As a kid, the Naidu Hall discount sale that is on, during their anniversary every year was something that I used to look forward to, since that’s when I used to get my Diwali dress. 🙂 After the Vinayaka Chaturthi pooja at home, we used to rush to the shop, which used to be so crowded that one had to squeeze oneself through the crowds to reach the rows and rows of dresses hanging from the shelves. Unlike how it is now, at that time, the sale used to be on for just one day. (It was later extended to 3 days and today the sale is on for more than 2 weeks!) The general opinion was that the dresses though of excellent quality, were a bit expensive at Naidu Hall. So I guess everyone wanted to shop there during the sale. I have no idea how my Mom managed to pick all those nice frocks and skirts and tops for my sister and me amidst all the chaos! This shopping during the sale continued till when I was in my class 11. Though I went there during the sale when I was in my class 12 too, I somehow didn’t like anything at all there and that’s when we decided to stop going for the sale. I did buy a few dresses there after that, but not during the sale.
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Mambalam Sisters (Chitra & Vijayalakshmi) – Vocal
Hemalatha – Violin
K.S.Rangachari – Khanjira
Nellai Balaji – Mridangam

Where & When? – Siddhi Buddhi Sameta Sri Karpaga Vinayagar temple, R.A.Puram on 8th September

Songs list:
(Partial since I went about 30 minutes after the start of the concert, assuming of course, the concert had started on time 😉 )

1. Siddhi Vinayakam – Mohanakalyani – Swarams at Siddhi Vinayakam
2. Bhavayami – Raagamalika
3. intanuchu – Gundakriya
4. Nagumomu – Abheri – Alapana, neraval & swarams at Jagame – Tani Avartanam
5. unai paaDa varam – Kapi
6. vaNNa mayil vaahanane – Kavadi chindhu?
7. Kurai oNRum illai – Raagamalika
8. Sri Chakra Raja – Raagamalika
9. Vigna Vinayaka Murtikku MangaLam – Madhyamavati

If you don’t expect to listen to anything extraordinary and just want to listen to some good music and some popular songs, then you should have come for this concert.

Accompanists:
R.K.Shriramkumar – Violin
K.V.Prasad – Mridangam
Madipakkam Murali – Ghatam

Where & When? – At Krishna Gana Sabha on 7th September

Concert Duration: 2 hrs 50 min
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That’s how I felt when I woke up today morning. Am coming to work after 5 days. Yes! Thanks to Vinayaka Chathurti and a couple of comp-offs that I had, I had 5 days holidays. 😀 Trip to Kanchipuram, kutcheris, lotsa shopping 😀 , friend’s engagement, music class, 4 Mani Ratnam movies on TV (though I didn’t watch even a single one fully!), Carnatic music and vetti browsing! And the 5 days seem to have passed by in a jiffy! 😉 The days before the looong weekend had been very busy ones too with me having had lotsa work and work apart, me going for a couple of kutcheris, attending a wedding reception and a friend’s engagement and catching up with some old friends after a long time. It seems to be the end of busy days now. And I am now relaxing listening to T.N.Seshagopalan’s Dwijavanti RTP. 😉

I might have woken up today saying that it’s Monday already but now I can’t help saying that it’s just Monday and the weekend is 5 long days away! 😉 😛

Sikkil Gurucharan – Vocal
V.L.Kumar – Violin
K.V.Prasad – Mridangam
K.V.Gopalakrishnan – Khanjira

Where & When? – Narada Gana Sabha Mini Hall on 4th September

Concert Duration: 1 hr 30 min

Songs List:
1. Shri Raghukula – Hamsadhwani – Swarams at vara ratna
2. Dattatreya – Ranjani – Alapana, neraval at SahyAdrivAsa SacchidAnanda Shrigurudeva Datta
3. nimma bhagya – Atana
3. Shri Dakshinamurtim – Phenadyuti
4. DinamaNi Vamsa – Harikambhoji – Alapana, neraval & swarams at DinamaNi vamsa
5. Kanakasabhaiyai – Kapi

This is the first-ever concert of Sikkil Gurucharan that I attended. Before this concert, I had only heard some 3-4 song recordings of his that came on TV – I don’t remember those too. So, I guess I can very well say that this is the first time I really heard him sing.

It was a very good concert. I didn’t find even a single moment boring. Gurucharan’s Ranjani & Harikambhoji alapanas, nimma bhagya, the fast-paced Hamsadhwani swarams were the ones that I liked the most in this concert. Looking forward to attending more concerts of Gurucharan in the future!

