WoRd FoR a WoRd

IFFK 2012

2012-01-23T15:01:00.002+05:30

It’s better late than never, is what I felt after the eight day long IFFK held at Trivandrum, last month. I always regretted not attending the Festival so far, but my first time was a super-enjoyable experience for me, one that’ll remain etched in my mind for quite some time. I am no critic to judge the quality of movies screened this year, but some of the movies I got to watch at the festival were enriching in several ways. ‘Delhi in a day’ , directed by Prashant Nair was a delightful watch, comprising of a tiny mishap that takes place between an upper class family in Delhi and a foreigner who wants to feel the real essence of India. The director got it right with the casting and by portraying an India devoid of slums and snake charmers. Though, I was advised not to indulge much into Indian films, I couldn’t stop myself from checking out ‘Palas in bloom’ by Shalini Usha Nair which was engaging to an extent. With killer acting by Fahadh Faasil, this book adaptation was narrated through his perspective, which made it interesting in certain shots, like the climax. The final Indian movie I watched was ‘At the end of it all’, a Bengali movie that was a total art movie cliché. The initial innings looked promising, but it got too boring with stereotype characterization, where in, almost all the characters spoke poetically, not to forget about a dragging narrative.

Among various categories including an exclusive list of football films, ‘Games of their lives’ came as a surprise as the synopsis given in the handbook was of a completely different one! This documentary told about the development of football in North Korea. French master Robert Bresson’s films were featured in the retrospective category and his ‘Ladies of the Bois de Boulogne’ was a decent black and white experience. Depicting a vengeance filled extra marital affair, this one highlighted French culture of women of those times, which was aptly supported by subtitles. Denying it of unnecessary melodrama, the characters had a balance between emotions like ego, innocence and pride. ‘The Puzzle’ spoke of a bored housewife who leads a monotonous life and finds her true calling in solving jigsaw puzzles. The written material has been well adapted on screen and also has really good performances by the main leads.

My favourite pick from the Festival films has to be Asghar Farhadi’s ‘A Separation’. Every character was simply interwoven within the storyline, connecting with the spectator in an empathetic way. Farhadi is directorially brilliant in his flawless style of narration and kudos to the realistic cast. I couldn’t take my eyes off for even a minute, despite having to keep in pace with the subtitles and facial expressions. Adrian Sitaru’s ‘Best Intentions’ was another flick with unintended humour that came out of serious situations. It juggled with subtle comedy and an over anxious protagonist. The movie mostly comprised of long shots, where in, the leading character had long dialogues to deliver, doing justice to his neurotic personality in the film. But it lagged in few places, yet, stroke back with funny punch lines. ‘The First Grader’ is based on a true story, beautifully directed with the non- fiction element intact. Though, it doesn’t boast of a great technical side, the movie on a whole was very inspiring with some impactful dialogues, speaking of how empowering education is. Visualizing Columbian country side in a modern day portrayal of daily life, ‘The Colours of a Mountain’ is a simple story of a nine year old’s world. In the context of a larger, dangerous issue of the killing of civilians, all that matters to the children is a damn soccer ball. Even in this earthbound hell, a huge round of applause came for Manuel as he risked everything to get his ball.

I had my share of good and not-so-good movies, but watching them with friends and loitering around Kairali theatre for snacks and shamelessly waiting for a free auto is all too memorable to be forgotten. As inspiring as some of the movies were, that enriching it was to share it with friends of the same mind set. Like they say, great minds think alike :p

If not now, when?

2012-01-16T20:00:00.000+05:30

I love my Samsung Google Nexus S phone that operates on Android. It's super-efficient, has thousands of smart apps, and is my best buddy when I'm away from home. I can 'like' on my own photos and can even send free SMSs internationally. Today, it is my virtual buddy, and what scares me is that maybe in the future, my only buddy.

You know what the irony is of this technology? The smarter your phone gets, the dumber we soon are prone to be. Being an ardent user of this technology, and a Facebook addict, it's only recently that I realized how small my world literally is. Be it from news updates to downloading songs and playing games where pigs are apparently in war with birds, smart phones and the internet have made many of us absolutely dependent on it. There was a time, back in school, when I used to talk to my best friend in class, after I'm home and before I sleep. My mother would ask me what's there to talk so much. But, that was the kind of bond I used to share with my closest of friends. Today, we speak around once in two weeks, and inevitably end the conversation with 'keep in touch' and the like, which I never thought would have to use it with her. My parents often complain of how silent I've become. and perhaps , now I realize it's because I'm so pre-occupied with socializing on the internet , and when outside… on my smart phone.

Giving it up is not a solution, as one will be called primitive if done so. Age old uncles and aunties will have a problem with this technology, scaring you away with latest findings on how cancer prone you are with radiations emitted by cell phones. Some might say it lacks personal touch and by saying that, I wonder what personal touch was there during times when a pigeon would deliver letters. Funnily, none of this can scare away net savvy people like us, and no matter what cancer can be born out of whichever gadget, even on our death bed we’ll probably not forget to ‘update out status’.

All said and forgotten, one thing that really scares me is how dependent I have become because of this. Also, how many of you can remember your closest friend's birthday without peeping into your phone calendar or Facebook for birthday reminders? Honestly, I don't even know what my land line number sounds like, because I don't need it anymore when I can converse freely over Skype with my sister who lives seven seas away. What's amazing is that everything from pins to pizzas are accessible today- just a click away. It saves time, too. I don't need to stand in a queue at the railway station when I can 'e-book' it. Nor do I need to go to book exhibitions for latest collections when I have Flipkart to deliver it at my doorstep. The internet is so cool, that I can catch an AR Rahman concert on YouTube for free, while other loyal fans take the trouble of paying hefty amounts to catch a live glimpse of him. All this is even better with a smartphone and 3G connection, which apparently is the new method for birth control ;) One of my professors had joked once about how net addicted today’s generation has become, that if we are asked of our grandparents’ names, we’d probably have to Google it up. Lately, I’ve realized how handy all this is when you have to constantly be in touch with people related to work and otherwise, but look at the amount of time wasted. At my age, I can see a lot of youngsters who aren’t equipped with such luxury, making most of their time travelling around, experiencing the real sun and earth. However easy our life is today because of this, I seriously think we must intend on spending more time outside with real people in a real world, as we may not realize what we’re missing on the outside. It shouldn’t be too late to regret, right?

We really are missing out on a lot, sometimes, when we take all this for granted. Unarguably, experience that comes with a personal touch leaves an immortal impression. There's so much to explore and enjoy outside the world of web. It's time that we stop confining ourselves to gadgets and gizmos and go out there. We might say that we're making life much easier with everything just a click away, but we're missing out on the real way of doing things that could probably make us stagnant and isolated with no memories left for the rest of our lives.

P.S. Samsung Galaxy Note is just amazing! Checked out my friend's phone and it has amazing storage power and a good enough camera. In fact you can even send mails in your own hand writing and its so much fun to play angry birds on a screen as huge as that :P. It's been rumoured to be better than iPhone .. do check it out, whilst you detach yourself from these gadgets after reading my post :)

Happy New Year !

2012-01-11T21:33:00.001+05:30

Nothing has changed, yet, so much has.. people, circumstances and emotions. It's amazing how we end up happy with the same person we despised before and how we can't get enough of this happiness. I don't know how fast the year passed by, but what changed with it was my life, my ambitions and most importantly- who I am. How expensive is it to buy happiness for a lifetime? Is it always about compromising and being settled with whatever you're given? Or.. is there a field out there that's beyond what's right and wrong, like what Rumi said?

Toot ke bikharna mujhko zarur aata hai
Varna ibbadat wala shahur aata hai

Sajde mein rehne do, ab kahin na jaunga
Ab jo tumne tukhraya tho sawar na paunga

It's a new year, calls for new innings, new opportunities to become a better person and everyone deserves to be happy. Wishing you all a fabulous year ahead.

Let Go, iMOGEN HEAP !

2011-12-22T14:31:00.000+05:30

'Let go, let go, because there's beauty in the breakdown'

There's something between me and Imogen Heap that connects way too deep, surpassing idol-ship and worshiping. It's how I'm so influenced by her song-writing and music. It's as if she's looking straight into my heart, understanding my emotions and expressing my pain and happiness. Whatever may be the occasion, I always have some song of her's to connect with. It's not sheer poetry that's ornamented with similes and metaphors. They're as simple as singing in the bathroom to being as dynamic as getting your heart broken, from loving someone like never before to being super ambitious. I really feel I haven't lived life the hard way to be able to write so honestly. Sometimes, everything around is so fake with plastic faces and expressions, that I feel so out of place in a Universe, as pure as ever, that bounds us all. I don't feel congested or like a stranger, but I'm on a confused platform, expecting one of the billion stars in the galaxy to direct me to a place where I can feel real. For me, at one point, life was ,or is, just a pattern. Everything is listed, like a lavish a la carte, where you'll choose what's most recommended. But the possibility that there is something outside that, yet to be discovered or acknowledged, is where you have to be lucky enough to experience a path not designed by others for you. That's a feeling I get to live in through her songs. I guess I am not good enough a writer to express her songs, because it's impossible for me to do so.. I'm leaving the rest of this post with some of her songs. You need to be a part of her music to understand it..

Between Sheets

Psychobabble

2-1

Tidal

I loved her album 'Ellipse'. It has this impeccable influence of Indian style aalaps and progressions ; and a slight touch of Bjork, the artist. Some of the Cello progressions remind me of Bjork's 'Play Dead' and 'Venus as a boy'. I'm on a high and I wish to be in this feel for ever, forgetting my troubles and insecurities. I'm ending this post with a line from Tidal, "Do what you feel, just how you like..nobody has to know.."

The Hindu: Metroplus: She's Rocking !

2011-12-19T18:13:00.001+05:30

Though, a wee bit late, here are few excerpts from my interview for The Hindu. Liza George, the lovely lady who interviewed, was so friendly to talk with, which actually helped me open my mind out to her..

To read the whole interview CLICK HERE

Neha Nair is the new musician in town. Liza George tunes in as she rewinds her journey in music

“I am one of the guys,” says Neha Nair, the sole girl in the Malayalam alternative rock band Avial. “In fact, after hanging out with them so much, I have started walking like one. While we are out together, I even help the guys check out girls,” she laughs.

“I started off as a Veejay thinking that would help me get a break into the film music industry. Unfortunately, all I got were more veejaying offers. Rosebowl's Outcast Vocals and Piano Sessions with Stephen Devassy were what got me noticed as a singer. While hosting In Conversation Session, I got the opportunity to interview music legends like Ustad Amjad Ali Khan and Sivamani. My producer, Kadamba Rajesh, would sometimes tell the guest musicians that I am a singer myself. Often this would lead to a jamming session. I remember singing a ghazal with Hariharan sir.”

Although trained in Carnatic music, Neha is currently concentrating on Hindustani music. “I feel my voice is more suited to Hindustani music,” says Neha, who is polishing her skills in Hindustani music with Manohar Keskar. Although she had learnt Carnatic music from Ramesh K. in Muscat, she is continuing her training under the tutelage of Perumbavur G. Ravindranath and Western music from Binu. “I love music in all its forms. I love the fact that every piece of music is created from the same seven notes. You take a blues song in Kalyani and a Hindustani bandish in the same rag, it may sound different but the root is the same. The endless possibility in creating something new out of these notes is what fascinates me.”

Blogging her thoughts

Apart from music, Neha also spends time on her blog. A journalism student at the city's Press Club, she enjoys penning her thoughts. “It's usually on what I observe around me.” Ask her if she plans to make a career as a journalist and she replies: “I don't think so. I might freelance though. Music is my life and I want to pursue it in earnest. In fact, I listen to music all the time. Music is my work and my hobby,” smiles Neha who is a fan of Imogen Heap and Bjork.

A foodie, who loves everything except seafood, Neha claims her love for food saw her touch 82 kg when she was in class 10. “Constant workouts at the gym and a strict diet have helped me fight the battle of the bulge.” She still binges on her mom, Usha's rajma, channa and dal preparations. So, does she cook? “I can cook an excellent Maggie! Isn't that cooking?”

Aashiq Abu Photography

2011-12-07T21:03:00.000+05:30

It was the most random photoshoot ever, don't know if I can even call it one! The Salt N' Pepper team was at Dubai to celebrate 100 days and we were just chilling in our rooms, getting as lazy as ever, arguing over which place to check out and stuff. All of a sudden I had the sudden urge of trying Aashiq's Ray Ban, his most priced possession. He probably loves it more than his life! And then we were on a roll.. it was lights, camera, action! I am a terrible poser and just when Ajay Menon gave up on me, Aashiq Abu, one of the most patient photographers I've met, came into the scene. I would keep doing exactly what he wanted me to do.. and by luck.. we got few amazing shots! This one below is my favourite click.. do click here for more :)

Best Iconic Female Singer Award at the IMFA, Dubai

2011-12-06T15:25:00.000+05:30

"sabr ka phal meetha hota hain", is something I learnt in my primary Hindi classes back in school. But in my case, there was hardly any wait or struggle in literal sense. I am just a normal couch potato who would rather switch through TV channels than going from studio to studio with a demo CD and biodata. My kind of struggle was a fun ride, where I often happened to slip, too. As lazy as I can get, having sent a dozen demos to the industry's happening composers, only Rahul Raj happened to respond back for 'Chanchalam' in Ritu. But as fate had it, was quite unlucky to not have a video for that, which got the song unnoticed. Then life took a drastically positive turn when I entered into a progressive chamber of creativity aka Rosebowl. From then on, of course, I lost touch with the playback industry, and was immersed in a whole new world of music, where there were no deadlines or commanding producers, but, just plain music! When Aashiq happened to hear Outcast Vocals and invited my to sing for SNP, I never knew it would be a song or a movie that would change the age old commercial perception of Malayalam Cinema. Premikyumbol was probably my fastest studio session so far, in a record of 25 minutes! But what intimidated me was when I heard my voice along with P. Jayachandran's, at the studio. Bijibal sir was so composed and calm even while correcting some of my nuances. And to see it on the big screen ... *sigh*!

When the IMFA, International Malayalam Film Award organizers called to inform me of my award, I thought I was receiving it for only Premikyumbol. But on the day of the function, I realized that I was actually being credited for my musical endeavours with Rosebowl and Avial. Can't believe how progressive music that was displayed only on a local channel, and was circulated on the net, crossing the 7 seas, has scored to such a huge level. I also happened to learn that few Radios in Dubai play the audio tracks of Outcast Vocals, and get a lot of requests for Tose Naina Ft. Anberlin :) Despite recovering from a cold, I had super fun jamming 'Etho Varmukilin' with a talented musician from 'Radio Me', Ranjith. So, a huuuuge thanks to the 'Gelf' Malayalees and music lovers for making this local product international . The list will go on, but can't do without thanking SNP team, Aashiq, Bijibal, Rafeeq Ahmed, P. Jayachandran for Premikyumbol, Sumesh Lal for believing in his conviction, Avial team for making me feel like a family and educating me at all levels regarding music and life; my family, especially Dad.. without whose patience and encouragement I would remain a couch potato. Thank you to everyone on twitter and facebook for having shared my videos and for liking and commenting and retweeting, because of which my work got a little noticed outside Kerala. Finally, thank you IMFA and Radio Me for bestowing upon me this award. I felt really honoured to have shared this moment on the National Day of the U.A.E.

The Last supper - Rosebowl, a journey with immortal memories

2011-11-23T22:05:00.003+05:30

Ever since I shifted my base to Kerala, my mother has always been bugging me to get into some channel and do one of those chit chat shows, where one has to put on a 32 teeth smile, yapping away with aunties ,like forever ! Not that those shows are lame, but it's so not my cup of tea. I am so damn serious and boring , especially in front of camera, that one would stop calling if I ever was to be part of one of those request-a-song-and-i'll-play-what-the-producer-decides show :) After college when I would go home and become a couch potato ,sipping onto hot coffee, Mom would show me plenty of are-you-interested-in-VJing ads ,to which I would retaliate with endless NO's!! Then, one day, as if it was snowing in a desert, I happened to stop upon 'Rosebowl' , during a commercial break going on between one of those cry baby serials my Aunt is addicted to. I couldn't believe my eyes. Something this contemporary, exceptional, out-of-the-box youth channel in Kerala came as a shocking revelation to me. But, my mom would still try to convince me to audition for some channel and invest my qualitative time in some extra curricular activity, rather than indulging into eating 24/7, which is a sickness for few foodies like me. OK. Maybe, I'm just going on and on without getting to the point. Here, it is- the Om Shanti Om dialogue "kisi cheez ko pure dil se chaho tho puri qaynaat use tumse milane ki koshish mein lag jati hain" ... and really, it just happened like that. Some producer who was doing time pass on Orkut, happened to come across my then lame profile (where I had written rubbish like where would I go on a date and so on!), and was bowled over by my display photo, which was, of course, photo-shopped *evil grin* .

