Thoppus Gladypus...a cuf-T at Tarams

One for India 2004

2004-11-30T02:11:00.000-05:00

To give you a brief background, One for India is the year end fundraising campaign of Association for India's Development (AID). AID supports NGOs who work on various aspects of grassroots development in India, such as health care, education, rural development, alternative technology, women's empowerment and so on. I used to be an active volunteer with AID-Duke for almost 6 years. Though my involvement now has considerably decreased due to other commitments, I still help them out once in a while.

The theme of the One for India campaign is to use the power of the internet to bring people together and make ONE, small or big, contribution to India during the holiday season. I request you to also visit the One for India website and make ONE your One contribution to India.

The web design for this year's One for India website was done primarily by myself and the stylesheet is aptly named as puliyodharai. The graphics was done by Prakash from Baton Rouge, LA. The e-cards page was created by Prabhu from San Diego. The backend scripts were written by Aravind from New Jersey last year. I did the layout and style i.e the CSS portions.

The original stylesheet was called thayirsadham and you can still render the page in its original form by using the alternate stylesheet feature in Firefox (IE sucks). The transformation from thayirsadham to puliyodharai happened two days before the launch of the website - the power of CSS. I'll have to thank Prakash for not being happy with thayirsadham and extracting the iyengar special puliyodharai from me.

Thiruvasakam pre-orders

2004-11-30T02:04:00.000-05:00

After a long break...

I don't know what the project is currently called but I'll just refer to it as Thiruvasakam in Symphony. Anyway this landmark project of Isaignaani Ilaiyaraaja is complete and the US team is now taking pre-orders for the same. Well technically it is not a preorder since you don't pay up-front but you'll be helping the project coordinators a lot by just letting them know that you would be interested in buying the CD whenever it is released.

TiS donation page

2004-06-12T14:54:00.000-04:00

I just realised that both the official TiS website and Raaja.com do not have links to the Sulekha donation page. So here is the link for the benefit of all the people who visit this blog - http://www.sulekha.com/tis.

The objective of the US team is to raise $100,000. I believe around $30k has been raised already, with another $20-25k in pledges. These figures are not official, so please do not quote me for this numbers.

If you think about it $100,000 is a small amount, which shouldn't have taken this long to raise. You typically require only 1000 donors to raise this amount (this is from my fundraising experience elsewhere). From Raaja's perspective this pathetic involvement by his fans will definitely dampen his enthusiasm for future such projects, since they probably have to be initiated in the USA. I am saying this because all he can do in India is movies, which is something he is not particularly interested in.

Isaignani Ilaiyaraaja - As close as it gets

2004-06-11T16:25:00.000-04:00

My friend Hari and I recently had a once in many lifetimes opportunity to get as close as it can get with none other than Isaignani Ilaiyaraaja - yup I am talking about the music director from South India - no typos. This event has strongly reaffirmed by belief in karma. I think such a thing could have been made possible only due to the punyam accumulated from several prior jenmas. And of course you cannot leave out the thavam done in this jenma i.e. the endless hours spent listening to His compositions. Divine interventions apart, the person actually responsible for this experience of ours is Dr. Sankar Kumar, the US coordinator for the Thiruvasakam in Symphony project. Kodaana Kodi Nanrigal Doctor !!

It all started in the first week of May. Dr. SK called me and said that IR was actually going to be in Cary in a couple of weeks. He said he would need my help for the next couple of weeks in organizing the event and I jumped at it. On the day of the event he asked us if I would be interested in accompanying IR for the rest of his trip in the US and the rest is history as they say.

All my friends have asked me to narrate my experiences with IR, and my standard answer has been - "words cannot describe it" - partly because it is true and partly because I am not particularly good at articulating my feelings as words. Anyway I thought I should at least write up some interesting incidents that happened on the trip for the benefit of all the music fans around the world. So here it is. The anecdotes are in no particular order i.e. they are random in time. What he said in the public events is available as a separate blog post so I have not covered these in this blog.

Standard disclaimers apply. I request people not to excessively analyse this post. Just enjoy them for whatever they are worth.

The characters

IR - Aarum Athu Aazham Illai....Athu Serum Kadalum Aazham Illai...Aazhamunna Ayya Antha Raaja Manasuthaanyaa. Very simple yet complex character.
Dr. Sankar Kumar - coordinator of TiS in the USA. I salute his dedication and perseverance. Most people would have given up on this project long back.
Ananth Govindan - It is still surprising that Ananth has not yet sold New Jersey in the black market. I was just amazed at the way he handled IR and people in general.
Vijay & Hari - The usual suspects who actually had no business being in the picture. All they did was shamelessly thulp lots of good food.

Movies and music related

Ilayaraaja in Italy - The Maestro performed in His first ever stage concert in Italy this May - in the Angelica music festival. Apparently one of the organizers of this festival (Mr. Massimo) had listened to (just) one of his songs several years ago and was instantly impressed. He even spent two weeks in Chennai watching the Maestro at work and had been trying to convince Raaja to perform at this music festival for the past 5 years now. Raaja finally agreed to do it this year. The concert mostly comprised of his songs (Azhagu Malar Aada, Janani Janani, Sangathil Paadatha Kavithai were the few he named), orchestrated in a different fashion though. One of the pieces was a (song) medley which captured the essence of all the different kinds of musical expressions from India. The highlight of the concert was however a composition in which he used only 3 notes !!! Before the concert there was a customary address to the audience followed by a question and answer session. Raaja actually wanted to avoid this since there was a possibility that some of the questions might upset his mood, and as a consequence affect the concert. But since it was the custom of the festival he agreed to address the audience, but not field any questions. One interesting remark IR had made during his address was that, in Indian Classical music no note is orphaned (in the sense that we embellish them with gamakams), when compared with Western Classical. The Italian translator added in jest that this statement had nothing to do with the recent political happenings in India. He concluded his address with a mention about his composition in three notes and did a vocal demo right then, leaving the audience speechless. At this point he actually agreed to answer questions, but there were none since the audience were in a spell by then!

IR's new albums - Though we had loads of his CDs in store we didn't listen to any of his old albums on the road trips. We had a chance to listen to a couple of his new ones though. The first was a devotional album on Ramanar to be released during the 125th birth anniversary celebration to happen in September I think. There were around 10 songs. One of them was sung by Unni and one (a Sanskrit krithi) by either Sudha Raghnathan or Bombay Jayashree (I think, I could be wrong here). The Sanskrit krithi was written and composed in 5 minutes. One of the songs was "Yen Ooru Sivapuram" which he also sang in the NY event.

The other album was for a Hindi movie called "Divorce". The songs are really cool and hip - very different from the recent IR ones. IR actually wrote the starting lines of the pallavi for one of the songs, even with his minimal knowledge of Hindi. The lyricist had written a song, which IR felt was too poetic to reflect the thoughts of a small kid. The situation is a kid singing about how he feels like an orphan though he had his parents. And so he sang the pallavi - "Ma hai Ma hai...Papa hai Papa hai..." At this point he asked the director (Ramanan) what the Hindi word for "aanulum" was? And he continued "phir bi etc etc." After the recording of one of the songs Uttam Singh and the singer Alka Yagnik were apparently discussing whether there was anybody in Bollywood to do justice to the picturization of the song.

