TAP (Tyagaraja Aradhana Programme?) - 2011

Following the Chennai TAP on 2^nd Jan, the BITSian version of it conducted by Raag was on the cards. It is indeed intriguing to think of Saint Tyagaraja’s compositions gaining audience in this small North Indian village of Rajasthan. This year’s iteration of the event began with much promise as a very enthusiastic bunch of people turned up for registration. Having signed up for what would be close to two weeks of daily practice sessions with six lead vocalists, 3 guys and an equal number of girls, the sessions began with the first piece: Jagadanandakaraka in ragam Nattai. The group soon settled into their singing voices and disparities of pitch were sorted out. As January drew to a close the progress made was remarkable: people with no previous experience in Carnatic music were able to pull off decent renditions of Saint Tyagaraja’s master pieces. The practice sessions usually scheduled after dinner had good attendance with people staying enthused for the full one hour. ‘Guruji’ Deepak was also delighted to be part of many engaging discussions one of which was based on a most pertinent question: At what speed had Tyagaraja himself sung these kritis??? This and other such seemingly innocent discussions on music and other topics with a surprisingly fresh outlook defined the practice sessions.

The program held on the morning of Founder’s day (8^th February, 2011 this year) usually ends up having a certain magical quality to it. It was no different this year with a serene and soulful ambience being setup in the good old Room No. 2219. The songs rendered included Sri Ganapatini in praise of Lord Vigneshwara, The remover of obstacles, Guruleka etuvanti in praise of Guru, The Teacher, followed by the Five Pancharatna Kritis of Tyagaraja. Such Aradhanas are held in many places in India during this time of year in a tradition that dates back more than a century. It is a testament to the treasure trove of musical and lyrical beauty in each of Tyagaraja’s krithis that each such Aradhana succeeds without much effort in moving the performer and listeners to a different spiritual plane. As a tradition then, this celebration transcends a mere formality and we hope that TAP is a great example of the fact that with proper initiation Carnatic classical music too is very accessible to a lay audience and also to an amateur performer. Here is to the next iteration being even bigger and grander!!

SANGAMAM 2011

The usual thought of depicting something different, something contemporary was in many people’s mind and mails started flourishing as usual from every corner. The idea of Meghdootam initially sparked off, but doing another Kalidasa story having a sort of similar plot as the Abhignanashakuntalam was not an idea worth taking forward. Then came the ideas for contemporary themes like the sister theme which was conceived a few years back, evolution of man and story of carbon atom (However carbon needed to lose some ‘electrons’ if the dancers decided to do it, so we decided not to mess with Dr. Mendeleev!). Once Deepak suggested the Ghanashyaam theme, a major decision had to be made between a whole theme-based show with this theme or following the NR-2k10 format and depicting Seasons for the contemporary part. The latter won.

For the auditions last sem, there were four to five people who turned up. Finally Bharat, the carnatic singer from Bangalore and ‘Yenna Panra’ (though his real surname is Yanamandra) Saicharan, a Mridangam player from Guntur entered the club. The trip to BGM and performance over there had warmed up (Though the weather was very bitterly cold) the musicians as well for the season, thanks to Pratik as part of the BGM cultural team. Though we were one short of the number of dance styles we had for NR, the excitement was no less compared to it.

We initially started out with an ambitious and loooooog list of pieces to be performed, but a couple of them had to be chucked later on due to time constraints for practice as well as for the show. January saw vigorous practice sessions for the songs for individual dance styles and towards the end of the month ‘Seasons’ started.

Four seasons were planned to be depicted. The scorching summer, the pleasant monsoon, the lazy winter and the joyful spring were aptly choreographed and composed with brilliant expressions and vibrant music. Though test series and other factors posed some hindrance, late night practice sessions till1am and morning sessions from 9am during holidays compensated for them. Sangamam show date was also changed quite a few number of times and was finally held on 6th March. Reminders, pep talks, publicity and other things added to the organizational dimensions of the event. In the end, we enjoyed the fruits of our hard work, which included some good choreography, music composition and, more than all that, sincerity and dedication.

The pieces performed in order:


Alarippu
Alarippu, meaning ‘flowering bud’, is traditionally the first piece that a Bharatanatyam dancer learns and performs. Based on the graceful movement of the hands, eyes, and the neck, it is entirely nritta-oriented, containing purely rhythm based steps. This dance ritual is usually accompanied by oral percussion and mridangam. The Bharatanatyam performance was a Chatusra Alarippu, which is set to a 4-beats cycle.

Dancers: Aishu, Manji, J, Sush
Musicians: Deepak, Ajay, Judee, Pras


Mata Saraswati
This piece invokes Goddess Saraswati (aptly with the raag Saraswati), who is the embodiment and epitome of knowledge, intellect and beauty. Interspersed with swara combinations with related dance steps, this piece was predominantly of a Nritya style. Interestingly this was a fresh new concept of Bharatanatyam danced for Hindustani music set to Char Taal

Dancers: Aishu, J, Sush
Musicians: Anubha, Ajay, Aayush, Sagar


Thaye Yashoda
Thaye Yashoda is a song wherein the gopikas describe to mother yashoda, the antics of her son Gopalakrishna. In the song, the gopikas narrate certain incidents that had occurred and complain to Yashoda. Thaye Yashodha in Todi ragam set to adi talam was presented in Kuchipudi style of dance.

Dancers: Manji, Ninja
Musicians: Preethi, Uthra, Ajay, Saicharan, Deepak


Pallavi
Pallavi is a pure dance piece in which a raga is elaborated through eye movements, body postures & intricate footwork. Both the dance and the music evolve in complexity as the dancer traces multiple patterns in space, interpreting the music dexterously in the multi-layered dimensions of taal (beat) and laya (rhythm). This pallavi set to raag Kalyan was performed in Odissi.

Dancers: Kuheli
Musicians: Yudhajeet, Deepak, Ajay, Isha, Aditya


Shiva Kama Sundari
This composition is in praise of goddess Parvati, who personifies beauty in its purest form. The poet addresses Devi as the pretty Consort of Lord Shiva and tells her that it is her burden to save him as he struggles through life, unable to see the end of this circle of births. Shiva Kama Sundari in ragam Jagan Mohini set to Roopaka Talam was performed in Bharatanatyam.

Dancers: Aishu, Manji
Musicians: Preethi, Neeraja, Ajay, Deepak, Pras


Thillana
Thillana is the concluding piece of a Bharatanatyam performance. It means “Joyful” dancing. Happiness, joy and ecstasy are the feelings that are given expression to, in a thillana. This is a nritta piece, in which the brilliance of a Raga is reflected in the complex and vibrant footwork and the captivating poses of the dancer.

The dancers performed a Thillana in a Ragamalika, meaning a garland of ragas. It includes eight ragas namely Hamsanandi, Brindavani, Madhuvanthi, Hindolam, Mohanam, Vasanta, Kaanada and Kalyani. Every thillana is usually sung in praise of a particular deity. This thillana was in praise of Lord Siva.

Dancers: Aishu, Manji, J, Sush
Musicians: Deepak, Ajay, Preethi, Ashwin, Saicharan, Pras


The Music Filler
The intention of the music filler was to give dancers some time to get ready for the next part, which was the seasons. There was a musical performance with veena and violin accompanied by mridangam. The first song that was performed was a varnam composed by violin maestro Lalgudi Jayaraman in Nalinakanthi ragam set to adi talam. The second song was a thillana, which is yet another composition by Lalgudi Jayaraman in ragam Dwijavanti set to adi talam.


