Many times we call our close ones emotionless freaks, hard-hearted and what not? In the spur of the moment the words just rattle out and even if damage is not done, because they are our near ones and they understand us well, it speaks so much about our emotions, or the lack of it!
I have noticed this many times, not just with people around me but also an experience I have myself had; when we do not get what we want, in terms of things much sought after, or the person you love the most, the emotional-self takes over the practical-self. What’s new or path-breaking one may wonder, but when you actually sit and think of it and maybe put it on paper, there is so much to it!
This holds good especially when it is to do with human sentiments. In economics, I have learnt this theory called ‘Theory of Second Best’ which I think holds well with respect to many things. If you don’t get a chocolate ice cream, you may settle for a strawberry, but when you don’t get the man or the woman of your choice, does the theory of second best work? Or to cite another example; if someone so valuable to us leaves this world, can we go looking for the second best?
Again there are the if’s and but’s. There are people who tide over heart breaks and disappointments of failure and move on very quickly, whereas many others, or if I may say so confidently, most of them find the world ending and worse even, end their own lives. Personally I find committing suicide a very cowardly act. But each to his own. ‘When one door closes, the other opens”, goes the saying. So why can’t we wait? When advising someone, or talking philosophy it is all easy to talk and the real experience hurts. But are we all not made up in such a way, that we mostly and many times actually moved one?
On a radio show yesterday, the RJs had a cake to give away to someone who wanted to break up or were going through one! They gave away ‘break-up’ tips, as to how to handle the shattering moment and so on. A failure or a break up being personal is a thing of the past now! Like your famous ‘Move on’ tagline for a watch company, it just seems all so easy!
All these random thoughts, with virtually no story line here, came to me when I read the essence of the Hindu’s holy book, Bhagatvatgeeta. It reads thus:
Why do you worry without cause? Whom do you fear without reason?
Who can kill you? The soul is neither born, nor does it die.
Whatever happened, happened for the good; whatever is happening, is happening for the good.
Whatever will happen, will also happen for the good only.
You need not have any regrets for the past. You need not worry for the future. The present is happening...right now.
What did you lose that you cry about? What did you bring with you, which you think you have lost? What did you produce, which you think got destroyed?
You did not bring anything - whatever you have, you received from here.
Whatever you have given, you have given only here. Whatever you took, you took from God.
Whatever you gave, you gave to Him. You came empty handed, you will leave empty handed.
What is yours today, belonged to someone else yesterday, and will belong to someone else the day after tomorrow.
You are mistakenly enjoying the thought that this is yours. It is this false happiness that is the cause of your sorrows.
"Whatever you took, you took from God. Whatever you gave, you gave to Him. You came with nothing, you will leave with nothing.
"Change is the law of the universe. What you think of as death, is indeed life.
In one instance you can be a millionaire, and in the other instance, you can be steeped in poverty.
Yours and mine, big and small - erase these ideas from your mind. Then everything is yours and you belong to everyone.
This body is not yours, neither are you of the body. The body is made of fire, water, air, earth and ether, and will disappear into these elements. But the soul is permanent - so who are you?
At first read, the trend is to say, “So true!” But how much of it is actually easy to follow is the question? I have had the opportunity of chanting this holy book and or rather learning to chant it from some really learned people and it takes a lot to interpret it each time and learn new values for life. The essence typed out above is I think a prized value for life to keep in mind if not for completely being able to follow it.
Whatever happens definitely happens for the good. At that moments of happening, we swear, cry and what not, but eventually somewhere down the lane, we are likely to accept it. “What did you lose that you cry about?” This one is tricky. Possessiveness is one quality we all have with respect to at least one person in life, be it mom, dad, sister, love whoever! So when we actually lose them, not in physical terms but otherwise too, it really is hard. And as much as strong we are, our possessiveness overrides it all.
The highlight of it all has to be, “What is yours today, belonged to someone else yesterday, and will belong to someone else the day after tomorrow.”
If it is material object, it really does not matter. We all love change when it has something to do with material items. A newer version of Nokia’s touch screen phone, a better I-phone, more comfortable stilettos, a new shade of lip colour are all good enough and tolerable. My friend had it yesterday; I will have the same today!
But when you have to let go of that one person who is so precious to you and see him or her being someone else’s, even if he/her were going away for eternity, the pain is agonizing to say the least. And an answer to that is also ready: "Change is the law of the universe. What you think of as death, is indeed life.”
Saturday, December 5, 2009
The Kathakar shines!
The Department of Kannada and Culture, Bangalore, organizes Yuva Sourabha, an every Wednesday program, lending a platform for artistes in music and dance alike. This Wednesday, saw the recital of Keerthi Kumar, a Kathak dancer, training under the illustrious Kathak exponent, Dr Maya Rao.