IR on Virumaandi - "Enna padam ithu. Verum vettu kuthu thaan." Seems IR refused to do the movie at first, on hearing the story, saying there was no scope for music in this movie full of violence. He agreed after Kamal said he would reduce the vettu and kuthus. Reduce panna version ippadinaa, wonder what the uncut version would have looked like?

IR as the editor - IR is usually the first person to see the movie as a whole, while he does the BGMs. He usually advises the director on unnecessary scenes he should remove. Typically new directors listen to him for a few movies and then after they are established do not heed his advice. In Kadhal Kavithai he advised the director Agathiyan to remove a particular scene, which he refused to do citing some reasons. Finally that scene ended up getting chopped by the theatre folks.

IR on how the final mix messes up his BGMs - The BGM levels are decided in the final mix done with the voice track, BGM track and special effects track. In Siraichaalai the mixing was not done properly and the BGM ended up being at a lower level than it should be. According to IR if the had done the mixing right, the moviegoers experience would have been totally differnent and would have even changed the fate of the movie. In Devadhai there is apparently one scene where an army of comes to this fortress to only find that it is completely deserted and empty. IR had as usual used a grand BGM which was followed by stunning silence to convey the emptyness. The special effects guy did not realise this and put some "kaa kaa" sound at this instant, screwing up the whole thing.

IR on Mano vs SPB - "Sir neenge Mano've SPB'ku replacementaa use panneengalaa sir? SPB irukumbodhu ethukku sir Mano use pannanum?" - Laughs "Yaar paadina yenna. Namma tune carry pannidum songe." Laughs "Balu appo romba busyaa irunthaan, athaan."

IR on Janaki - [paraphrasing] "Yenakku Suseela amma romba pidikum, aana Janaki vandhu oru music director oda requirement ellam correctavum, romba quickavum purinchipaange. Ithu ellam naan GKV'ku assistantaa irukkum bodhu naan gavinnupaen."

IR on him playing the Guitar for his songs - He has never played the guitar for any of his songs - including "Ilaya Nila". If there are difficult phrases he will do a demo for the guitarist. For "Ilaya Nila" apparently the the guitarist, who was much senior to him in the industry, was able to reproduce only 10% of what he had shown him. Another song he mentioned where the violinists found it really difficult was "Oru Naal Unnodu Oru Naal" from Uravadum Nenjam, which incidentally is the first song sung by SPB for him.

IR on the ease with which SPB sings - For the movie Kathal Oviyam, IR had requested SPB to come and sing the song "Sangeetha Jaathi Mullai". SPB first refused saying he was very busy that day and had other stuff to do, and finally agreed on the condition that it will be done by 10AM. The recording finally was over at 3pm the same day. The phrase which caused the delay was "Kuyile Kuyile Untha Ragam Nenjil Indru Aadum." If you remember the song - at "Aadum" the tune reaches a crescendo (ri Ri) and then descends (to sa). Originally the descending portion was to be sung as sndpmgrs (avarohanam), but apparently SPB couldn't sing it. IR remaked "Ennapa SNDPMGRS paada mudiyaliyaa." IR had to simplified the tune twice before SPB was able to sing it correctly and the third version is what we hear today.

IR on picturisation of his songs - We had earlier remarked that we saw a lot of kuppai films just for his songs and BGMs. IR says - "Ungalakkey ippadinaa yenna pathi yosichu paarunga." Are there any directors who do a decent job of picturisation? "Bharathiraja nalla picturise pannuvan. Vamsy (Telugu) nalla pannuvaan."

IR on Hollywood movies - [paraphrasing] "Indiana Jones padathule first five minutes paarunge. Namakku nalla theriyum kadhula poova sutharaanu, aana eppadi kannu edukaame pakkarom." He was cribbing at the state of movies in India.

IR on bad lyrics - "Kuppaiyaa kootanum. Aaraitchi panna koodathu. Lyrics nalla illainaa atha kekatheenge. Tune ondi kelunge." Ethu kuppainu kozhiya poruthathu."

IR on Pudhu Mappillaikku being inspired by Naan Paarthathiley - I think people know this story already so I won't repeat it here. The interesting portion was after narrating the story he sang five more tunes for Pudhu Mappilaiku, each for a different picturisation.

IR on choosing Ragas for his song - "Podara tune athuvaa ethavathu raagathile amayum. Yosichu podarthillai. Ippo padi kamichaen paarunge (for Pudhu Mappillaiku) athu maathirithaan."

IR on Aboorva Sagotharargal - "Kamalum, Singeethamum 35,000 feet shoot pannitu, poi Panchu Arunachalathukku kamichaange. Avaru 5,000 feet eduthu vechittu meethi ellam thirumba shoot panna sollitaaru. Illainna athuvum Virumaandi maathiri thaan vanthirukkum - vettum, kuthum."

General subjects

IR on pollution - "People irunthaale pollution thaan."

IR on Bharathiyar - [this was in jest] "Thani oruvanukku unavu illai endral intha jagathinai azhipom nu yen Bharathiyar paadinaru? Thani oruvanukku unavu illai endral avanukku saapaadu podunganu thaane ezhuthirukanum. Athukku ethukku jagathe azhikanum."

The latest English movie IR watched - Kill Bill @ Ananth's home. He was very impressed by the fights, found it very funny. He even bought the DVD to take home to India.

IR on Dr. Sankar Kumar's singing - "Doctor [puts a kumbudu]." (Actually Doctor never sang but just used to involuntarily hum bhajans while in the car)

IR on Ananth's driving -[Situation - The road was messed up and the ride was bumpy] IR - "Ananth, yenna speed'le poreenga?" Ananth - "60 thaan sir. Speed limit'le poraen." IR - "Speed limit 60'na neenge 50'le kooda polamle. Athavathu intha pallam ellam theriyaatha maathiri oru speedle otunge'nu solla varaen."

IR's future plans - He would like to get out of cinema. According to him the music he composes for movies is not pure. He has some ideas for releasing independent albums just for his fans, but we'll have to wait and see if this happens. In my opinion "Thiruvasakam in Symphony" has to be a success for this to happen. So we can look forward to getting the main course instead of the ooruga and appalam - "aana main course'le rice irunthaalum irukaalaam, illama kooda pogalam." As far as releasing BGMs goes - he is in general not interested in what he has already produced. Really old movies he doesn't have the BGM score but he does have the more recent ones like Lajja & Hey Ram.

Personal experiences

Most cherished moment for the entire group - Celebrating IR's wedding day with him. Ananth did the unimaginable - cake ellam arrange panni asathitaaru. We all sang "Wish you many more happy returns of the day" as it comes in the "Ennodu paadungal Nalvazhthu paadalgal" tune as Raaja cut the cake. I am sure Raaja was overwhelmed by the gesture, though he did not express his feelings outwardly.

My personal high - IR addressing me - "Perumal saapada arambinge." [Background - Since I usually have the Iyengar Sri churnam on my forehead I am referred to as perumal by some of my friends at Duke. And since I am shameless when it comes to eating food (not that I have any shame otherwise) I usually do the honors of eating first in all parties - so Perumalukku neivedhiyam madhiri. It was lunch time and so I was mentioning to IR about this and also how I am still at the level of realization where food is the ultimate truth.

Statement of the trip - Ananth says "Sir intha opportunity yaarukum kidaikaadhi sir. Mathavangala vidunga sir, I am actually feeling jealous of myself sir." I echo his sentiments.

