whole schedule a month before exams so that we could prepare for exams on time! And plan out our extracurricular activities as well.

BTW the Muscat show is on the 22nd of May in Al- Falej. The special guest is M.G.Sreekumar and we have a whole lot of youngsters from Muscat singing on the show. I will be performing 3 songs and the show is conducted by my primary Guru, Shri. Ramesh K. Narayan. The rest of the details will be available in the local newspapers out there.

I am looking out for some good gyms in Trivandrum... really want to shed some kilos... but don't know much about the gyms here... so if someone could help me with it...Please do!!

The R factor...

This is regarding a letter from Dr. Balakrishna Varma, a psychiatrist on his take on reality show.. Click here to read the letter.

Lot of people are saying that the judges are being too harsh on the children and torturing them mentally... but I feel they are fair enough. I am talking about the panel of judges in Malayalam reality shows. In fact sometimes I feel they just show a blind eye to most of the mistakes saying it could affect the votes dedicated to a particular contestant by his/her fan. The children’s' episode is pretty fun to watch and I feel that they shouldn't join if they are not able to take in the pressure. Crying at the elimination stage is fair enough... Everyone does have feelings and at some point do feel that competition has something more than just the participation factor. When I used to enrol for competitions, I was always brainwashed that I am participating to remove my stage fear and not to win a trophy. But knowingly we go there expecting a prize for sure and when we don't win it is a disappointment. But what is funny is some of the reality show contestants are pretty strong enough when they are eliminated and stand there with a bright positive smile just when the comperer does her job and then the river begins to overflow. Elimination episodes have TRP more than any other episodes because we Indians love emotional drama.

The major negative I felt is about this 'family round' where the singer has to perform with all his family members on stage... more like a republic day parade! More than the judges I feel parents are the ones who pressurize their children at home if they scored less marks or wotever. Overall after analyzing the pros and cons I feel they affect in a more positive way and for those who are actually looking for a platform to showcase their versatility...do go for it !!!.. (Though I wouldn't personally go for it)

Telecast of Sakhi today !!!

I am really sorry !!!!! I couldn't let any of you know about the telecast of 'Sakhi' in Amrita TV .. It's actually today from 1:30 to 2:00 pm ... I will definitely try to upload the video :D... sorry once again !!!



P.S. If someone knows the timings of the re telecast of this shoot (if any at all).. please do inform me :D

Have uploaded the pics of ...

... Thank you for the music!- A tribute to a living legend A.R.Rahman....

Click here to view the pics.

Thank you for all the lovely feedback .. and it was a show that was decided by the Producer, Kadamba Rajesh at the last moment. We did want to include songs like minsarapoove, theekuruviyil and ek mohabbat but sadly the videos were of poor quality. I hope you all had a great time watching it .. Hope to do something like this once again in the future...adios amigo..

P.S.Do give in your valuable suggestions here..

Rosebowl - Thank you for the Music!

THANK YOU FOR THE MUSIC! - A Tribute to A.R.Rahman!!


It's a 9 hour Telethon first time on Indian Television exclusively on ROSEBOWL. Watch it on the 1st of May from 12:30 pm to 9:30. We'll be playing the 100 greatest tracks of A.R.Rahman and please note that we are not being judgemental...cos every song of the Maestro is the best! But this is a list of some of the best songs of his career. I hope you all have a wonderful time. The show will also be re-telecasted on the 3rd of May before the commencing of the Jai Ho! Concert in Calicut... Try not missing this and your valuable feedback will be appreciated... Thank you and have great fun!

Check out the Promo:




P.S. I am anchoring the show :D

My first Voting ever !!!