Seasons
In the next part of our show was depicted, the myriad hues and multiple facets of the four seasons. This yearly cycle that we witness on earth, has left many an impact on our classical art forms. The dancers attempted to portray the brilliant colours and tempestuous forces which characterize the seasons as well as the evocative emotions which they spawn within each of us.


Summer
Our Sun, the immense source of energy is responsible for life on earth and is also the chief architect of seasonal change. Thus, we began with summer, the season which belongs to the sun.

Invoking the Sun God through a multitude of names, Surya, Ravi, Mitra, Bhanu, Aaditya and Bhaskara, we witness the everyday morning spectacle as the Sun rises to greet a brand new day. The rays, gentle at first, soon spread to all corners and light up the day.

As the sun rises, two people come outdoors to enjoy a bright sunny morning. The day wears on and by afternoon the Sun’s rays have reached their peak intensity. Soon the pleasure of sun-bathing changes to irritation at the unbearable heat. The discomfort causes tempers to rises as temperatures increase even further. Not much later, the life giving forces of the sun’s rays turn destructive as trees, animals and people fall victim to the intense heat and an inevitable drought sets in.

Dancers: Manji, Aishu, J, Ninja, Sush, Kuheli
Musicians: Ashwin, Ajay, Preethi, Deepak, Pras, Hemant, Isha



Monsoon
The scorching heat of the summer has left behind an aftermath of death and destruction. River beds are dry, plants withered, people are desperately in need of water. Two people pondering this sad scene, however notice the dark clouds gathering the distance and the sound of rolling thunder fills the air. The sky soon splits open and the first drops of rain fall to the ground, rejuvenating the whole world. The monsoon arrives, bringing with it the calmness and respite from the heat, which the trees enjoy silently. In the forest, all creatures , the majestic elephants, the beautiful peacocks, and the light-footed deers, celebrate the arrival of the rains. The dancers danced with joy, as nature itself responds to the revival of the beauty of the earth.

Dancers: Manji, Aishu, J, Ninja, Sush, Kuheli
Musicians: Ajay, Hemant, Isha, Aayush, Deepak, Sagar



Winter
The rainy season ends with the onset of the winter. As the days grow shorter and the nights longer, temperatures fall and cold breezes and fog set in. The sky turns dark and the sun has lost its penetrating power thus bringing with it a mood of gloom, sloth and desolation.

This mood does not last forever in the hearts of people as they soon realize the joys that winter brings with it. Be it gathering around a warm, crackling wood burning fire or indulging in a fun snow fight, people soon start enjoying this season of cold.

Dancers: Manji, Aishu, J, Ninja, Sush, Kuheli
Musicians: Ajay, Preethi, Isha, Deepak



Spring
Spring is the season when the earth blossoms back to life in a brilliant display of colours and hues. The sun shines pleasantly bright, green shoots peep from the ground, and the world begins to wake up after its winter slumbers.

The dancers depicted this season's effect on the glum spirits of a girl who along with her friends revels in the inviting outdoors with birds chirping and plentiful fruits on the trees. The depiction included the dancers dancing to a folkish tune signifying the joy and energy that spring creates within us.

Dancers: Manji, Aishu, J, Ninja, Sush, Kuheli
Musicians: Ajay, Preethi, Hemant, Isha, Judee, Deepak

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Post written and edited by Ajay and Deepak.

NR 2010 - 4th October

Let's do something different! That was the line that kept repeating in my head since the summer holidays. Bucketful of whacky ideas mailed (we even considered a classical nagin dance! :P), gigs of videos watched, hours of pondering and discussing and finally we decided on a contemporary main piece for NR. The theme for the piece was chosen as "Navarasa". A pretty tried and tested theme, we knew there was ample of scope for every artist. The challenge was to make it contemporary. And this challenge just got a tad tougher with the entry of 11 new members into the club skilled in arts as diverse as the organisms inhabiting this planet. We got two flautists, a sitarist, a tablist, a pot-ist, a mridangist, three vocalists (sorry five, one guy, one girl and second girl=3 guys :P), an odissi dancer and a bharatanatyam dancer. Enthusiasm and excitement in the club simply bloated up like a huge balloon (Shravan already had chosen his sem-partner!).

We embarked on the two month journey to NR - dancers started choreographing the dance and the musicians started composing music for the various emotions. Four different dance styles - the refined Bharata Natyam, the graceful Kathak, the elegant Odissi and the vibrant Kuchipudi... And to incorporate them all into one piece, maintaining the overall coordination and synchronization was an exhilarating challenge. Hark, we were excited about it! Focus was on simple uniform steps to achieve an overall rhythm, rather than putting in complicated steps and expression.

Hectic acads schedules began to take their toll on us. Psenti-semites worrying about jobs, and EEE-ites worrying about CDCs (rest all didn't give much of a damn tho ;P). Doubts arose on feasibility of such a massive piece. Musicians were already on their way to finishing music composition for the navarasa, it would not have been fair to guss their efforts like that. And there was no back up plan. We had to stick to Navarasa. Slowly but steadily we choreographed rasa after rasa. The enthu returned when it all began to take shape. New costumes were designed.

Last few days saw a flurry of mails sent of daily TODOs (reminded of Dipak's ASAPs), feverish practices, finalizing compering scripts, planning lights and teaching them to freshers. The run-throughs were a mix of work and fun, acads all forgotten. Wish, it was possible to forget them altogether and have every practice in audi only :P

Finally curtains were raised on 4th October to present NR 2k10 to a fairly decent size of audience. The margam for the evening was as follows:

1. Bho Shambho
Dancer: Aastha, Sushmitha
Musicians: Riddhi, Yudhajeet, Ajay, Hari
A dance depicting Lord Shiva's energetic Ananda Tandav as His devotee Nandi looks stunned and dances in His praise as well. The dance was full of picturesque poses, strong steps set to bold mridangam with a beautiful rendition by the singers.

2. Kuchipudi
Dancer: Manjeera
Musicians: Preethi, Neeraja, Shravan, Ajay, Hari
The piece started with graceful Kuchipudi steps praising Lord Krishna and culminated in a fantastic plate dance which had the audience clapping and cheering like mad. The rendition of the song reminded of typical temple mornings with chanting of prayers and ringing of bells.

3. Odissi
Dancer: Kuheli
Musicians: Yudhajeet, Anubha, Sagar, Ajay
The best thing about the piece was that the team composed of all first yearites except Ajay, the mentor. While Kuheli was the perfect epitome of Odissi grace and vigour, the musicians made the piece a perfect present to the audience with their varied swaras and beats.

4. Enna thavam
Dancer: Namrata Raman
Musicians: Preethi, Ajay, Shravan, Hari
Nammu was in her best mommy role and devotee role in the piece. The devotee asks Yashoda, what good deeds have you done so as to have the Lord Himself call you His mother. The sanchari on Krishna's makhan chori was the most lovable part of the piece.

5. Thillana
Dancer: Aishwarya, Aastha, Manjeera, Namrata Raman
Musicians: Preethi, Ajay, Shravan, Hari
As usual, the fast and fun piece of the concert is the thillana. This time's thillana just became too memorable as the audience got into the habit of treating us with applauses for every formations made on stage :P

6. Kathak
Dancer: Namrata Jain
Musicians: Riddhi, Yudhajeet, Anurup Mitra sir (yeah profs also want to play with us now!)
The graceful twists and turns, the subtle expressions, the deft movements of the hands and fingers, the feet never missing a beat and the 28 chakkars.. With the soft music and perfect tabla rendition by sir the piece ended successfully the portrayal of all dance styles individually.