The fact is that no one knows about how I had auditioned earlier and was never called back , much before this producer's (Kadamba Rajesh)eye fell upon me. Like a dream come true, I hosted my first ever TV show 'Thank you for the music' , which aired 100 best songs of A.R.Rahman, right before he won the Oscars. The rest they say is history. Sumesh Lal, one of my Godfather in true sense, gave me my first independent show 'Piano sessions with Stephen Devassi' without even an audition. When I asked him about this later, he said that he apparently had some kind of conviction. What followed his conviction were other series like, Outcast Vocals 1 & 2 and the 'In conversation' episodes with a whole bunch of exquisite musicians!

It truly has been a great, fun, musical, extravagant and whatever I say more would only be too less to describe what Rosebowl has given me. I would like to thank all the technicians, cameramen, my producers who've been terribly patient with me ,the other anchors who are so much fun to hang out with , and Sumesh sir for believing in me. You all have watched our work on TV and on the net and have given us so much love, but, a lot of effort goes behind this, from its concept to preparing budgets, to creating sets, lighting, camera, editing, and so much! In fact, we work on a minimal budget, but we have always tried to deliver the best. I hope we've done justice. Tomorrow if our Rosebowl is going to be remembered for Listmania or for Jagee's cookbook or for Talking Point or for Harmonize Projekt, it is definitely because of endless effort and dedication by the small team who works behind the camera. As you all must have known by now, the channel is going to be led by a new creative group. This is what Sumesh Lal, the ex-creative head at Rosebowl had to say on the channel's last day -

Dear friends and well wishers,This is our final status update. The 30 incredibly talented people who were behind Rosebowl have quit...They showed courage and conviction to follow their heart, when everyone else failed to handle the truth. And we will someday tell you that story...We thank all our friends and viewers who were our only inspiration all these years. Well, the show will and must go on. We hope the new guys would take the channel to greater heights...From all of us, producers, editors, cameramen, anchors… Thank you and goodbye!

Goodbye, Rosebowl. This is only a new beginning for all of us who will try to create the same magic in some other platform. Thank you viewers for being such an amazing source of encouragement and constructive criticism. Without you guys, we would never be such a massive hit on the YouTube. This is my last work at Rosebowl..

Adios Amigo

Quest for a mind without fear

2011-10-18T21:47:00.000+05:30

I have been trying to listen to my inner soul, unintentionally, tossing sides of my cerebral area, deeply sunk into wandering thoughts. I have been experiencing a range of mood swings, most of which are positive and some of which are dark. The only relief I get from the burgeoning thoughts is the music I have bestowed myself upon. As I listen to them, enjoying the lines and the notes, I can feel the music listening to me, my thoughts. Maybe that's why I connect with it, because it connects with me, each time .It's a force that I seldom fail to notice.

Sometimes I just feel how easy a task it would have been for God to thump us upon expecting individuals, who may or may not want to create a generation after them. What are even funnier are the qualities with which he ornaments our souls. Everything is a choice, they say, isn't it? But, what's the right choice is the real problem. This is the quest for my inner soul, I believe.

From birth we imbibe the culture we are born to live with. I succumbed to it as a child, entrusting upon me the inevitable changes of my culture. But, what really is my culture about? Beyond the means of respecting our elders and being obedient, there are others virtues we are expected to follow. Hard work, patience ,tolerance, being ambitious are some qualities we are expected to practice and doing ultimately what your parents think is right for you, or rather what the society has decided to ,unanimously, having a 'secured and safe future'. At one point, I only wanted to make my dad happy, do exactly what he wants me to do with my life, and he has very impeccably chosen the right path for me. But, what he and I were unaware of, for a long time, was that the journey is to be done alone. The journey, from the rugged terrain of scorching heat and dry land to where there are flowing streams and flowers and butterflies. And now, I am still on a quest for my inner soul.

Abruptly leaving this post with lines from The Dewarist - "The story continues with Minds without Fear"

Unity

2011-08-17T21:49:00.001+05:30

'India against corruption' has definitely outgrown its expected turnout. Mind blowing! Honestly, I am not writing this to advertise Anna Hazare or his motives. In the past few days I learnt that there are supporters of the movement who are against Anna Hazare, the activist. Whatever maybe your justification, please realize that we are against corruption. Let us not shift our focus from that. I personally feel that Annaji has never gone to make this movement a reality out of his political interests. He has taken a strong stand, come up with reviving of the Ombudsman Bill and has perfectly executed with the right panelists and, of course, mass support! Sadly, I saw few people saying that Annaji is trying to be the new age Mahatma and is sitting inside DGP's air conditioned room. The latter is such a sadistic view of someone who has struggled a long way to take a positive step forward. The former is very disheartening to even hear! Annaji, in my view, never tried to claim the title of another Mahatma, nor does he intend to. He has fought for our nation during the 1965 Indo Pak war and has played a vital role in building Ralegaon Sidhi in Ahmed Nagar district, Maharashtra. For the record, the village runs on solar power, windmills, etc. I feel that someone of this stature who has contributed in a discreet manner would never in his right minds want to make self-claim of being Mahatma. You get what I mean? He genuinely intends on directing the Janlokpal bill on the right path, though, your perception of the bill could have a negative review. If so, then please refrain from supporting Annaji and his movement. You are free to do so, right? Mahatma Gandhi was known as Mahatma for his impeccable execution of ideologies at a time where electronic media, hype, second by second update of reactions were absent. But, the success of this movement deserves a big applause to the masses of India all over the world.

The success of this movement is not celebrating Annaji's conviction, but it is of how a cause can get the masses together. Like Chetan Bhagat had mentioned earlier, initially a lot of people were against Anna Hazare, the bill, etc. for reasons better known to them. But, today we have to garner and express that support for the kind of arrogance the political parties are showing. There is absolutely no gratitude, respect, empathy for the citizens of India. On one side we have reckless commentary and decision making and on the other side... *silence*. MMS has definitely no intentions of speaking up, or has rather forgotten how to do so and instead deploy spokespersons who accuse Anna of being dipped into the ocean of corruption. I knew the Govt. would not agree to the bill so soon, but showing utter ignorance to the common man's view is disagreeable. I didn't support this fight earlier because I felt we had to remove the temptation from within ourselves. But, after the ungrateful assembling of voices belonging to the party sounded so foolish and immature, I want to support this movement to show how much I regret having them into power. I want to support to show my respect towards a bill that deserved its empowerment ages ago. I want to support to prove that the common man won't bend for foolish notions set by the Govt. I want to support to show that we are indeed united. So let us have arguments on whether this is new age revolution, or Anna's greed to popularity, or if we should equalize corruption with Annaji later! This is the moment to understand and acknowledge the power of the common man. Unite.

Padmanabhaswamy - The Lord and his wraths!

2011-08-12T17:59:00.001+05:30

The Padmanabhaswamy kshetram is rich. Yes, a lot of money indeed. I don't even know how many zeros to put against the 1. So we all agree that the temple represents frontier of our history. I heard that Maharaja Swathitirunal had put in lots of coins at his sad and good times into the bhandaram as this was one of the ways through which he found peace from chaos and trouble. Presumably, the money is not in the form of ready cash, right? I think it has a mix of cash, antique objects and souvenirs that belonged to the yesteryear rulers. Please correct me if I am wrong here. I do find it surprising when some are in the opinion of the money being used for the 'welfare' of the common man .I definitely wouldn't trust it in the hands of politicians for the simple reason that many are way too tempted to devour it to entertain their personal needs. This kind of treasure should be protected in a reserve or a museum, built to distance it from the eyes of thieves. The temple mirrors the religious sentiments of many, and some amount of discreet tone is maintained due to this. One thinks twice, thrice before passing any comment on the money, worried that they will be targeted by communists and secularists. Most of the recent additions to this huge treasure are in the form of money and various gifts to the Lord in the name of archanas, poojas, festivals; that have all been followed as a part of tradition. I adore the architecture, one of the main reasons as to why I have visited the temple around 6 times in 4 years. But, I was always against certain rules we abide by in the name of God. Why I get angry is because these rules are manmade and are followed in a mandatory pattern by blaming God. You cannot wear a salwar or any form of pants because God dislikes it. Says who? Once upon a time, I used to hear people giving up non veg on the days they visit temples, but interestingly, very conveniently they have a bath after consuming non veg, claiming that the bathing purifies their body. What they failed to learn is that the mind has to be pure, not your pot belly. To each... his own. I respect others views on certain traditions as long as it does no one bad.

There are enough and more charity organizations, NGOs and Govt. approved schemes that are helping the poor. Yes, it isn't enough but you can't demand our traditional collection to be used to serve the needs of the people. Not that I am against this idea. With so much money one would only want to make generous, fruitful use of it. But, to knowingly place the sword in the hands of the deceiver, one shouldn't expect development, but destruction. In no ways am I in a mood to agree on using this money for the nation's welfare only because if it is misused, it is going to take forever to punish the guilty and to procure the lost wealth. What a Bad Idea sirji!

The recent repercussions after the findings by the temple's astrologer triggered a lot of mixed thoughts. It was disheartening to see such statements coming out on such a sensitive issue. I really felt that the religious sentiments were being taken advantage of. According to these astrologers, God's wrath would be unleashed if the respective vault is opened. I wish the thieves would fall for that instead of poor devotees. I have believed in astrology as a form of science, not astrologers. Their inaccuracy can be a cause of huge hesitancy in the minds of millions of people who believe in it. Making strong statements like the exposing of the vault can lead to extinction of your generation is so absurd and uncalled for. Mr. Sunderarajan, the 70 year old man who revealed the Temple treasure died of fever. Apparently he died due to God's curse and was not an outcome of sickness, according to few who are narrow minded. Sadly, there are so many who are going to believe this and will, subsequently, begin to fear God all the more! My request to these astrologers who exercise important powers of not only detecting astrological signs, but who are responsible in influencing devotees' beliefs, must be more responsible in their conclusions. Trust me... if God wanted to curse and spew venom on 'wrongly done activities'... terrorists, scamsters, and the bad guys would have been rotting in hell long time back. That is not how this world works.

I understand that exposing the treasure can attract corruption, but it can also at the same time make us proud of our culture and diversity. Isn't that what India is best known for? Let us be more transparent and help resolve this issue that can satisfy the religious, and the atheists .Security is the main issue and no wrath can keep Robin Hood away from possessing the wealth. I hope the SC takes a wise decision and unfolds the secret treasure and make us feel more responsible in safe guarding it.

Veetilekyula Vazhi - A selfless journey for the sake of humanity

2011-08-10T21:52:00.005+05:30

The way to a destination, chosen by many, that brings together the lines of meet. When the journey begins with a Doctor having to fulfill his patient's last wish, there begins the tryst with destiny that could change many people's lives altogether. But, let me be more concise. Prithviraj, the doctor, takes up the momentous responsibility of taking a little boy all the way to his father, an alleged terrorist. How he does it is what this movie is all about. Basking though the glory of the very famous Pushkar Mela in Rajasthan to the ice tingling snowcapped hills of Ladakh, they have been beautifully captured through the lens.

This elongated search begins with the little boy being recklessly handed over to the doctor, whose vision is too unrealistic but at the same time too determined to have its way. I love the way the boy bids a simple goodbye to the little institution that took care of him till now. Though he may be a little skeptical of what the future has for him, he seemed to be very confident or rather too ignorant about his migration. Amidst his journey, his little habits and mannerisms were what enticed me into falling in love with him. He would watch Tom and Jerry with a lot of curiosity, being a freedom he was getting for the first time. Initially, there was a scene where the doctor had gone to inquire about his father's whereabouts and the boy had just got off on his own doing his own little thing .Later on, quite sheepishly he would always clung onto the doctor's hands , somewhere worried about being left alone, a moment of accountability. Unaware of his past and future, and unaware of the outcome of this intentional quest... he is just comfortable with a little aeroplane or a little ball, or anything that can distract his mind and can keep him occupied. Towards the end there is even a moment when he asks the doctor if it is necessary for him to face his father. Such is the innocence of a 6 year old, beauty of childhood.

I am liking this toned down look and presentation of Prithviraj's character in the movie. He doesn't sound loud or doesn't even make me, as an audience; feel like he is a superstar or whatever. There is certain honesty in his eyes, his biggest asset. At one scene when they were at a terrorist hideout, unprepared for what was about to happen; he looked unhappy while witnessing the making of bombs hidden inside the disguise of a beach ball. He kept looking, not knowing how he should react. It is one of those times when we don't know if we should just stick to what we are doing or should care of our surroundings. Somehow, none of this mattered to him. Though, he did try to strike a small arguement with Indrajith, another Jihadi, it seemed to go nowhere. He knew he couldn't change their motives and he just wanted to give his mission a full stop. In fact, in another scene (which was shown in the trailer), he says that there are several routes that lead to home. Whichever route one chooses, he finds it to be the correct path. Though it may not seem right for the other, one cannot choose for another.

Dr. Biju has incessantly stressed on a selfless element throughout. A doctor who decides to give life to an opportunity which includes people, who took away his zest for living, is a beautiful portray of how one perceives life. There is never a selfless deed, isn't it? Even a philanthropist gains satisfaction after losing his wealth intentionally to charity. But, here, it was a selfless moment, deed, a selfless fight for what was asked for. At several points the doctor is asked the same question again and again... why this selfless journey for someone who is not your’s? Some commendable moments are how he had brought a shade of calmness in most of the terrorists' characters. Terrorists in this movie are calm and composed, and sometimes even have a good heart. There was this loud and happy Punjabi driver who happened to give doctor and the boy a lift. The driver was shown speaking his Hindi in typical Punjab style. This was followed by some typical bhangda music. Another funny moment was when he refers to the doctor as a 'madrasi' on realizing that he is from the South. The plight of South Indians! Whether you speak Telugu, or Kannada, or Malayalam or even 'Manglish'... you'll always be known as a madrasi for most of them up north :)) Such amazing musical forms have been depicted through the sandy deserts of Rajasthan. I also got to hear some real Sufi music along with a small ghazal piece. They all have been so aptly synced with most of the scenes. The only fictitious thing in the whole movie was how easily the doctor could break through into the terrorist circle. The rest is for you to see and judge. The use of other languages has been timed perfectly with the characters and situations that it doesn't make one feel out of place while watching it.

Veetilekyula Vazhi for me is a journey towards finding one's selflessness, an irreplaceable emotion from hugging the bigger cause -humanity.

Ajay Menon and his 'Beautiful People'

2011-08-01T19:41:00.000+05:30

Ajay Menon, the eye behind Papaya media, has always weaved magic through his extraordinary images inside his eyes :) And everytime he would update his photography page with some amazingly captured moments, I would crave to be a part of it someday !! Whenever I met him I kept nagging him about how he never has time to click his friends' photos and he would always say that we never have time to pose. Just two days back during Avial's pre gig relaxation, we were all sitting together having coffee and fries and pakoras and this man just stood up with his camera, abruptly flashing around, catching us unawares! Then, he asked me and Sreenath Bhasi to sit behind each other and 'act' like we are having a jolly good time. We tried everything but apparently I made all the wrong moves and the photographer seemed to get tired of waiting to catch THE moment. But, we patiently went on posing and ended up getting few 'average' moments caught beautifully in his camera. One of those average moments is what you can see below, featured in 'Beautiful People'. To know more about Ajay Menon and his skills just check out his Page on Facebook : http://www.facebook.com/ajaymenonphotography

Justice delayed IS Justice denied

2011-08-01T18:58:00.001+05:30

You've got to believe this. I was just trying to, like a normal, inquisitive individual , Google the latest updates on the Soumya rape case and didn't find any useful details. So, I thought of blogging on how pathetic the system is and blah blah, because I tend to become wacky everytime I see nothing being done on such important issues. Then I refrained from doing so as I always end up writing long, boring lectures on this , feeling helpless ! Then, on twitter, happened to read a retweet "In 2010: 48,461 rapes in India. 2011: 5 months, 185 rapes just in Delhi! #SHAME" by @jainnimit.