The recital began with Phalanetra, a prayer to Lord Shiva set to Ek Taal in Rag Malkauns. The dancer began with utmost confidence and eased into graceful movements there on.
Just as the ‘Varna’ shows the excellence and technical proficiency in Bharathanatyam, ‘Nrittha’ does the same in Kathak. It comprises the Thaat or the Sringar, Aamad which means start or beginning in Persian and Tukdas, ie, rhythmic fragments. Set to Tri taal (16 beats), the Nrittha contained both Lucknow and Jaipur Gharana in its choreography, directed radiantly by Dr Maya Rao herself.
In this piece, a dancer recites various bols (or beats) and reciprocates the same by dancing to it. Keerthi chose to recite Parans, Chakradhar, a small piece on Holi and a Tabla Bol which he executed admirably which was evident from the crowd/connoisseurs’ claps and words of encouragement. A technical piece in nature, the Kathakar must be able to come to ‘Sam’ or right on the beat and he didn’t miss it once! Minor flaws in terms of rigidity in his upper body were almost nullified with a self-assured air around him and subtlety in his movements. Keerthi executed the technical piece with much flamboyance.
The highlight of the entire evening was the next item, Saint Tulsidas’ Shri Ramachandra Kripalu Bhajumana set to Rupak Taal in Rag Yaman. The composition by Anil Biswas in itself is a masterpiece and a very popular one. The choreography, again by Guru Maya Rao spoke volumes! Lord Rama’s curls tied high up and in the same way the quiver holding his arrows were wonderfully portrayed by the dancer. Lot of hard work was apparent in the way the dancer had built his physique and the attention to the costumes worn.
The musicians who skilfully accompanied Keerthi were as follows:
• Vocals: Sri Shankar Shanbouge
• Padanth: Smt Ramya Anoop
• Sitar: Smt Shruthi Kamath
• Tabla: Sri Ajay Kumar Singh
• Flute: Sri Prakash Hedge
Shankar Shanbouge, always known for his classy voice, didn’t fail the dancer here either. With much dexterity, he complemented the dancer throughout. Among the instrumentalists, Smt Shruthi Kamath was a sure stand out.
What the viewers perceived to be a stop gap, was in fact a kind of a prequel to Keerthi’s next piece. The vocalist sang a Kannada Devarnama, ‘Ishtu Dhina E Vaikunta’. The piece which followed, ‘Oh Ena Baarade?’, was a Vittala Dasa devarnama, set to Tri Taal in Rag Attana, where the devotee questions the Almighty as to why he doesn’t answer any of the former’s call for attention. The devotee quotes instances of the elephant being rescued from the deadly jaws of the crocodile and also depicts all the ten avatars. The portrayal was good, which could have been better though.
Finally, came the Tarana, poet Amir Khusru’s innovation which are sung in Hindustani musical concerts and performed by dancers who hail from many North Indian styles, Keerthi chose to perform one set to Rag Desh. However, the singer, Shankar stole the dancer’s strength on stage and sang to perfection.
Nevertheless, a highly professionally trained Keerthi Kumar showed his proficiency not only in the technical piece but also in the form of emotions throughout. Never once did the feeling of he overdoing them came to be witnessed. Crisp body movements and a sense of confidence prevailed throughout making him a dancer to watch out for. Kathak is seeing many duos entertaining connoisseurs, but solo male Kathakars are few in number.
On the whole, the show was very immaculate in terms of music, comperes, apt lighting by Janardhan and the dancer himself. Coming from a renowned school of dance, Keerthi has made use of it well, in terms of his learning and efficient execution on stage. He has it all in him to become a renowned male Kathak artiste.
The recital began with Phalanetra, a prayer to Lord Shiva set to Ek Taal in Rag Malkauns. The dancer began with utmost confidence and eased into graceful movements there on.
Just as the ‘Varna’ shows the excellence and technical proficiency in Bharathanatyam, ‘Nrittha’ does the same in Kathak. It comprises the Thaat or the Sringar, Aamad which means start or beginning in Persian and Tukdas, ie, rhythmic fragments. Set to Tri taal (16 beats), the Nrittha contained both Lucknow and Jaipur Gharana in its choreography, directed radiantly by Dr Maya Rao herself.
In this piece, a dancer recites various bols (or beats) and reciprocates the same by dancing to it. Keerthi chose to recite Parans, Chakradhar, a small piece on Holi and a Tabla Bol which he executed admirably which was evident from the crowd/connoisseurs’ claps and words of encouragement. A technical piece in nature, the Kathakar must be able to come to ‘Sam’ or right on the beat and he didn’t miss it once! Minor flaws in terms of rigidity in his upper body were almost nullified with a self-assured air around him and subtlety in his movements. Keerthi executed the technical piece with much flamboyance.