7. Navarasa
Dancer: everyone
Musician: everyone
As mentioned before, the piece brought together all the dance styles and music styles together on the stage. The painful Karunya, the wondrous Adbuta, the beauty and love of Shringara, the fearsome Bhayanak, the disgusting Bibhatsa, the mirthful Hasya, the angerful Krodha, the valorous Veer and the peaceful Shanta. Use of different coloured lights and coloured dupattas for some of the rasas helped to emphasize their meanings. Bhayanak rasa and Adbhuta turned out to be audience favourites :)

All in all, the concert was a grand success. The contemporary style and the novel dresses were greatly welcomed by the audience. After the usual post concert crazy clicking mania, we went laughing and singing to sac. Pratik came down to attend the concert and it was great to have him that day. Kudos to Ajay for his innovative music compositions and musicians for rendering it all so well, and to dancers for their beautiful choreography. Kudos to juniors for their king-sized enthu, to the core batch for all their planning and organizing, to the psenti-semites for their last one performance, to the club.. for sticking together and making it happen... I was just smiling, for my psenti concert in Raag had just come to an end. My best one in the four years, and most memorable one too. Acknowledgments were being discussed, but those funds are for another time....

Aastha.

Farewell Again - 26th April 2010 !

Pratik, Chandu, Shravan

Farewell... one of the dreadest stuff for a psentisemite and also one of the obvious after you enter your college.. so it be.. Welcome to the highlights coverage of Raag Farewell - Monday, 26th April 2010.

Earlier going to the flash back some 4 years back, we had 15-20 people taking farewells in 2 semesters and sadly the total strength of club is around 20 people now.. and these reducing numbers have also affected the number of people taking farewells each semester and this time it was 3 Ragamalikan's - Shravan S, Chandrasekar Srinivasan and Pratik Maheshwari.

Farewell started off with a mime in SAC Room No. 8 - Raag Room with juniors mimicing these three seniors using all the possible funds of 4 years which they had witnessed or heard. Be it Shravan's mridangam enthu, Chandu's Bhaiya crash or Pratik's Saroja. It was entertaining and fun. Hats off to all the juniors with special thanks to Ajay and Riddhi for their acting. :)

After this we were back to our trademark place of farewell, Vijay's @ C'not.

Proceedings started soon with writeups of 3 psentis.

First was the enthu boy - Shravan. People had lot to say about him. This guy has done almost all possible irrelevant and useless stuffs while here @ BITS besides being a cracker at acads and extra-curriculars (swimming, violin, boozing :D, etc). His writeup talked about his crushes, his enthu, his fooding habits, his acads, his violin and him ! Ajay read his writeup and surely Shravan hid his face at times in between claiming to have not done something worth mentioning (pun intended). People will surely miss his all time enthu for any damn thing and also his first year mischiefs and misdeeds :D. His secretariship has been well aclaimed by all who have seen him in his 3rd year and his helping hand even in his 4th year would be surely a point worth an applause. The ability to catch up with both light and classical music with such an ease has been one of his true strengths throughout and this we hope would continue even after this.

After all the masalas and papads and other stuffs he had his part of speaking up and Shravan mentioned all the points which he felt would be crucial to Raag in coming years. Although Shravan is coming back next sem, he took his farewell with his batchmates. Highlights of his speak up was bonding between the club members. He surely has worked a lot on this and we hope to see the same enthu and bonding to carry on in Raag.

Here's to Shravan - The Violinist ! :)

Second in the queue was - Pratik (Its diificult to blog about myself but i'll stick to the writeup for this without adding spices to it :D). Pratik along with Hardik was the first group in Raag to kick off the hindustani proceedings in Raag and he was commended for able to building the platform for the coming talent in Raag on hindustani side. Few points worth mentioning about his writeup was his innovation and stress on publicity. Writeup also talked about his love for Hindi and HPC related work. Blogging which has been his passion was also appreciated.

He also got his time to speak up and he stressed mostly on innovating even with lesser strength and try to increase the numbers both in the club and our audience.

Here's to Me - A Ragamalikan ! :)

And the grand finale ended at - Chandu. Chandu entered the club in his 2-1 and since then had been an integral part of the club and all its events and enthus. His imagination and poster & backdrop work for NR and Sangamam was a point not to be missed out for sure. One important point mentioned was about his rise from his 2-1 to 4-2 with his mridangam skills. His dedication to learning despite a very tight schedule (Chandu was involved in a hell lot of things at a time throughout his BITSian life..applause :) ) was really appreciable. Chandu was the 3rd person whom I saw was given the award of - "Time Management God" which he displayed wonderfully in his BITSian life. Not to forget, his different style of saying - "YES MAAAAN" is still tinkling on everyone's lips :D.

Chandu when spoke, spoke about the overall development of club through personal inputs of using skills to the max.

Here's to Chandu - The Maaaan ! :D

Apart from the club writeups we also had 2 other writeups. First one was from our beloved AP who wrote all wonderful stuffs about all the psentisemites and made them feel proud. A sincere thanks to AP for sparing his valuable time (but of what i've heard.. he's vella as of now :D ) and penning down few lines for each of the psentisemites. Your words will has always and will always be important to all of us as you have been a constant source of inspiration. Thanks :)

Then came a writeup from a yaar of all the psentis - Mr. Vamsi who has taken his farewell the previous sem. Of what I remember, after his farewell he told me that he would not spare any of us (batchmates) and take out the revenge in our writeup. But I am happy to say that nothing as such happened and the words which Vamsi's pen uttered were a bunch of delicate flowers for his lovely batchmates with whom he has spent 4 wonderful years. A huge applause for you too for writing for us and remembering. :)

After this it was the usual snap session which wasn't as long as it used to be with all those funds of A1, B1, A3, A7, etc, etc. But all the psentis really had a wonderful time and are really thankful to all you wonderful juniors who gave us a super farewell right from the invitations.

Now what we carry with us are sweet memories captured in those songs, those instruments, those dances, that raag room, that SAC, that 2219, that 2220, that Audi, that T-Lawns, that ANC, that Cnot, that Khetri, those trips, those endless pics, those funny videos, those useless funds, those innovative compositions, those group dances and those teary farewells.

One common thread which kept us bound was music and it'll ever be this. No matter where we are, will be. But we'll always be close - Thanks to Music, a gift conferred upon us by Him.

Just to say at last:

Here's to Raag - The Club !

(I guess that this is going to be my psenti-post on this blog. I hope you enjoyed my version of blogging and other will surely come down to keep us updated about Raag forever)

Kathak Workshop

Ragamalika organised a 15-day Kathak workshop from 8-21 April, 2010.

It was a new initiative taken to let the classical genre reach out to one and all irrespective of their background or previous knowledge about the rich domain. The workshop got an overwhelming response of students from all years with a special mention to the higher degree students. About 30 participants enrolled for the workshop. It was a pleasurable and a learning exercise for both the sides, the learner and the teacher (Namrata Jain). Imparting the intricacies of the dance style with a responsibility to teach the right way was both a challenging and an enriching experience.

The workshop ended with benefiting all the involved who went out of the rag room with smiles on their faces and a contentment in their heart. Hoping to carry on this trend of innovation and new endeavors we wish all the success to our very own Ragamalika.

Strings Attached

“Strings Attached” - Ragamalika’s instrumental concert was held on 17^th April at the LTC QT at BITS, Pilani. The concert featured three instruments which represent the soul of instrumental Carnatic music. 