Confession of the trip - "Sir ungalaala ennoda Ph.D. easyaa oru 12 months extend ayiduchu. Ellam unga paate ketta time pogarthey theriyaathu, apparum eppadi velai panrathu."

Consequence of the trip - I need to now find another purpose in life.

Maestro Ilaiyaraaja in the US - a factual account

2004-06-07T02:32:00.000-04:00

[Since most of the conversations were in Tamil and there could be errors in translations, paraphrasing in some places. Apologies in advance. You are encouraged to listen to the audio version of the speeches to get the full import of Raaja's message.]

Maestro Ilaiyaraaja was in the US from Monday, May 17th till Sunday, May 23, promoting his latest project Thiruvasakam in Symphony. He attended 4 events in Morrisville (NC), Washington DC, Connecticut and New York during this trip. The following is a factual account of his trip.

Wednesday, May 19 - Morrisville, North Carolina

Click here to listen to Maestro's speech at NC.
Click here to see the photos from the event.

Isaignani Ilaiyaraaja made his first public appearance of his trip at the Hindu Temple in Morrisville, NC. The evening began with a brief but heavy shower, which seemed to have followed IR from Italy to New Jersey, to North Carolina. There were a little more than 100 fans eagerly awaiting the arrival of the Maestro. IR arrived at the temple around 7:45pm in his usual all-white kurta and dhoti and after a small puja, the program began with with a prayer for peace - Shanthi Nilava Vendum - in Tamil sung by Ms. Devasena. This was followed by the song Azhagaana Num Paandi Naatiniley (from Pudhupatti Ponnuthayee) by Aavarthana - a local light music troupe.

Welcome address and felicitations - Since one of the objectives of the NC event was to spread the word about this project to more than a Tamil audience, there were speakers in Telugu, Kannada, Tamil and Hindi. Dr. Sankar Kumar opened with a welcome address and briefly introduced the Thiruvasakam in Symphony project. He was followed by Mr. Suryanarayana from the local Telugu association, who wonderfully weaved several of Raaja's Telugu compositions in his lively speech. Mr. Ganapathi from the Kannada association spoke next and recited a poem in Kannada about Ilaiyaraaja. Mr. Rangan spoke on behalf of the Tamil association, and the feliciations ended with a short address by Mrs. Yash Garg (representing the Hindu Society) in Hindi. The Maestro was then presented a shawl by Mr. Jawahar Muniyandi, on behalf of all the Triangle Music fans.

Maestro speaks - The Maestro first thanked the Lord for giving him the opportunity to meet the enthusiastic audience. He then said in a light-hearted way that it was a little embarassing for him to hear others blowing his trumpet instead of him. Earlier in the evening Mr. Surya had started out his felicitation in Telugu with the words "Endaro Mahananubhavu". Raaja mentioned that there is a Thyagaraja krithi starting with the words "Endarao Mahanubhavu" and went on to sing and explain the meaning of the first couple of lines - "My salutations to ALL the music masters that have appeared on Earth" - Raaja remarked that only a person born in our land could have the humility to say such words.

Raaja on his motivation in doing this project - He was not doing this to showcase his talent nor to just do a "grand" musical project. His motivation in doing this project was to bring masterpieces from our rich but forgotten spiritual traditions to today's youth. He mentioned the "thalAtu" (lullaby) as an example of forgotten traditions. He still remembers the thalAtu sung by his mother which has been passed on over countless generations, which is not the case with the current youth. He stressed that it is important to remember, if not all, but at least the higher values from our traditions and culture. He then added that our (audience's) purpose of coming to the US may have been acheived, but questioned us whether our purpose on earth as a human being had been acheived. He has asked himself this question and as a consequence decided to do this project - his purpose being, to bring to the notice of the younger generation great works like the Thiruvasakam.

Raaja on Thiruvasakam - Raaja gave a very brief background on the Thiruvasaam. The Thiruvasakam was composed in the 10th century by Manickavasagar. Manickavasagar was a prime minister in the Pandian kingdom, who later became a saint and composed the 51 verses in the Thiruvasakam in praise of Lord Shiva. Raaja recited the first verse from the Thiruvasakam "namachchivAya vAzga nAdhan thAL vAzga.....imaippozudhum en nenchil nINgAdhAn thAL vAzga", and explained the meaning of the line "imaippozudhum en nenychil nINgAdhAn thAL vAzga" - I bow to you Lord Shiva, who even for a brief moment of a blink of an eye, does not cease to reside in my heart, though I may have forgotten that You are in me. He added that it is not even necessary to set the Thiruvasagam to tune, just reciting the verses is good enough. He was going to set it to tune only to make people recite the Thiruvasakam; to bring this great spritual work to the attention of the people who listen to his songs.

Raaja on Thiruvasakam in Symphony - Raaja clarified that the current project is not a Symphony in the true sense, but for lack of a better phrase - Thiruvasakam in Symphony - was chosen. Music played by a symphonic orchestra will only be backing the vocals. One interesting experiment he is trying is to have the English translations of the verses sung as a counterpoint to the Tamil verses. Raaja had finalized the day before, the English translations with Mr. Stephen Schwartz, the award winning lyricist of Pocahontas and Prince of Egypt. Mr. Schwartz was apparently thrilled when Raaja sung a few phrases to show how the English verses would be placed with respect to the Tamil lyrics.

Raaja on why this project is a publicly funded effort - Raaja said that he could have done the project by himself - he has done similar things before - he had contributed huge amounts of money to the Srirangam Rajagopuram and the Tiruvannamalai Temple too. But for this project done with larger social objective (of taking the message of the Thiruvasakam to the masses, especially the youth) it is important that as many people participate as possible. He has therefore decided that this project will be completed with the contributions of people who have full faith in the project should participate, at the same time not everybody will have the opportunity to participate in this noble project either - only the truly fortunate will have this opportunity. He then asserted that this project will happen irrespective of whether people contribute or not and added in jest that people should not use this as an excuse not to give. The dates for the recording have been fixed and it is Raaja's aim to release this CD in September. Raaja concluded his address by thanking Dr. Sankar Kumar and all the youngsters who have been helping him coordinate the project in the US.

Contribution time - After Raaja's speech Dr. Sankar Kumar appealed to the audience and encouraged them to contribute generously to the project, by quoting a poem from Rabindranath Tagore's Gitanjali. Fans interested in contributing were invited to come on to the stage and personally hand over their checks to Raaja. One of the people who came on to the stage asked him why this project was not done by himself in a personal capacity (though Raaja had clearly answered the question before). Raaja restated the points he had mentioned earlier and continued to talk about a variety of other topics in the next five minutes which are translated and paraphrased in first person below.

Raaja on music - Music is not work for me. If somebody says I have composed well it is like saying I am breathing well. There is something wrong if somebody says I am breathing well. Music should be natural just like how a bird flies or a river flows. Music has to happen (by itself) you cannot make it happen. If somebody says I will "compose" music then that music will be a reflection of what is there in his mind - there will be no purity in it. Mozart's music just flowed spontaneously - there was no thinking involved. The music has to reach the heart of an oridinary man - all men are ordinary - and not his head. He should not think about how it was composed or how many people played in the orchestra. The music must reach deeper inside and only if it does could you call it music.