Getting and ID card for this process was a horrible experience...The silly rules and formatting is so irritating leave alone the long queue and name sake fans they have fitted which runs in a speed of a comet! This is not words of a spoilt brat NRI... pleaseee!! .. Ask every single human being who was standing there... each one had a curse on their lips! After standing in the queue for like one hour my turn came and I with a smile bigger than the Colgate one just wanted the signature of the officer there. She gave a brief look and signed and asked to get another sign from some officer bigger than her I guess. Well who cares?? I just went there... and that guy asked for the original copy of my 10th CBSE certificate. On understand from my face that I didn’t have with me at that moment what do you think he expected me to?? He wanted me to go home... which is like 30 minutes and worse with traffic and then go searching like a mad dog for my certificate and then drive back 30 minutes and much worse with traffic. I gave him a very sad innocent face... aaha... nothing could change the man. And trust me...I could feel it in my blood that he was doing it just to trouble me and not because he was loyal to the department and blah. Whatever I was so irritated I asked my parents to carry on... and just stood there jobless... sheeessh... they need to get a life!! And then mom came and tried her best to convince him... I had my passport renewed just a month ago... so obviously it would have got renewed only if I had my 10th certificate... anyways the man was adamant... so I went back home.. He didn’t even bother checking out the certificate... I felt like pointing out my math marks... cos that was the only worth thing to be noticed in that certificate... but who cares?? After all the pain I definitely had to go and vote! For the one and only Shashi Tharoor :)... I've admired him from the time he was in UN...and also cos he is an Indian representing UN. Voting hardly took time cos I went in the afternoon and no one was there. So I got my ID card checked then got some indelible ink on the index finger of my left hand and went and pressed the button next to 'Shashi Tharoor'..With a palm sign next to it. I didn't particularly feeling anything but I felt good about one thing... i.e. my mom and dad voted for the first time with me yesterday. I felt good that I got to vote at 19! And that when I have children I can always boast about it... I hope India enters a more prosperous phase and that all the big problems become miniscule and that we progress a step higher than a 'third world country'... Jai Ho!

An Indian Says...

Another friend of mine Sriram has got into blogging. The person composes such amazing music but never thought he can get aggressive and patriotic in certain issues. Usually chatting with him is a chat full of music and peace and homeliness... but couple of days back he started off with Hindu and Muslim rights and about Varun Gandhi's rights and blah blah that I was pretty surprised that he had such wide thinking... And two days later out of nowhere he pops up with a blog and boy! He is talking! So go and check up with this amateur blogger and do encourage him!

To check out his musical creation Click Here.

To check out his blog .. do click here.

Happy Vishu!

Vishu is always celebrated the same way whether it was in Oman or in Kerala... but the feel with which we celebrate and the enthusiasm is what varies.. Back in Oman we are so excited to celebrate any kind of festival including those belonging to the North or another state. For Vishu Mom and Dad will be shopping on the eve and then would decorate for the morning kani.. I and Nisha would be sent early to bed and would be woken up around 4:30 blindfolded ...The best part would be kaineetam...No marks for guessing!! We would usually hold a sadya at home and invite all our friends for lunch.. It makes us homesick and also makes us feel at home...



Two years back when I shifted to Kerala.. I celebrated my first Indian Vishu in Trissur.. It was great fun with crackers and all the customs with more guests, etc. But this year we decided to celebrate in Trivandrum itself. I found the enthusiasm less over here... no crackers or noise... in fact people were preparing Non-vegetarian dishes and there were very few people who actually decorated for kani...so the hype here was low and so was it at our home too. Very few relatives came over... it was more like a formality to be done rather than celebrating the fact that it is a new year... I came up with crankiest happy vishu messages sending it to everyone in my mobile list... out of which very few bothered wishing me back :D (I guess it was cos of the P.S. which spoke of mandatory kaineetam *tee hee*)

I would like to wish everyone a HAPPY VISHU! And a great year full of joy and happiness and if any grievances... then the strength to overcome it...


"Follow your bliss
And the universe
Will open doors for you
Where there were
only walls"

- Joseph Campbell

A Day at the Legend's

I was in Chennai for a while and got the great privilege to meet Music Director Devarajan master's family. Thanks to Lulu aunty, Head Mistress, Asan Memorial school because of who we got to meet them. We spoke a lot about his music and unrecorded works. She even asked me to sing...and I sang my favourite Om Namah Shiva. After I sang she said that master must have definitely heard my voice and that she can feel it! Apparently her grandson only talks about space and galaxy but her granddaughter who is hardly 2 years old is inclined a little towards music.

She said that master would have never encouraged reality shows if he was alive. She asked me to touch his feet and take his blessings... and I feel things will take a good turn in my life with his blessings. These are those moments when one feels thoroughly blessed with a reason to fulfil his dreams...

Sakhi - Amrita TV

Almost two weeks back right after my Ghazal concert I received a call from Mrs. Bindu asking me if I would like to be a part of her show 'Sakhi' which is telecasted in Amrita TV. Apparently the show was stopped for a period of time and they are planning to revive the show back on charts on public demands! I was pretty surprised cos I didn't know what I really have to share with the audience as such. I mean I have absolutely nothing to brag about!! But I very politely obliged to her request and the interview was scheduled for 30th morning. I woke up at around seven and got dressed waiting for their cab which was supposed to reach at my house by nine. And..Eventually I ended up there at 9:30. Usually dad accompanies me to all my shoots and stuff but since he's just back from his nose surgery two days back I took mom along. After reaching there we were asked to be seated inside, I think a waiting room or something like that. I was rehearsing my lines *giggle*... as in... How I should thank the channel at the end of the show and I should refer to the interviewer as 'chechi'. I was signalled to the makeup room where I got to meet Bindu mam, the producer of Sakhi and the interviewer Mrs. Geeta. Instead of introducing myself I was worried about the lines I had rehearsed and made up. Cos in that I referred to the interviewer as chechi and now I need to make a correction by calling her aunty. Daaaam! All calculations gone hay wire!!! Geeta aunty was big time pissed about her hair cos she had spoiled it by straightening it and apparently a lot of her fans had criticised her for it and warned that they would stop watching the show if she continued with that look. A happy day at work for the hair stylist I guess!