S Preethi was on the Veena, C Ajay Aditya on the Violin and Deepak Krishnamurthy on the Mridangam. Six beautiful and varied compositions were promised to the audience who had settled down comfortably on the lawns to enjoy a blissful evening of music. Kicking off with a traditional starting piece of a concert – A varnam in ragam Valaji, this soothing yet fast paced song set the mood for the evening. After a brisk interlude featuring on the spot improvisations by the artistes the concert switched gear and moved on to its’ main piece. A wonderful composition in ragam Shanmughapriya on Lord Rama, the audience was first treated to an Alaap in the same ragam which was finely balanced between violin and veena. The composition followed by ‘kalpanaswaras’ or on the spot swaras with percussion support from the mridangam kept the audiences riveted. After a fast paced composition on Lord Karthikeya, the concert reached its’ crescendo with a captivating rendering of a Thillana in ragam Sindhubhairavi. The intricate swara and beat patterns followed closely by the mridangam drew enthusiastic applause from the audience.

The concert was graced by Dr G Raghurama, Director BITS-Pilani Pilani campus and Dr B V Babu, Dean SWD and Professor-in-Charge Ragamalika who along with the rest of the audience made the evening a success.

The songs can be downloaded and listened through THIS link.

SHAAM-E-GHAZAL 2010

Here comes a post which most of you would relate to as you have passed through that phase of psenti sem and your psenti concert.
SHAAM-E-GHAZAL was started 2 years back in 2008 to bring light classical music to light and it instantly attracted BITSians and profs alike. Ghazals have always been choice of many and tapping this interest of common junta Ragamalika gave it a shot and its good to see that the interest still remains intact in its 3.0 version.

SHAAM-E-GHAZAL 2010 was also the psenti concert for Pratik (and almost for Shravan :D) and it was organized on 20th April 2010 in LTC QT. We have changed the venue for our concerts and made them open theatre (I remember that we organized a freshers concert in Amphi @SAC). We also had an instrumental concert organized on 17th April 2010, details about which would be put up soon.

Ghazals and open theatre with calm weather made a perfect combo and we hope to keep this tradition as far as possible.
Proceedings started between 8-8:15PM and went on till about 9:45PM. Audience came in pouring and touched around 60-70 in number which was quite encouraging. Profs included NVM, AK Sarkar, Anil Rai, Srijata Dey, Sangeeta Sharma and others.
This time we also had a female singer included to extend the performers group to 4. I'll list all the songs in the order performed and also highlight the songs most appreciated by junta.

A good and bad point during the concert was power-cut during the concert and that too twice. Good thing after power-cut was that enthusiastic audience came forward and the atmosphere for both the performers and the audience was enhanced and it felt good to see audience's love for ghazals and darkness with moon and starlit sky was an awesome feeling. Bad thing that 2 songs couldn't be recorded properly and I'm afraid that they therefore can't be uploaded for you to listen.
Else wise concert had the audience glued till the end and thus ended this semester's psenti concert on a very high note with wishes coming from all the people in audience.

The list of songs in order of performance is:
1.) Tera Chehra Kitna Suhana Lagta Hai (Jagjit Singh)
2.) Teri Aankhon Ko (Mehdi Hassan)
3.) Deewaron Se Milkar Rona (Pankaj Udhas)
4.) Ye Dil Ye Pagal - Awaargi (Ghulam Ali)
5.) Ranjish Hi Sahi (Mehdi Hassan)
6.) Aur Aahista Kijiye Baatein (Pankaj Udhas)
7.) Zara Aahista Chal (Pankaj Udhas)
8.) Chupke Chupke Raat Din (Ghulam Ali)
9.) Kal Chaudhvin Ki Raat Thi (Jagjit Singh)
10.) Chitthi Na Koi Sandes (Jagjit Singh)
11.)* Dayar-e-Dil Ki Raat Mein (Asha Bhonsle, Ghulam Ali)
12.)** Tumko Dekha To Ye Khayal Aaya (Chitra, Jagjit Singh)
13.) Hungama Hai Kyon Barpa (Ghulam Ali)
14.)* Hosh Waalon Ko Khabar Kya (Jagjit Singh)
15.) Hothon Se Chhoo Lo Tum (Jagjit Singh)
16.) Tum Itna Jo Muskura Rahe Ho (Jagjit Singh)
17.) Rafta Rafta Wo Mere (Mehdi Hassan)

* = Duet
** = Female solo
No * = Male Solo

Performers:
Male Vocal & Harmonium = Pratik Maheshwari
Female Vocal = Uthra B
Violinist = Shravan S
Percussionist (Tabla) = Riddhidev Banerjee

Thats it from our side for a while. Will update with other happenings of Ragamalika this sem soon. Till then Adios !

p.s. - To listen to the songs, click on them.

Upcoming Concerts & Events - April 2010

1.) Strings Attached (Instrumental) - 17th April 2010
2.) Shaam-e-Ghazal (Psenti Concert) - 20th April 2010
3.) Kathak Workshop - 9th-21st April 2010
4.) Performance for Conference - 22nd April 2010

SHAKUNTALAM - SANGAMAM 2010

A fresh welcome to you all.. so many months since we interacted through this blog. Its time again to refresh and relive those days at BITS Pilani, at Raag, at Audi, at Sangamam !

Sangamam 2010 was based on the play Abhijñānashākuntala or Abhijñānaśākuntalam by Kalidasa which means Of Śakuntalā recognized by a token.

Its a story about Shakuntala and Dushyant which revolves around a ring and thus the name we gave to the concert was - THE LOST RING..
Venue was Audi on 23rd of February'2010.

I'll try to get to the whole story scenewise totalling to 12.

Scene 1:
Shakuntala is abandoned by her parents(Vishwamitra & Menaka) just after her birth and there in the forest she is found by Sage Kanva and he brings the child to his ashram. He names her Shakuntala meaning brought up by birds (Shakun).
Dancers: Aishwarya, Madhulika, Niranjana
Musicians: Ajay-Violin, Preethi-Veena, Hemant-Hawaiian Guitar
Composed By: Ajay, Preethi

Scene 2:
King Dushyant is the king of Hastinapur and he has come into the forest for hunting. While hunting he injures a deer but suddenly a girl comes and stops him saying that the deer is from hermitage and so shouldn't be harmed. King Dushyant listens and lets the deer go away. Then the girl invites him to the ashram to meet Kanva Rishi which he duly accepts.
Dancers: Aastha, Madhulika, Jayasharda
Musicians: Ajay,Shravan-Violin, Preethi-Veena, Hemant-Hawaiian Guitar, Aditya-Tabla, Chandrashekhar-Mridangam
Composed By: Last Kannada Part By Deepak

Scene 3:
Shakuntala has grown into a young beautiful girl and she and her friends enjoy the day amidst the natural beauty. When King Dushyant visits the hermitage, he sees them playing in the garden, He is awestruck by Shakuntala's beauty and instantly falls in love with her but doesn't disclose it. Then suddenly a bee starts disturbing the girls and they are unable to shoo it away. Seeing the troubled Shakuntala, King Dushyant steps out and flees the bee away and as soon as their eyes meet, they fall in love.