T.M.Krishna – Vocal
R.K.Shriramkumar – Violin
Guruvayur Dorai – Mridangam
T.V.Vasan – Ghatam
Srirangam Kannan – Morsing

Where & When? – Narada Gana Sabha Mini Hall on 3rd September

Concert Duration: 1 hr 40 min

Songs List:
1. Janaki pate – Kharaharapriya – Swarams at Janaki Pate
2. nannu bhrovumani – Kalyani – Alapana, neraval at adrija vinutuDu bhadragirishuDu
3. KarikalAbha mukham – Saveri – Alapana, neraval & swarams at mooladhara – Tani Avartanam
4. Rangabaaro – Maand
5. Varugalaamo – Maanji – Raaga outline
6. Gaayati Vanamali – Hamsadhwani
7. Bhujaga shaayino – Yadukula Kambhoji
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Sanjay Subrahmanyan – Vocal
Nagai Muralidharan – Violin
Guruvayur Dorai – Mridangam
Neyveli Venkatesh – Khanjira

Where & When? – PiLLaiyar temple, Warren Road on 31st August

Concert Duration: 2.5 hrs

Songs list:
1. Varnam – Abhogi
2. Vinayaka – Hamsadhwani – brief neraval & swarams at Paramakripasagara
3. Appa naan – Poorvi Kalyani – Alapana, neraval & swarams at thappaedhu naan seyyinum nee porutthal vaeNDum
4. ennaeramum – Devagandhari (Started at anupallavi – thennancholai)
5. Bhrova baarama – Bhahudhari – Alapana, Swarams at Bhrova baarama
6. Yaaro ivar yaaro – Bhairavi – Alapana, neraval & swarams at chandrabimba mukhamalaraale ennai thaane paarkkiraar orukaale – Tani Avartanam
7. Thaeril erinaan – Kalyani
8. ivan yaaro sakhiye – Kambhoji – Raaga outline
9. maari ninRu mayakkidum (viruttam) in Sindhu Bhairavi followed by Visweswar darshan kar – Ragamalika (Sindhu Bhairavi, Pahadi, Kosalam) – Brief Sindhu Bhairavi Alapana
10. aarumo aaval – Maand – Raaga outline
11. Maname kaNamum – Bhimplas
12. Mangalam – Sowrashtram

Yet another amazing concert! I absolutely loved the Bhahudhari alapana and swarams. Couldn’t have enough of PDNPM! 😉 And then the best part of the concert – Bhairavi! The out of the world alapana, the rendition of yaaro ivar yaaro, the neraval & swarams – an enchanting Bhairavi it was! Though all the tukkadas were excellent, the Sindhu Bhairavi was extra special. Even though it was 11 pm by the time the concert ended, I really wished the concert could go on for some more time. 😉

For at least the next one month, with Sanjay touring the US, there is not going to be a Sanjay’s concert here. 🙁

To say that this movie was heights of kodumai would be an understatement! That was the opinion amongst all of us who watched this movie.

The only things that I liked in the entire movie were the lush green fields of the village and the locations of the song that came post-interval (Yaaro?) – the green mountains and then the temple (seemed like some Karnataka temple) and its tank. I absolutely loved the beautiful combination that the green mountains and the not-so-clear blue skies with some very nice shades of blue made! The blue water from which Ravi emerges unconscious looked nice too. Now that I have raved enough about nature’s beauty, let me move on to other things in the movie.
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Accompanied by:
Varadarajan – Violin
Neyveli Venkatesh – Mridangam
Guruprasad – Ghatam

Where & When? – P.S. Hr. Sec. School (Nadopasana) on 23rd August

Concert Duration: 3 hrs 10 min!
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Blue is my favourite colour. Nature’s beauty is at its best in the form of blue sky and blue waters. Beautiful is the word I would associate with blue. Yet I have always wondered why blue is also used to mean gloomy, depressed, sadness, etc. Though the answer was always just a Google search away 😛 , thanks to sheer laziness on my part, I finally found the answer only today. In case you are interested in knowing it, assuming of course, you don’t already know it, here is what wikipedia says:

In the English language, blue may refer to the feeling of sadness. “He was feeling blue”. This is because blue was related to rain, or storms, and in Greek mythology, the god Zeus would make rain when he was sad (crying), and a storm when he was angry. Kyanos was a name used in Ancient Greek to refer to dark blue tile (in English it means blue-green or cyan). The phrase “feeling blue” is linked also to a custom among many old deepwater sailing ships. If the ship lost the captain or any of the officers during its voyage, she would fly blue flags and have a blue band painted along her entire hull when returning to home port.