There are the ones that never get registered, or enough media attention, and hence due to no major reporting being done they're denied any action or justice at all. But the ones like Soumya, how much has actually been done? The whole of Kerala was outraged months ago when the incident took place and it seems like the whole truth was laid out by Govindachami himself before the police. When everything is out in the open, why is it taking so much time to punish him? A month back I read few absurd details on how few top advocates are actually fighting this case for the rapist. Apparently 5 of them are on this case and the soul which is not resting in peace is probably up there crying tears of pain, on how pathetic it will further get for all the other women who might have to go through this terrible fate. I can still remember seeing an ad campaign by Ajan Rs regarding this. Watch it below.

Soumya IS dead
Govindachami IS STILL alive
Politicians HAVE Spoken out
They WILL speak again
When the NEXT Soumya passes away
Open your DAMN mind!

There is nothing left to be said after the countless number of debates and counter sessions of justifications. Yes, justice delayed is justice denied. And hell yeah, we aren't going to forget this for a long time until Soumya doesn't get any rightful justice. If there is someone who knows anything extra about this case or on how it is progressing , please be kind enough to mention it here.

Chaappa Kurishu - A humble review

2011-07-26T19:29:00.003+05:30

Please don't go ahead if you have not watched the movie because I have given away the suspense :)

Aararane ! Nyano neeyo araarane !

Over the flip of a coin around a 1000 true stories are portrayed through the conviction of a man, Sameer Tahir. Based on several MMS scandals that has happened in the past, and is happening even today, this movie goes beyond that basic concept, painfully showing the hovering of emotions and how it can require just one incident to trigger it off!

Ansari (Vineeth), who has been leading a very plain, dull life as a salesman at a supermarket; seems to be unaware of how it would feel to be the king of his kind of world. On the other hand, Arjun, who seems to be a Casanova, is somewhere deep down aware of how he plays his game. The two extremes are evident in every angle of their emotions. When love is blunt and so openly exposed between Arjun (Fahad) and Sonia (Remya); we have Ansari and Nafisa (Niveda) who speak it through the language of sight. One would call the latter 'old age’, but only if one could understand the whole universe of love that revolves around the beauty of silence. Sameer has shot few scenes so realistically...like how Ansari plunges his teeth into the banana, having bountiful bites at a time, hungry from a half day of tiresome work. There was so much of innocence on his face only to know what a crook he can be when he gets the power. In fact everyday he goes to have one porotta from a nearby eat out and is always ridiculed by another man for having to live on minimal food and sarcastically asks him to borrow money for a plate of Biryani. Also, loved how Nafisa took the first step of extending a hand of friendship towards Ansari, trying to make him comfortable and letting him know that he has someone to rely on since he is away from home.

After a steaming lip lock between Arjun and Sonia, their love making was intentionally captured on his mobile ,and from there begins the adventure of how these two extremes will come together for the same purpose. When Sonia becomes aware about the existence of Ann (Arjun's fiance), she gets into a bickering conversation asking him to back out from his wedding. During this mishap ,Ansari , who at that point of time was there to deliver a letter, happens to possess Arjun's phone that slips out of his hand in mere pressure of losing Sonia and having revealed to her about the their taped video. There are a few talks between the two main protagonists but what I thought was the beauty of this movie is, Arjun being absolutely unaware of how backward Ansari is when it comes to technology. The former is worried on having another stranger possess the clip but is totally unacquainted about how Ansari doesn't even know how to make a call from that phone!! But, it is only when Ansari feels cheated during their first meet (where he asks Arjun to come alone) when he spots two other friends of Arjun accompanying him to the discussed place (where the phone would be handed over), that the game begins ... Not only was Ansari disappointed ,but he also realized how everyone just took him too easy just because he had no power. Now that he knew that he had the phone that could bestow powers upon him, he wouldn't dare risk the chance of giving it all up too soon!

Right before the interval, there is a scene when Ansari calls Arjun to a park where he assures him of handing over the phone. Eventually he doesn't and ends up playing around with him, making Arjun do bold things which Ansari himself was insecure to do so. They both sit on either sides of a bench, a smirk slowly developing on Ansari's lips, a smirk that says it all. That one smirk is his acknowledgement of power, of remote control that is in his hands. It was the unveiling of the little demon that was triggered off from his dormant dream!

I love how Sameer has juggled with emotions, each commanding the other, depending from situation to situation. At one time, Arjun was so comfortable dealing with many girls at a time, but after having lost his phone it was only about Sonia that he cared. He just frantically searched the net to see if his MMS clip was uploaded, only to feel glad about its absence. If it wasn't for Nafisa's disappointment over Ansari's weird behaviour changes, leading to lies; maybe he would never give up his new found power. On Nafisa's word, he decided to return the phone back. There are a series of other phone calls between them and I was continuously wondering how the hell a phone battery stays that long. But, at this prompt moment, the battery dies and Ansari hands it over for charging at one his friend's shop. On the other end, Arjun was dying out of angst, helpless as to what he could do to get his phone back; what he was unaware of was how huge a scandal was waiting up the line for him.

Yes, the video is uploaded by the friend who charged his mobile and Sonia and Arjun end up becoming the libido factor for many of the perverts who enjoy the tape soon after. The climax is a fight sequence between the two which was full of anger, impatience and the urge to end the pain. There were no fashionable stunt scenes to highlight the muscles of our respective heroes which are exactly what made me applaud. It was a pure fight that was a mixture of guilt and fury. There was a point when both stood opposite each other, one contemplating the other's move; it was that moment which spoke about how scared and confused they both were of the consequence.

Another scoring point was how the female characters were given limelight. Sonia who is shattered with failure in love does not break into a dramatic outburst of tears, and very strongly speaks whatever is there in her mind. It somehow gave me a picture of how strong women are emotionally. We do know how to handle the worst of situations, and sometimes can save a sinking ship. After having learnt about her video on the net, there is a scene where she stops by in the traffic, through the rolled down windows one can see a guy handing over money to a prostitute. In a look one can get how she equates herself to the other woman across the road. For absolutely no fault of her's. Nafisa is so simply portrayed throughout the movie. She talks so little... but whenever she does it is like sweet music filling into my ears. There was so much of honesty and sincerity in her eyes, and this lady is so damn expressive!

Meanwhile, the end seems to be a sort of closure, in a more positive way, for everyone. Sonia, who contemplates on giving up her life, decides to move on and is surprisingly accompanied by Arjun who at last understood how truthful her love was for him. Ann, feels deprived of his love with this scandal churning up more hits day by day, but feels lucky to have survived the mistake of getting married to him. Ansari is a happy, young man now. He got to taste the power and at the same time feels good to have retaliated to whatever injustice (according to him) done to him. He lives his life the way he has to and ends up being served that one plate porotta yet again .. This time he does oblige to the ridiculed comment, and asks for those 50 Rs, believing he has earned himself a Biryani!

I loved every aspect of this movie. I don't think you should watch it just because it is experimental. I would refrain from using such terms as it will undermine the other highlights within the movie. I found Salt N' Pepper experimental too, only because it dealt with the most common topic, love, with edible delicacies and subtle humour. If one calls Chaappa experimental for its technical brilliance, then a movie would be incomplete as it only fulfills the technical side. But, Chaappa has everything from a strong story line, to brilliant casting to brilliant music ,by Rex Vijayan, complimenting every scene perfectly. Bravo! to the whole team of Chaappa Kurishu. Don't flip a coin over watching this movie, because you will miss one helluva movie if you lose it ;)

Guru Pournima 2011

2011-07-24T18:56:00.001+05:30

I'm quite on a blogging spree this month! Hmm... Loving this interest, and Inshallah, shall be inspired more to sustain it :) During my last session with my Hindustani Guru, Prof. Manohar Keskar, we were discussing about what I should try singing for Guru Pournima celebrations. In hindsight I got to understand how these celebrations are traditional held. There are norms and 'rules' some gurus/ shishyas attach to this day. Whenever I have found myself to be punctual, responsible and disciplined I know I have to attribute it to Dad. He always used to tell stories of struggle, compromise, adjustments and whole lot of that you-know-during-my-time incidents. Sometimes, I wonder how hard it must have been which on the contrary made him a super strong human being, a super dad! Making me a musician was his idea of making his dreams fulfill through me. He got me the best of everything to facilitate my studies particularly in music. From then on life went on a roller coaster ride, swirling through ragas , aalaps and geets...an extravagant journey so far.

Along with learning some beautiful, magical nuances in music; I also got to see some beautiful insights of my inner self through my Gurujis' knowledge & experience. I had some very negative impact while being associated to another musician who, maybe unintentionally, almost tarnished my determination and will to do sadhana. Why & How? I do not know. But definitely it was meant to be ,because if it weren't for him, I probably wouldn't have learnt some valuable lessons of life and most importantly, taken a step forward in music.

It is another whole traditional episode for music students throughout India to literally fall at their Guru's feet every time they see him/her. Coming from a much care free teaching system at Gulf, I was not so used to these traditions though I knew I had to do it on important occasions like Saraswati pooja, etc. During one such occasion, for Sai Baba celebrations, a very interesting thing happened. I was supposed to accompany my Carnatic Guru, Perumbavur G. Ravindranth sir, on vocals. I was already on a high when he invited me to sing alongside him, a privilege very few students get *yippee* . Soon after the concert commenced and people had settled down to listen to the bhajans; sir had signalled me to sit beside the accompanying instrumentalists. After that he himself, being an ardent ~~fan~~ devotee of Sai Baba, spoke few generous words on him and music and soon after came and sat beside me. He just looked once towards his right and left and gave a sort of approval to commence the concert. At that point I realized that I never touched his feet and it would be bad luck in that case. I looked at him, worried, with trouble in my eyes I tried to tell him of the horrible mistake I had felt I committed. He smiled lightly and then laughed a little more. That itself was so assuring, but I still felt guilty. He told me, "All this is nothing, child. Respect is in the mind, not by touching my feet. Pray to Sai Baba in your mind and sing, my blessings are always there with you ". That moment was something that will always remain etched in my heart forever. These are such simple things one tends to exaggerate and over exercise in the name of God, rituals, tradition, etc. After that day I was able to believe that everything is in the mind. Our love and fear for God, our judgements based on circumstances, a normal moment turned into aggression for the silliest reason... is all in the mind.

I remember how my very first Guru in Carnatic , Shri. Ramesh K. had come over to my home to commence our lessons. That time my sister would also learn with me. When he began teaching us geetam, there was a time when he would ask me to stop running like a rabbit :) I guess as kids we just tend to be really impatient as though wanting to learn and sing everything all at the same time ! But, he has been the sole reason behind my initial growth in music. He is the most patient person I had met at those times which was why it was a pleasure to learn under him. He is amazingly funny and would always crack little jokes to make the learning process more interesting. I just loved his classes so much that by the end of high school I told mom to ask him if we could secretly pack & bring him to Kerala :) He would never ever praise me for my performances even when I came first for Light music under junior category, consecutively for 3 years! But, that is exactly what made his every comment so exclusive. Probably in my 8-10 year of learning under him, only on 2/3 such occasions was he able to appreciate my singing. On the other hand, my Pakistani guru Ustad Khalid Anwar Jaan, would always keep motivating and praising the slightest nuance or taan I took which was why I felt super confident whenever he taught me.

Some of my musical sessions with Prof. Keskar go without any music at all! Hehe... he is a talker and I am a good listener if it is him on the other end. Initially when I was a new bud who was overtly willing to bloom, he would suppress my impatience with some of his scholarly talks. I remember him telling me how he despised all these poojas that were held at Gurupoornima celebration because it would simply embarrass him. He never liked the concept of Guru being literally treated as God with pada pooja (washing their feet) and restricting them from accompanying their shishyas on vocals or instruments. He has always broken barriers, very successfully, if he felt it curbed the freedom of expressing in any art form. I so love this attitude of his! So, this time during the practice session we were going through this cheerful geet in Raag Yaman . He played the tabla as I tried expanding my vocal chords to suit the rhythm. I so loved the thekas he played that I requested him to accompany me on the main day. He so happily agreed to it reiterating how he dislikes the rules some authoritative people put on Gurus like they are not allowed to accompany people smaller than them, especially if it is their own student. This time with his entire mind he said he would accompany me only for that small composition.

Today was Guru Pournima and I did a 35-40 minute interpretation of Raag Puriya followed by a small geet 'Rang rangile phool khile' in Yaman . Ratnasree, a fab tabla artist accompanied me for Puriya and Guruji for the latter.Also, on the harmonium was a very talented musician, Hussain Ali. Towards the end of the day , Guruji said that how much he teaches is proportionate to how receptive the student is. With the Universe reflecting all the positive energy given out by all my Gurus, I assume that this energy will give me the courage to take fruitful steps forward in most of the things I do ..

SOLD : Zana & Nadia

2011-07-21T23:06:00.003+05:30

Nadia and Zana Muhsen (Yemen)

The sisters right before they left for their holiday-turned-nightmare

This is Nadia with her daughter, Tina

This is Zana with her mother, years after her escape

Spell bound! I had been searching for ages for 'SOLD: Zana Muhsen with Andrew Crofts' but eventually ordered it through Flipkart. I have never ever felt so moved after reading a book. I share some mystical bond with it for sure..! My previous relationship with the book was when I was 14, the same age as one of the protagonists, Nadia. The story in one line is about the tryst of two England born girls, Zana and Nadia, with their sudden change in destiny. It was a beautiful holiday trip that just went wrong. Horribly wrong. These young girls decided on going for a holiday to Yemen, the birth place of their father, for a month or so. What they didn't learn was that they were already sold and apparently "married" to their father's friends' sons. Zana, who seems to be the stronger one, describes her whole nightmare that lasted for around 8 years before she could escape to England for good. In fact the book was written by a ghostwriter, Andrew Crofts for getting Nadia out of Yemen. Zana was first to escape and wanted this book to be used as a tool to reach out to her sister who is by now mothering around 6 children with her Arab husband, Mohammed.

What were painful to acknowledge was the chores she was made to do. This is a real life story that happened during the early 80s. I don't think I can ever relate to the pain she went through. But having to learn that she was married on her 3rd day of so called vacation to being forced to lose her virginity with an unknown stranger who was then known as her husband that too for a few dollars is unimaginable! When I read it during my school days there was an anxiety to know more about Arab women and their lifestyle. There are few photos of Zana and Nadia in the book and also available on net. I used to stare at those photos for a long time and try to picture how they walked miles together to collect water to not even having a standard latrine for fulfilling nature's call. When Zana had to deliver her baby, which she says is a product of her rape by her alleged husband; she had to do it at her hut-like home without nurses, doctors or proper instruments required for the purpose.

Though I did try to empathize with her very action and reaction, what I couldn't do was shed a tear. Zana had such great conviction, the will to fulfill her plan, and to never lose hope that always kept me as a reader very sad but determined of that tiny ray of hope. The book ends with Zana's return back home which almost freed me from some kind of a dungeon, I felt I was in, while reading the book. I could just keep writing about her agony and struggle and eventual success but it is not worth spoiling the essence of this book through my blog. Somehow, many events from her life kept haunting me at one point or another and then I decided I must get this book. I remembered almost all the important events as though xeroxed into my memory. Just finished reading it today and feel so light, as if it were a task I had to accomplish from the day of my birth! A must read, people! I totally recommend this woman's true account on modern slavery.

I did my little research on this and the latest reports on Nadia is available on this site : http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2002/apr/01/gender.uk , where she states that she is apparently happy with her life.

The raining grey cloud of music

2011-07-20T20:37:00.003+05:30

Lovely, lovely music I am hearing as I blog right now. Now playing - Summertime by Louis Armstrong & Ella Fitzgerald. Love the way the violins flow behind the melody, splattering a canvas containing sparkling stars shining over the white, shiny horse, galloping its way through the night. Aah.. What music can do to me! When I listen to these songs, especially jazz, makes me want to go back to the golden era... where knights in shining armour were clearly visible amongst the dark shades of night and long hours of wait. Love the way people loved in olden times. Just one love for a lifetime. Ain't that really hard in today's time considering the pressure to flaunt your success, fame, achievements, papa-kehte-hain-bada-kaam-karega and what not...