The highlight of the entire evening was the next item, Saint Tulsidas’ Shri Ramachandra Kripalu Bhajumana set to Rupak Taal in Rag Yaman. The composition by Anil Biswas in itself is a masterpiece and a very popular one. The choreography, again by Guru Maya Rao spoke volumes! Lord Rama’s curls tied high up and in the same way the quiver holding his arrows were wonderfully portrayed by the dancer. Lot of hard work was apparent in the way the dancer had built his physique and the attention to the costumes worn.
The musicians who skilfully accompanied Keerthi were as follows:
• Vocals: Sri Shankar Shanbouge
• Padanth: Smt Ramya Anoop
• Sitar: Smt Shruthi Kamath
• Tabla: Sri Ajay Kumar Singh
• Flute: Sri Prakash Hedge
Shankar Shanbouge, always known for his classy voice, didn’t fail the dancer here either. With much dexterity, he complemented the dancer throughout. Among the instrumentalists, Smt Shruthi Kamath was a sure stand out.
What the viewers perceived to be a stop gap, was in fact a kind of a prequel to Keerthi’s next piece. The vocalist sang a Kannada Devarnama, ‘Ishtu Dhina E Vaikunta’. The piece which followed, ‘Oh Ena Baarade?’, was a Vittala Dasa devarnama, set to Tri Taal in Rag Attana, where the devotee questions the Almighty as to why he doesn’t answer any of the former’s call for attention. The devotee quotes instances of the elephant being rescued from the deadly jaws of the crocodile and also depicts all the ten avatars. The portrayal was good, which could have been better though.
Finally, came the Tarana, poet Amir Khusru’s innovation which are sung in Hindustani musical concerts and performed by dancers who hail from many North Indian styles, Keerthi chose to perform one set to Rag Desh. However, the singer, Shankar stole the dancer’s strength on stage and sang to perfection.
Nevertheless, a highly professionally trained Keerthi Kumar showed his proficiency not only in the technical piece but also in the form of emotions throughout. Never once did the feeling of he overdoing them came to be witnessed. Crisp body movements and a sense of confidence prevailed throughout making him a dancer to watch out for. Kathak is seeing many duos entertaining connoisseurs, but solo male Kathakars are few in number.
On the whole, the show was very immaculate in terms of music, comperes, apt lighting by Janardhan and the dancer himself. Coming from a renowned school of dance, Keerthi has made use of it well, in terms of his learning and efficient execution on stage. He has it all in him to become a renowned male Kathak artiste.
Friday, November 13, 2009
Well…They are citizens too!
Who is Sonia Gandhi? Or Laloo Prasad? Or even the oh! so smart, Rahul Gandhi? I definitely am not referring to their political parties but just as people who really are they? Citizens! Citizens who happen to be our representatives to run our country. We elect them either directly or otherwise because of their education, their sheer willingness to even come up and work for one’s country which most of us common people would not do. All agreed. But who would they be if it weren’t for us? Just another Sonia, Rahul, Prasad or whoever!
With the recent ‘austerity drive’ amongst many politicians, my mind began pondering. I pondered about perks the representatives of the country get to enjoy. Yes, they deserve it, but to what extent comes the next question. Perks, free time are all synonyms of a government job in our country for sure. I think we are still used to our grandparents or even parents advising us to take up a government job as it always meant to give us security and all the other ‘necessary evils’!
And the biggest gift of it all, at least here in Bangalore, HAS to be an easy breeze through the city’s horrendous traffic! I have experienced this is Chennai as well. The entire bandwagon is let through while the common man who actually made these ‘fellow common men’ famous, is made to wait whatever be the hurry. My question is, these ministers, politicians, their personal attendants, whoever are already known for being late to most meetings, functions et all. So what is the big deal of stopping citizens on the road and giving these guys all the space. They are already late, how does it matter if it is by 5 minutes or 50? They’d rather wait like any one of us and reach their destinations!
Last afternoon I was travelling by bus and all the vehicles including the one I was in were asked to stop for the obvious reason. I watched the little boy inside the bus pleading his mother to buy him a chocolate, a bus driver spitting out his ugh! chewable tobacco, a smart guy on his new Yamaha wiping a minuscule of dirt from his mirror. Twenty minutes passed by and there were no signs of the ‘VERY IMPORTANT PERSON’. People finally began getting restless. Initially the cops were in command. Now, the common men took over. One by one they began turning on their vehicles and honks began to pierce the cops’ ears! Lo! We were commanded to move on!
People in the bus did not hide their disappointment anymore. Obscenities were hurled at the unknown VIP and I couldn’t stop smiling! How I wish he/she were here in this bus I thought!
For those who don’t live in India and did not know about the incident involving the Prime Minister of the country himself, here it is:
Sumit Prakash Verma, who was 32, died after the vehicle carrying him to the Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research could not enter the emergency area in time for treatment. The PM was at that time visiting the hospital for its 30th convocation. (Source: dnaindia.com)
Post this, the PM wrote a letter of apology to the family of the deceased. The article also went on to quote on what former heads and police commissioners thought about the country’s VIP security systems. Good our PM apologized, but the life lost can never be got back. However, clichéd it sounds, it is a fact alright.