Once we were on the sets I just loosened out and Geeta aunty was asking me to tell something about myself to her cos she had absolutely no clue about me ! Interesting... cos that's exactly what I wondered when Bindu mam had given me a call two weeks earlier. The interview commenced and I totally went blank about those silly lines I had rehearsed. As usual I was in for a toss!.. But Geeta aunty made me feel really comfortable and I just went on blabbering on camera!! She made me sing 2 keerthanams, a ghazal, a devotional song, gopike nin viral, snehithane , mayya mayya and An empty street (Westlife)!!! It was sooo much fun and when it came to an end she was totally surprised cos she had never in her wildest dreams also thought that she would actually cross the time limit for a episode...Aaah..So is the magic of me :) :) Wotever....Will post about the telecast dates and hopefully will get a copy of my episode... Ciao!

Secretariat members family get together

I need to be whacked left and right at least 3 times ... if anyone is willing to do so please do inform me .. cos I will oblige.... I am so dumb!!! I had actually got a call from my friend Vinil, an ace drummer in Trivandrum who said he wanted to call me for a show in Trissur sometime around the first week of April. That is when I got a call from Sangeeth who started the conversation with 'Hi! is this Neha? I am Sangeeth..The Superstar one?' Obviously he meant the Amrita Superstar Global Season One winner Sangeeth!!... He met me and spoke about the show details along with his friend Ramesh.. Everything went great and Ramesh used to keep calling and updating me about the songs I have to sing etc etc. The show is scheduled for the 2nd of April. I was simultaneously "studying" for my exams and for the show... Yesterday we had one practice session is a small hall..
Everything except Mayya Mayya was unplugged... and I was loving it totally..After the practice session Ramesh said that he would holding one more session today and would let me know. I was all prepared since morning for his call today but he ended up calling only around 5:59 asking me to report to the Central Stadium at 7:00 pm. I put on a cotton kurta and just rushed to the Stadium even without my earrings. When I reached there..There was so much of hustle and bustle that I was confused about where the rehearsals were going to be held. After a short while Ramesh reached and was looking pretty surprised at my extremely simply way of dressing and asked me what's wrong with me...when I asked him what's happening in this place and where r we supposed to rehearsal.. He asked me if I was in my senses.. And told me that I would be going live on stage in half an hour !!!!!!!! The only surprising part is that I did not faint on the spot.. Caught an auto.. rushed home.. wore some dazzling clothes ..whitewashed my face in no time.. and I was out of my house.. in exactly 09:00 minutes!! After reaching the Stadium yet again Vinil started mocking me .. and I obviously became red with embarrassment.. But the rest of them never had time to mock me ..so we said our prayers and went onto stage..Commenced with Jai Ho! then Bharat Humko... after that I sang Tere Bina with William and Mayya Mayya with manodharma male portion done by Sangeeth..I sang Adiyae kolluthe and Aapki Nazaron ne samjha unplugged. Great audience! great response!! An awesome team to work with !! Yackson was amazing on the keyboard, Vinil on the drums.. But Vishnu stole the thunder with his individual flute piece in every song.. Other singers who sang were Arun, Suraj (Amrita Superstar Global season2), Raajeshwari(Spicy India- Asianet plus)..One helluva experience!! Will never ever forget this show ever.. for the dumbest things I commit..but like they say.. This is the spice in life

Call the shots!!

Not even a week left for exams and I have finally been compulsive enough to open my books! As I was "studying" the 10 stages in the Development of Musical Stages I just happened to come across this line belonging to the 7th stage which says '...the names of the Janaka ragas are masculine and those of the minor ragas are feminine'. I just wanted to highlight the disparity between women and men at those times which are visible through this example wherein masculine names were assigned to the parent ragas and the sub ragas were given names of more feminine touch. Aah.. Rule of the roost!

Video of the Ghazal Sandhya

I have uploaded the Ghazal Video in my Video blog... Vodcast .. click HERE.

