Exhibition of photographs of the ruins of Hampi

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Rummaging through my bag, in which, I should tell you, are lots of papers, I started going through what I had written on those. Songs lists of concerts, notes taken down during lec-dems, lyrics of songs, thoughts which I wanted to later become blog posts and even full posts which I never got around to typing on the computer and publishing. There are a whole lot of writings which didn’t become posts in this blog at the time it should have! Anyway, here is a very belated post on a photography exhibition with inputs from what I had written on one of those papers right after coming back from the exhibition.

A few months back, or to be precise, from 23rd March to 4th April, there was a photography exhibition titled ‘Vijayanagara – Splendour in Ruins’ at Lalit Kala Akademi organized by Alkazi Foundation in association with Prakriti Foundation. It was an exhibition of rare photos of Hampi taken in 1855-1856 by Alexander Greenlaw, an army officer.
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Nice song!

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Click here to watch the song.

This Malayalam song, picha vecha naal is the one that I have been listening to, for the past 3 days. I have been hooked to a new song after a long time! Though this song, which seems to be based on many raagas, reminds one of so many other songs, yet there is something haunting about it. Soft, soothing & melodious! Shankar Mahadevan’s singing is the biggest plus of it. My most favourite part in the entire song is the humming at 2:38. The female singer, whoever she is, does just the humming in the entire song, yet her humming followed by that haunting dhirana dhirana & the swarams NDPM RMRP NDSNDMP sung by Shankar Mahadevan turns out to be the best part of the song!
The visual is full of vibrant colours and that’s what makes it good too.

P.S.: Thanks to Sreekrishnan for the link!

Bidding adieu to laziness and apprehensions!

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That’s what this year has been all about till now.

After several unsuccessful attempts at trying to be regular in going for a walk or doing exercise in the mornings, the reasons for those attempts turning out to be unsuccessful being my laziness that stopped me from waking up early, I finally reached a point where I myself got tired of being lazy and on one fine day, on the spur of a moment, I decided to join yoga class the very next day itself!
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Kudumiyanmalai

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This is my 500th post! A big thanks to each and everyone of you for making this happen! 🙂

A couple of weekends back, I had been to Mayavaram with my family and, as usual, we visited lots of temples. On Sunday, we went to Kudumiyanmalai and on Monday, we went to a whole lot of temples in and around Kumbakonam – Kumbheshwarar, Darasuram, Patteswaram, Baanapureeswarar, Thiruvisainallur SivayOginAtar temple, Thirunthudevankudi Karkateswarar temple, Thirubhuvanam, Thiruloki Sivan and perumAL temples. Almost all these temples are architectural marvels and, needless to say, we were just bowled over by the stunning architectural beauty! 🙂
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FAQs by non-kutcheri-goers/non-Carnatic-listeners

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Recently, as someone typed a surprised smiley when I told him that a majority of the concerts here are ‘All are welcome’ ones, I remembered the numerous instances when my same reply was met with the same response from so many people and how Carnatic music still remains unfamiliar to many people. I also remembered the questions that Puranjoy had asked in this comment, to which I have still not replied.
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Music

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It gives me joy and bliss. It cheers me up when I am sad. It can make my face light up with a smile even when my eyes are filled with tears. It’s the one I turn to when I want to be alone with my thoughts. It’s the one I seek solace in if things are not going great. It’s the one with which I celebrate every little happy moments of my life. It’s my best companion at all times. It is THE best thing to have happened to me. Music, what’s life without you? The magic created by the varied permutations and combinations of the seven notes is just amazing! Wishing all you music lovers out there a very happy world music day! 🙂

Vijay Siva’s Concert

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At Dakshinamurthy Auditorium (Nadopasana) on 6th June

Accompanists:
Lalgudi Vijayalakshmi – Violin
Manoj Siva – Mridangam
Rajaganesh – Khanjira

Concert Duration: 2.5 hrs

Songs List:
1. Varnam – Kanada
2. Sadananda Tandavam – Bhahudari – neraval & swarams at chittakArattil??
3. Emitova – Saranga – Alapana
4. Ananda Natana – Kedaram – Raaga Outline & Swarams at Ananda Natana
5. Sri Guruguha – Suddha Saveri
6. Nee Padamula – Bhairavi – Alapana; Neraval & Swarams at Sri Panchanadishwaruni
Tani Avartanam
7. RTP – Mohanam
Pallavi – Mohana Ramayya Samayamide Karuna Jooda Vaiyya – Kanda Triputa
8. Mattada Baradeno – Kannada? (Googling says Kannada. But I don’t remember the raagam now)
9. Smarasundaranguni – Paras – Raaga Outline
10. Janakinaath – Misra Khamaj – Raaga Outline
11. Madi Vadanamaada (Viruttam) – Bilahari, Sindhu Bhairavi, Kharaharapriya
Paadi Madi – Kharaharapriya
12. Mangalam – Sowrashtram
13. Swasti Prajapya
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Good Evening!

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Good evening everybody! The day began sans any Monday blues. But as the day progressed, I was down with severe head-ache. It got so worsened that by evening I was in such a grumpy mood. Not even the surprise drizzle cheered me up. Head-ache still continues. 🙁 And yeah grumpiness continues too.

I am so happy that Federer finally won the French Open! Yay! 🙂 I know this ‘Yay’ is coming very late. But there was some problem with internet at home yesterday. 🙁 I watched the historic moment yesterday. Did you watch it?

I watched Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na yesterday and I didn’t like it. To me, the best story ever told about best friends becoming lovers has surely got to be Erich Segal’s ‘Doctors’. It takes the best friends in ‘Doctors’ almost 40 years to realize and accept that they are in love with each other. But when it finally happens, how happy the readers too feel along with the couple!

I had my first guitar class on Saturday and I got a black acoustic guitar. Though I just learnt to play the open strings, still it felt great to hold a guitar in my hand and play it 🙂

There are those friends with whom you once spent hours talking over phone/chatting/SMSing. But then comes a point of time when the friend becomes so busy with other things that there’s no time for everyday calls or chats. And after that comes a time when you finally call after a long time and you realize that you have nothing at all to talk. 🙁 But as there are two sides to any coin, there are those friends whom if you meet even after a long time, you can talk just like old times. 🙂

Let me end my rambling right here. Even blogging doesn’t seem to be giving me the diversion from my head-ache. Bye folks!

P.S.: I couldn’t think of any proper title either 🙁

Happy World Environment Day!

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From dawn to dusk, from dusk to dawn, the nature in all its glory and splendour is a delight to admire.

Bidding adieu to the stars, sun wakes up and along with it, the sky full of clouds or a clear sky starts trying out multitude shades of blue, golden yellow, pink, red and even light hues of purple. With chirping of birds and dewdrops on leaves and grass being the other accompaniments, can there be anything more serene and beautiful than this? A whole new day begins. 🙂 And the sun then starts shining brightly.
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