Interview for Manorama Online Edition

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

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.

Pappu - My Telugu Launch

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.

Outcast Vocals

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

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

Ritu- A Shyam Prasad- Rahul Raj combo..

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

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

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

Cindrella.mp3

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



The Video




For the trailor click HERE.

Check out few posters of RITU Here.

To check out Shyam Prasad sir speaking about Ritu go here

Rajanigandha season 3

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


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

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!!

Telecast of Sakhi today !!!

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



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

Sakhi - Amrita TV

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

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

Secretariat members family get together

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ghazal Sandhya

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

Thank you

Republic Day recording in Big 92.7 FM

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

The Navarathri track for Doordarshan

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

Navarathri

I adore the whole Guru-shishya parampara but it's sad that we hardly practice it anymore. It's overwhelming when you get blessings from your Guru on the very special day - Vijayadashmi. Today morning I sang few keerthanas and then headed off to my Guru Sri. Perumbavur Ravindranath's place for his blessings. There I got to sing few famous krithis like Sri Varalakshmi, Saraswathi Vidhiyuvathi, initially starting off with few slokas like Sarva Mangala Maangalye and some geethas i.e. 'Sree Gananatha' and 'Vara Veena'. Collected the prasad after singing and when I stepped out I felt as though I went through a "relief-abhishekam" where I felt like all my sins are washed away through the reception of my Guru's blessings. I had done a small work for the Navarathri for Channel Doordarshan via All India Radio. A dance had been choreographed with children of various age groups participating in it. It was aired today morning at 8:00 am. There is a repeat telecast tomorrow at Doordarshan at 5:10 pm. Do try to watch it. Wishing all of you the nine blessings of Navadurga i.e. name, fame, health, wealth, happiness, humanity, education, power and devotion.

Apoorva

I had the privilege to sing under Sri. Vidhyadharan sir for the movie Apoorva. It is directed by a 19 year old, Nithin. The recording is my first for Playback and I am happy I got to do it under the guidance of my Godfather. It took around 45 minutes to complete the session and got the CD only today!! :D .... The star cast is brand new and we have some good budding artists lined up.... You can listen to the audio here. And do give me honest feedback.. *stay tuned*

Born in Kerala

The much talked about 'Born In Kerala' album done by Jakes Bejoy was inaugurated on the 23rd of August in Le Meridian, Cochin by Harris Jayaraj. The same the ,it's production house -TOT Music was also launched. I am happy that I could sing a song for the album ..and for more stuff go HERE.

To check their blog you can go HERE . To get a glimpse of their trailor just go HERE .

A lot of other singers like Madhubalakrishnan, Sayonara, the Idea star singer team, Franko and Stephan (Amrita superstar) also took part in the function and even performed.

The past two weeks have been one helluva time... recording and singing and recording and singing!! Some good audios your way..will be coming soon. When I sing one line where I feel I've given the best the MD will be like 'Cut' ! And it's just the best when he says a 'super' after recording maybe just a word. Each time I go behind the mic I feel like a total fool .Like as though I have never been trained and God knows why they chose me to sing. But it all evaporates the moment the MD gives you a thumbs up. And finally I have figured that recording is hard. Not all fun you see. Keep tuned for more yapping abt my bragging :)

The Princess Wedding

The best wedding reception I've seen so far. Resort Maria is set in the backwaters in Allepey. The houseboats, the traditional boat race and the 'kuttanadu kayalile' song has tempted me from such a long time to visit this place. And I had been invited before but couldn't make it due to other plans. But this one was just unavoidable. Couldn't attend the wedding but I thought the reception would be just formal with a toast and a couple of thank-you notes and then maybe food as they are christians. But I was totally overwhelmed and have crowned Dr. Thomas (the bride's father) the most cool and happening dad of the year!! As we had reached the resort early we were just waiting for the couple and the families to arrive .The waiting went on for seconds and minutes and then there was the sound of a million crackers being burst up on air. Beautiful. The houseboat kept moving forward and the crackers went on bursting and the third most glamorous thing was the the 'chenda-mela' being played on the top of the boat. The whole team were standing above and playing it live. It was like a 'puram'. And after the beautiful reception, the bride and groom entered and were seated on a panthal!! They had a hindu marriage with just the garlands and the 3 rounds and the honey and bananas. Let me remind you... they both are Christians. I've never seen such a way of celebrating before. Not a hindu wedding with all the customs but just the main ones. Infact Dr. was a little tensed and kept looking at me to check if what they were doing was in the right way or not. When on stage, Dr. was asked to do the toast and instead of champagne, the drink was substituted for 'karikku' water :D It was absolutely fantabulous and I really don't have words to express this reception. Like I mentioned before ,I usually never sing for weddings, or receptions or any kind of personal celebrations but this one was just unavoidable. I ,as per Dr.'s request sang Madhuraikyu pogathedee, Sutrum vizhi, Valkannezhuthi with Gopan uncle and the last but the best Paarthu mudhalnaale with Dr. himself. He went completely out of track at the ending bit and I just went laughing on stage forever. But he never feels bad. The party was catered by Naushad and the starters included crabs, lobsters, prawns, octopus, chicken. duck and for vegetarians just paneer! I just couldn't have anything .Had lots of deserts though. It was a great party anyways...and Rose definitely did have a princess wedding!

Gurupoornima was a great success!! It was completely an exciting experience cos I got to perform in front of Shri Dakshinamoorthy Swami. Mr. Soorya Krishnamoorthy was felicitated along with Swamiji and M. Jayachandran sir was also present for a short period of time. Will upload the pics soon and will try getting the videos.

Today morning I had to enter my home through the back doors! Yup! my front lock is totally screwed up and will require some mending work ..so as of now I have to get used to the 'thief' life. I will be attending a Christian wedding for the first time in my life :) , at Taj Malabar Hotel. I usually never sing for weddings and receptions but this friend is a special one so will be doing some simple yet dishy numbers.

Watched JTYJN...sooooo cute. Honestly, it's not critically acclaimed and blah blah and story was quite obvious..but the comic element is really strong and the acting is fab of Genelia and Imraan (ga ga !!). The best was the songs..especially Kabhi Kabhi.

Have uploaded few pics of the grey sky.. check them up RIGHT HERE.