Raaja on classical music - Classical music is "classical" because it has to be rehearsed, otherwise it will fail you. You get fast food and pop corn here. You cannot ask why pop corn sells more - it will because it is in the nature of popcorn. But popcorn cannot and will not become food.

Raaja on different kinds of music - Mr. Surya had mentioned about "Telugu music" in his speech. There is no Tamil, Kannada, Telugu for music - it is all the same 7 notes - no more no less - like the 7 days, and 12 chromatic semi tones like the 12 raasis. Recently I had performed in Italy in a music festival (Angelica). The organizer of this festival (Mr. Massimo) had listened to just one of my songs several years ago and became a fan instantly. He has been trying to get me to perform at this music festival for the past 5 years now and I finally agreed to do it this year. At this festival I had mentioned the same fact - even our music has the same 7 notes, only the patterns are different. We classify the same music as folk, classical, rock, pop etc only because of these different pattern. [Raaja then went on to explain this by singing the same tune in three patterns - folk, pop, and carnatic. Till he sang the carnatic version people were clueless as to what song it was - it was actually the popular Thyagaraja krithi Nagumomu Ganaleni.]

The contributions on stage continued after this. Several fans took this once in a lifetime opportunity to get up and close with the Maestro and made their contributions personally to Raaja and got his blessings. The proceedings came to an end after this and Dr. Sankar Kumar thanked all the people who helped him organize the event, and the audience one last time for making the evening a memorable one - which it was indeed, for at least the hundreds gathered there.

Thursday, May 20 - Washington DC area

On Thursday May 20, Ilaiyaraaja met with a small group of about 20 people in a restaurant in the Washington DC area. This event was a more informal one. After a brief round of introductions Raaja explained the details of the project as he had done so in North Carolina. After dinner, there was more informal conversation. An American lady who was present there asked Raaja about his views on "divine" music. Raaja explained that to him all music was divine and it is upto the listener to classify it as divine or not. He repeated what he had said in NC - that all music is only 7 notes, only the patterns are differnt and elaborated it by singing Nagumomu Ganaleni in folk, pop and carnatic style. One person remarked that bad lyrics could make the music less divine. Raaja said that if the lyrics are bad you should not pay attention to it. In his own words "Kuppaiya kootanum, araitchi panna koodadhu" which literally means "trash should be discarded, not researched". Another person added that good or bad lyrics depends on the individual's taste to which Raaja agreed by saying "Ethu kuppainu kozhiya poruthathu" (what is trash depends on the hen). One of the ladies present then recited a portion of the Thiruvasakam. The event concluded with the people present making pledges for the Thiruvasakam in Symphony project.

Friday, May 21 - Connecticut

Isaignani Ilaiyaraaja presided over a public function at the Connecticut Valley Hindu Temple Sociey in Middleton, Connecticut on Friday, May 21. This event was sponsored and organized by the Connecticut Tamil Sangam.

The event followed the same structure as the one in North Carolina. Raaja was received at the temple and after a small archanai to the main deity Sri Satyanarayana he headed to the Temple hall where the meeting happened. The event began with song recitals by Ms. Kala Prasad and Mr. Balasubrahmaniyan. Incidentally Mr. Balasubrahmaniyan is an adjunct instructor in the Department of Music at Wesleyan University, where Anuradha Sriram did her Masters thesis on Maestro Ilaiyaraaja. Her advisor and a couple of other faculty from the Music department were also present in the audience.

Mr. Vijayasekar, the president of the Tamil Sangam, delivered the welcome address (in English) and this was followed by speeches by Mr. Socrates and Mr. Rajaravivarma (in Tamil). The content of Raaja's speech was pretty much the same as the one in North Carolina. One additional interesting topic he spoke on was about the power of a musical tune to enhance the meaning conveyed by the lyrics. This was in the context of the need (or rather the lack of it) for setting the Thiruvasakam to tune. He used the song "Nenjam Marapadhillai" to illustrate this. He then recited the following lines from the song in a plain fashion (without the tune) and then sung the song to show how much meaning the tune has added to the song.
     thaamarai malaril manadhinai eduththu thaniyae vaiththirundhaen (2)
     oru thoodhumillai un thoatramillai kannil thookkam pidikkavillai
     kannil thookkam pidikkavillai
During this event Raaja was also conferred the title of "Legend of Music" by the Connecticut Tamil Sangam and a plaque was presented to him to honor him.

Saturday, May 22 - New York

Listen to Maestro's speech at NY here

[Portions of this writeup are by Dr. Pinchi Srinivasan from New York and was originally posted on TFMpage.com]

Isaignani Ilaiyaraaja attended the last event of his trip at the Ganesha Temple in Flushing, New York. The event was organized primarily by the NY Tamil Sangam and Raagachitra. The Maestro was received at the Temple premises around 6:15 PM, and after a brief introduction, he was taken for a complete temple darshan and an archanai in the temple. A special archanai was done since it was Ilaiyaraaja's wedding day. After the temple tour Raaja proceeded to the adjoining Temple hall. Prof. T. V. Gopalakrishnan who was the other special guest at the event had already arrived by the time. Raaja greeted TVG exchanged pleasantries and were invited to the stage.

Invocation and Welcome address - The program started with a small prayer song by Ms. Samyukta Shivraj which followed by a formal welcome address by Mrs.Nivedita Shivraj. Ms. Devi (singer and daughter of TVG who was introduced by the Maestro to film music) sang the Thevaram "Kurutha puruvamum" (set to tune by Raaja in Thalapathi) and another of Raaja's compositions "Enakkoru Annai" from his devotional album on.

Prof. T. V. Gopalakrishnan on Raaja - TVG started with great praise and admiration for Maestro. TVG mentioned that Raaja used to learn carnatic music from him at his house but he never felt he was the Guru or IR was his Shisyan. TVG spoke about IR’s extra ordinary hardwork, dedication and of all his greatest quality of being very simplistic, he appreciated IR’s humbleness despite great success - "ellam senjum naan edhuvum seyyaliye engira panivu". TVG continued the praise for IR's music, on how it reached every person in TN, how his music has occupied everybody's heart and soul and would forever stay as some of the greatest music. He remembered how Raaja used to invite him and other Carnatic musicians to his house during Navarathiri to treat them with great hospitality. When he expressed that he wanted to tell in front of audience about something more about Raaja's work, Raaja quipped, "Ungalukku manasule irukkaradhe appadiye sollunga. Namba thaniyaa meet pannum bodhu music thavira vera edhuvum pesaradhillaye. Musician manasule irundhu veliye varadhu thooymaiyaanadhu, yaenna anga Isaiyai thavira vere edhuvum kudi-irukkaradhulle" [Please say whatever is there in your mind. When we meet we discuss nothing but music. The thoughts of a musician are very pure since nothing but (pure) music exists in his mind].

TVG continued saying that Raaja is a perfectionist - only God is considered to be a perfectionist - but Raaja is a perfectionist in creating his music. At one point, he went on to say that - "Kadavul padaitha adhisaya piravi avar" [He is a unique creation of God]. TVG concluded his speech by saying this will be a historic project for Tamil/Tamilians, and he is extremely confident that Thiruvasakam in Symphony will be very successful and remain as a treasure for all of us.