Dancers: Aastha, Namrata, Jayasharda, Manjeera (Namrata Raman didn't perform for this Sangamam so Namrata means Namrata Jain)
Musicians: Ajay,Shravan-Violin, Preethi-Veena, Hemant-Hawaiian Guitar, Abhineet-Tabla, Chandrashekhar-Mridangam, Riddhidev-Vocal
Composed By: Initial Folk By Deepak and Rest By Riddhidev

Scene 4:
Their love blossoms while at the hermitage and soon they turn this love into marriage. This is the love scene in which Dushyant gives Shakuntala, The Ring and they get married. Soon after, Dushyant leaves to his kingdom due to some pressing reason but promises to come back for Shakuntala soon.
Dancers: Aastha, Namrata, Manjeera, Jayasharda, Niranjana, Aishwarya, Madhulika
Musicians: Ajay,Shravan-Violin, Preethi-Veena, Hemant-Hawaiian Guitar, Aditya-Tabla, Deepak-Mridangam, Vocal-Preethi/Uthra
Composed By: NA

Scene 5:
This is the curse scene. This scene adds the masala to this whole play. Rishi Durvasa known for his short temper and is used to attention and care comes to the ashram thirsty and exhausted. He calls out to Shakuntala who is sitting near the gate day-dreaming about Dushyant. She is sad and in deep thought as in when will Dushyant come back for her. After calling out to Shakuntala and not getting a response, he is enraged at her and the next moment he curses her saying that whom she is obsessing about right now will completelt forget her. Shakuntala is completely unaware but her friend hears the commotion outside and comes out to see that Durvasa has cursed Shakuntala. She pleads infront of him and tries to convince him about Shakuntala's situation and begs apology.
Durvasa says that any curse can't be revoked, he can lessen it and says that is she shows him any token given to her by Dushyant, Dushyant's memory will return and then he leaves.
Dancers: Namrata, Manjeera, Jayasharda, Niranjana, Aishwarya, Madhulika
Musicians: Ajay,Shravan-Violin, Preethi-Veena, Hemant-Hawaiian Guitar, Aditya-Tabla, Deepak-Mridangam, Vocal-Riddhidev
Composed By: Pratik (First four verses) /Riddhidev (Last Verse) /Ajay(Interludes)
Lyrics By: Pratik

Scene 6:
This is the departure scene where Shakuntala, after waiting for Dushyant's return is all set to leave. Everyone at ashram is sad and feel low when she is leaving. Even the nature bids her goodbye. Her father, Rishi Kanva thanks her for being a good daughter and blesses her for the future life. This scene depicts the emotion of Karuna. She moves onto her journey thereafter.

Dancers: Aastha, Namrata, Manjeera, Jayasharda, Niranjana, Aishwarya, Madhulika
Musicians: Shravan-Violin, Vocal-Riddhidev
Composed By: Riddhidev

Scene 7:
After setting from the hermitage she travels through all the difficulties and in the mean time also loses her ring unknowingly.
This is the court scene where Shakuntala meets Dushyant in his court. She faces difficulty in going through the gates to meet Dushyant. Unaware of the curse, she goes on to say that she is his wife but Dushyant fails to recognize her. she feels dejected on being rejected and faints. Dushyant then orders that she should be taken to the kingdom hermitage and taken care over there.
Dancers: Manjeera, Jayasharda, Niranjana, Aishwarya, Aastha
Musicians: Ajay,Shravan-Violin, Preethi-Veena, Abhineet-Tabla, Deepak-Mridangam
Composed By: Ranjani Raagam-Preethi, Initial Ranjani Part-Ajay, Bowli Raagam-Ajay

Scene 8:
This is a folk scene of the play. Here fishermen are being portrayed showcasing their daily routine and how at the end of the day a fisherman gets the lost ring inside a fish.
Dancers: Manjeera, Madhulika Niranjana, Namrata
Musicians: Ajay,Shravan-Violin, Hemant-Hawaiin Guitar, Aditya-Tabla,Riddhidev-Vocal, Deepak-Ghatam
Composed By: A Bengali Folk Song


Scene 9:
This is a scene where that fisherman tries to sell the ring in the market place but in the due course is spotted by the king guards and they question him about the ring with king's seal on it. He is then dragged to the court where festive is on with dance performances(Kathak Jugalbandi).
Soon after the dance, guards tell that they caught this man with a precious ring. As soon as he sees the ring, a memory gushes through his mind and he is disturbed. He feels sorry for himself to have made such a huge mistake by disowning Shakuntala.
After this Indra comes to the meet him to ask for help in a war against the demons. Dushyant agrees to help him.
Dancers: Madhulika, Manjeera, Jayasharda, Niranjana, Aishwarya, Aastha, Namrata
Musicians: Ajay,Shravan-Violin, Abhineet-Tabla, Deepak-Ghatam/Mridangam, Uthra/Preethi/Riddhidev - Vocal
Composed By: Sindhubhairavi Raagam-Ajay, Percussion - Deepak


Scene 10:
This is the war scene where demons meet forces Indra and Dushyant. Nothing much to explain about war. Indra and Dushyant win after which Indra invites Dushyant to come and stay for few days in Indra Lok.
Dancers: Manjeera, Namrata, Niranjana, Aishwarya, Aastha, Madhulika
Musicians: Ajay-Violin, Abhineet-Tabla, Deepak-Mridangam
Composed By: Deepak

Scene 11:
While returning back he is passing by the ashram of Sage Kashyap. There he sees few ladies shouting on a baby boy who seems to be fearlessly playing with a lion cub. They try to coax him by showing him toys and berries but the child is not at all distracted by them. Then one of the lady plead to him to persuade the child and get him back.
He then inquires about the child and his father and gets to know that he is Bharat, his own child. Then he asks Shakuntala to come back with him upon which she refuses. But Sage Kashyap reveals the curse given by Durvasa and puts and end to all the drama. He blesses all the three of them for a happy life.

Dancers: Manjeera, Jayasharda, Niranjana, Aishwarya, Aastha, Namrata
Musicians: Ajay,Shravan-Violin, Preethi-Veena, Chandrashekhar-Mridangam
Composed By: Desh Raagam-Ajay, Kaapi Raagam-Preethi


Scene 12:
Our own traditional happy ending (Bollywood ishtyle :D).. The Thillana Scene.

Dancers: Manjeera, Jayasharda, Aishwarya, Aastha
Musicians: Shravan-Violin, Preethi-Veena, Chandrashekhar-Mridangam, Ajay/Deepak/Ashwath-Vocal


Compering - Namrata Raman
Lights - Pratik, Uthra


So we come to a happy ending of Shakuntalam which was highly appreciated by the BITSian junta.
You can listen to all the songs by clicking on the respective Scenes. Few Lyrics have also been uploaded.
So enjoy and do let us grace with your invaluable comments and suggestions.
We all hope that you thoroughly enjoyed this episode of Sangamam and are ready for few more concerts up this semester.
We will keep you updated with everything till then sit back and relax.
Cheers !

Thyagaraja Aaradhana - The Chennai Chapter

"Let's meet one last time......only until the next time"

I never really was serious about the 'next' time - I have begun to believe that these are fancy things one talks about during their last times.
But someone actually turned that fancy thing around.

Casual threads on Google Groups - I can't even remember who ignited the idea (pardon me for that!) I have to go back a hundred mails to know that.
But Sankar has managed to give shape to that idea - amply supported by Srikanth!

"So lets have TAP in Chennai!"
"Sure! Why not!?!?"
“yeah! Let us! Its been so long since we all met…”

Bam!!
I thought mails would stop there ...until Sankar come up with

"So guys - I have spoken to the authorities in the temple near my place - they are okay with the idea!"

Ok so we are serious here or what!!