Things do not change over night and definitely not in India when it involves politics. But then I think officials must think of a way to keep up the importance which the government servants have to duly get but without troubling us, the common men! It would not hurt our representatives to wait for an extra 10 minutes at the signal and get on with their work just as us. They are also the country’s citizens after all…
With the recent ‘austerity drive’ amongst many politicians, my mind began pondering. I pondered about perks the representatives of the country get to enjoy. Yes, they deserve it, but to what extent comes the next question. Perks, free time are all synonyms of a government job in our country for sure. I think we are still used to our grandparents or even parents advising us to take up a government job as it always meant to give us security and all the other ‘necessary evils’!
And the biggest gift of it all, at least here in Bangalore, HAS to be an easy breeze through the city’s horrendous traffic! I have experienced this is Chennai as well. The entire bandwagon is let through while the common man who actually made these ‘fellow common men’ famous, is made to wait whatever be the hurry. My question is, these ministers, politicians, their personal attendants, whoever are already known for being late to most meetings, functions et all. So what is the big deal of stopping citizens on the road and giving these guys all the space. They are already late, how does it matter if it is by 5 minutes or 50? They’d rather wait like any one of us and reach their destinations!
Last afternoon I was travelling by bus and all the vehicles including the one I was in were asked to stop for the obvious reason. I watched the little boy inside the bus pleading his mother to buy him a chocolate, a bus driver spitting out his ugh! chewable tobacco, a smart guy on his new Yamaha wiping a minuscule of dirt from his mirror. Twenty minutes passed by and there were no signs of the ‘VERY IMPORTANT PERSON’. People finally began getting restless. Initially the cops were in command. Now, the common men took over. One by one they began turning on their vehicles and honks began to pierce the cops’ ears! Lo! We were commanded to move on!
People in the bus did not hide their disappointment anymore. Obscenities were hurled at the unknown VIP and I couldn’t stop smiling! How I wish he/she were here in this bus I thought!
For those who don’t live in India and did not know about the incident involving the Prime Minister of the country himself, here it is:
Sumit Prakash Verma, who was 32, died after the vehicle carrying him to the Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research could not enter the emergency area in time for treatment. The PM was at that time visiting the hospital for its 30th convocation. (Source: dnaindia.com)
Post this, the PM wrote a letter of apology to the family of the deceased. The article also went on to quote on what former heads and police commissioners thought about the country’s VIP security systems. Good our PM apologized, but the life lost can never be got back. However, clichéd it sounds, it is a fact alright.
Things do not change over night and definitely not in India when it involves politics. But then I think officials must think of a way to keep up the importance which the government servants have to duly get but without troubling us, the common men! It would not hurt our representatives to wait for an extra 10 minutes at the signal and get on with their work just as us. They are also the country’s citizens after all…
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Awesome reason to unite!
To begin with, I have read Chetan Bhagat’s first two novels, Five Point Someone and One night @ the call centre. The former impressed me quite a bit and the latter failed to. Hence I didn’t bother reading his third, The 3 mistakes of my life. However, his latest one, 2 states, the story of marriage, compelled me to read it because my story was similar, at least the guy and I come from two different states!
I managed to finish the book in 6 hours straight and I have decided to read his previous novel! Now for a review of the book though my previous sentence says it all, here it is.
The plot revolves around two smart, intelligent people, coming from opposite poles of India who study in the same B-School. The biggest difference one notices or which one gets used to with experience is that South Indians love their educational degrees while the North Indians sure love their food! One eats to live while the other, the other way around obviously!
The differences can be listed endlessly, but it is about how two clans, along with their virtues, thinking, looks and customs and tie the nuptial knot! It is not a knot just for the two people involved but for the entire family as is wonderfully described here, in the book. One, I come from the Iyer Brahmin community and hence could 200% relate to the entire book and since Mr. Bhagat claims his love to all South Indians in the section of acknowledgments, I can forgive him for all the ‘lovely’ things he had to say about us.
Instances of South Indian ladies dressed in their best Kancheepuram silks being termed as women coming out of golden drums, the famous Kashi Yatrai the groom takes in a Tam Brahm wedding where he takes an auto rickshaw much to the aghast of the bride’s father, the Mickey Mouse undie the protagonist wears and the eating of banana leaves are all very well written and I must say that Bhagat’s writing style is a sheer pleasure. By keeping it simple, he hits you right on and that’s a big boon for any writer.
Since Bhagat’s novels are now being turned to movies, he seems to be writing novel which make it all the more viable for directors. The book is filmy with romance, emotions with respect to both sides’ parents and families especially Krish, the male lead’s father. With 2 romantic numbers, and few more apt song sequences, this book is on its way to becoming another movie for sure.