I guess the song just took me to a different world altogether. What I started this post was actually for few interesting notions that came up before me in the recent past. Quite diligently I have noticed the increasing rate of songs that seem to be copied from here and there. This has been happening since many years, but has come to my notice, a lot, in the past couple of months. It is a surprise when you begin to love, accept and spread some amazing taste of music only to learn that it is apparently copied, or rather 'inspired' in the composer's language. No problem. Good music is good music at the end of the day, but don't you think one needs to give at least minuscule share of credits to the original source? I have been noticing the trend in movies too. But let me stick to the topic.

Few months back I had a nice, healthy discussion about the same with a very popular playback singer of south who also very vehemently happened to say that all this doesn't matter at all. He said if it is matter of respect then obviously the inspired ones lose on that hold, but how many of them really want to make music from the soul and all? Everyone apparently wants chart toppers. I don't think that is true. It would be very unfair to generalize them considering the entry of few very talented musicians who concentrate on quality. During school I remember telling my friends about how Pritam's 'Ya Ali' was copied from Guitara as the Arabic track 'Yagali' was the only Arabic song I knew at that time :) But coming to think of it, despite all the controversies and rumours of Guitara suing Pritam had emerged as a cloud of problems, none of it seemed to matter to the public. Well, at least all the school kids would sing that for competitions, functions and every possible place where they could prove their musical talents. Coming to the present there are several composers who have lifted songs from World music genre and have very cleanly put this across to the audience as their own production. As much as I have loved most of these alleged numbers, it pains to see how the credibility from the true composers are just plainly denied, or in other words, ignored. An absolute disappointment! 1. Because composer claimed it to be an original, 2. Because they think we don't have good enough ears to be exposed to such world music classics! With the growing age of the Internet and YouTube, it is a huge treasure palace of wonderful music... and one has to think twice before lifting it. But I wish the composers could mention the inspirational source in their album to at least give a sense of not being totally fooled as a public 

These are all just my personal insights... what about the general public? The ones who slog at work and listen to music in their free time, i.e. probably during gymming, in their iPods... are they concerned? My sister, very buoyantly, happened to be undeterred from listening to such 'inspired' tunes. She says that she likes listening to them while in the car, or while watching TV and it doesn't make a difference as far as it sounds good and belongs to her favourite genre. Would love to know your thoughts and views on this too... not that it is going to change anything... but am quite curious as the more worried I get about carbon copies, the more I'm told not to worry about them at all.. Because it is a passing phase and the world beckons a fleet of soulful music ahead.

P.S. I remember having asked M. Jayachandran, a popular composer down south of what he thinks when his contemporaries indulge themselves into such practices. He gave me an interesting perception - every song made for films from the 40's or before have been linked to some raga or 'route' which lead to ragas that were created for our knowledge by none other than the Trimurthis and the likes. So what the Trimurthis invented can be called original and everything that came after that was evolved from that. Hmmm.. music for thought hah?

Opaque wall of your reflection

2011-07-11T22:02:00.000+05:30

Experience is what makes us more mature, wise and progressive. At the same time, experience is also what makes us judgemental ,proudy and over confident. It can make and break a person. Is it even worth a try ?

Very recently got to observe the journey of a person who now seems to have a broken identity. He came from a very complex background ,breathing life into whatever he found consoling. At a time when he assumed he ruled the roost, he was mistaken .People only let him believe that. Now that he is on the right path , which one would call progressive, he seems to have absorbed it as his dead end rather than just a mere beginning. When one feels he knows it all, it is the final call for his end.

I've seen people make their lives fruitful and vice versa. Sometimes, what concerns me the most is how one perceives things. In a situation where the glass can be looked as half full, the deceitful will always view it as half empty. It is easy to enjoy a good soul's company and even easier to wash away responsibilities from your hands when the soul needs you. But, it is all karma at the end of the day. Who wins and who loses? If you are going to be content by pin pointing at others.. you are the one at the losing end. How further can you prove your insecurities? It is as simple as that. The trick is to look deeper at how people perceive you. They really may have a valid point. Not everyone criticizes with a bad intention. And if they have criticized.. have you ever thought once about why they did so? If they are wrong then ignore ! How will it make a difference if they were wrong about you and you know it ? But what you may miss, in the hustle bustle of hastened commentary, that are purely situation-related and can terribly mislead you, are their genuine wishes for your well being. Let it go before it is too late.. life ain't that bad right ?

P.S. Wishing that troubled friend a healthy recovery .

Adaminte makan Abu

2011-07-01T21:57:00.002+05:30

It is not a movie that defines simplicity. It is beyond that. It gave meaningful insights of my life in a very succinct manner. I don't have to be a poor man, or a Muslim, or a brilliant critic, or a rural person to understand it. That's the beauty of the movie. I have always believed that every human being has a good and negative spirit within him. But, one of them is always dormant for reasons better known to us. Abu reveals the good spirit that is perhaps dormant in many of us. Maybe it needs a reason like wanting to go to Hajj to unveil the positive energy within us.

There were subtle moments in the picture that made me smile wide open even though unintended. When Abu comes back home, discussing about his business not doing too well, he said about how people only cared about Gulf-made perfumes. Back in Muscat , every time an Omani woman would pass by swaying her abaya the rich scent of Attar would hypnotize my senses for few seconds. That strong was it's scent. Though all the young teen cousins of mine would demand for any, just any perfume that has an Arabic price tag on it , I would be gleefully looking at the Attar that would be kept on an exclusive shelf of the store.

The first time he woke up from a nightmare , deterred, which in contrary was a dream of his journey to Hajj , it not only showed how beautiful the experience was but also how difficult it is to get there. Dreams are my favourite . The only time you can just imagine you are on a roller coaster ride , licking your favourite praline and cream from Baskin Robbins , set in the middle of the Grand Canyon, blissfully closing your eyes to the beautiful Rahman number in the background. Where else can you picture all this that too for free??? :))

When Abu and his wife began their preparations for Hajj, there was this scene where the lady was posing for her passport size photograph. Once the photographer captures the face, there is this smile she gives to Abu that is kind of an approval of having done justice to all the time she took in getting herself ready for the moment. A smile of assurance that could mean so many things na? For some it is plain arrogance if you don't smile with your teeth shown, for some it means nothing more than diplomacy, for some it is a moment etched forever in their minds and for some - plastic. What I found more innocent was the way Abu jittered after he was photographed. The same kind of jitter that happens when you are caught unaware. That one expression was so captivating that I really had to take a moment from the reality of the character to appreciate the skills of the director, Salim Ahmed. Another scene that was humorous was when his wife thought that Mukesh's character resembles their only son who abandoned them, Abu , very bluntly, replies how good a person is Mukesh unlike their son. At a time when one would think he would remember his son and it would be one of those tear jerker scenes.. Salim Ahmed strikes yet again with a tinge of unintended humour :)

All said and done when Abu is unable to go to Hajj due to lack of funds, I really wanted to tell him that he doesn't have to go there to consider himself closer to God. Because, he already was God in disguise. To have a pure heart, a forgiving mind and honesty ..is in it's own way very divine. But what made me realize that he (here I am referring 'he' to Abu & the common man) is not God and can never be one ..is when he talked about why God never let him make it to Hajj despite his honest efforts and wishful thinking. Quoting the famous Om Shanti Om dialogue - Kisi cheez ko pure dil se chaaho, toh puri kayinat use tumse milane me lag jaati hai. I guess he didn't wish enough. In the climax - Abu and his wife were discussing about how they would have been celebrating at Hajj if they could make it on time , etc , there was a very valid point highlighted by him - How selfish a man is for his wants. We are never content with our needs and keep going to whatever extent possible to own everything we want. Abu, is too innocent by considering his idea of selling the tree, grown in his garden , a selfish deed. That was one of the ways to collect his money for Hajj. He felt God has punished him for doing that since the tree is also a living thing. A very thoughtful message. I don't know if there are any selfless deeds a man indulges himself into because at the end , Abu, plants another small sapling into the soil. With this deed he intends to go to Hajj the next year.

I don't want to underrate it by calling to simple, beautiful and meaningful. It is a movie that will surely open your eyes to the needful side in you that is inevitably hovered by the wishful side :) Don't watch it because you are a proud Malayali or because it won the National award. That way you'll only be able to clap hands during entitles instead of sinking into what Salim Ahmed has portrayed. This movie also speaks of how the 'superstar tag' is never a hindrance in creativity that is born out of such conviction. I'm luvin it :)

P.S. Sorry I am not a great writer who can ornament every scene in a manner by which I can compel you to watch this movie. Bare with it please :)

2011-06-29T21:44:00.000+05:30

When I had a small chat with one of my friends from the media, having read my blog, felt that I'm critical about a lot of things. I agreed during the conversation but, partly, inside myself I disagreed because I always claimed to be a positive human being. But that is sort of contradictory to majority of my blog posts :) Soon after the chat I happened to scan through the archives and did realize how critical I have become of so many things !I was watching news channels today and realized that every half hour there would be some bad news reported. Martyrs being carted in garbage trucks, J Dey murder case, Mayawati's undignified silence on growing rape happenings , SFI clash at Kerala and what not... Invariably I end up blogging about some issue that boils my blood as this is my only platform to pelt my anger on.

Is life all about this ? I mean .. if there is so much of negativity in the world how is one able to heave a sigh of relief? Or are we all just sensitive for a certain period of time ? Blood boils, anger aggravates, angst is poured onto social networking sites which sell like hot cakes! Once the cake is eaten with the cherry topping .. one big fat burp and there.. time to download.

Even news to an extent is like that. There is news hype that ignites debates. Then comes the part where the public retaliates in all possible ways. The witty/intellectual/well-worded tweets make headlines and it's a new day .. a new issue.. a new my-big-fat-media-headlines .

As I type this, I'm simultaneously having an arguement with another gentleman who thinks public perception of actors are that they are talented but without brains. Quite concerned.. your views would be appreciated ..

New notes in the block

2011-06-27T21:29:00.000+05:30

With my latest track Premikyumbol from Salt N' Pepper hitting the nearby stores, I've been invited to share my experience with Radios, Channels and even print media. Most often asked question is my take on today's Film music. Invariably I keep talking about how noncommercial music must be promoted and that the current music trend in films are really aping new heights. I was obviously asked to take names for which, without any hesitation, I mentioned Amit Trivedi's and Prashant Pillai's name. There were a few who thought it was a big mistake by taking their names because that's what some others in this overtly hypocritical world call 'soaping'. I beg to differ, but I don't hesitate in appreciating anything as much as I am never reluctant in criticizing too. At the time when Dev D had set a trend in Indian Cinema, I couldn't help but notice the quintessence in its music too. But, Amit Trivedi arrived with Iktaara. People stated him as the next A.R.Rahman, for which I thought it was too soon. Not only because I worship Rahmanji but also because legends don't need to carry forward a name. They don't have to be following a particular trend but are the trend setters. Amit has already created a new space, genre, signature for his music and that should be acknowledged. I watch & read a lot of interviews wherein most of the artists always talk about how they were asked to make music resembling a chart topper. For instance, in Bollywood, I'm dead sure that many composers are trying to make another Sheila and Munni whose aftereffect was Jalebi Bhai :p But , very rarely musicians think of doing what they can and are capable of and most importantly are comfortable doing it minus all the insecurities. Forget the rat race. There's nothing like survival of the fittest /strongest/shrewdest... it's plain hardwork, attitude, and a 'vishala manasu' (pure heart).

With City Of God, I was so enchanted by Prashant Pillai's music. What it had was not soul or magic but simplicity packed in a box of selfhood. He had a signature with every song. His music was extravagant in Shaitan too. I could just watch the movie for the 2nd time only for it’s music. The kind of freshness it brings is something you'll get to hear seldom or probably once-in-a-blue-moon. Maybe, that's how it's supposed to be. They say na .. exclusive! It's absolutely great to see such music venturing into the commercial space where the ignorant get to hear, even though it's by chance!

What is required at such a trance is open mindedness. Don't go by reviews and by word-of-mouth. Listen, absorb and feel the change. You never become a smaller person by acknowledging their good deeds openly. In fact you should only vouch for what you think has made an impact in your thought process... So guys, *Open your mind* and go conquer the world :D

P.S. Happy Birthday Panchamda

Interview for Manorama Online Edition

2011-06-20T18:36:00.000+05:30

This post is about one of those phone interviews I really enjoyed doing with a Manorama journalist, Joe Jacob. This person has done his homework really well and I realized that only after reading the whole online edition. Surprisingly our conversation lasted for around 1/2 hour where predominantly we were speaking about news reporting and journalism and spent hardly 10 minutes discussing about my musically inclined life . What amazed me more was how much information he had gathered about me in a span of few days to accommodate fine details of my childhood in a succinct manner. When he messaged me saying he had posted the interview , I thought it would be a tiny column of a page devoted to other substantial news. It was quite thrilling to read a lot more than I had said, all of which is true, in that interview . If you wish to have a look at it then you may click HERE .

Interview for Sound Box

2011-05-23T21:18:00.002+05:30

Being an interviewer myself.. have found it challenging to always come up with different, creative questions during the sessions. But, for a change, I was on the other side :) Jo had requested for an interview of mine to which I obliged acknowledging the fact that I have very little to share about my career till now.. His questions were out-of-the-box that totally motivated me to ,*rosebowl-style* ,open my mind ;) ..Here goes few excerpts from the interview :

How did film music, Avial and VJ-ing come through? How was the experience?

As I had done my schooling in Muscat, coming to India for music was because of my dreams of becoming a playback singer. I was so influenced by 80′s and early 90′s qualitative productions that all I ever wanted to do was sing for films. But when I joined for BA music and started to learn and take music a lot more seriously I realized that music is a lot more than just recordings. I was never a Rock music fan but became one when I was exposed towards it and were given opportunities to do something creative. All the credits go to Sumesh Lal sir, the creative head of a Malayalam TV channel called ‘Rosebowl’ . He discovered the artist in me and gave me an empty space to paint in with vibrant colors of music. He gave me a chance when I was new, inexperienced, totally believing in my intuitions and ideas. I got to work with Rex and Binny of Avial for a production by Rosebowl through which they invited me to perform with the band at the India Fashion Week, Delhi and ever since have been regular with the band. I have done very few films but recording in the silent space of the sound booth is immensely toxic!

Also, I came at a time when reality shows were on a boom. So to venture into playback, Rock and pure classical was a huge learning experience for me. Mass audience would still prefer commercial music anyday as it is more easier to comprehend than understanding the complexities of quality music by bands, etc. Coming to films, I have to thank Rahul Raj sir was trusting in me blindly by making me sing for Shyam sir’s Ritu. It was a fab experience. He is extremely positive and had been my mentor at that time. Also, working for Phani Kalyan for Telugu film ‘Pappu’ was another fun filled experience. Kalyan has always been a friend so it’s very informal when I work with him.

You blog about many issues in your personal blog, which is a rare thing among people in the music industry. How important it is for a musician (or an artist) to respond to socio-political issues? Do you think expressing yourself in a public space like blog would effect your career in music?

If I wasn’t a singer I would have been a journalist because I feel that is the best medium to project our views. So I decided to blog about whatever I felt about what’s happening around the world. I think it’s every human being’s duty to remain informed about what’s happening and to contribute to it in whatever small possible way. I wish I could do a lot more that is action oriented than just removing my frustration through the blog, inshallah! I hope to make an impact through my views someday. My western sir has always said that we can become a good artist only if we are a good, well informed human. There are people who have expressed their dislike towards my career just because I am open about my views but it doesn’t matter because it’s better to be honest than being a hypocrite. Nothing can effect your career if you are ethical towards the society and work. One should not live in the fear of losing work but in the adverse effects of being ignorant.

You sing for Avial, a rock band. There was a time when Rock music was considered evil or indecent among many in our society. Do you think it has changed?

