The raining grey cloud of music

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?

The ignorance of meaningful perception

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Single or married?

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

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

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

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

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

THE BIG ONAM SPLASH

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

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

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

World Music Day - Rosebowl

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

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

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

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

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

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

Great news!

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

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

Ciao till then !!!

Have uploaded the pics of ...

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

Click here to view the pics.

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

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

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

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

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

Unaroo

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

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

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

Kanavupol

I am quite impressed with this new album I got hear the other day. Maybe in May or something. Why am I blogging about this now?? Because the Music Director of Kanavupol has started blogging! He has started his audio blog giving an introduction about his album and work experience. I know this post isn't a commemoration but it sure is a promotion tag. It's quite occult and has a latitude of the best singers the industry has ever produced. Manjari, Jassie Gift, Karthik, Anitha, Vidhu Prathap, etc are some who have lent their voices to this mystic work. Do give it an ear and I promise you that it's a true entertainer. Check Kanavupol here at http://www.kanavupol.blogspot.com/

You can contact Mr. Sajan at saajarishi@gmail.com

Thanks guys and keep yourselves tuned :)

Guruvayur Concert

Can you believe?? A strike !! I thought I wouldn't be able to make it but the Police force said that it is safe for private vehicles to move around after afternoon. So started by three thirty and reached there like in 45 minutes. We were expecting less crowd as it was strike but much to our surprise we had to wait in the queue for around an hour. The nada which usually opens at four thirty opened at five twenty today coz of the shiveli. Love elephants. Especially baby ones..I wish I could own one some day. The long hours of wait and complaining is finally put to an end when you witness the Guruvayurappan idol. Once we got out I was listening to some kiddies who were singing their lungs out. Children are so innocent. It's sweet to hear them and also reminded me of my young times. Oh my God! I am talking as though I am already 50.... well it feels that way .. going to turn 19.... my last teen year :( Anyways I was sitting backstage when I noticed a lot of commotion going on right outside the place. Didn't bother giving it an ear so I didn't know what the matter was. But later it got quite serious as in the people who were fighting brought their instruments and other materials inside. As though it was their turn next. That's when I got to hear the whole problem. Actually these guys had booked the 6:30 slot and so had we. But the committee people didn't make a note of the former one and hence the commotion.I was suppose to perform after the girl who was singing then and the time was already past 6:30. Then my guru and the other guys had a major discussion for five minutes or so. And I was asked to cut down my 1 1/2 hours katcheri to 45 minutes. I chose to sing Vatapi Ganapathim, Bhavayami, Elara Krishna and few bhajans ending it with a thillana in Bhupalam. The point was performing at Melpathur. As far as that is fullfilled I am least bothered about what others want to do or say.

I thought of starting a Video blog. As in so far I put all my videos in Surmitr. Thoguht of seperating it. I guess it will be more convenient. It won't be updated that soon... cos I hardly take videos of my concerts... but with whatever present I will commence. Suggestions needed!

Surmitr Updates

My audio blog, Surmitr was hibernating for a while due to problems with my converter. But thanks to Fani Kalyan, I could update songs to my blog .One is Satya Soundaryame. You can listen to it HERE. It's a prayer song I have sung for various shows. Actually I choose this song as my prayer song everytime coz it's secular in nature. Doesn't praise any lord or religion in particular and therefore doesn't show any kind of partiality to any religious force.It commences in Sahana raagam and ends in Surruti. I had recorded this prayer in Denny uncle's studio in Muscat for a purpose which was nullified due to technical issues. But this one is really special to my heart and that's why I had to pester Denny uncle to get me a copy of this track. Do give it an ear and expecting positive feedback.

Protest!!!!

Sprite has Buffalo semen inserted during it's manufacture which makes it colourless and more tasty. Save yourself!!! Please spread this piece of healthy news and unite together to stop it's sale. A request from a true blogger. For more details read HERE


P.S. Source of Information : Vikas

102 nd Post

Yup it's past a century!! Chennai traffic is terrible. The long wait...the wait for the end..which never seems to happen. Didn't get to see much of the place apart from a lot traffic and pollution. Went to two great temples ,one an Ayappan kovil and another of his father. I had so many dosas and idlis that I am now into some kind of a juice diet. Not to shed kilos but to drown that uduppi taste from my tongue. Getting a loooot of miscalls nowdays, special thanks to Vikas :) Another one :listen to gum sum from Ada ...refreshing, distinct. Totally love the rains..was waiting for them.

With the A.R.Rahman's Ada contest on, one blog friend Kumar remixed KMT which I had uploaded in Surmitr. Do give an ear to the remixed version. Suggestions invited ...

Back Home

Finally.... did some serious duty free shopping!! And don't laugh , I know I am still a teen and way old for all these things...I got a soft toy.. a CAMEL !! Baby camel and daddy camel. By the time mummy camel came it was way too pricy!! and it had worn pink lipstick (yuck). So I thought I'll nurture the toy and be it's mummy. So I am big time name-hunting for both the toy camels. Any brilliant ideas??? Please do drop in... coz I really need them. From quite a young age I was fascinated and excited about naming my toys. Not all of them literally but I used to get so many kinds of dolls. Some were bald headed and some I got as a set with the mirror, hairbrush and even a makeup set. I never liked changing names of dolls who already had a name inscribed inside the cover. The only problem was two or three of them would be similiar cos most of them had names like Sally, Polly, Solly, Sarah. I used to even take care of my doll's hair more than mine. Till date :) Serious naming happened when I got my first pet, my 17th birthday gift, a fish! I named it Bangudai which means blue pearl, I think, in Chinese *giggle*.It was blue in colour and a fighter like me. Such fishes are usually isolated coz they can't live without quarelling physically, I guess. And when it died on Feb 27th, I was too scared to even look at it. Aaaaahh.....I am giving my self some time to still recover from that tragedy. So the end of the story is that I got the camel soft toy cos I was brought up in a desert and felt that it is my duty to get something that represents a desert and hence *tan ta daaa* the camel. So please suggest some cute names.