Personally, I love the book because I had similar stories with my love story too. My mom’s shock when I told her that I had not chosen a Tam Brahm as my future life partner but a hardcore non-veg eating Mallu boy was my choice and that several tweaks in the wedding protocols which had to accommodate both styles of weddings can never be forgotten; one a two day affair (Tamil Brahmin) and the other a 10 minute scene (Mallu wedding). But I guess a love marriage comes with many strings which can never be cut away and that’s where lies all the fun.
Finally the author’s thoughts on love marriages ending up with new generations being evolved as Indians and not as this state and that are definitely to be valued and put into use. All in all, this book is a must read even for those who generally do not read fiction. It will surely change your views!
I managed to finish the book in 6 hours straight and I have decided to read his previous novel! Now for a review of the book though my previous sentence says it all, here it is.
The plot revolves around two smart, intelligent people, coming from opposite poles of India who study in the same B-School. The biggest difference one notices or which one gets used to with experience is that South Indians love their educational degrees while the North Indians sure love their food! One eats to live while the other, the other way around obviously!
The differences can be listed endlessly, but it is about how two clans, along with their virtues, thinking, looks and customs and tie the nuptial knot! It is not a knot just for the two people involved but for the entire family as is wonderfully described here, in the book. One, I come from the Iyer Brahmin community and hence could 200% relate to the entire book and since Mr. Bhagat claims his love to all South Indians in the section of acknowledgments, I can forgive him for all the ‘lovely’ things he had to say about us.
Instances of South Indian ladies dressed in their best Kancheepuram silks being termed as women coming out of golden drums, the famous Kashi Yatrai the groom takes in a Tam Brahm wedding where he takes an auto rickshaw much to the aghast of the bride’s father, the Mickey Mouse undie the protagonist wears and the eating of banana leaves are all very well written and I must say that Bhagat’s writing style is a sheer pleasure. By keeping it simple, he hits you right on and that’s a big boon for any writer.
Since Bhagat’s novels are now being turned to movies, he seems to be writing novel which make it all the more viable for directors. The book is filmy with romance, emotions with respect to both sides’ parents and families especially Krish, the male lead’s father. With 2 romantic numbers, and few more apt song sequences, this book is on its way to becoming another movie for sure.
Personally, I love the book because I had similar stories with my love story too. My mom’s shock when I told her that I had not chosen a Tam Brahm as my future life partner but a hardcore non-veg eating Mallu boy was my choice and that several tweaks in the wedding protocols which had to accommodate both styles of weddings can never be forgotten; one a two day affair (Tamil Brahmin) and the other a 10 minute scene (Mallu wedding). But I guess a love marriage comes with many strings which can never be cut away and that’s where lies all the fun.
Finally the author’s thoughts on love marriages ending up with new generations being evolved as Indians and not as this state and that are definitely to be valued and put into use. All in all, this book is a must read even for those who generally do not read fiction. It will surely change your views!
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Sachin - my new God!
“Tch, but we lost wickets quickly in the middle overs”, said the little master even while he was being presented the man of the match today (Hyderabad ODI, 5 November 2009 – India vs Australia). The Aussies made a mammoth 350 but all eyes and faith rested only upon one man, no, God, Sachin!
I am not technically or statistically good to rattle out the number of runs, hundreds and all other accomplishments he’s made, records he’s created and broken himself. Today maybe just another one for all those die-hard Sachin fans, who’ve seen him fight it out in vain in many matches over his span of 20 years. But for me, it is this day that I truly bow down to this great man!
At 175 runs not out, he made India sit pretty on the wall of victory. Unfortunately the young guns in the team failed to fire when it was most needed. In this series, I noted, Bhajji either contributes in bowling or batting but not both together and today was his bowling days! When he went out for a duck right after Raina’s dismissal, I still hoped Jadeja and Munaf would help the master pull it off. What an offering it would have been to God?!
Man proposes and God disposes they say and to prove the same, God again denied his own ‘associate’, Sachin, his rightful offering. What more can he do? Even if he could not stay till the end, he made it all easy for the boys. 10 runs from 10 balls…8 from 6…was all too easy but for another guy in the name of Praveen who unfortunately dives only in a swimming pool and not in the 22 yards!
“Tch, but we lost wickets quickly in the middle overs”, said the little master even while he was presented the man of the match today.
Arun Lal, the presenter for the post match ceremony tried evading the topic and asked how he motivated himself to beat his own records even after 20 long years. “Passion for the game and I care about playing for India”, came the reply!
Today I have begun praying to another God – the only God cricket can have and will continue to have – SACHIN RAMESH TENDULKAR.
I am not technically or statistically good to rattle out the number of runs, hundreds and all other accomplishments he’s made, records he’s created and broken himself. Today maybe just another one for all those die-hard Sachin fans, who’ve seen him fight it out in vain in many matches over his span of 20 years. But for me, it is this day that I truly bow down to this great man!