Raaja's speech - The Maestro began with his customary thanks to the Lord - "Naadu vittu naadu vandhu vazhandu kondirukkura ungalai sandhikka, Naadu vittu naadu vandhu inge indha medaiyile ennai niruthi vaitha Iraivanukku nanri seluthi-kollugiraen". Inspired by the presence of his Guru TVG, Raaja spoke brilliantly for the next 20 minutes.

Raaja on TVG - He expressed his happiness in meeting TVG on this occasion. He said that though TVG may not like to treat him as Sishya, he will always consider him as his Guru. He added that the lakshana of a Guru is not to see any difference between him and sishya - there is no duality in a Guru's eyes. Right after coming to Madras from his village he had realized that his notions about music and cinema music were drastically different, so he gave up his original idea of becoming a music director and decided to first learn music - and till date he has not been able to do this. Raaja then narrated what his schedule used to be like when he was learning music from TVG (which was after he started composing for movies). He then explained that word "katru" (learning) becomes meaningful only if the sisha must be capable of understanding what the guru says, and the guru must be able to convey what he wants to teach in a manner appropriate for the sishya.

Raaja on his motivation to do this project - Raaja briefly explained the purpose behind the project. His motivation in doing this project was to bring masterpieces from our rich but forgotten spiritual traditions to today's youth. He mentioned the "thalAtu" (lullaby) as an example of forgotten traditions. He still remembers the thalAtu sung by his mother which has been passed on over countless generations, which is not the case with the current youth. Raaja then went on to describe the greatness of our land. A flower which grows in our land will lose its fragrance if grown elsewhere. He continued on the greatness of our country and Indian soil (punniya bhoomi) which has produced countless rishis, yogis, gnanis, sidhhas, alwars, and nayanmars, Raaja almost broke out into tears while mentioning his feelings when he sees India from the plane as it is landing - seeing our land as the home of Goddess Saraswathi though she is supposed to be all pervading. It is his objective to set to tune the Thiruvasakam written by saint Manickavasagar born in our great land, to remind people of the existence of such great spiritual works.

Raaja on Thiruvasakam - Raaja gave a brief background on the Thiruvasakam and the life of Manickavasagar. He added that it was not even necessary to set the Thiruvasakam to tune - just reading the verses would melt us. He then recited a song he had written on Manickavasagar, wherein he describes him (Manickavasagar) as the composer of the Thiruvasakam, which even when read by somebody like him (Raaja) with just one buddhi, opens the gates of Sivapuram (the abode of Siva), outside which even great saints and devas are made to wait. He also sang his compositon "Yen Ooru Sivapuram" (my home is the abode of Siva) in which he laments on his existence on Earth, leaving his home Sivapuram.

Raaja then elaborated on the power of music in enhancing the meaning of even ordinary lyrics, using the songs "Sundari Kannal Oru Seithi" and "Nenjam Marapathillai". He also clarified that the current project is not a Symphony in the true sense, but for lack of a better phrase - Thiruvasakam in Symphony - was chosen. Raaja then concluded his speech by thanking all the organizers for giving him the opportunity to present this project to the people present.

Dr. Sankar Kumar spoke next about the project specifics. The audience was then invited to make their pledges or donations directly to Raaja on the stage. The evening ended with a vote of thanks by Dr. Pinchi Srinivasan.

Kula Deivam

2004-04-28T02:24:00.000-04:00

After some research my parents seem to have have finally found out that our Kula Deivam (family deity) is Sri Kaliya Perumal in Thanjavur district. Until this discovery our adopted Kula Deivam was (by default I guess) Sri Srinivasa of Thirupati or in Vaishnavite slang - ThiruvEnkatamudaiyan.

My parents paid a visit to our Kula Deivam, Sri Kaliya Perumal, recently. Here is their first person narrative of the trip along with the Sthala Puranam (history of the temple).

The Coordinates - Our Kula Deivam temple is situated near Ariyalur, about 4 halts before Srirangam in the Chennai-Tiruchirapalli train route. By road it it is situated in the Thanjavur-Ariyalur route and is about 10 Km from Ariyalur, and an hour and a half drive from Thanjavur. Contrary to our expectations the temple is big and appears to be wealthy also.

The Deities - The Moolavar [1] Kaliya Perumal is in the form of a Sthambam (pillar), about 12 feet high, with a small Anjaneyar (Hanuman) in the bottom. The Moolavar has been traditionally maintained by a Vanniyar Padayachi [2] family. The priest is also a Padayachi and the Archanai (prayer worship) is done in Tamizh. The Utsavar is Kaliyuga Varadhan and is maintained by an Iyengar Bhattar. It is said that there will be a heavy crowd on all Saturdays.

The Sthala Puranam - About 250 years back a person named Gopalan Padaiyachi was living in the village, which is named Gopalan Kudikkadu after him since he was responsible for most of the village's development. He had a son Mangan who after marriage was taking care of the village. Mangan had a big fleet of cows, and one morning one of his cows which was pregnant was found missing. He searched all over for the cow in vain. Three days after this incident a Swami appeared in his dream and and informed about the whereabouts of the cow; in a forest under a Mavilinga tree.

Mangan in the morning went to the place in the morning and on seeing him, the cow came rushing to him with affection. Mangan also noticed a Sthambam with the Hanuman shape next to the tress. He prayed to the Stahmbam as the deity and returned back to his village. On the seventh day the Swami appeared in his dream again and said the following.

"Hey how innocent you are. You had the fortune of seeing the Lord but you took back the cow only and left the Lord which also belongs to you. Your ancestors were worshipping Lord Vishnu. The wanted to errect a temple and prepared the Sthambam and were carrying it in a cart. The axle broke on the way and the Sthambam fell and the tip broke. They left the Sthambam in the same place and came back. Now it is your duty to establish the Sthambam and the temple and worship. I will be protecting you and your vamsam (lineage). Further I have taken this Avatharam to remove the worries of people in Kaliyuga, and hence my name will be Kaliyuga Perumal."

Mangan took the Sthambam and built the temple. His vamsam is still regularly performing the pujas and maintaining the temple. The statues of Mangan and his wife are also installed near the Moolavar in the praharam. The Mavilinga tree is also at the entrance of the Moolasthanam. It is believed that any prarthana made at the tree and also at the moolavar is fullfilled.

Notes:

Moolavar and Utsavar - In Tamil Nadu it has been the practice in all temples, to have two sets of idols - the Moolavar and the Utsavar. The Moolavar is carved out of stone and permanently fixed inside the sanctum sanctorum and the Utsavar made of metal, for use during festivals and also taken out in procession.
Vanniyar Padayachi - Padayachi is one of the subsects of the Vanniyar caste. Traditionally Padayachis were foot soldiers.

Ek Gawn May Ek Kisaan Raghu Thatha (contd)

2004-04-08T02:31:00.000-04:00

C~P, one of the TFMpage vettis has completed the song started by Hari and I. C~P maybe familiar to some of you as one of the script writers of Superstar's next movie Ayya.