I don’t know if Rock was considered evil, but was definitely not so popular as it is now. People have learnt to open their minds and we can see an increase in the Rock culture nowadays especially among youngsters. But there are many who live under the wrong impression of rock being all about head banging and walking around like a crazy person who parties and swears all the time. It’s an absolute cliche!! Rock can be just as subtle as eastern music and can at the same time give you an adrenalin pump. If you hang around with Avial band itself you will realize how less they talk and how more they speak through their music. The cliche about Rock musicians being high on drugs and having a rugged lifestyle is totally untrue. True (rock) musicians are very much ethical, who don’t believe in using inappropriate language on the stage and who work very hard in sounding extravagant every time.

Popular concepts of music still revolves around film music. Do you see any changes there? What hope do the independent music and musicians have in Kerala?

Popular music has always been filmi music but it hardly stays around for a long time. Sound programming is at it’s peak now and melody has been given less importance now. I don’t even know if the songs made today will be remembered in the next few years. But it’s more easy to understand, glamorous and more fast paced in terms of it’s release and promotions. Where as, bands take almost 2-3 years to come up with an album and another 2 years to popularize through live gigs. But the scene is changing. We have Amit Trivedi in Bollywood who has elevated bollywood music to another level through Dev D, NOKJ and Prashanth Pillai in Malayalam who has broken of the typical commercial line up with City Of God. At the same time, Motherjane did an OST for Malayalam movie “Anwar” and Avial has also done an OST for another Malayalam movie “Salt N’ Pepper”. So film music industry has also begun to ape towards greater heights in terms of qualitative music. Independent musicians don’t anyways work for commercial hype. They just want to be part of good music that will be etched in our hearts for a long long time. So whether they being commercially acclaimed or not doesn’t really matter to them.

If you have found this interesting enough.. then you can CLICK HERE to read the whole interview.

Soumya case follow up.. a joke?

2011-05-22T15:43:00.000+05:30

The hype never excites me anymore because nothing substantial happens post the hype. Sometimes we tend to get immersed into small incidents that cause huge uproar due to it's nature. But that hardly lasts for a span of few days. And this immersing cannot sum upto the pain the victim goes through. Soumya rape case is probably one of the recent cases that attracted immense support from the masses. This tear jerker made it to the headlines of many tabloids and newspapers and channels. It was a tailor made real story that hiked up the so called trps. Masses crowded in to marches that were held in Soumya's name, and so many protests were held. But, in vain, that was it. The hype lasted for another 2 weeks.. Perhaps a month... and though Soumya's name is remembered once in a while... the main culprit, Govindachami, was soon forgotten. Whether we choose to be ignorant is another thing. Many a times I have felt that the media played a superior role in elevating certain cases to its end point. Sadly in this one nothing of that sort happened.

Someone posted a link of the follow up and I got to learn some horrifying facts about the case. Govindachamy who was earlier booked for theft and was currently booked for murder apparently has 5 advocates fighting for him. The man was making a living out of stealing and suddenly he has funds to get him the best lawyers. Some of these best advocates are not smart enough to realize the consequences of what they call their work ethic. Fighting for your client to win is maybe work ethic. But, not having a key to a transparent glass door may not let you access the room but also does not deny you from seeing what's on the other side. Even if you remain ignorant to all that is happening around you... you certainly cannot show a blind eye towards all the bad things happening on the other side. Fighting for Govindachami may just be another win-win situation for the advocate... but the buck doesn't stop there. There are millions of other Govindachamis multiplying out there who are waiting to attack this region where decision making by the judiciary is not more important than an IPL match.

Every time we have a Jessica, Aarushi, Ruchika and Soumya .. We must remember that tomorrow we could be one among them facing a bunch of ignorant morons like us who end up doing nothing. And with this we produce another league of monsters, scripts for movies, debate topics, measures to upgrade the use of being powerful and even-worse versions of Govindachami.

To read the whole follow up on Soumya's case please click HERE . (It's in Malayalam)

A.R.Rahman special Hits concert - Dubai

2011-04-16T00:55:00.005+05:30

I was as excited as ever to be a part of 'A.R.Rahman Special hits concert' that happened at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium last evening. Her divine voice just gets one spell bound every time she would strike a note. This was a show organized by Rahmanji's sister, Israth didi without the involvement of sir. As much as I longed for his presence the experience of working with Sivakumar sir (sound engineer) and Murthy sir (conductor) was incredible. To work with a man like him who is empowered with knowledge and experience, it was interesting to see his extreme sides. Hariharan, Sadhna Sargam and Benny were planning to rehearse only in Dubai.

Preparations for this show had begun ages ago and the wait just seemed forever. There were few funny moments during this journey such as Stephen Devassy being mistaken as M.S.Dhoni by a fan! Apparently a lot of people ask him for autographs in the name of MSD and now he's quite used to it!! Aaah.. The plight of being a famous musician only to have a striking resemblance to another ace cricketer! Another one is Vijay Prakash who seems to be an exact clone of singer Shaan only a little taller. Dr. Narayan has these amazing techniques of knowing how to make a happy happy song sound sober by changing a note or phrase. But the best one was Naresh's whole idea of starting a website called 'unwanted sangathis.com' when any of us would think too much out of the box. It happens when we sing those kind of songs where one is tempted to attempt it differently and ends up slipping down on its failure :) One more similarity that was discovered by me was Naresh's hairdo. Ditto Malinga!! Reminds me of CB's comment on how Malinga should endorse Maggie noodles :) Mummy bhook lagi hai .. Chetan Bhagat, are you listening ??

There was absolutely no time to shop or travel with hectic rehearsal schedules but thanks to Keba, the guitarist, I got to taste some amazing cheese cake! I just love to hear Keith anna's base interludes when everyone is busy taking a tea break .He's just fab and so is the flautist!

Dubai is amazing as ever. Was there after a gap of 6 years not to forget that 6 years back it was a mere road trip and this time I was there as a performer.

The show went pretty good and was blessed in the presence of Rahmanji's mother. It had drizzled a little during sound check and in between the show but thankfully that didn't encourage the outflow of crowd. Surprisingly I even met two fans of Outcast Vocals who claimed to have 6 videos of the show in their mobiles! Great to see the power of YouTube! A big hug to my pal , Phani Kalyan, because of I got to debut in Telugu with 'Pappu', who always encouraged and believed in my talent and to Faizji for playing a vital role in getting me this opportunity.

The World Cup is ours!!

2011-04-04T13:05:00.000+05:30

Wow!! I really can't believe we won the World Cup! I belong to a category where I don't know half of the cricketer's name...but now I do. To hike up the spirits I went and got jerseys and stuffed our fridges with edible snacks to keep the non-fans interested too :) But the fact is that I lost interest the moment Sachin was out. I so badly wanted him to score a century. But eventually became enthusiastic to watch it partly because we were doing pretty ok...and partly because of Chetan Bhagat's super funny tweets! I had a ball laughing at all of them especially the one where he tweeted about how Maggie should be endorsing Malinga since he endorses the product :D and also about all the kids going 'mummy bhook lagi hai' when they see his yellow highlights :). As much as I hate making sarcastic comments on people or laughing at any, this man, Chetan is just too funny to ignore. And he sort of does it in a harmless way. Another funny tweet was how easy it is to gift Sreesanth a birthday gift- a comb!!! Ok ok.. I guess I need to stick to the topic now... I was checking out Android apps (which are ultra-cool) and got back to watching the match after I heard a lot of yelling and hooting. Something right was happening and so I decided to watch it for the sake of cheering. This is also the only match my sister would have sat throughout... talk about patriotism! The ONLY event where you can they see the whole of India united.

On one end a friend was consoling saying the real match is over when Indian won with Pakistan and this is just a for-the-sake-of-it match. On the other end I heard another friend supporting Srilanka for Jayewardene’s undeterred attitude towards doing the right thing at the right time! There were some funny moments where an uncle claimed to have seen the world cup win in his dreams and was just watching the game to prove he's right! Amidst all this action, my heart went out to the game when I saw Gambhir doing exceptionally well. Few minutes before Gambhir got into form, my whole timeline were filled with tweets of abusive nature and wotnot. I hope all these abusive people realize that they are not perfect and how sometimes a little bit of motivation can really boost the players at such a tight situation! Save your energy abusers... it's not the time yet! Anyhow, Gambhir and Dhoni had this amazing vibe on the field and kudos to them for their intelligent batting strategy. There was a look on Sangakkara's face towards the ending where he knew there was no chance but fought it through with dignity. That look is the look of an undefeated hero. They must have settled for a tea cup but they will still remain heroes for putting up such a tough fight.

Yuvraj Singh !! Whatta man! Just couple of months back he was slammed for being out of form and for being a party animal who is a total womanizer. At that time I was also angry with most of these players who kept partying during IPL series where Sachin, on the other hand, was sleeping early to remain in form. I thought it was the end of this guy but the way he got back and shone right throughout the world cup series is impeccable! Now that is exactly what I call success. The best part of this whole game was that a legacy is coming to an end and is being taken forward by the next worthy opponents. To have Sachin out was planned by God only to show that the future is as bright and shining as ever. The youngsters took over this game beautifully making the winning moment a dedication to the God of Cricket. It was the perfect way to tell Sachin that after him they will carry the responsibility with pride and dignity.
What a fantastic way to begin April 2011 and feels nice to not have to use the 83 video clips every time we discuss about the world cup. Need to pinch myself to see if this is all real...uh-oh!! Mummy bhook lagi hai :) ..Just saw Malinga on TV...thank you CB for making hairstyles a powerful appetizer :D

Unfair victim of life

2011-03-20T10:00:00.000+05:30

I was reading about articles on Euthanasia featured in The Hindu. Obviously, for me, Aruna Shanbaug is the first name that comes to me whenever I think of this subject. We all have debated over this again and again and with time, we just forgot about the other side. Sohanlal, the ward boy who is responsible for her present vegetative state, is probably the least affected in this case. FYI, he was only booked under robbery and attempt to murder and not for 'unnatural sexual offence’. A life cut short to fulfill his revenge, causing irreparable loss for Aruna and to all those attached to her, he has only served 6-7 years in jail. How content are we as human beings who forgot to punish the man whose actions triggered this debate? This time we can't even blame the power addicted politicians or bureaucrats as Sohanlal is just an aam aadmi like you and me. Justice does not only prevail amongst the powerful but also amongst the ignorant. Now that Aruna has been granted passive euthanasia, the sinned must also be punished. The fact that she was denied to live a normal life, but instead is being punished for his sins, itself is too much to bear. I was told that she had to bear this brunt just because she happened to be a disciplinarian . When she accused the ward boy of having stolen meat that was ordered for the dogs, he thought of taking his revenge this way. Maybe that's why we all are so scared to come forward and fight for someone else's justice because we are worried of facing the consequences and even more frightened of the justice that will never be done.

Once when I had fractured my leg when I was hardly 5... My mother used to have sleepless nights thinking about a future where I would be limping and dependent. Such is the thought process of each of us. When a train is delayed, or stock of milk is over at the store, or couldn't get tickets to ARR concert, we crib and sulk so much. Well, at least, I do. But now, I have learnt to count my blessings. But I would probably never live a peaceful life when people like Sohanlal are walking around freely. Hope he is punished rightly and then maybe Aruna can die a peaceful death.

The cost for a vote or value of a vote?

2011-03-17T20:41:00.000+05:30

During my school days I never would be interested in being informed about our political scenario only because I always found it boring. But post 10th grade I began to develop a certain amount of curiosity in Politics as I found it dramatic. And now it keeps me hooked onto it for hours together because it's costing me a vote! Being an Ex- NRI I have always found voting to be a very important part of every Indian citizen's life. My first day at College got me face to face with the SFI and KSU members. But I never knew who was better and what their ideology was. Eventually when the voting days came along I was able to witness a lot of campaigning that is done to get votes in their favour. The funny thing was that when the parties would enter in with their candidates to give a campaign speech, one would never get to hear what developments they were planning for...rather would hear a lot of bitching of the other party. It was always about 'they didn't do this' and 'they'll never do that' but never about 'We are planning for'. I found it really dumb on their part to never speak about their positives but rather waste time on showing how negative the other one is. To my dismay I also learnt that the same process happens even with the political parties at the Central and State.

Once there was a female candidate who came along with her supporters asking for a vote on the basis of being my neighbour. I had the entire mind to ask her what she is capable of but the way she folded her hands with begging eyes, gave me my answers. How many of these candidates are genuinely wanting to or are capable of doing something substantial for our nation? The question is huge and debatable. But the answer is in us. Every individual can make a difference if they want to. We can cancel our meetings and call up sick to the office for watching a world cup match. We can sympathize with the Japanese victims living without food and shelter ignoring the same condition that has been prevailing since years in India. We can only point fingers at our guardians of law but never be united as a nation to act upon it.

Sometimes the Govt. comes up with policies like increasing women participation, encouraging the youth to represent seats, so on and so forth. But what are we doing as mere voters? Just observing and pointing fingers. Recently on the issue of sailors being abducted by Somali pirates, there was a sudden action taken by Sushma Swaraj on contradiction to SM Krishna's insensitive comments. Really don't know if the effort was genuine, or to show the other party down. But after seeing Egypt's unity I have to say that we are extremely weak as a lay man.

Votes are being sold for cash and we are accepting corruption as a part of our life. Moreover, we are accepting parties who have leaders who are caught up in cases like rape, corruption and wotnot. The elections are due in a month...Please vote wisely and remember 'Bad officials are elected by good citizens who do not vote'

A life mortgaged to the man

2011-02-07T16:58:00.001+05:30

Rape cases have become a very common thing like bribery. Sadly, a rape victim remains traumatized even after justice is given to the culprit. It's a shame to know how women can never feel safe in any place ever. Just today I observed Rima's tweets on my timeline which said "In the first place why do we have a ladies compartment? Is it not because she is uncomfortable amidst normal men of the society??" I really don't know what to say when such statements are often made. This is when you don't know if you should justify and disagree or agree by remembering every rape victim. No, all men are not bad. But why is it hard for them to respect woman?

I have often thanked the media for covering so many cases that would have remained paralyzed if it were not for their part time hobby to complete the CBI's work. Every time I think of a Ruchika, Aarushi or Priyadarshini ..I can't help but think of me in their position. To count your blessings is one thing, to apply those blessings in a fruitful manner is another? Soumya was just another jolly, intelligent woman who was on her way to see her soul mate and it took 5 minutes of an aggressive man to rupture her life for good only to satisfy his animal-like cravings. 5 minutes. The judiciary would probably require twenty years to punish the culprit for these 5 minutes. Now tell me...is this fair?

It's always been a hard world for a woman. I've never been one of those who said we are equal to men because we really aren't. Emotionally we are a hell stronger than men as we prepare ourselves to produce a whole new life which is almost like bringing a whole new universe into existence. We play the roles of many at the same time only to put a tough fight against this male chauvinist society. It's getting tougher to survive as a woman but the challenge is now getting easier. Now, with several rape cases reported, one doesn't really know about the after effects. So many politicians including the recent revival of the ice cream parlor case has not done any justice to the victims. But why I mentioned that the challenge is going to easier is because we are no longer going to nod our heads to the sweet time the judiciary is going to take for making their so called verdicts. We all as citizens voice our opinions and know that this snail paced judiciary is not going to do any good to any rape victim.

I think it's time that women should stop relying upon other sources of security that claim to be of use. If they really were of some use... Soumya would be in the world even today. A ladies compartment without security is unbelievable. And a train without any passengers who didn't witness or hear her screams is even more appalling. Please women... equip yourselves, keep yourselves armed and mentally prepared for such situations. I know it's easier said than done. But self-defensive measures are the only way out. No one loves you more than their dignity. And so must you. If you want to actively voice your opinions... there is a forum in Facebook called
Voice it Kerala. Do join it here:
http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/pages/Voice-it-Kerala/170669696312796

Would like to wrap up this by quoting few lines from Swades to the tunes of Rahmanji:

Yaadon ke paalne mein koi khoyi khoyi baat hai, oh nindiya ab aake tu meri di thi lori gaake.. mere khoye sapne dikhlaade
yaadon ka pal na jhulade

Avial Website Launch at Blue Frog, Mumbai

2011-01-12T10:16:00.001+05:30

What a great start to the New Year!!! Well, preparing for this was no less than fun unlimited! Mumbai - The city that welcomed me 21 years ago as a body bathed in blood , fresh with dreams , not knowing that eventually I would never be part of it while growing! My mom always says that I and my sister were lucky to be born at B.A.R.C. for the kind of facilities it offers especially since my Granddad and mom worked there. Throughout my childhood we used to visit Granny every year and all my memories have to do with the traffic and pollution and an ice cream shop called Yankees! Now, I was returning back for a gig of Avial's to Mumbai after 10 long years!!