At 175 runs not out, he made India sit pretty on the wall of victory. Unfortunately the young guns in the team failed to fire when it was most needed. In this series, I noted, Bhajji either contributes in bowling or batting but not both together and today was his bowling days! When he went out for a duck right after Raina’s dismissal, I still hoped Jadeja and Munaf would help the master pull it off. What an offering it would have been to God?!
Man proposes and God disposes they say and to prove the same, God again denied his own ‘associate’, Sachin, his rightful offering. What more can he do? Even if he could not stay till the end, he made it all easy for the boys. 10 runs from 10 balls…8 from 6…was all too easy but for another guy in the name of Praveen who unfortunately dives only in a swimming pool and not in the 22 yards!
“Tch, but we lost wickets quickly in the middle overs”, said the little master even while he was presented the man of the match today.
Arun Lal, the presenter for the post match ceremony tried evading the topic and asked how he motivated himself to beat his own records even after 20 long years. “Passion for the game and I care about playing for India”, came the reply!
Today I have begun praying to another God – the only God cricket can have and will continue to have – SACHIN RAMESH TENDULKAR.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
These musicians are turning earth into heaven!
This is a long due review, views; call it whatever! Swarathma, an Indian contemporary folk fusion band as they call themselves, have, are and will be carrying with themselves a huge fan following. Unfortunately, I’ve seen them perform live only once but hear them virtually everyday!
The band members are as follows:
• Vasu Dixit - Vocals, acoustic guitar
• Jishnu Dasgupta - Bass, backing vocals
• Varun - Guitars, backing vocals
• Montry Manuel – Drums
• Pavan Kumar – Percussions
• Sanjeev Nayak – Violins
As mere listeners when we watch a show, we generally concentrate on that one person who is the pick of the day or the one who is at his/her best on a given day, but Swarathma is one group loaded with talent in each of the members. The team is packed with some astounding energy whether it’s the start of the show or the fag end!
First impression is the best they say, and Swarathma has vowed their performance by this. Their presentation skills in terms of clothing, marketing, music which is of utmost importance is utterly professional. I have always noticed this in most bands: each of them standing in their fixed positions, concentrating on their instruments alone. Only the lead singer is all over the stage filling in some life. This was the case in the recent rock show I was witness to that too a leading band in India.
However, Swarathma impressed me on this note too! Vasu and Jishnu were on fire, involving all the musicians, the listeners and virtually the bartender too! To top it all, Montry the drummer on a different league altogether! He was so involved, it was all emanating on his face! Thorough enjoyment I must say! Personally, my favourite was Sanjeev on the violins! Bald men always thrill me ;) But then his music spoke for himself. He and Varun looked composed and let their music speak.
Coming to their songs, Yeshu Allah aur Krishna, Jaana Kahaan hai mujhe, Ee Bhoomi, Topiwalleh, Tibet and Pyaasi are my top favourites. Their lyrics are simple, refreshing and mirror their thoughts. The use of classical instruments like the Khanjiri sure blends its way with the other western instruments and is quite pleasing to the ear.
I’ve said all good things till now. Time for some suggestions! When it comes to another genre, say classical music; there are tons of compositions. So a musician has a choice of presenting different songs every concert. However, bands like these have to continually innovate, create new songs, not just for an album but for their performance galore! Right now, Topiwalleh and Tibet are the latest additions, but 3 or 4 concerts later, though their present numbers are crowd pullers, more will be expected of them. This is purely my view and many may beg to differ. Nevertheless, considering their talent, I am pretty sure they are capable of belting out new compositions every month :)
Lastly, I hope the team sticks together as many bands these days, once making it big generally tend to disintegrate and the initial spark is totally lost. So, a big hope that they hold on strong at least for their fans! Oh yes! Another thing! A small search on each of the members reveal that one is an XLRI pass out, one is as young as 21 years of age and so on. It really feels nice that even after big accomplishments, these guys are getting to pursue their passion. Some sincerity towards music for sure!
In their recent update I read they felt on top of the world to be sharing the stage with India’s top rock bands; the day is not far off when other up and coming bands will feel the same with Swarathma themselves! You rock guys!
The band members are as follows:
• Vasu Dixit - Vocals, acoustic guitar
• Jishnu Dasgupta - Bass, backing vocals
• Varun - Guitars, backing vocals
• Montry Manuel – Drums
• Pavan Kumar – Percussions
• Sanjeev Nayak – Violins
As mere listeners when we watch a show, we generally concentrate on that one person who is the pick of the day or the one who is at his/her best on a given day, but Swarathma is one group loaded with talent in each of the members. The team is packed with some astounding energy whether it’s the start of the show or the fag end!