Yake Gawn Mein Yake Kisaan RaghuThatha
Uske paas Dho Gai MayThatha
Roj Gai Theen Litre Dhoodh DheyThatha
Iske Baarey Mein Chaar Log Chaar Vidham BolThaatha
Kyonki Dhoodh Mein Thaatha Paanch litre Paani KalakThaatha

Chey O'clock Seval KoovThaatha
Thaatha Saath Logown Ko Is Dhoodh OooThaatha
Log Isko Aat Kaal Soup Kay Saath KudiThaatha
Soup Peekar Now Log Seththu PoThaatha
Un Logon Ko Dhas Dhin Kay Baadh Paththu HoThaatha

Yake Gawn Mein Yake Kisaan RaghuThatha
Aur Yake Gawn Main Aur Yake Kisaan Raghu Thatha

If cricket were a religion IVA Richards is GOD

2004-04-02T02:30:00.000-05:00

If cricket were a monotheistic religion who is GOD. Beauty Raja says Sachin Tendulkar. I say Viv Richards. Watch these video clips and decide for yourself. All of them are from the 1979 World Cup final.

http://3lib.ukonline.co.uk/cricket/viv0.mpg
http://3lib.ukonline.co.uk/cricket/viv1.mpg
http://3lib.ukonline.co.uk/cricket/viv2.mpg (last ball six off Hendricks in the 79 World Cup)

There are more such cricket clips at http://3lib.ukonline.co.uk

Ek Gawn May Ek Kisaan Raghu Thatha

2004-04-01T02:29:00.000-05:00

Yake Gawn May Yake Kisaan Raghu Thatha - even the hardest corest Tamizhian would know this is one phrase in hInthi (h silent - pronounced in-thee). Ask them what the meaning is, and they are likely to come up with something like - A Thatha called Raghu bought a Gawn (gown) and some Kisan Jam in May (presumably for his grand-daughter). You can watch the movie clip here.

Hari and I are writing a song based on this phrase to teach hinthi to the ignorant. Intha paadalai naangal Auvaiyaar paati Thiruvaliyadallil padinathu pole - ondru erandu moondru endru varisai paduthi padugirom.

Yake - Yake Gawn Mein Yake Kisaan Raghu Thatha
Dho - Uske paas Dho Gai May Thatha
Theen - Wo Gai Theen litre dhoodh Dhey Thatha
Char - Isko peekay Tamizh Singam Chaar run Maar Thatha

St. Patrick's Day

2004-03-22T02:23:00.000-05:00

An evening at Dunkin Donuts. The following text has been edited to be suitable for an universal audience. Exactly 123 expletives (in both Tamil and English) have been removed for this purpose. Any resemblance to real people and real events are purely coincidental.

The Phone Calls
Tuesday, March 9, 3:00pm - Thoppus wakes up.
4:00pm - Thoppus arrives in his lab.

Hari [in his car] calls Thoppus [in his lab] at 4:15pm for coffee at Dunkin Donuts. Thoppus sends an email to Beauty Raja, since Beauty Raja's phone line has been disconnected for the n-th time by Verizon for not paying his bill. On the way to Dunkin Hari calls Naga. Naga as usual reaches Dunkin only after the episode is over. [Actually we don't know if he ever reached Dunkin, but we'll assume he did to be consistent with his character].

Ordering Procedure
Hari and Thoppus reach Dunkin. Our dear MexicanMaami is at the counter. She is like the Soup Nazi in Seinfeld. You will have to follow certain ordering procedures, otherwise you don't know what you are getting. The idea is to put yourself in a position of a person ordering coffee by sending a telegram. Keep the number of words spoken to the minimum and do not use long (greater than 5 words) sentences. Of course you don't need to end every sentence by a STOP. Actually you never know what you are getting, but after several controlled experiments it has been concluded that though the suggested ordering procedure doesn't guarantee good coffee, it saves considerable energy and time. This exercise of ordering coffee at Dunkin is also an intensely spiritual experience wherein you realise the futility of words and the power of silence. I guess this is what Ramana Maharishi professed.

Mexican Maami
Thoppus approaches the counter and shows 2 using his hand [like the AIADMK symbol, not the one you use to indicate nature's call] and the following conversation (if you can call it that) ensues.
Thops: 2 small; 1 cream, no sugar; 1 cream, sugar.
MM: 2 cream, 3 cream ??
Thops: [silence]
MM: 2 sugar, 3 sugar ??
Thops: [silence]
MM: [After mixing the coffee] More cream ?? Enough ?? More sugar ??
Thops: [silence]
After the coffees are ready...
Thops: Onion bagel, cream cheese.
MM: Onion ??
Thops: [Nods] Toasted.
MM: Toasted ??
MM: Cream cheese ??
Thops: Veggie

You must have noticed by now that the question usually follows the answer in conversations with the MexicanMaami

St. Patrick's Day
Beauty Raja and Sikkim join Hari and Thoppus. Thoppus explains the ordering procedure to Sikkim, and even after a couple of rehearsals he messes up, but still manages to get his coffee. The four sit down and for lack of other interesting topics the conversation shifts to St. Patrick's Day, since Dunkin Donuts is full of St. Patrick's Day stickers.
Thops: When is St. Patrick's Day?
Hari: I don't know.
Beauty Raja: I think it is on March 17.
Sikkim: What day is March 17?
Hari: March 17 is a Wednesday.
Sikkim: But St. Patrick's day is on a Tuesday?
Hari: Is it always on a Tuesday, like Good Friday, Ash Wednesday?
Sikkim: I don't know but this year it is on a Tuesday.

The Longest Day
Thops: These stickers have been around for a week, so I think it is actually St. Patrick's Week? May be it is St. Patrick's day in some other planet, which is equivalent to a week on Earth.
Hari: On which planet are days longer?
Beauty Raja: I think the planets farther away from the sun have longer days. So Pluto probably has longer days.
Hari: Why?
Sikkim: Because they are farther away.
Hari: No I think planets closer to the sun have longer days. Which is the planet closest to the Sun? Is it venus?
Thops: No it is Mercury.
Sikkim: Why do planets closer to the sun have longer days?
Hari: It is because planets closer to the sun get more sun light, because they are closer to the sun. So days are longer.
Hari then proceeds to draw a figure which illustrates the fact the planets closer to the sun get more light.
Sikkim: I don't think it is dependent on the distance from the sun. I think it has to do with the size of the planet. What is the largest planet?
Hari: Jupiter.
Beauty Raja: Saturn if you include the rings.
Hari: Why should you include the rings?
Beauty Raja: Saturn has more moons.
Hari: It doesn't matter I think Mercury has longer days. By induction, on the Sun days are the longest right? So people won't get old if they are on the sun.
Sikkim: But it is not possible to stay on the sun.
Hari: Let us assume that it is possible. Say a new born baby is wrapped in protective material to withstand 20000degC.
Sikkim: Actually I think Sun is hotter. More like 20000000degC.
Hari: But there are black spots which are cooler.
Sikkim: There are very few black spots dude.
Hari: But they are still there right?

Thops: Whats up with the 3 leaved clover [sticker]. I thought you have to have 4 leaves for it to be lucky.
Hari: Acutally is it a leaf [refering to the sticker]? It looks more like a tree.
After looking at another sticker which had a pot of gold and the leaf/tree, both of similar dimensions...
Hari: No It has to be a leaf. See that sticker. You cannot have a sombhu [a vessel] which is as big as a tree, so it has to be a leaf.
Sikkim: Man this coffee is really good. I am going to get one more.
Thops: You remember the ordering procedure right.
Sikkim: Yes. 1 medium, 3 cream, 4 sugar - right.
Thops: Yes but that still doesn't mean that the coffee is going to be as good as the one you just had. The quality of coffee is a random function. You cannot predict it to even the smallest degree of accuracy.