Snaps of the Ghazal Sandhya

With Soorya Krishnamurthy , first from the right.. :D To view more pics pls click HERE. Also will be uploading the songs quite soon .. so keep watching this space :)

Snap of the Ghazal Sandhya in Manorama

A picture of me performing ghazals which came in Manorama today.

I was pretty tensed since the day Shankarji of Habitat Technologies had suggested my name for giving a ghazal concert. But I got anxious and excited when I heard that Soorya Krishnamurthy sir would be inaugurating the function. It's such a great thing to have such a humble person coming to inaugurate an amateur's performance. Before I left for the concert I called up my gurus, Ramesh sir and Khalid sir in Muscat and took their blessings as they are the ones who have groomed me as a singer. Half an hour before the show Soorya sir gave me call.. I got nervous thinking he must be calling to say he wouldn't be able to make it for the show. But undeterred I picked his call and much to my surprise he actually called me to wish me good luck as he would be reaching only by seven because of which he may not be able to wish me before my performance. Apparently due to some confusion he was under the misconception that I would start performing before his arrival to the venue. I was confused too and instead of rectifying the situation I silently took his blessings and left for the concert.

On last minute materialization shamiana was arranged as a roof for the listeners as the rains were unpredictable today. I was asked to say a few words on Ghazals and what all songs I was going to perform today on camera for Manorama News. I am extremely camera shy and like doing stuff behind the camera.. Like being a journalist, a playback singer, a radio jockey :D

Soorya Krishmoorthy sir arrived and everyone stood up as a posture of respect to this personality ...I was in all smiles as I got to light the lamp after him :) These are those moments when one feels elated and God really has to knock you down...Initial speeches began and after the comperer was done introducing me and my accompanying artists I commenced with Om Namah Shiva, a bhajan..After which I sang Man Mohana and then started with the ghazal Apni aankhon ke samundar mein. Also sang salona saaz sajan, Koi samjhayiye, Tumhare khat mein, Khali hai tere bina, Dil cheez kya hai. It was totally fun and definitely an experience to perform in the Poojapura grounds.

While I was singing a young man in shorts pulled up a chair next to Soorya sir's seat and sat on it. He looked extremely young and didn't look like a person who enjoys ghazals. But never judge a book by its cover... Anyways ...towards the ending of my concert this person scribbled something over a small chit and came up on stage and handed it over to me. I was taken aback as I did not expect any farmayish on my very first stage. One of his farmayish was In aankhon ke masti mein. But the organizers asked me to end the concert with a final song and I had to oblige. But I felt bad for that youngster as he was the only person who must have found me that professional to actually request his choice :D... I was looking out for him after my concert was over but he was gone by then. I wanted to apologize and thank him for making me feel special on my very first experience here. If he is by any chance reading my blog ..I am Sorry!! :)

I would take this opportunity to thank architect Shankarji for taking in special efforts to introduce a struggling singer like me into this musical world. Also I would like to thank Soorya sir for finding time out of his busy schedule just to watch my performance. My special thanks to Satheesh uncle on the tabla and Hamsa uncle on the harmonium without whose support I would be like a bird in the sky without wings! Satheesh uncle had a solo tabla concert the previous day but ignoring all that he did find time to rehearse with me thrice. If it wasn't for my present Hindustani guru Shri Ramesh Narayan, I would have never known Satheesh uncle nor would I be able to practice in front of Ramesh sir. When Ramesh sir asked me to keep one session at his home I was almost paralysed cos I couldn't imagine singing in front of him. Though he was a little caught up today cos of which he couldn't watch me performing at the Poojapura I knew his blessings and prayers will be backing me up all the time. Keerthi complimented me by playing the thamburu .Last but not the least... Ellapugazhum Irivanaike

Ghazal Sandhya

I would be performing an evening of Ghazals, my very first in Trivandrum.It's being organized by the Habitat Technologies and Bharatham Fine Arts group which will be held at the Poojapura mandapam on the 14th of March. The concert will commence by 6:30 and will stretch upto an hour and a half. I would like to invite all interested listeners to this witness this function. I need your immense prayers and support. Keeping my fingers crossed :D.. Hopefully it should go well..

Thank you

Nithin Raj- ISS fame

Idea Star Singer fame Nithin Raj has started his own blog . Also being a great friend of mine I thought it would kind of nice to introduce him through my blog as this singer doesn't know even the B of Blogging. Do have a look and post in few comments. He would be sharing his experiences in the mainstream and would also be updating about his previous and upcoming shows. So go to Nithin's blog HERE. Meowwwwwww until next post!