First impression is the best they say, and Swarathma has vowed their performance by this. Their presentation skills in terms of clothing, marketing, music which is of utmost importance is utterly professional. I have always noticed this in most bands: each of them standing in their fixed positions, concentrating on their instruments alone. Only the lead singer is all over the stage filling in some life. This was the case in the recent rock show I was witness to that too a leading band in India.
However, Swarathma impressed me on this note too! Vasu and Jishnu were on fire, involving all the musicians, the listeners and virtually the bartender too! To top it all, Montry the drummer on a different league altogether! He was so involved, it was all emanating on his face! Thorough enjoyment I must say! Personally, my favourite was Sanjeev on the violins! Bald men always thrill me ;) But then his music spoke for himself. He and Varun looked composed and let their music speak.
Coming to their songs, Yeshu Allah aur Krishna, Jaana Kahaan hai mujhe, Ee Bhoomi, Topiwalleh, Tibet and Pyaasi are my top favourites. Their lyrics are simple, refreshing and mirror their thoughts. The use of classical instruments like the Khanjiri sure blends its way with the other western instruments and is quite pleasing to the ear.
I’ve said all good things till now. Time for some suggestions! When it comes to another genre, say classical music; there are tons of compositions. So a musician has a choice of presenting different songs every concert. However, bands like these have to continually innovate, create new songs, not just for an album but for their performance galore! Right now, Topiwalleh and Tibet are the latest additions, but 3 or 4 concerts later, though their present numbers are crowd pullers, more will be expected of them. This is purely my view and many may beg to differ. Nevertheless, considering their talent, I am pretty sure they are capable of belting out new compositions every month :)
Lastly, I hope the team sticks together as many bands these days, once making it big generally tend to disintegrate and the initial spark is totally lost. So, a big hope that they hold on strong at least for their fans! Oh yes! Another thing! A small search on each of the members reveal that one is an XLRI pass out, one is as young as 21 years of age and so on. It really feels nice that even after big accomplishments, these guys are getting to pursue their passion. Some sincerity towards music for sure!
In their recent update I read they felt on top of the world to be sharing the stage with India’s top rock bands; the day is not far off when other up and coming bands will feel the same with Swarathma themselves! You rock guys!
Monday, October 26, 2009
Menacing auto-rickshaws and their drivers!
I was writing my internals in class, when I heard one of my juniors, in her last round of Ms Personality, giving her thoughts on auto drivers outside college. What a question to ask I wondered.
The girl ranted her frustration about how the ‘ever-ready to pounce’ drivers waited for a smart Carmelite to pick their vehicle. And also about how they’d charge insane rates in spite of flaunting their latest electronic meters! Guess its Chennai for them!
I could not agree better with that girl. I actually stopped writing and listened to her vent out. I have taken the autos several times outside college and each one of them has a link of sorts. Some will go only to Malleshwaram, some to MG Road and so on. Each driver has his choice of saying yes or no, but here it’s all fixed in advance. Worse of it all, these guys don’t even bother waiting to be approached. Like tourist guides, they leap on the poor girls.
In my previous blogs, I have also mentioned about the insane, unscrupulous behaviour by these drivers. Obviously I cannot generalise, but I am sure 8 out of 10 drivers are out there to jut their necks out of the vehicle to eye at women, whether decently clad or otherwise. A bus ahead of them, two-wheelers on either side, cars behind; who cares! The road belongs to him and he can, at his whim, change directions on a busy road. The indicator will show right, and he alarmingly, to others mind you, will take a left with ease. Worse of it all, no indicators at times!
There are honest drivers as I said. At 5 in the morning, I urgently needed to get to the hospital and the nice chap was ready to drop me for free! On the contrast, I had this jaw-dropping experience. I returned from Chennai one morning at around 4:30. The auto driver demanded 50% extra of what the meter showed and I willingly accepted as these are the norms in Bangalore. A 4 km ride from the Bangalore Bus Stand, I was not even half way and the meter sped its away much faster than the driver’s himself!!! What I was to pay at my destination was already on the meter. I picked up a fight instantly. His answer was startling. “Madam, you belong to Bangalore is it? I thought you belonged to Chennai. Anyway people there pay much more, so big deal! Since you speak the local language and seem like one among us, pay whatever the right amount is.”
For a second I did not know how to react. “What about people from other states man? They just get tricked is it?” was my question. His answer was a menacing smile! I was more than happy to just get home safely. Who knows what else they’d do if I belonged to another state!
Moving on, politically too, auto drivers are here to create some trouble. I can never forget the day when Kannada’s biggest film star passed away and these auto drivers created such a drama and actually shut down shops all the way. The shouting and the lunacy is hard to forget.
On October 12, there was an auto strike which on peacefully I must say. They were against the government because the latter wanted a change of colour of the vehicles from black-yellow to green! There were some who still came on to the roads and charged phenomenally high rates, but otherwise it was a peaceful strike.