Trivial Pursuits
Sikkim: What day is it?
Hari: Wednesday.
Sikkim: Oh shit.
Hari: What happened?
Sikkim: Yesterday was Tuesday.
Hari: Obviously.
Sikkim: I should have go to that Irish pub yesterday. They have a trivia quiz. We should go sometime.
Hari: Do you have to drink to participate.
Sikkim: No you don't have to. But you'll have to go in a group of around 5.
Hari: Why?
Sikkim: There will be a lot of Fuqua students dude. They come in big teams and kill. So you'll have to have at least 5 people to have any chance.
Thops: If they ask questions about Ilayaraja or cricket I can answer. Actually I used to remember a lot of trivia about cricket. I am not sure now.
Beauty Raja: I can handle trivia about soccer.
Sikkim: Dude it is not that easy. What do you know about European leagues. Do you know who scored the maximum number of goals last year?
Thops: Forget European league. Who won the soccer world cup in 1976?
Beauty Raja: Brazil.
Thops: Dude there was no world cup in 1976. Ok. Who won in 1978?
Beauty Raja: Brazil.
Thops: Nope. Argentina. It was Argentina in 78, Italy in 82, Argentina in 86, Germany in 90, Brazil in 94, France in 98, and Brazil in 2002.
Thops: Where was the world cup held in 78?
Beauty Raja: Brazil.
Thops: I think it was one of the guay countries, Uruguay or Paraguay.
Hari: Yeah.
Hari: Ok forget soccer. How many times has England won the World Cup?
Beauty Raja: Twice.
Hari: England has never won the world cup dude.
Thops: Hows the coffee dude?
Sikkim: Not anywhere close to the previous one.
Thops: See I told you.
Hari: Why don't you ask Mexican Maami when St. Patrick's Day is? I'll buy you a coffee if you do that. Actually since you have already had coffee, I will buy you water.

Rotational Gravity
Hari is trying to make a helicopter with the paper napkin - unsuccesfully. Beauty Raja, who is sitting across from Hari, pitches in with his ideas. He blow from his side and Hari blow from the other side. This idea is to create a torque which will spin the helicopter. Hari and Beauty Raja try this, but Beauty Raja blows too hard, and the papercopter flies away, much to the disappointment of Hari. This leads us to the next conversation about the nature of gravity.
Beauty Raja: What if gravity is rotational?
Sikkim: Rotational gravity !!! What the hell do you mean dude?
Beauty Raja: Rotational gravity means, if something is dropped from a height it will spin while falling down.
Sikkim: What axis will it spin around?
Beauty Raja: Vertical. Like a top. Hari demonstrates this with a coffee cup.
Sikkim: So if gravity is rotational then everything will be constantly spinning.
Beauty Raja: Right. That will be really cool. So if people are not facing each other, how will they talk to each other.
Thops: Why does that matter? Sound is not directional. Sound diffracts.
Beauty Raja: Where do you put the headlights on the cars, if they are always spinning?
Hari: Even before that, how will translational motion occur.
Thops: I think it will be like a top. You usually observe a translational motion while a top is spinning right.
Beauty Raja: Right. Who is that director who makes movies in which the hero spins tops on the heroine's belly?
Thops: Actually Balachander started it, but a Telugu director...What's his name...aah Raghavendra Rao extracted the maximum out of his heroine's bellies. He used to have scenes where the hero throws fruits on the heroine's belly. It started with grapes, then oranges, apples, and kept increasing in size.
Thops: [tamil] En kaathali thoppula suthee bambarathe vuttu vuttu, kadaiseela ethu thoppul ethu bambarathu aani kaayumne theriyalle paa.[tamil]
Hari: [tamil] Bayangara karpulle peiyaa irukum pole irukku. [tamil]
Thops: What's a top's motion called?
Sikkim: It's been a long time man.
Hari: I think it is called precession. Yeah precession.
Sikkim: So cars will move like tops.
Beauty Raja: Right. But I guess cops don't need to have spinning lights now, since the car is already spinning.
Sikkim: If gravity has no linear component then how will things stay on earth and not fly away?
Beauty Raja: It is like a helicopter dude. The blades are spinning and actually that is what gives the helicopter the ability to hover in one place.
Thops: I think gravity IS rotational but as a consequence of it being a linear force, so not inherently rotational. If this coffee cup were really long and big, then the force acting on different parts of the cup will be different and this will create a torque. So if the cup is dropped from some place really high, it will rotate but not as Hari demonstrated.
Thops: Actually rotational, linear is all relative. It depends on the frame of reference.

You You You You
Hari is now engrossed in making another papercopter. But this time it is an assembled one. Each person contributes one blade. And as expected the end product fails to rotate, and the topic shifts to origami.
Hari: Sikkim can you make a "kathhi" kappal man.
Sikkim: What's that?
Hari: It is a paper boat with a sword underneath.
Sikkim: A sword underneath?
Hari then proceeds to make a paper boat and attaches a "kathhi" at the bottom (since he also does not know to make a kathhi kappal).
Hari: See like this.
Sikkim: Yeah I get the idea.
Thoppus: [tamil] Namba JB ille. Avar kitte oru vinodhamana pazhakam undu. Avar enge thanniye paathaalum kappal panni vuda arambichiduvaaru. Athuvum ethule? Rubaa notele. Ippo kooda naan JB kitte panam vanganumnaa, oru bucket nariya thanniye veppaen. Avarum rubaa notele kappal panni viduvaaru. Naan pirichu payile vechipaen.[tamil]
Beauty Raja: Whats that other thing that they make with paper - with the cups and stuff?
Thoppus: Four cups
Beauty Raja: Right, four cups.
Thoppus proceeds to make a 4-cups with a paper napkin and demonstrates the way it operates.
Thoppus: In our hostel treasure hunt we had a clue based on 4-cups. The clue was UUUU. U was the fail grade and we used to call it a cup. You had to fold the paper, make a 4-cups and then you will see the answer inside.
Beauty Raja: What's that thing they say when they do that [showing the 4-cups operation]?
Thoppus: You say Racing car number 9, drinking petrol all the time, what color do you choose and then choose a color. Then do it again and choose, say a number. And based on the combination of color and number you have to do something.
Hari: I think you can also use inky pinky ponky.
Sikkim: What about shaa-boo-three?
Thoppus: We are four people here dude. So it has to be shaa-boo-four.
Sikkim: Can you make a ball with paper?
Hari crumbles a paper napkin and says
Hari: Like this?
Sikkim: No dude. You can actually make an air filled ball. It is a little difficult with paper napkins, but I'll try.
Sikkim proceeds to make a ball, and tries to inflate it - unsuccessfully. His creation still looks like a crumped mass of paper, similar to what Hari did. A few paper planes were also made, followed by some discussion about the paper-plane flying competition at games in Cameron (during half time), sponsored by Delta airlines.
Hari: Sikkim why don't you aks Mexican Maami when St. Patrick's day is.
Sikkim gathers some courage and asks Mexican Maami.
Sikkim: Do you know when is St. Patrick's day?
MM: When?
Sikkim: Yeah when is St. Patrick's day?
MM: What?
Sikkim: St. Patrick's day [points to the stickers] when?
MM: I don't know. Came week back and put up.
Hari partially (actually redundant) hears what she says
Hari: So it was last week man.
Sikkim: No dude. They put up all the stickers last week, that's what she said.
Hari: I owe you a coffee dude.
Thops: All right that enough intellectual discussion for today. Lets go.
Beauty Raja: Nee enge pore.
Thops: Veetukku. Ennoda cooking turn.
Hari: Machee naan lateaa varuvaen. Group meeting irukku.