And to just bang that nail hard on my head, Sankar comes up with more stuff

1. Head count of people who are willing
2. Arrangements for the temple premises - include Shamiana , flowers,chairs, prasadam , a huge poster of thyagaraja, a flautist for the show
3. Srikanth pitches in with a huge part - Smt Padmavathy Anantagopalan ( a BIG veena artiste!) and her disciples land up for theshow
Our very own former Diro - Sri Venkateswaran and his wife kick us with their presence!
4. VSP promptly prepares invites - and there is a good chunk of alumni who warm us with their presence
(while we still were contemplating relaying the whole video live for apu nimmy and loki! - we just didn't have the logistics!)
5. Srividya makes copies of the songs and they are ready for distribution to the audience

On the day of the event ......
The place is beautifully decorated. Was like a mini marriage - all of us waving enthusiastically to the known ones whom we havent met for long!

The rendition starts with vibrancy as we speed our way through the Pancha ratna krithis.Audience is pouring in every moment.
There is so much energy that fills in the entire street.We glide through the songs with brigas (practised and spontaneous!) Krithis are followed with renditions by Orginal thadar to the Junior Thadar! It was a wonderful moment of pride.Those 2 hours were bliss - all of us were transported back to Pilani and the beautiful memories associated with it.

As the concert drew to an end, we were privileged to hear a few words from Smt Padmavathy who was highly appreciative of our efforts , who edso genuine with it , that’s probably when the
sense of success touched us gentle.

Thus ended Thyagarajan Aaradhana in Mambalam - high in energy and vibrance.
We missed all of you who weren't there. We spoke about you. We laughed about you. We wished we could see you. We missed you. And we only hope you are there the next time around.


"So...Let's meet one last time......only until the next time"

NR ' 08

FAREWELL FOR 2004 BATCH!

BEST INVITE EVER!

SESKIEST MEMENTO I HAVE EVER SEEN :)

(Find out the fund pls)

Oh ya!! That's "YO 2004!!" passing out.

(missing - vsp, srividya, pd, ro, jaggu)

RAAG!

Maan gaya Ustad...

It's the fag end of the semester, almost obvious from the dull look that the campus bore. We, in raag, actually got some time to breathe free from the numerous concerts that we performed for until now. Sometime back, we had lots of discussions on whether to have a 'trinity' day, the usual event at this time of the year. However , padma mam had informed us that she would not be able to teach songs to us because of the supposedly busy schedule. Well, that would be a totally different story.Now, there comes this big question - whether we go ahead with the event, learning the songs ourselves or scrap the event for good. At times, it's often better to be pragmatic than to listen to your heart. We decided to call it off. We had already done way too much, whether for ourselves or for the insti - it does'nt matter.

The next thing would be the psenti concert, or so we thought. One fine afternoon, pratik came to me and told me that they would like to have a totally hindustani concert in a few weeks time. We had actually planned for something like this at the beginning of this semester, but that quite got out of our minds with the many many other things that we had to do. Now that the fire has been lighted, we started the usual round of practice sessions. Anil Rai sir trained them - pratik and aakash (second yearite - fresher to the club) on the vocals, Hardik, Ritesh and Aditya on the tabla. Well, it was a totally dedicated effort with extended practice sessions, which had started way back in October. Kudos to the Hindustani guyz.

It was again one of Raag's 5.30pm's in E.T. A familiar scene awaited all of us. The performers were ready to take on the stage, with confidence writ large on their faces. After the compering, done for the first time by a male (atleast until the point I can remember), pratik started with an alap in raag brindavanishrana. It was a brilliant exposition for a solid 25 minutes that concluded with the song 'Na Bolo Shyam Hami Sang' set to teen taal. Commendable effort at that. :) With 45 minutes of uninterrupted music, the first piece came to an end. Next to take on stage was Aakash - a second year entrant into the club. He started with raag Bahar. Starting at a slow pace, he elaborately brought into his rendition the grandeur of the raga, infusing it with brisk swarams towards the end. The concluding piece of the concert was a bhajan "prabhuji mere avagun chit na dharo..." rendered by pratik. A very famous bhajan, it made the audiences sway, ending the evening on a lighter and happier note.

Apart from the brilliant run up to this event and an even more cherishable concert, there was something else to note durin this concert. Audiences - never before seen faces in a Raag's concert came to sit in the front benches and happily revelling in the music. And quite a few professors too. :P

Well, that concludes the first Hindustani concert of Raag. Times change and we evolve too. And this time, beautifully. We have opened to doors to a whole new set of possibilities. This is just a start. A new dawn. A new feather to our cap. To take this tradition forward, we would only strive. The long road stretches far in front of us. It's for us to do the walking. The journey of a thousand miles. And it has just started here...

For formality's sake...

It's that time of the year when everyone would be scurrying to the library - the days we dread the most are often the days that come very soon. Its COMPREE time - which translates to mean times where the light does'nt go off the whole night, times where books find a place in our daily schedule and the only times when raag activity doesn't happen.

I'm coming from the insti, the last few days of classes coming to a close, all weary and tensed. Upon entering my room, I find a slip saying that I had to meet our NVM (now the SWD dean) at 5 pm. I was just wondering why, that too during this time of the semester, silently eating away my fears. I slowly walked up to his office and waited outside. After sometime, he calls me IN in the most endearing manner and started off with one of his long puranas - How these big shots don't understand the students and all other blah blah!  When I thought he was about to finish, he just smiles at me and says "There's a programme in CEERI and they want ragamalika's performance. I've told them that comprees are coming up but they don't seem to listen. Not much, just 30-40 minutes and you can repeat what you've done before." Aaaga! Aapu vechutaangale! It's so easy to say 30-40 minutes. Only we know what that 'few' minutes of performance entails. As I was walking back to my room, thinking on what to perform, I just realised...

This semester had been one hell of a cramming session and the credit should definitely go to our insti. 4 full fledged concerts within the span of one month. All because of a mere obligation and the 'goody goody' image of raag that we are supposed to maintain.

The first one came a few days after NR. We had to perform in the audi along with MC and DC for some biological conference. Not surprisingly enough, none of us were ready to sit for another round of practice sessions. So, we decided to perform some veena instrumental and give some of the pieces from NR itself. Nandy and Sreevidya gave solo performances. They were accompanied by Ganesh and Shravan respectively on the violin and Madhuji on the Mridangam. The audiences were treated to an extra dose of melody with kurai ondrum illai and the likes. It ended with the English note. That was part 1. Then we performed the kapi varnam 'taraka brahmame' and madhuvanti thillana for a dance recital. 30 minutes and we were done with it. Of course, there were minor hiccups (I'm actually down-playing the mistakes here :P ),but that didn't deter us from enjoying the presumptuous dinner afterwards. Well, that's one of the main motivation for having accepted to perform. :P

The next one was a double take. There were back to back schedule of performances. The first one at 5pm was in LTC. The stage was perfect and it was probably Raag's first open air concert. The accoustics (or the absence of them :P) well suited the carnatic mood and there were these delegates sitting on the lawns, swaying to the melodious tunes of vsp and Sreevidya. The content of the concert was quite varied - from the traditional semi-classical song and like tukdas to marathi abhang and bhajans. Reminded me of one of those lovely part concerts in chennai - a must attend for everyone. The second one that day was in CEERI at 6 30pm. A car picked us up from LTC and we were soon there in the auditorium. The crowd was very intimadating though - lots of Rajasthani folk and school children. We just hurried with our performance and went on to have dinner. There was a problem of choice though - dinner was arranged for us both in CEERI and in VFAST. And without doubt, we feasted at both places. :P

The penultimate one was also quite memorable. This was in VFAST lawns. Our beloved Venki had also come for this particular EMBRYO conference. Ro, radha, vsp, sreevidya, shravan and myself planned to take part in this one. Ro and radha started it with reethi gowlai varnam and followed it up with pulli kalaba mayil. Next came vsp and sreevidya with Kulukaka nadavaro and a meera Bhajan Aaj Shyam. The evening concluded with EntaroMahanubavulu - literally a comedy of errors. 8pm and it was definitely cold. Vocal cords began to shake and fingers crippled with numbness. All this culminated in us singing one particular swaram and an altogether different sahityam for it. :P Well, not much on that though coz the dinner that followed more than made up for our mistakes. And an icing to the cake : We got 10k as renumeration for performing that night. :)

The last one for the semester came just before the comprees - the one concert for which I started drafting this post. This again was in CEERI. However, the crowd this time was atleast not bad, if not good. It was just three songs and we were soon done with it.