On October 16, a newspaper carried an article saying that the government ordered to check for the reduction in pollution rates in two major areas in the city where the number of autos operating is large. And as expected, following were the results:
Sulphur di oxide reduced by 29%, oxides of nitrogen by 59%, oxides of carbon by 33% at the city station alone! The article further went on to mention the various impacts it will have on health. Lastly, it was written that most autos in the city, about 65,000 in number are two-stroke vehicles, which have incomplete combustion thereby causing pollution. If they are replaced to four-stroke vehicles, the amount of pollution will apparently come down.
Frankly, with all the pollution and the agony the drivers and their vehicles are causing, the number of vehicles must slowly be reduced. Yes, I agree many people in this city do not prefer using public transport and rely upon autos but then with all these ill-effects, I am sure people can shift to another mode and with the arrival of the metro, however late, people have options.
On the employment side, these drivers may be taught to drive larger vehicles and may be given employment in other sectors. Many drivers still feel they lost out on education and with so many plans to help the under-privileged, the government could fund for the families at least till they complete a level of education where they can get decent jobs.
Thoughts beget reality! Maybe these little thoughts may provide fodder to those who read these articles and are in a position to make that change!
The girl ranted her frustration about how the ‘ever-ready to pounce’ drivers waited for a smart Carmelite to pick their vehicle. And also about how they’d charge insane rates in spite of flaunting their latest electronic meters! Guess its Chennai for them!
I could not agree better with that girl. I actually stopped writing and listened to her vent out. I have taken the autos several times outside college and each one of them has a link of sorts. Some will go only to Malleshwaram, some to MG Road and so on. Each driver has his choice of saying yes or no, but here it’s all fixed in advance. Worse of it all, these guys don’t even bother waiting to be approached. Like tourist guides, they leap on the poor girls.
In my previous blogs, I have also mentioned about the insane, unscrupulous behaviour by these drivers. Obviously I cannot generalise, but I am sure 8 out of 10 drivers are out there to jut their necks out of the vehicle to eye at women, whether decently clad or otherwise. A bus ahead of them, two-wheelers on either side, cars behind; who cares! The road belongs to him and he can, at his whim, change directions on a busy road. The indicator will show right, and he alarmingly, to others mind you, will take a left with ease. Worse of it all, no indicators at times!
There are honest drivers as I said. At 5 in the morning, I urgently needed to get to the hospital and the nice chap was ready to drop me for free! On the contrast, I had this jaw-dropping experience. I returned from Chennai one morning at around 4:30. The auto driver demanded 50% extra of what the meter showed and I willingly accepted as these are the norms in Bangalore. A 4 km ride from the Bangalore Bus Stand, I was not even half way and the meter sped its away much faster than the driver’s himself!!! What I was to pay at my destination was already on the meter. I picked up a fight instantly. His answer was startling. “Madam, you belong to Bangalore is it? I thought you belonged to Chennai. Anyway people there pay much more, so big deal! Since you speak the local language and seem like one among us, pay whatever the right amount is.”
For a second I did not know how to react. “What about people from other states man? They just get tricked is it?” was my question. His answer was a menacing smile! I was more than happy to just get home safely. Who knows what else they’d do if I belonged to another state!
Moving on, politically too, auto drivers are here to create some trouble. I can never forget the day when Kannada’s biggest film star passed away and these auto drivers created such a drama and actually shut down shops all the way. The shouting and the lunacy is hard to forget.
On October 12, there was an auto strike which on peacefully I must say. They were against the government because the latter wanted a change of colour of the vehicles from black-yellow to green! There were some who still came on to the roads and charged phenomenally high rates, but otherwise it was a peaceful strike.
On October 16, a newspaper carried an article saying that the government ordered to check for the reduction in pollution rates in two major areas in the city where the number of autos operating is large. And as expected, following were the results:
Sulphur di oxide reduced by 29%, oxides of nitrogen by 59%, oxides of carbon by 33% at the city station alone! The article further went on to mention the various impacts it will have on health. Lastly, it was written that most autos in the city, about 65,000 in number are two-stroke vehicles, which have incomplete combustion thereby causing pollution. If they are replaced to four-stroke vehicles, the amount of pollution will apparently come down.
Frankly, with all the pollution and the agony the drivers and their vehicles are causing, the number of vehicles must slowly be reduced. Yes, I agree many people in this city do not prefer using public transport and rely upon autos but then with all these ill-effects, I am sure people can shift to another mode and with the arrival of the metro, however late, people have options.
On the employment side, these drivers may be taught to drive larger vehicles and may be given employment in other sectors. Many drivers still feel they lost out on education and with so many plans to help the under-privileged, the government could fund for the families at least till they complete a level of education where they can get decent jobs.
Thoughts beget reality! Maybe these little thoughts may provide fodder to those who read these articles and are in a position to make that change!
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