Ideas & Views

These points were highlights of many discussions with different friends at different points in time - about singing, listening, about music and musicians in general. Didn't know how to make a coherent essay out of it. Since they were lingering on in the mind even after many months, felt like spilling the beans here. So, here goes the collage. - Till the advent of digital music players, music CDs and MP3 format, listening to a carnatic (or for that matter , any other form of music) used to be a hobby and pass time for the rich. Only they could afford the money and means to buy record tapes. Cassettes were, to an extent, affordable to the middle class but still not a whole lot possible. Technology has made music affordable and reach more people, no doubt. Starting from CDs to Mp3s, now its the digital recording devices and broadband that makes music sharing easy across the globe. Jaya TV concerts happening in Chennai are broadcast by music aficionados through youtube within few

Haven't written anything about one of my all time favorite carnatic musician - the ingenuous, masterly, the only IITian in the pack, Sowmya (ji understood). She is always the reference singer for me to practice along with. Though not a melodious voice, the kattai kural retains the beauty of phrases that are unique to carnatic style. Her recent thematic concerts had caught up an audience vibe on its own. It takes a thorough understanding, a confident quest for innovation, curiosity to educate and move the audience to next level. Sowmya is the one to start on this, others like T.M.Krishna and Sanjay followed. Confident that the audience would raise up to her and accept the whole idea of learning some theory behind music and accept her humble self with enthusiasm. I mention that she is an IIT-ian specifically because I still recollect and cherish her geeky d/dt explanation for sangathis in Jaya TV Margazhi Mahotsavam 2008 question time. Her two albums Ososi and Maiyyal are based on

While writing and sharing anything in blogs, some readers (who don't know me closely) tend to look at the generalizations I make and seem to get offended. So, as a preface I would like to mention that all exceptions are acknowledged; no offense intended nor even thought of. Read them as just another point of view. My focus is mainly on the writing - a challenge on my ability to convey. Surrendering to the pen and the power of ideas...... Have stopped watching Indian movies for quite sometime now. The very idea of hero-heroine background irked me all of a sudden too much. I was thinking for sometime on this - where did the Indian movie makers catch the hero worship concept? And why has such movies had all the audience that they had and still have? The seed has been sown long ago from the days of Ramayana and Mahabarata. This is the story of a prince named Rama. He was the noblest, kindest, most handsome, etcetera etcetera amongst men ! There was a story of five brave princes called