Nagumomu ganaleni, the evergreen composition of Saint Thyagaraja is something I've been singing since my early teens. I don't know how and when this happened but the krithi came running into my mind abruptly. And that was the exact moment when I knew I had to do this with Avial. So, when I initially discussed the idea with the team they seemed to be skeptical about it as none of them are too familiar with Indian Classical music. I did give them the confidence to experiment with it, and eventually then agreed with a big smile :)

Mumbai is super polluted minus traffic (Guess we were lucky those 3 days!). All of us went for a radio byte to Radio Mirchi 98.3 soon after lunch only to be entertained by the RJ himself! The poor guy who was trying all tactics to make us feel at home was quite surprised to learn despite us being rock musicians, happen to be so silent and subtle in behavior! It's quite a common notion that rock musicians are cool people who talk cool, walk cool, speak cool... but it's not so. In fact, there are many times when I saw youngsters come up to the band members, showing them a 'yo' and they speak words that are considered to be abusive in the dictionary. Anyhow, after the Radio session I had an amazing master class with Rex and Binny who were playing their guitars. Quite interestingly I got to see how the scale changes can be easily understood with certain techniques that are also practiced in Indian Classical system.

Sound check was a bummer in the beginning as the guitar levels were too low and the drums were too high and there was no feedback, etc. With a lot of testing and playing on the stage, eventually got to a point where everyone was content with the sounding. We got back to the hotel for a quick bite and then off to Blue Frog. I was quite surprised to see the kind of artists who perform there. These are the times when I count my blessings. Susheela Raman, Talwin Singh and the likes were the ones who were performing in the days to come. Talwinji for present for our concert. A very jolly human being who was 24/7 praising each and every member of the band.

Ehsaan Noorani inaugurated the concert and sat throughout. The gig opened with 2 acoustic versions of Aanakallan and Kaithola and continued with 'Ayyo', the new song. People went literally berserk every time Tony would speak. I was all skeptical about Nagumo because I was attempting Carnatic after a gap of 1.5 years on stage! Also, the audience was rock oriented, but there were hopes of them accepting it. It was a huge success and I really need to thank God for giving me the power to sing like that! At the end of it all, Chekele was the most-in-demand song and was played again on the stage only that this time; the crowd was singing it :)

So all's well that ends well. It was a fantastic gig, thanks to Mumbaikers and Blue Frog was making it look and sound so pretty. You can take a look at the website here : www.avial.in

You can have a look at the other pics HERE.

God in disguise

2010-12-26T14:29:00.000+05:30

Bengaluru climate is beautiful and responsible for giving me a bad cold and sore throat. Haven't sung in ages!! Well, that's an exaggeration :) Today morning I was standing outside in my garden area talking to a friend about my New Year plans and suddenly an old man walks in smiling brightly. He spoke so softly that all I could make out was 'someone learns music in this house' and I nodded. Ya, obviously, anything to do with music in my house can be related only with me as I am the sole musician at home :)Anyways, the man self-invited himself to the sopanam and made himself comfortable . Both my aunties who love talking about the puranas and vedas and Hindu mythology were very happy to start a conversation with him. He is supposedly a dance teacher and the moment he knew about my training in dance he started to shoot questions like what does 'bharat' mean in Bharatnatyam and the like. I instantly got reminded of my school days when I used to be asked about some dry cell in Physics when I was day dreaming big time!! After a series KBC-type questions (except that there was no crores involved in this one), I gave up requesting him to pass on the knowledge he has. Very happily he told me how Hanuman happens to be the God of music and how Saraswati is the Goddess of knowledge. He went on and on and then he told something that is so vital for everyone to know. What is destined to us will only come to us and even the Gods won't be able to stop it from happening. He spoke so wisely about the Geeta and about how he perceives it to be a conversation between Sanjeya and Dritharastra . His eyes were blue and glowing with knowledge and experience and most important- confidence. He said that whatever we say, if in our mind we feel we are right, is in a way right for the ones who listen to us. But then it is for the listener to analyze it later.

Long time back when my granny was going back to Bombay after her short stay with us in Muscat my mother was nervous of leaving her alone. At the airport there was some impediment about her visa or something and there was this man who appeared from nowhere who sorted out everything in a snap that afterwards when we looked for him to thank... he was gone...just like that. That day my mom said she had witnessed God. It's such a beautiful, enlightening feeling to meet such random people who make a mark within us, teaching us, being there for us in the best and worst of situations.

Funny thing was he didn't want to hear me sing or didn't ask me about how much I have studied. The old man said he will visit us soon as if letting me know that he will come when he wants me to know something. I always believe that there is a reason as to why such things happen. I just watched him go away knowing that I will be meeting him when I need to.

The reason why I believe I stand out

2010-12-17T20:59:00.000+05:30

Back after a 4 day trip to Chennai and Bangalore that seemed like 4 months. While I recorded 4 tracks and went bolti bandh in Chennai ..It was a smashing experience jamming with the Carnatic fusion band Agam at Kyra. Now that I am back, was settling into starting my regular practice again. As I was brushing through my notes I came across this torn page from the Chicken Soup, god knows how it landed up there, which was very thought provoking. So I decided to share it in the blog cos it really opened my eyes. I am a big-time Chicken Soup fan and have read the series several times when I felt pressure in school. This one begins with a quote by A.L.Kitselman that says

the words "I am ..." are potent words; be careful what you hitch them to. The thing you're claiming has a way of reaching back and claiming you.

Majority have ridiculed me when I used to confront their question of 'What are you exactly doing apart from music?' with 'this is it’. I don't know what it was but t'was quite funny to see people listening to and watching every possible musical shows on the Radio and TV but not being able to digest it as a profession. Anyhow, I have no other choice but to stick to music as sadly this was the only field that brought out the best in me and kept me happiest. But in today's day and age where necessities have been overstepped by luxury, money becomes the vital reason as to why people opt for safer, dignified (according to society) options. And the fact is you're not going to be happy in a place where you're forced to fit in.

Excerpt from the Chicken Soup:

I am an architect : I've built a solid foundation; and each year I go to that school I add another floor of wisdom and knowledge.

I am a scientist : Each day that passes by, I gather new data, make important observations, and experiment with new concepts and ideas.

I am a doctor: I heal those who turn to me for consultation and advice, and I bring out the vitality in those who seem lifeless.

I am a lawyer: I'm not afraid to stand up for the inevitable and basic rights of myself and all others.

I am a mathematician: making sure I conquer each one of my problems with correct solutions.

I am a jury member: judging others and their situations only after I've heard and understood the entire story.

I am a banker: Others share their trust and values with me and never lose interest.

I am a mountain climber: Slowly but surely I am making my way to the top.

P.S. Don't try to fit in when you're meant to stand out. Be proud of what you are even if you flip burgers for a living.

Hindustani Concert at the Soorya Festival in 'Jalsa Ghar'

2010-11-20T12:14:00.000+05:30

A once in a lifetime opportunity they say. For me, it was just my mother's dream. I remember every time we walked into the Al Falej , where the Muscat chapter of Soorya Festival happens, my mother will always tell me about how she keeps dreaming of me performing one day in that stage. Well, eventually I did perform regularly there but as part of various other shows. I guess I was destined to be a part of the Kerala chapter. When Moorthy sir called me to be a part of a major event that was going to be choreographed by some of the best musicians and dancers I was way too excited. Unfortunately that never materialized for reasons I am still not sure about! But immediately after that event was over... Moorthy sir asked me if I am willing to perform for the Jalsa Ghar. It was too good to be true. Do you really have a lot of Moorthys walking around giving options to talented artists about what they want to perform? Well, Yeah!!! I was given an option of either doing a Ghazal sandhya or a Hindustani concert! November 19th 2010 is probably the date I've been repeating the most this year and funnily I didn't invite anyone!! Why? I was dead nervous and that actually ruined a little bit of my initial aalaps in Maru Bihag :) The only thing I missed was Moorthy sir's presence. He had to leave to Europe urgently and I couldn't get any positive one liners from him before the concert, which he usually does, that can weave magic on you and can also create an everlasting impression. I thank the whole Soorya family for making me feel at home and to my accompanying artists too. Retnasree was on the tabla who did a fab job and Nalin Moolji was on the harmonium. Sanitha was on the tanpura (special thanks to her) . Well, I guess my gurus blessings are always with me that help me get through with these opportunities in a painless manner. Last but not the least... A big hug to the audience who cared to criticize and appreciate me after the show.

Avial Gigs at Blore and Delhi

2010-10-29T20:28:00.003+05:30

It all happened so soon that I myself got no time to think over the phone call. The moment Rex gave me a call I was too excited already..Thinking how I should go about it. Honestly I was not excited about performing for the Wills Lifestyle Fashion Week but the whole adrenaline pump that was happening inside me was for the fact that I was finally getting to jam with one of my favorite bands AVIAL !! Well, like I have always believed... my work spoke for itself. Amidst the whole commercial music scene I was getting a little restless about the work I was being offered that too with hardly any remuneration. It's frustrating but fortunately the motivation to work harder never died in me. But today I have to accept that remaining focused is the most difficult job ever! Anyhow, the Blore Avial concert was at the NIMHANS organized by the KEA (Kerala Engineers Association). Right before the concert there was flower (pookalam) competition after which the concert took place. Audience was literally throwing flowers at Rex and Tony for their jamming... it was insane!!! I performed Karukara with Tony and did an old black and white track 'Garjat Barasat ' too.

Delhi ... my first time... reminded me of the clean Muscat. Pragati Maidan looked big and the sets inside for the Fashion week looked even grander. Those guys were just amazing with us. Everything from diet coke to beer to chicken rolls were available there and on the other side we had cranky models who were so tired that they could drop dead right there ! Our designer, though quite tiny in size, is quite intelligent especially when he told us about how he conceived the whole idea of getting a Kerala Band and influencing that culture in his designs too. Hats off to Varun Sardana! It was exciting as we also got to meet Karsh Kale whose pretty cool apart from being a fab musician. In fact he was performing with us on the same day but for a different designer. Nevertheless the experience was fantastic and I would like to thank Avial and everyone who gave this super big opportunity so early in my career !! Here is a glimpse of what we did for the Fashion Week ..I apologize for the poor audio quality though CLICK HERE TO VIEW VIDEO

Buck up India

2010-10-01T19:11:00.000+05:30

Just read an interesting, essential mail today which is so apt for the present phase India is going through especially after the CWG mess and Ayodhya verdict and wotnot. The mail was by Dr. Abdul Kalam on how we all tend to react so negatively by just pointing fingers at each other. I am reiterating the fact that we hardly realize the amount of contributions we do as a citizen with voting rights. The blame game just goes on and we have journalists who are so good at instigating us to carry on with this blame game . Not blaming them but sometimes we really have to think. Think about if we are good enough to point fingers at others. I'll quote what the former President had to say

YOU say that our government is inefficient.
YOU say that our laws are too old.
YOU say that the municipality does not pick up the garbage.
YOU say that the phones don't work, the railways are a joke. The airline is the worst in the world, mails never reach their destination.
YOU say that our country has been fed to the dogs and is the absolute pits.

YOU say, say and say. What do YOU do about it?

And he also said ,

Take a person on his way to Singapore . Give him a name - 'YOURS'. Give him a face - 'YOURS'. YOU walk out of the airport and you are at your International best. In Singapore you don't throw cigarette butts on the roads or eat in the stores. YOU are as proud of their Underground links as they are.. You pay $5 (approx. Rs. 60) to drive through Orchard Road (equivalent of Mahim Causeway or Pedder Road) between 5 PM and 8 PM. YOU come back to the parking lot to punch your parking ticket if you have over stayed in a restaurant or a shopping mall irrespective of your status identity… In Singapore you don't say anything, DO YOU? YOU wouldn't dare to eat in public during Ramadan, in Dubai ... YOU would not dare to go out without your head covered in Jeddah.

He's said it all and I am sure that from tomorrow we are going to keep this in mind but never apply in our actions. We are the ones who ignite everything into flames.. everything from spitting on the road to ill treating our foreign tourists to bribing to disobeying traffic rules. You have to be the change you want to see. Buck up !!!!!

Quote for the month

2010-08-22T18:42:00.000+05:30

Happy Onam to all my lovely bloggers and blog readers !

"Your problem is never really your problem, Your reaction to the problem is really your problem"

After all it's our perception that defines our actions.

The other side of the coin

2010-08-16T00:52:00.000+05:30

So many great men say great quotes and some do it very sarcastically ! All saved and thought for Independence day. Some went above my head and there were few others that made me think . One such a line was from Mr. Pritish Nandy who tweeted 'Innocent people are always the victims, irrespective of their faith, caste, status, gender.' I am the common man and hence giving my perception .

Every one conveniently calls the common man 'innocent'. Well, the real question is :
Is the man innocent cos he's deceived by policy makers who are chosen by him? OR
Is the man innocent because he is the victim due to divisions such as caste, religion .. that were made by the man himself !

Either ways ... both the routes that backfired on the man (which gave him the label of being an innocent) were chosen by him.

So now, who is actually the innocent one ?

1) The policy makers who knowingly fall prey to the votes of the 'innocent' man who cannot even make the right decision on who to trust and vote?

2) The terrorists who despite causing so much of negative impact were unsuccessful in instigating any peaceful measures yet!

Fact and Fiction

2010-08-15T19:48:00.000+05:30

Have lost complete touch with the Filmi world cos of prior, present and future commitments :) but of late have been able to catch up with some good movies especially animation. I watched the highly recommended ‘Toy Story 3' and 'How to train your dragon' and ended up wanting to own a pet dragon :) Well, the point is how every child is brought up learning that ogres, lions and dragons are monstrous and beasts and having to unlearn all of it after watching animated versions that portray them in the cutest way possible!!! After watching Ice age I fell in love with mammoths; Madagascar made me yearn to cuddle all the lions in the world and my latest addiction is - dragon!! I just realized, on a serious note, about how we classify everything as good and bad. It's all in the mind. Yep! Back to square one! Come to think of it... we all point finger, mimic and ridicule politicians 24/7 for the slightest wrong move when on the contrary...we are the ones who appointed them. Who should be whacked? If everything negative was probably animated in a cute, positive manner, would our perception change? Shrek made everyone love ogres. In fact, nowadays the concept of your *dream person* is more like an Ogre than that of a prince charming. All this because of a man who is creative in graphics! We all are born equal and good and it's situations that make us evil and bad. But everyone should be given that golden opportunity to change. Cos, we all have 2 options. Be happy with what you have, or try to create happiness through whatever possible way. Either ways, the point is in doing it by not ruining others life. On that note, I take my leave... Happy 64th Independence Day

*Vande Mataram*

The ball's in your court!

2010-08-08T21:56:00.000+05:30

Watched an interesting episode of 'Talking Point' on Rosebowl and the topic was 'Are we spoiling our kids with Gadgets'. The standard answer was 'No, if there is parental supervision'. I think it's all in the mind. To an extent when parents restrict their children from using the latest whatever-is-happening, it's very likely to see the kids using secret methods of satisfying their wants. I am referring to it as 'wants' as I still feel it's not a necessity. I lived 16 years of my life without gadgets and lived a happy, content life. Anyhow, most of the points raised in the debate were obvious such as video games having a negative impact such as addiction and also about women being harassed through hidden cameras, etc. Well, clearly that is the work of an evil mind. But, what about the majority?

In school I only did well in subjects I liked. In the rest, I performed quite badly. When I come to think about it now...I realize that I did well in those subjects because I liked studying them. I was never mechanical like how other students were ordered to do so by their parents. I have always heard about being in a good friends circle to enhance out personality and habits. But what matters at the end of it all is how you perceive things and how much control you have over your actions. It's easy to get intimidated but takes a while to get influenced. Again, that depends on how vulnerable you become.

When it comes to owning a cool gadget, it's quite natural to see one showing it off and treating it equivalent to the thing we are maximum possessive about, which is not wrong. As long as we know that it is only an equivalent and not a replacement we are on the safe side. If one really wants to spoil himself intentionally (i.e. after knowing it's negative after effects) then no one can stop him. Parental guidance and supervision can dominate only till the teenage period. After that, we all know, no one can control their dreams, ambitions, thoughts. So the best we can do is by letting them know the pros and cons and let them decide what their priority is. It's all in the mind people! It's your will power, determination, goals and your dreams that define you, your character and your life. So whether we have gadgets or no gadgets... what matters is our priority
Over instant excitement with long term negative results AND conscious understanding with long term positive results.