Well, the next day was compree day and we were more than happy for that - not something usual. Yes! We are done with our share of concerts for obligations' sake. It's time to become the Jack, with all work and no play. Within minutes, I find myself buried under a huge pile of books. But the music still alive...

A perfect Symphony...

Life often amazes us with simple yet profound things. Composing a post is just one of them. I had been wanting to do this for a long time now ( I mean really long..) and somehow it just escaped the schedule of the day. Here I am, with a passion and fervour to finish something that ideally should have been done long back. However, it also helps me to relive those very moments that bought joy into us like never before - the last minute swarams mugging up (:P), the last minute practices, and sooo many other things that just gets to happen in the last minute.
This was a concert that was supposedly planned during the summer vacations. Songs were decided and practice had also started. It was to be a duo concert by Vsp and Nandy. With practice starting this early (and that is reallly early considering the 'usual' duration for a 'typical' concert), we knew how it would turn out. Initially scheduled for the 10th of October, it was postponed to the 4th of November due to the test series and the trip hangover. With extra days at our disposal, we started planning for a purely veena-violin concert on the same day. Things soon fell into place and sreevidya, myself and shravan started with the process of song selection. The first list was prepared and predictably enough was soon revised. We all had to first learn the songs and so started practicing everyday with the regular breaks due to the test series.

It was 8pm and we were franctically moving about with all the regular stuffs - writing on the board, dharis, mike setting, fetching water bottles, the mridangams, and yeah the famous 'missed calls'. :) Vsp, was a testimony to the pea out of the pod - revising swarams and ragam, tension write large on her face. (no prizes for guessing). Nandy was her usual cool self. It was only now that we got to know that the theme of the concert was a collection of rare Thyagaraja Kritis. The duo started the concert with a brisk and effervescent pada varnam in ragam karaharapriya which set the right pace for the concert. Subsequently came "Seethalakshama Sahitam" in ragam Ataana. The slow pace of this kriti lent itself well to display the melody that this raga essentially stands for. This was followed up with a brilliant exposition in Pantuvarali - a heavy heavy ragam that is. Vsp's extended brighas and Nandy's well structured korvais blended very well - the fruit of the practice that had gone into it. Cheers to you guyz! :) This was Harihari Enukove. Swarams were really peppy and kept the audience well entertained, althought the 'periya swaram' met up to the standards of raag's list of 'periya swaram renditions'.:P The neraval too suited the song to a tee. With Kaushik on the mridangam doing the successive rounds of thani avardhanam, it was a definite treat to music buffs. Next came 'Undi Yemi' in ragam Yadukula Kamboji. The concluding piece of the concert was 'Lali Yuga' in KedaraGowlai. Well, most of these songs were first timers, and yeah, needless to say, the 'duo' really made quite an impression with it.

With the first half successfully coming to a close, it was time for an enthralling and captivating jugalbandhi. Sreevidya, myself, shravan and madhuji (mrigangist) took on the stage. Although the practice had gone quite well, the final day tensions can never be done away with. The concert started off with the eternal Kalyani varnam setting the mood for a pleasant evening. Next came "Sathapaalaya" in the mellifluous mohanam. It was supposed to be played at a slow pace, but with the kind of stress that we were under (:P), it seemed like we were on the racing track. Subsequent to this came the popular "vellai thaamarai" in Abheri. Well, some songs are made just for being played on an instrument and this definitely is one of them. The following piece was a folk tune - one of the long standing wishes of our beloved president Sirimatha (read Sreevidya). Thanks to Ganesh (pretty effortless for him though) we had a brilliant self composed folk tune in aanadhabhairavi. That done, with the audiences already in quite an awe, next came the effervescent classic "Karpaga valli" in Ragamalika. The concert concluded with the soothing Maitreem Bhajeta. Instrumental music definitely takes you to a different plane.

At last, we are done with one of the brilliant Raag performances. What comes next is pretty much obvious. Marathon snap sessions, appreciations from all quarters for the wonderful evening, and more importantly the smile in everyone's faces. At the end of it all, this is what we work for - to enjoy whatever we are doing. And without doubt, we can all say Mission Accomplished! :)

TAKE IT !!

MALLARI -





VARNAM -



INSTRUMENTAL -


OMANA THINGAL -




SAAMI WAS WITH US :)



VFAST :D



T-Lawns - damaging ppl.. hehe!

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS (esp posting for public damage!! :P )

Sreevidya edhukku sac pora? The shikanji proposal ! Thathu and Gandhi statue – virichu combo! Ap lappings! Bipolar disorder! Kaushik “self-thuppals”, seeeeeeram ! seeeeevidhya! Seeee ! sriram escape ! Mummeeee, noooooo , I knowww (u do know !) yen yaaa – palli puyal point to point ( vsp )vetti sruthi potti a.k.a velu… displaced intertwining jadai … campus interview – yevan ya exam ezhutha ponan veetukku saman sekka ponen : OTMP! 4 lac job 4 rupees treat , myum-yum , rajini vs kamal – the fight continues … you hav got too good a cg for a job – u can go ! overqualified and unemployed , cow-shit , so how r u ? vanisar : sarivan : varisan : vansari : ******* ; holidays kottai day and nite out@kalpakkam alias kalappasu-paakam ; kaushik gaja gult fan – gory pants ; im very bored … so let me bore others too – radha swayamvaram ( hey choose me ! ) om om om om om ( vishaka hari ) ; jaggubai , job for 10k @ navy ; Vedanta ; sycho –‘ evan adicha … avan than thamizh , naan than’ porikki sorry pokiri fan , aan, Uh-Oh, Apee mock cat AIR- 21, ellarum sari la vantha it wud be fine J , adicchu , sriram to Ap : the Dey factor, sourie’s chellam, ‘luv u da’, cloud nine !, Nr escapism, RFC vetti enthu, qmech god ( ob ) , bits lernthu porathukkulla araloosu aayiduven, sriram vs thathu ,idly-ragging, teaching sessions, hols la swimming, shooolinii, sorrnakka, joint sec – ohh I see !, summing kalappas, tests topper, ommala crack, today summing guss, tulip J, book daughter, hardik – virichi kalappas, I am the PJ God, backdrop enthu, vamsi-kottai, shivakameshwari, cycle dubs , radha I smell something burn ;), vsp and vamsi gult combos, prateek hindi me boliye jee, keyboard comedies, mallari enthu, Deepak – silent kedi, thiruttu muzhi, I shall do, inikki test avlo nanna pannala – will get only 55!, aditya- give me the posters I shall put them, unanswerable qns, aakash-singapore settle, mia malhar, aastha- doll! Smile, gujju enthu, namratha – shravan tutor, VM better dan Ps : so what , runthru vs soru, AB scholar, 25 rupees/month scholarship! , madhu : god , fresher and senti semite ! , kumbakonam tales, Ranjani – Ganesh, gita perfection, folk music. Soumi.:Yo 2004, my own bodyguards shravan and hardhik, thathukutti - GRE CAT and JOB, other's vayitherichal, kaushik's water entry sequence janani janani janani...., 'ava mugathula oru tejas' ;) 'achuchoooo!! yezha podu', thadhar rocks anyday, 'I don't find the need to talk to girls', souppe semiconductors. Manojh: to sing, to learn, to have fun, to bond, Raag - the place to be, twice at BITS in twenty days - my second psenti sem, navarathri krithis - one of the best concerts and the preceding guys vs gals spat thala and thathule - best buddies, my 3-1 - Raag's transformation,CDCs ah electives ah - who cared.

