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...
Thursday, January 03, 2008
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! :)
Thursday, October 04, 2007
TAKE IT !!
MALLARI -
VARNAM -
INSTRUMENTAL -
OMANA THINGAL -
SAAMI WAS WITH US :)
VFAST :D
T-Lawns - damaging ppl.. hehe!
VARNAM -
INSTRUMENTAL -
OMANA THINGAL -
SAAMI WAS WITH US :)
VFAST :D
T-Lawns - damaging ppl.. hehe!
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS (esp posting for public damage!! :P )
Tuesday, October 02, 2007
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!
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!
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