2010-07-05T13:40:00.000+05:30

Trust defines relationships to an extent. Tolerance is the saturation point. It's hard to trust anyone just for the sake of them being a nice person. We humans have just lost faith in goodness and simplicity and honesty. Few days earlier, a leading actress had said that 'honesty is an underrated concept in Bollywood'. I think it's underrated everywhere. It's so hard to just trust someone for being plain honest. We never seem to realize their honesty and instead start doubting their skills. In today's world, it's considered to be 'politically correct' when you are dead honest about something. But honesty is like power. It comes with a responsibility. One must be honest and tolerant. I don't think it's nice to be frank to an extent where you end up hurting someone's feelings. It's important to convey the point by not presenting it in the raw form. Don't end up being a person who expects positive criticism when you can't speak up your mind. Don't make a bunch of insensitive friends who add up to more than your list of enemies. Honesty might not give you an invitation to the happening party of the week, or an entry to the coolest gang. But it can give you satisfaction for a lifetime...satisfaction to the extent of even healing fatal relationships to be the trusted one forever.

Everyone is a hypocrite. Not even one person could have spent their life without lying at least once in their life. So many times, when we are required to be polite, we end up being diplomatic - which is hypocrisy. In the Film industry, one can get to hear a lot of gossips, rumours, lies and deceiving truths. But I seldom get to appreciate those who do it on the face rather than being two faced. People clearly tend to forget about karma. What goes around comes around. That implies to all the good and bad things happening in our lives. In a lifetime, where we all want to live it to the fullest, we hardly get to enjoy vital moments of being true to someone, of being caring, of being a professional, of being an accountable citizen. What's life when you know you have hardly done anything satisfactory? When you are secretly plotting against your enemy, you pat yourself at the back for executing it successfully, you forget that He is already penning it down simultaneously and mailing it to 'Sin.com'. We all rely upon Him. If it wasn't for Him we would not be in pain. Nor would we have the strength to overcome the pain. If He made the mountains and the rivers and the flowers ... he also made quakes, floods and trees. Think of your purpose of being a part of this beautiful earth. You are here for making a difference. Don't be a spoil sport by happily ruining other's life by being judgmental. It's easy for one to point fingers at the politician for bribery, at the script writer for the failure of a film, at the rains for causing flood. But we are indirectly attributing to the failure of what we see around us. Bribery starts from you who are not patient to wait for time to solve your problems. A bad movie starts from you having a bad taste about the 'latest trend'. A flood starts with you polluting the environment, by wasting our natural resources. Like Shashi Tharoor once said : you have to be the change you want to see.

Quote for the month

2010-07-05T12:59:00.000+05:30

Well, it's really not a quote but a tweet by @chetan_bhagat on behaviour. It goes like this :

If someone disagrees with someone's opinion, one can give a counter opinion. Tasteless, personal remarks not cool. (Not talking abt me)

2010-06-30T18:35:00.000+05:30

Wonder how politicians end up finding ways to cease development ! Strikes are never the solution to any problem. But then how else can one voice his opinion and make a point ? But on the other side you cannot afford to disrupt the lives of millions of others at the other side. So many people who have to be at the hospital, workplace have no other go. It's like adding fuel to the fire. It's even more surprising to see the ruling government hold a strike risking their chance of winning at the elections. But again, who cares? I used to love the strikes initially only because I hated to go to my language classes in college. Also, living a monotonous life for the first 17 years, having to lead a life full of surprises became interesting. You really never know if you'd end up doing what you have planned for. Strikes have to stop. It's not only disrupting lives but putting Kerala, known for 100% literacy, to shame.

Quote for the month

2010-06-14T08:07:00.000+05:30

We all are becoming intolerant and impatient day by day on the silliest of issues. No one ever realizes that tolerance may not give you reactions in a jiffy but definitely works in the long term. So here it goes :

First they ignore you,then they laugh at you,then they fight you,then you win -

M.K. Gandhi

Pappu - My Telugu Launch

2010-05-31T13:08:00.003+05:30

The first time I ever attempted singing in Telugu was for Shyamaprasad sir's Ritu's Telugu version aka 'New'. Had a little tough time singing that as the language was new and was only my second playback. Surprisingly , destiny had other plans! At the time when Ritu had released a young composer, Phani Kalyan from Chennai had liked my demos and wanted to feature my voice in his debut album . But somehow that never materialized and all was forgotten about that project. Months later, he asked me if I would be comfortable recording a Telugu number for his debut film , I was not only surprised but taken aback by his nervousness as a composer. I was all game for it though the language barrier never occurred to me.

Recording in A.M.Studios is any singer's dream! Sitting in the office and underlining certain words and writing few alphabets in Malayalam was how the afternoon was spent. After taking little rest we began recording at around 6. It was a splendid experience for me to be experimenting with another language so soon! I never ever thought of doing a Telugu number so soon in my career. The song being a duet had made me curious to see who would be singing the male portions. Initially there was a plan of featuring a popular young singer..but nothing took off. Finally as luck has it, A.R.Rahman had introduced a Grospel singer, Alphonse through Aaromale! I was again blessed to have Alphonse sir as my duet partner in this film. A big thanks to Phani for making this happen and wishing him all the success for a bright musical career.

To listen to the track CLICK HERE.

P.S. The film's name is Pappu! You can check out it's poster here.

Quote for the month

2010-05-09T16:12:00.001+05:30

"You never know how strong you are until being strong is the only choice you have."

Sivamani - in conversation with Neha Part 1

2010-04-19T22:44:00.000+05:30

One of my most memorable works in Rosebowl and was nervous !!! Check it out

I loved his tips and most importantly the advice to all young musicians out there : Throw your ego away ! :)

Part1:

Part 2:

Quote for April

2010-04-11T23:30:00.000+05:30

Vishu is approaching and I want to wish all of you a happy year ahead. This month's quote would be:

Don't be disappointed if the world refuses to help you. Einstein once said

" I am thankful to all those who said no. Because of them, I did it myself! "

One of the greatest lessons taught by my Guru, Ramesh sir was the process of self learning. It also instills upon one , discipline, to come face to face with the critic within you and to identify the creative you. You know you are on the right path when you realize the importance of what you need rather than what you want.

Television 'empowerment'

2010-04-04T21:25:00.000+05:30

I read a thought provoking article in The Hindu today on how Television serials influence and 'empower' Indian women around the world. The reporter had mentioned on how women were not only entertained but even felt empowered watching serials which highlighted the weaknesses of the female community. Anyhow, out of my personal observation I realized a thing. I have two 60+ aunts who are totally into watching soaps. One aunt is addicted to Malu and Tamil-dubbed-into Malu serials and the other manages to watch Hindi and Malu soaps running at the same time. The poor remote suffers in the process but who cares? After all it's not going to make them feel empowered! The former is very creative. She loves poetry and writes a lot of good poetry and stories. I kept telling her to involve herself into such creativity rather than spending 4 hours in front of the TV increasing her blood pressure when the soap will end right at the time when the leading lady is about to give out the ‘secret’. But both my aunts would justify saying that all their lives they've been doing house chores, taking care of their grandchildren, serving everyone around them...that, the least bit of entertainment they could get was by watching these soaps. I could not understand what they felt. It was the Generation gap!

Then the reality shows happened. And they came like a pauper but ended up being the Kings of TRPs! They attracted every sector of the society. It was a full packed drama with dance, costumes and good music! What made me happy was that they took up the prime time of the daily soaps and reduced the prominence of Indian serials. It was a good trend until they ended up with reel, oops! I mean 'real' emotional stints! With emotional atyachaar going on everywhere, it became hard to decide if serials were a better pass time or the latter. No one benefits from all this except for the ones who run the channels.

Coming to my point: Audience has always adjusted to what the Television caters. Once upon a time Doordarshan aired good shows of which everyone became major fans. That crown was taken away by the commercial channels later on. It was more like a relay race with an unpredictable end. Just when I thought that reality shows are really going to get the leading ladies of Soaps end up jobless, Balika Vadhu happened. Whatever the television had catered, from good music to crying serials to dangerous games to swayamvars and the like, they have always managed to get above average levels of TRPs. So from this I understood that audience has always learnt to compromise with what they are spoon-fed with. Just like Political Parties. There is no party with the perfect ideology, or if any, being followed as per the rule book. We all (or at least me) go in for a compromise by voting for the better among the lot. Same way, when one ends up bored after doing whatever possible in their iphones and laptops he tends to adjust himself to what the Television provides. I feel that, like how good journalists attempt to provide literal news, Television must take up the responsibility of showing good shows. At the end of the say it caters to ever sector of the society from kids to grandpas. Few entertainment shows that are harmless can definitely be aired for not only Trps but also for a difference from the usual. YRF Television is doing a good job by providing some good, entertaining, harmless visual treats and reality shows like ‘Dance Indian Dance’ are some popular shows which highlight true talents .But soaps which claim to empower women must get realistic and realize the importance of educating the youth and the old. They must also show situations where a woman literally feels empowered instead of being put through a lie, instead of being put through an emotional, manipulative visual treat.

Creator's eye, the height of enlightenment

2010-03-17T21:07:00.000+05:30

Today I was fortunate enough to watch one of the upcoming film maker, Bobby Mana's short film. It is officially not released as such but I am blogging about it as I got to learn a few things today. He assists Shyamaprasad sir in his movies and I got to know him during 'Ritu'. I, my parents and Manoj (who had assisted Shyam sir in 'Ritu' but is a thorough IT professional) watched the film and then we were asked to convey whatever we felt after watching it. Obviously he was not expecting a 'good attempt' or a 'very intellectual idea' or any of those cliched comments. Honestly, I didn't understand the conclusion part. It was a little complicated or rather we Indians are too used to spoon fed movies. Even in a thriller when the lights go off and the heroine is frantically searching for a torch the cameras show every tiny little detail from the time she finds the torch to switching it on to clutching on to it showing her finger nails prominently. This too, I realized when Bobby pointed out how spoon fed our movies are. Where does it give us the time to think? To think about what happened when and why.. To think about something apart from the popcorn and sms-es we receive during the movie.

Except for Manoj the rest of us were blank. I told him very honestly, ashamed at my can't-figure-out-a-thing perception, that I din't get the conclusion which is actually the 'suspense'. Very patiently he explained the story and then asked us to watch it again. Keeping all the hints in mind as I watched it the second time I totally got what he wanted to convey. Later , Manoj and I were giving some critical feedback on the acting and few scenes we still could not connect with. As I was seriously complaining about a particular scene, Manoj was looking down as though admiring the earth beneath him was, with a smile, ridiculing him .When Bobby sensed the vibe and asked him about what he was thinking.. he replied something that inspired me to blog about this.

It is absolutely astounding to have a creator put in his imagination into practicality and it is another extreme to have the receptor analyzing only quarter of what the creator has portrayed. It's even more beautiful when you realize what you had missed and then get an opportunity to experience it once more... you cannot feel more enlightened than this. Creativity is like magic. I don't know how it produces or if it will last. But I know it's there. It's like an evidence without an evidence. It's the beauty of seeing through the creator's eye. That's exactly what I got to do today. With my perception I missed half of the fun and efforts he put behind the creation. Certain things in life are that way. We never realize it's beauty and we rarely see it through the other perception. Maybe if life was like watching a movie from the director's eye... things would have been much different. Definitely not for the worse.

Quote for the month

2010-03-07T13:08:00.000+05:30

Yesterday I had a shoot for one of the episodes of Nine at Night for Rosebowl. I got to have a conversation with Mr. Alphonse who is creating waves with his latest from Rahman's Vinnaithandi Varuvaya. Apart from being humble, talented and a spiritual person, his struggles ,despite a great entry as a composer through 'Vellithira' ,is worth a listen. His belief in God and constant hardwork without any distractions has inspired me in a way to ignore all the negativity that comes in my way. You must remember that the greatest critic of you is within you. And the Quote for the month is :

"Dreams and Dedication are a powerful combination."

The ignorance of meaningful perception

2010-02-28T18:22:00.004+05:30

Maqbool Fida Hussain aka the Picasso of India is one of the most discussed topics of today especially after he accepted the Qatar citizenship. Though conferred upon him, the decision was completely his to accept it. In the past, Indian groups have gone against his art which according to him is freedom of expression and according to few others, obscene. But for me, perception from the eyes of many is what I have understood from many debates on the issue. Some call it 'Rape of Bharatmata, few others call it Naked Bharatmata or Bharatmata in Red. What caught my attention was her nudity. Why MF painted it that way is not a matter of concern. Whether he respects Bharatmata or any other woman is not an issue cos if we get into it we'll end up punishing majority of the men in the world (For eg: Aarushi Khanna, Ruchika case). But what should be discussed is if the art will affect the morals of the society and our Gen next.

I don't know what ‘freedom of expression’ is. This term sometimes justifies littering on roads and sometimes allows the rich to get away with crime, sometimes permits to create a scene in the middle of traffic and sometimes does justice by returning land to the deserving farmer. When MF's paintings were considered to have hurt Indians' sentiments I wondered where all these sentiments went when we indulge into war claiming to be true Gandhians. Where were the sentiments when we silently gave in to bribery? They were hibernating perhaps! Obscene Blue film posters are visible in so many areas in Trivandrum, yet everyone has time to point out only at the nudity of MF's paintings. Certainly he is at fault. But I don't believe in punishing one and letting the others get ignored.

Getting to my point, there are several temples in India which proudly show off our Cultural heritage. As a child, when in India for summer holidays, I loved to visit temples and listen to my Grandma put me to sleep with interesting, authentic, mythical stories of Indian Gods. There were many guides who explained the importance of each temple during such trips. Some temples belonged to the early era where artisans carved out certain Gods with just a single rock. In fact temples were born out of a single rock, etcetera. I always pondered upon why most of the women carvings had a bare chest. Being a big fan of Hindu mythology I have never come across anything such as the women walking around bare chested like the men. So I always found it weird to see such stark nakedness in such beautiful temples that were places of historical value and most importantly, of faith and worship. Some carvings were so erotic in nature that it used to irritate me to worship idols who were surrounded by such obscene art. When such art can be preserved, applauded, declared to promote Indian culture...I do not see any point in vandalizing Mr. Hussain's paintings. For a look at what I intended to say go here : http://farm1.static.flickr.com/158/428760156_6984f95de1.jpg

Kalidasan had once written about Goddess Parvathy in an erotic way for which he was criticized to the core. But we still treasure his other works and pass it on to the next generations though one of his most famous drama- Abhijnanashakuntalam has it's most pivotal scene changed at his convenience (The scene where King Dushyanta apparently forgets Shakuntala after returning back due to a curse is an imaginary addition by Kalidasan so that he could portray the main hero in a good light).

Let us not generalize and point fingers at who we feel is convenient to fall prey to our selected accusations. Let the 95 year old man live his life in peace and I certainly agree with him accepting the Qatar nationality. I wouldn't tolerate anyone vandalizing my art, no one would!

Here are few tweets from tweeters I had debated with:
@VineethJose- The carvings also have sculptures of gays , lesbians and people having sex with animals. Its all there since vedic ages.

@RahulEaswar- Dear Neha. Can u imagine a situation where Sri Hussain paints "Rape of Qatar", Naked Qatar Queen, Queen's affair with someone else

@crown_jk- Carvings made in ancient society was more moral.For them there was nothing wrong in nudity. Now time has passed.We are in 2010,those carvings are now symbols of IND civilization.Now nudity is considered as a crime,can we go & destroy carvings? No. But living in this society,MF made paintings which will hurt people who believe in Hindu religion and love motherland.