NrithyaRanjani '07- yet another milestone!

A purple skyline, the sound of falling rain and good music to soothe the nerves - the perfect October evening. We simply couldn't have had a better day to host NrithyaRanjani. The show went really well, but to cut it short here would be a gross injustice to the efforts that people put in and as we all know, beauty lies in savouring each and every moment, reliving the memories and revelling in the glorious time that we had.

The day started of with an air of frenzied activity. There were groups getting the dharis from Saini shop, groups buying rangoli and salt (instead of kolamav :P) from nuthan, some arranging cots and setting the stage, some working on brochures and acknowledgements and some being moral supporters. All this within a short span of 5 hours. One could find us in all places: back IC, front Audi, c'not, nuthan, Backstage, S9 and even Ganga stores. :D

6.00 pm, and along with it came the sparks of a tensed mind. Lots of things still had to be done - compering rehearsals, mike testing, setting the correct shruti for mridagam, dressing up and not to forget the lights people adding to the already burgeoning chaos on stage. Time flew in leaps and bounces. By the time, i could get my eyes on the watch again, it was 7 30. Another 15 minutes and our faces would be scorched by flood lights from all corners.

After the usual delays, the show started at 8 pm. This NR was a first to many things. One of them was a CCTV presentation. The fact that we did the whole movie work on our own makes it all the more exciting. Then came the backdrop opening. Solely sketched and painted by just three people (of course, art n dee had its share too), and that too two weeks ahead of the show is something of a feat. This NR was also the longest one, stretching for a whopping 2 hours from 8 to 10pm . Surely a test of endurance for the dancers, considering the fact that it was the first time on stage for 2 of them. Kudos to them!

The whole structure was divided into 2 parts with an instrumental ensemble filling the gap. We had pieces that bore the traditional Bharatnatyam style and ones that were exclusively Mohini Aatam styled. We also had a fusion piece that sought to bring these 2 dance forms into one.

The first piece was a traditional mallari, tuned in Gambheeranattai and set to Adi talam. With the guyz on the vocals, and all 4 dancers on stage, it set in the right mood for the upcoming pieces. Following this came Shivakameshwari in Ragam Kalyani set to Adi talam. Again done by the guyz group, this piece elucidated the splendour and magnificence of Shivakameshwari, the consort of Lord Shiva. Perfect coordination amongst the dancers. Pics would be uploaded soon.Then came the varnam, Taraka Brahmame, in Kapi ragam. This was essentially a sequential portrayal of significant events from the Ramayana - the Sita swayamvaram, redemption of Ahalya who was cursed to turn to a stone by her spouse Gautama, abduction of Sita and finally concluding with the battle between Rama and Ravana. Bp as Ravana did a wonderful job at that and Namratha perfectly suited the calm, composed role of Rama. Lights guys did a splendid job (substantial part of the credit goes to Hardik for the cues) and that had its effects on the audience too.

Next was something that we've never done before. It was time for the Geetha piece. Verses were taken from the geetha and each one set to a different raga in the style of a virutham ( you guyz need to hear them, it would be an insult to try to put into words the beauty of each composition). However, there was a lot of stage work before this could start. 4 guyz had to pull the cots apart on both the sides, one of us had to close the half screen (Gita happened only in the first half of the stage). The second half was being readied for the next piece, the instrumental ensemble. This done, the stage opened with bp (Lord krishna) and pd (Arjuna) riding into the battlefield. Vsp and Radha were the voices of Lord Krishna and Arjuna respectively accompanied by Ganesh on the violin.Suited the situation to a tee. Intially it portrayed the confused state of mind Arjuna was in ( With some great work on the mridangam, the dancers enacted the splitting of Arjuna;s mind into two - one that urges him to fight against his rivals and the other that refrains him because of the personal bondage). Throughout the piece, Krishna explains to Arjuna about the 4 yogas that leads to the attainment of salvation.This was depicted with the help of various stories from mythology - the story of AdiShankaracharya answering questions to Goddess Saraswati (Again some good work by the Lights guyz where they had to flicker the neons to depict the swapping of souls by shankaracharya in the story) , the story of Prahalada, etc. This piece concludes with Arjuna requesting Krishna to reveal his viswaroopam, which was again orchestrated by cleverly concieved shadow work. ( The stage lights from below were slowly titled at a constant rate so that bp's shadow grew to a huge size, signifying the grandiose and magnificence that the viswaroopam essentially is).

There concluded the first half of the concert and 1 hr was already gone. Then came the instrumental with fast paced phrases in brindavani, moving on to behag and then concluding with Kanada. The tabla and Mridangam only added glitter to the peppy number. However, the first few minutes of this was screwed by the sounds guyz with unfortunately feeble volume for the violin. Brilliant composition by Ganesh, and rendered equally well by nandy and ganesh himself.

The second half started with a solo Mohiniaatam piece by pd. Omanathingal set to Nilambari was a lullaby that brings out the unconditional love of a mother to her child. Pd's expressions were the main highlight. Then came the fusion dance piece that depicted the story of the demon basmasuran. This was also purely instrumental. It starts off with the demon asking a boon from Lord shiva that sought to turn anyone to ashes once he places his hand on their head. Shiva turns to lord Vishnu when the asura attempts to kill him. Then Vishnu incarnates as Mohini who entices the asura to place his hand on his own head. This was done by the clever interplay of the violin (folk music in bilahari for Mohini,) and the mridangam for the asura.

The finaly piece was an effervescent thillana in Madhuvanti and by the time it got over, the time was already 10 pm. Whoa! 2 hours of uninterrupted performance. You could see a thousand smiles on everyone's faces. Then the couple snaps, "yo '0x" snaps, funds like ps senior, B5 snaps, and what not. Of course, the V fast grub that followed. Then the temple lawns lacha until 1. A perfect ending to a perfect day.

The realization of a dream - a dream that we, on campus ppl, dreamt together- A testimony to the planning, the screw up sessions, the practices, the hard work, the expectation, the worry, the tension, the confidence - and more than everything, the learning. The gussed tests, sacrificed movies, missed c'not sessions- everything seemed insignificant. After all, it was but for this one day!

Marching ahead with the head held high, with the enormity of our success yet to sink in. Retiring into bed, with dreams sweet. NrithyaRanjani 2007 would be etched in our minds forever!

To the music, without which we would be dried souls.
To the enthu, without which there wud be no fun.
To Raag, for what it has given us!

Amen!