Since dad is quitting after his 28 years of service we had to cancel off our family visa and resident cards. It felt as though a baby is cutting it's ambilical chord from that of it's mother. But here I am not potraying the freedom the baby gets out of that , it's the detachment it goes through after having survived nine months in the stomach which gave it routes, breathed in life ,circulated the blood and got it prepared for the big battle to venture life with it's first cry. The pain of leaving that warmth, that secured feeling, that 'apartment' !! That's exactly how I felt when the counter guy was cancelling things on his system and he just threw my resident card away. Now if I ever go back it will be as a guest not as a home person *sigh*

The flight was good after all Jet Airways has just started it's fly to Cochin recently. Watched Aaja Nachle and the 'coconut flavoured sweet with a mango tinge' a.k.a. parippu payasam was bad!! While landing we were going through unfavourable weather conditions and alerted us to put on our seat belts. As I shelved up the window board we were flying right through the clouds. Clouds were looking like a cotton candy. Everytime we get into a biiig cloud the whole plane would start shaking. As we neared the land the whole journey from the white cotton candies to the lagoons.. WHATTAA SIGHT !! I started of seeing bald mountains and sandy deserts and landed seeing green cultivation. What a transformation! One cultivation was even shaped like an 'WA'...not a W and an A but something like a V and another V that makes a W and curves down to to make an A. It even had the line between the two lines that form an A. Now that's beautiful nature !

After landing ,our driver took us to Trivandrum straight where I was trying to prepare for my English exam- Novel and communicative English. So much for street lights!! I thought I would crash as soon as I reach home but Brunie's barking woke me up from my dreamy world and there I went off like a non stop radio till twelve or so. With a lot of compulsion and pleading they changed my FM Station to off mode and there I was sleeping like a baby.

Exam was good today except for the Phonetics. I guess I created my own symbols *lol* Next is Sanskrit, on 29th. Abhigyana Shakuntalam and Keralodayam. From the luring tales of the sparkling romance between King Dushyanth and Shakuntala to the manliness of Parasuramam. I have no clue how I am going to finish learning the foursectioned drama and the Mahakavyam of 1oo slokas. So until next post 'Jai Sanskrit!'

Orkut help !!

In Orkut ,in my profile I had given the links to all my three blogs. And from the past few days it has been coming as 'content suppressed'. I tried editing it many times, it gets back to normal and within hours it goes back to square one. Is Orkut not allowing or .. is it some technical problem? Coz few of my friends asked me my blog link cos of it's unavailability on my Orkut profile. Are your links also showing the same content? If you have a solution or the reason to the problem, Please help.

Lot's in a name !

A pretty funny one from the Reader's Digest, May edition:

A New Zealand couple have named their son "Superman." 4Real. Actually, reported the London Telegraph, 4Real was their first choice, but the Govt. registry nixed the name coz it included a digit. Meanwhile a Chinese couple clashed with their Govt. when they tried to give their newborn this moniker: @. Some celebs have followed suit, and their's nary a Jane in the bunch.

Audio Science (son of actress Shannyn Sossamon)

Bluebell Madonna (daughter of Spice girl Geri Halliwell)

Daisy Boo (daughter of chef Jamie Oliver)

Pilot Inspektor (son of actor Jason Lee)

Heavenly Hiraani Tiger Lily (daughter of TV host Paula Yates)

God'lss Love stone (daughter of singer Lil' Mo)

Jermajesty (son of singer Jermaine Jackson)

What is the world getting into????

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Another humor @ Work : When hiring new staff at her public library, my daughter always asks applicants what sort of supervision they'd be most comfortable with.
One genius answered "I've always thought Superman's X-ray vision would be cool."

From one joke to another Buhahahaha till next post :D

An error in my previous post,thanks to Dad. U.A.E. is a country which consists of 7 sovereign sheikhdoms .Though Sharjah is not in Dubai but an induvidual city ,it again isn't in Oman. So point is clear that Sharjah, Dubai are different cities of the U.A.E. Abu Dhabi is the capital city of the U.A.E. And Oman is an induvidual country altogether that belongs to the Gulf region. Can check out few pics of the Arab coast here

Oman and the U.A.E. are neighbour countries and though Dubai has grown faster than the rest its still remains a city and is smaller in size than Oman. The other cities that belong to the U.A.E. are Ajman, Fujairah, Ras al Khaimah,and Umm al Qaiwain. The confusion was cos of the petite difference between Dubai and Sharjah ,hardly 15 minutes away from each other. Sorry for the vague information given earlier.

Have updated Snapshots after a long time....and here comes one more Caption game!! Do put in your creative stuff. This caption pic took me some time ...almost all my time to capture it. So whether or not you bother to leave your caption in my comment box, I will always cherish it *sigh*