The Rival

2010-02-20T17:20:00.000+05:30

I discovered creativity the first time I ever realized the meaning of what music is. I still do not know how to define what music is or creativity is. I have always been bad at giving scientific explanation about terms and conditions that define our life. But what is more important is to experience it. Whenever I sit in front of my Guruji, unaware of my thoughts, he seems to react exactly the way I want him to. It was very hard for me initially to find out mistakes in me because I never came from a traditional musical family. No one can sing at home. But they have great sense of music. But it was still hard for me to imbibe certain aspects when I was on a competitive platform. I still am. But now it's different. Back then I was always trained to give more importance to the element of performance. Or in simple terms, to have the guts to get on stage and sing your heart out. I was a little girl of 9 when I first participated in a singing competition held at the Indian Social Club, Muscat. Unaware of the stiff competition I sang just the way my Guruji taught me. If he was happy, I was happy. When I started winning prizes year after year I realized how good I am at singing and though my parents kept emphasizing on the importance of performance I knew deep inside that I wanted to win. Not to justify my singing with the acceptance of a trophy with my name carved on it but to be able to wear a new dress and to shine with glory that I am a star among the other winners.

The element of fame has never ever been attractive to me. Because as I grew up, understood that getting a prize makes me happy but to work harder the next year to maintain my level made me feel responsible. Responsible to not only my parents or the judges or to a couple of well wishers but to my Guruji and to myself. I woke up and turned a new page of my chapter to learn that I need to give the same kind of quality whenever I perform.

I have been denied a prize several times. I have also been denied the eligibility of getting a prize several times. Has it made me angry? Yes, but only at that point of time. Later on I understood that how I can't imagine writing with my toes , certain people don't think I am good enough to be their fingers. Since then I learnt the art of forgiveness. It's so beautiful to forgive and very hard to forget. I can't get it out of my head. I then agreed that keeping such bad events in my mind will always make me a little more cautious the next time I take a step ahead.

Many people have inspired me to practice, to keep striving harder, to never lose hope and to never speak ill of anyone. At some point life made me realize the value of the talent I have been blessed with. It's a happy responsibility I have to live with for the rest of my life. To achieve certain things , practice is not all that is required , we need to also have the courage to face struggles. But then I felt at times that I am wasting all my energy in facing these struggles, then where is the time to practice? or to live life? The answer is in knowing who is blocking you. We ourselves decide who we want to block our paths. I know it's pretty appalling to read this but when we want to give in ourselves to struggle , struggle will always be after us. I don't want to get in depth about such a subject where I myself am experiencing it right now. But the key to get rid of all the pain, struggles, negativeness around you is to compete with yourself. You are your biggest competitor. You are the only one who can beat yourself to secure the King's throne. Don't leave things to lady luck or the almighty everytime cos each time you do that you are only going to become a couch potato. Look into yourself to realize your powers and make them work. It's all within us. When we compete with ourself, we never lose. Remember that and you'll realize how lucky you are to be breathing on this beautiful earth. When you realize about the biggest competitor within you , you will be able to face the opportunities in your life instead of calling it a struggle.

Few lessons learnt

2010-02-04T19:38:00.001+05:30

Having a positive attitude helps a lot in overcoming stress, unwanted rumours/gossips about one self, tension ,etc. Over time I have met loads of people in my life where some have been extremely generous to me and some shrewd. But I have always felt that God does it on purpose so that we understand the value of relationships be it for the worse or otherwise. Anyhow, I wanted to write few quotes which came across my mind when I had to face such people/situations. Most of them have taught me a lesson in a good way and I would like to dedicate this post to them for opening my eyes!

I have decided to blog at least once a month on such quotes that enlightened my sense at such unexpected situations. Here we go ...

The reason why people talk behind your back is because you are ahead of them.

If you live to please others, no one will love you. What you get is only appreciation.

Make your anger so expensive that no one can afford it.

Feel free to share your favourite quotes too.. till then Ciao!

Rosebowl on Youtube :)

2010-02-02T19:28:00.000+05:30

It's absolutely amazing to work with Rosebowl. And now the good news is that the channel has it's music videos uploaded on YouTube :) Amazing isn't it?? Something you have to watch out for is Avial; Job, Charan and Yakzon; The Piano sessions with Stephen Devassi ... go ahead ..enjoy some awesomatic music !!!

The link
http://www.youtube.com/rosebowlchannel

Happy Republic Day !!!

2010-01-25T21:50:00.007+05:30

Happy Republic Day to all of you. Though I am still worried about the country's regard towards 26/11, Ruchika case and thousand such problems we can definitely be proud about the declaration of the Padma Bhushan awards..especially to the greatest legend ever, Mr. Illaiyaraja, most admired human being, Mr. A.R.Rahman and the one I consider a perfectionist, Mr. Aamir Khan. It's absolutely great to hear such a good news on the eve of the Republic Day! Let India keep producing such Khans and Rahmans :) and wishing Mother India a great year of environmental peace and tolerant humanity.

The above pic was sent by Dad through some forwarded mail. I found it very attractive and not too loud! Have uploaded few more .. check them out HERE.

Ustad Dilshad Khan and Begum Parveen Sulthana

2010-01-23T23:52:00.004+05:30

Wow !!! I never in my dreams thought that I could watch them live ! As Begum Parveen Sulthana said that the last time she and Ust. Dilshad Khan had come to perform in Kerala it was 20 years back when I must have been a tiny little foetus in my mother's womb! When they entered the open hall at the Kanakunnu Palace everyone started applauding out of respect. The commenced with Raag Yaman . They both sang a vilambit Khayal and a Dhrut Khayal followed by my favourite tarana in Raag Hamsadhwani composed by the Ustad himself.

The Open air concert was filled with claps when she sang it in ,what I feel is the 'echo' style. Here, a taan is sung in normal heavy voice and is imitated as it's own echo. I will speak to my Guruji and ask him if there is a definite term for such a kind of singing. So please excuse me if I have used a wrong term as such. Ustad Dilshad sang the right opposite of an echo. He produced the echo effect first and then sang it in the heavy tone. Mashallah!

Third presentation was in a rare raag known as 'Maluha Maand'. As Parveenji was explaining about the raag, Ustad interrupted by saying it's the marriage of a woman and a man. He then winked at her and the place was filled with mild laughter as though mocking him for teasing her at a serious discussion point. Such a jovial person. My mom was saying that a Guru should also have a jovial, fun loving side to enhance a student's relationship with the Guru. Ustad said that Maluha is a raag which has the features similiar to that of a man. Very dominant, bold ans strong. Whereas, Maand is more frivolous in nature and has a little bit of mischief! So the marriage/ combination of the raaga is 'Maluha Maand'. A beautiful Tarana in the same raag was also performed and there was this one line which was sung in persian language. At the end of the presentation of the raag the Ustad mentioned that tarana happens to mean 'love song' in Persian language. And that it is extremely important to incorporate atleast one line of the language in the tarana instead of only 'tabala bols'.

Soon after their second performance Pt. Ramesh Narayan felicitated them and the concert was also enlightened by the presence of carnatic vocalists, Mrs. Binni Krishnakumar and Mr. Krishnakumar and famous Cine Music Director, M. Jayachandran.

The concert was closed with two Meera bhajans. One of them was in Raag Misra Bhairavi! Beautifully rendered and Parveen Sulthanaji has always been my favourite female classical vocalist in Hindustani. I am glad I could be a part of this Festival.

Dr. Gopalakrishnan on Astrology

2010-01-21T09:55:00.003+05:30

The first time I ever knew about Dr. Gopalakrishnan was when my mom was reading out a sloka explained by him when I was around 10 or eleven. That time I couldn't remember his name but that sloka became a part of my life ever since. As I grew up she would tell me of how he used to speak about a lot of superstitions which were not bothered to be explained on scientific terms by a lot who belonged to the older generation. I keep wondering how no one ever wanted to know why we follow certain things as per tradition. One such a thing is doing the Ganapati Homam in a newly built house. It is actually done because the homam emits a lot of elements help in purifying the air and of course that will spread positivity in the atmosphere around us. Many such things were explained by him and I am a big fan of him. I have even prepared a list of things to ask in case I meet him somewhere!!

Just caught up with some awesomatic videos where Dr. Gopalakrishnan, Hon. Director of the IISH (Indian Institute of Scientific Heritage) was speaking in depth about Astrology. Such an eye opener! I absolutely believe in astrology as a science. But sadly somehow one thing leads to another and I get a little curious to find out what my stars have to say. As per the scientist astrology is all about the celestial constellation once we start breathing. Since astrology is predicted on the basis of the birth timing , there are four ways of considering it. One is when the baby's head is seen, second is when the whole baby is out of the womb, third is when the baby starts crying, fourth is when the baby is separated from the mother on cutting the umbilical chord. But Dr. Gopalakrishnan explains about the fifth and the most important way of considering the timing is when the sperm meets the egg which sadly cannot be recorded. Hence, this could be one of the problems as to why some horoscopes read the opposite of it's owner's life!

He explained in detail about the position of the earth, greenwich line, and how astrology is a science that can be proved. But what is appalling is that people don't really care about the science part but the predictions. Here, prediction , as the word suggests, is a 50-50 chance which explains why some things work as per the astrologer's say and some don't. Predictions cannot be explained scientifically and is not a part of scientific astrology.

Another interesting fact that the scientist mentioned was that some people study the subject only to prove it wrong, to challenge it or to insult it. One should study it for 2 purposes: To learn if it is scientific and second to see if it's useful in our life. Funnily, both don't have to compliment each other in all situations. Emotions, feelings, respect are unexplainable by science but are excessively used in our lives.

Please do not blindly believe in astrology and drive your life in the roads suggested by interpreters of the stars. Nothing can define your life more than your hard work and will power and your prayers. If you are still interested in having a peek at your future then what is best is to be happy about all the good things told about your life and to blame all the obstacles to the astrologer's reading or blame the nurse who took down your birth time ;) !!!

Jan 6th - The B'day Boy

2010-01-06T00:05:00.003+05:30

A.R.RAHMAN

The man who's made me think over and over again about one note.
The man who's made me think over and over again about the 7 notes.
The man who's made me think about m.u.s.i.c.

Happy Birthday to the Maestro, my inspiration, my first step to realizing c.r.e.a.t.i.v.i.t.y.

Media on sensational news

2010-01-05T23:16:00.002+05:30

Wow.. 2 centuries !! My 201th post :) Watched a big debate on media hyping up sensational news. Well of course they have had their share of mistakes but there are few things I wanted to blog which was prominently spoken by the panelists of the debate. Media has played a very vital role and I do believe that they are the conscience of the society, the people. Cases like the Neelam Katara case, Jessica Lal , Aarushi's and even the Ruchika case would have not progressed this way if the media would not have reported in this manner. Their efforts are totally appreciated. But also in terms of getting into the depth of each case and the consequences of the adjacent angles have to be given equal or more importance. Like one of the panelists had mentioned, Rathore was definitely the centre of attraction in a bad way but after that every news update about the case had only been showing Rathore's politics and corruption. This is the point where the media can actually showcase the running of corruption happening among the police forces, politicians and the judiciary. It's so depressing. Girls are anyways not safe in any area how ever early or late hours of the day and if at all something bad happens no justice is done. I really wish the media could also emphasize on such material facts which could bring some sort of an enforcement of doing things in the right manner.. especially the system of law! Honestly my faith from the judiciary is totally blown away after the Ruchika case. It feels even more insecure and worries to see the gen next of women grow up in such an insecure environment.So *applause* for the media for everything they have done to provide justice !!!

Youtube...my tube to life

2010-01-04T20:46:00.002+05:30

Listening to a lot of world music nowadays. I am incredibly thankful to Steve, Chad and Jawed for youtube , my source to majority of my collections. When my dad used to brag about his once-upon-a-times I really used to chuck it saying every gen next have their share of struggles. But this time literally , dil se, I totally agree with him cos of youtube. I mean what more could once ask from life??? I got some of the golden-est (really mean it !) of the golden classics to the most jazz-iest of the lot in any language !! Life's totally revolving around a click. This is where I support technology 100 x infinite times !! :)

Chetan Bhagat should be given the credits

2010-01-03T08:46:00.006+05:30

Feeling really bad for Chetan Bhagat cos of the whole '3 idiots' issue. Definitely the makers should be given credits for original 'screenplay/ script' and not for original 'story'.Infact I find the story modified and not recreated. Like Chetan highlighted at a live News talk , how can a film be given the credits of original story when it has been based on a hit seller book? Irrespective of Chetan being given his dues as per agreement it certainly is not ethical to be forward enough to take up the credits themself. Clearly 3 idiots is a lot different from Five.someone but the basic things like Raju moving over to Chatur's room, they splitting up, they stealing the papers, Raju trying to commit suicide, Raju's family conditions are interpreted in the movie just like in the book. This is the soul of the movie . I totally agree with Bhagat to fight for his moral rights and also he's being reasonable by asking for genuine compromise in terms of giving him the 3rd place in credits for the adaptation and not in terms of money. Sad is the state of writers who spend years for making a book like five.someone. Whether the credits are given or not I am still going to remain a big fan of his books and hope that the humour nevers dies out from his future works.

P.S.Got to watch 3 idiots 2 days back and one great work I say. Truly enjoyable though they included a lot of cliches.

Welcome 2010 !!!

2010-01-02T22:31:00.003+05:30

Late by two days I know!! but... HAPPY NEW YEAR !!! Well the first half of 2009 was pretty low for me. Silly predictions, zero results, bad bad health, dealing with intolerable problems attached to the college, University and their tantrums... it would be better to not blog about it !! But around mid April I got to sing for Ritu and I still feel very blessed to be a part of the project. I am one of the lucky ones to be a part of this film and most importantly it felt like a family rather than a 'film'.

My work accelerated as a TV presenter too. Got loads of offers but I didn't take them up cos I felt I am best made for singing, music. How much ever I indulge myself into photography, news debates, blogging and wotnot ..at the end I feel full only when I am into music. To work with Stephen Devassi at a very early stage of my career is truly a blessing in form of Rosebowl. The amount one gets to learn from the experienced is like a treasure box. I also came up with a lot of innovative ideas, took my first step into composing seriously, etc. So 2009 was almost like 'making of a musician' ..I'm there..but not completely. Everyone has been raving about what a great year 2010 is going to be for everyone. Wonder why 2010! Somewhere in the midst of all this discussion even I feel, out of my intuitions that something big is waiting for me in 2010. I hope there is progress in law and order of our country and the climatic conditions. Hope is not all we can do .. it's time to make a difference in some way or the other. So this year is going to be one of the action-oriented decision-making years.. Wishing you all a year of excellence!!

Outcast Vocals

2009-12-24T14:23:00.003+05:30

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?

2009-12-19T14:00:00.006+05:30

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?

2009-11-29T18:40:00.005+05:30

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

2009-11-19T18:07:00.005+05:30

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...

2009-11-09T21:43:00.002+05:30

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

2009-11-09T21:28:00.002+05:30

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

2009-11-05T23:58:00.004+05:30

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

2009-10-30T16:20:00.004+05:30

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 ...

2009-10-28T14:06:00.003+05:30

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

2009-10-23T09:43:00.003+05:30

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

2009-10-18T14:03:00.004+05:30

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 ...

2009-09-30T22:05:00.003+05:30

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

2009-09-14T00:24:00.001+05:30

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

THE BIG ONAM SPLASH

2009-09-07T10:42:00.003+05:30

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

2009-08-31T19:25:00.003+05:30

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

2009-08-23T22:02:00.003+05:30

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"

2009-08-15T01:17:00.003+05:30

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'.

2009-08-11T22:06:00.002+05:30

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 !

2009-07-30T18:47:00.003+05:30

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..

2009-07-16T11:14:00.001+05:30

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

2009-06-29T16:34:00.002+05:30

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

Picha vecha naal

2009-06-25T22:18:00.005+05:30

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

2009-06-20T23:22:00.003+05:30

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 !!!

2009-06-16T20:23:00.002+05:30

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

2009-06-16T16:46:00.003+05:30

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!

2009-06-10T18:12:00.002+05:30

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!

2009-06-03T23:27:00.003+05:30

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

2009-05-25T23:58:00.005+05:30

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.

2009-05-19T14:20:00.004+05:30

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.

2009-05-18T19:06:00.002+05:30

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...

2009-05-14T23:25:00.003+05:30

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...

2009-05-11T13:56:00.006+05:30

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 !!!

2009-05-11T13:39:00.003+05:30

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 ...

2009-05-02T08:35:00.002+05:30

... 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!

2009-04-24T12:37:00.008+05:30

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 !!!

2009-04-17T08:18:00.004+05:30

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...

2009-04-15T17:44:00.003+05:30

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.