S.N. College for Women, Kollam: A Tribute to Rahman

When Charu called me up last week and told me that she came up with a fantastic plan I thought she was exaggerating. But when she told me that we were suppose to perform at the S.N. College for Women, Kollam. It was a show to pay tribute to A.R.Rahman sir. What more could we ask for.. It was my first experience and the best so far. I along with Charu, Nithin, Suraj, Lata and Vinil were supposed to perform. We reached Kollam a lil late and the show started at around 11 which was scheduled for 10:30. Once we started off I was a little nervous as we didn't know how the crowd was and if anyone would turn up at all :).. All the singers were ready with their tracks and Vinil with his darbooka (Instrument used in Khalbali,etc.). We commenced the concert with Jai Ho! and O Saya !! which was awesome with Charu on the keyboard and Vinil on his darbooka. We sang a whole range of songs like Malargale, Kabhi Kabhi, Puthu Vellai, Aye Bachu. I finally got to sing my all time favourite udaya udaya with Nithin . I and Charu rocked the stage with mayya mayya. After that we had a small unplanned unplugged session. Right after mayya mayya Nithin and Suraj joined us and started of with Khalbali then it went on and on with Oh lalala, madhuraikee pogathedee, masakalli, kuchi kuchi and Dil se re....

Thanks to Arundhati aunty and S.N. College for making this big show happen :D

Republic Day recording in Big 92.7 FM

Stuck with Youth Festival rehearsals which are supposed to take place in Kollam on the first week of February ,all I really want to do is sleep. And today rehearsals started at around 9 and went on around till 5. But I and Charu (ex Amrita Superstar contestant) had this small work for Big 92.7 FM. We were greeted by Namitha and I sang my favourite Luka Chuppi and Charu sang a Hariharan ghazal, Jhoom le... You can hear it on the FM on the 26th, Republic Day. We even got free tee s :) So all of you guys do try to hear it on Big 92.7 FM... suno sunao life Banao..aka Kelku Kelpikyu Life Kondadu .Ciaoooooo

Slumdog Millionaire

The first movie I have ever downloaded....simply beautiful.

8th Wonder

of the world is A.R.Rahman. No doubt!! Not cos he is nominated for Oscars and Golden Globes but cos he has the time to go receive them. National award was a very natural assumption .. and so is Oscars which comes right after his current achievement. Thanks to Boyle for making this movie and for choosing Rahman. A proud moment for Rahmaniacs, India. He is truly the 8th wonder of the world!

A Doc a day keeps all the peace away (sigh)

Listening to apni aankhon ke samundar mein by Jagjit Singh. Again my throat is a goner cos of connections between cough and my sinus 'jiya se jiya' ;) After having a dekko at the doc's I am apparently weak physically and should have heavier meals at short intervals cos I am big!! And Rice being the staple food of my nation should compulsorily be a part of my daily diet. Oh! Did I ever tell you folks?? About the story of my enmity with rice?? Rice was once upon a time was my friend which eventually became my enemy and reason for my almost-obese-situation. So forgetting all the past and giving rice one more chance is out of question for sure! But doctors keep blabbering the entire portion they mugged for the title and I must say ... this is one of the opportunities where they get to do so. And to add salt to injury I have a dad who forever can listen to them blabber and will also get convinced. Thanks to mom I am able to survive through all this :)

Actually the doctor wanted to know all the little details which lead to my sinus. After my short speech he was not able to come up with a conclusion as my lifestyle doesn't have any defects. That's when my brilliant dad came up with diet issues. And you know parents right?? They totally exaggerate and add masala and everything to make it sound as convincing as possible. Oh my gawwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwd.......after that I was kind of day dreaming cos I totally lost track of what the doctor had say with his never ending list of advices. Anyways when I landed safe into my world of reality I was handed over few medicines and a 'good' diet plan and blah. Still on those..And I already am feeling worse :( Plus I have a shoot next week for which I better sing well... so please pray :)...and Sayonara for now...
Hey what’s with the connections releasing only in that new Nokia set?? Rahmanji.. Please show some mercy!! Do any of you know where to get a quality audio version of Jiya se jiya? Ping me!!

Unaroo

I need to access this song asap. I have searched most of the music stores in the city and have done a little google about it but in vain. I need it atleast by next Monday. The song is Unaroo from the movie 'Ingane oru nilapakshi'. It's a duet by Yesudas sir and Chitraji. So if anyone can get me this song please contact me !!

Welcoming 2009

Last year was a year more of positives professionally and personally for me and I hope for the best this year ..Wishing all of you an eventful year ahead... Happy New Year :)