5:30pm - people disperse.

Postlude
St. Patrick's Day was actually on March 17, 2004. Wednesday. All the St. Patrick's Day decoration from Dunkin came off the next day except one "Kiss Me I'm Irish" sticker, which Hari flicked. It is supposed to go on Beauty Raja's car, but ended up in Thoppus' car. On March 22, 2004 it was transfered to Beauty Raja's t-shirt, and will probably end up in his car soon.

Superstar's Ayya

2004-03-12T02:21:00.000-05:00

There is this hilarious thread on TFMpage where a couple of ppl [nicknames curses and C~P] have come up with a script for Superstar Rajinikanth's next movie Ayya. The relevant portions of the thread are exactly reproduced here. The entire thread is archived here. There is also another script for Puratchi Kalaignar Vijayakanth's next movie. For now enjoy AYYA presented by curses and C~P.

From: curses (@ 61.247.248.144) on: Fri Feb 27 11:16:18 EST 2004

AYYA ..that's what they say
A to the Y to the Y to the A
That's what we cry in pain
come sunshine or a very rare rain

Baba was a flop u may say
ok, it ran off after a week and a day
curses proudly presents along w/ Chinna~Payya(n)
The brilliant story of "engal AYYA"! :

From: C~P (@ 61.1.202.55) on: Fri Feb 27 11:27:26 EST 2004

Since many of the people here are confused as to what the next Rajni film would deal with, I've managed to get the story from a very relaible source...

Film Name : Engal Ayya
Sub Title : Amma thaaye pichai podungamma

Story...
Rajni usually starts off being a poor guy and ends up being a rich guy in say like one song where you have all these graphics used to draw some buildings,cars etc in the background. Being his last film, this is slightly different.

Rajni is a very rich guy. But he has come to this status only after doing "vivasaayam" and he never forgets the past usually (idhellam Rajni padathula change panna mudiyaathupa!) and so he has a mini land inside his bungalow where he "nattufies" the "naaththu" and grows some crops, pongifies it in a nasungina aluminia anda and eatifies it at home. But he has to maintain his status outside and so he wears all this coat,suit,boots etc. Ofcourse he is a very large hearted man who also has large lungs due to excessive smoking. This expansion actually occupies more space and gives lesser space for his heart which occasionally comes in the way of his dhanam and dharmam. (Idha signify panna appo appo oru flash kaatuvom and Rajni moonji vaerthufies!)

From: curses (@ 61.247.248.144) on: Fri Feb 27 11:51:48 EST 2004

26.2.2013 - 21:30
The screen is entirely dark...as u slowly zoom out, we find out that it's Rajni's modhugu.. exactly then, we have another flash.. adhaanga.. FLASHBACK!! :) (directorial touch!)

5.5.1998 - 12:00
Rajni's in the fields, toiling in the sun. semma pasi... As he looks around at his grand checkerboard of fields, avar manasula oru bayangara pride (padathula eppadi kaatuvom paarkareengala, background-la pesipaar.. kandukaadheenga). It's noon, (and as per the rules of tamil cinema heroine vandhu pazhaiya soru kudukanam.. but idhu oru different Rajni kadhai..).. Horn satham kekudhu... Rajni thirumbi paartha namba Trisha akka scooter-la varaanga.. yup, she's a Domino's pizza delivery girl alrite. Sweat thodachu vida dhavani-yum illai, duppatta-vum illai.. what do.. irukkave irukku, Domino's thara Tissue paper.. (at this point u'd have guessed that Domino's is one of the brands that the movie is endorsing)..Trisha Rajni-ya paathu Pizza ooti vida.. Rajni-yum avanga amma pannina pizza maariye irukku-nu nenaikka.. semma sentimental music in background..

From: C~P (@ 61.1.202.55) on: Fri Feb 27 12:11:21 EST 2004
Pizaa saapida saapida side-la oru love meter onnu full aagittae varum. (correct, direction dhaan!) Ofcourse this is the 10th or 20th time that Trisha is bringing Rajni Pizza coz it wouldn't be realistic to have a "Love at FIRST sight" stuff for Rajni! When the LoveMeter reaches 100% oru duet onnu podalaam. After the duet, we show the Pizza thattu very closely. Zoom out pannarchey it is a thaamboola thattu and adhula veththala paakku, poo pazham and stuff irukkum. Marriage dhaan, vaera enna. Padam ivalo naeram aagiyum no punch dialogues, no style-na eppadi. So kalyaanam is done in swayamvaram fashion. Rajni stand 10 feet away and throws the thaali up in the air and he does something with his hand which ties 3 knots and after this it lands directly on Trisha's kazhuththu!

27.2.2013 - 00:30
Rajni wakes up! Goes downstairs. Opens the fridge. Drinks some Ice Water. Gets back to sleep! (Yaemaandheengala?! Idhellam dhaan difference!!)

5.3.1999
Rajni has kid who he valathufies by thookifying on the thol and gets uthais on the maaru. (Note the date...Indicates how fast Rajni is in all matters! ;-)) Little did he know that this kilikku pinnadi rekkai molaikkum and kili parandhu poidum!!

*End Flashback*

From: curses (@ 61.247.248.144) on: Fri Feb 27 12:29:14 EST 2004

28.2.2013 - 05:00
Rajni wakes up on a cold (yup!Chennai-la thaan.. nething's possible in a Rajni movie-nu kaatama kaatarom!) Thursday morning.. romba kulurudhunu he goes back to sleep!!!
(unnarchi vasa padatheenga viewers.. Flashback continuity maintain panna ennakku vera vazhi theriyalai!!)

5.3.2000
Payyan-odu 1st birthday. It's being celebrated w/ great pomp and ceremony. (Graphics vechu payyan mugathayum Rajni mugathiyum maathi maathi morphing seyyarom... cant have the audience run away w/ the idea that it's somebody else's kid! Date-a pathi kavalai padatheenga, Rajni payyan thaan!) Dhama thoondu kuzhandaiya irundhukittu, the kid throws his feeding bottle in the air and correctly catches it in his mouth.. Rajni-kku ore sanndhosham! Trisha looks grand in her brand new Kancheepuram..... Domino's pizza outfit! pinnadi oru paatu .. "amma amma ivanga pizza-va potu.. amma amma pala karpanai kattu" Rajni urudhiya irundhutaar... that he'll NOT compel Trisha to stay as a housewife. (what's the reason for this flashback?? It's not a waste of film roll... it's to show Trisha is still a working woman.. important point to be noted!)

*ippove nejamaave end flashback! * :)

ps: Pizza-va javvaliye pannuvaanga? romba izhukaren illa? :).. C~P ethukku irukaan.. kaala accelerator-la permenant-a vechurupaan! :)

From: C~P (@ 61.1.202.55) on: Fri Feb 27 12:56:01 EST 2004

*C~P pudingifies the flash from the magix's camera, snatches all totoise coils that magix has to prevent any further flashbacks!*

To assure this, Rajni NEVER sleeps again! :-)

Trisha is still a working woman. Rajni insists that she also not marandhufies the pazhasu. So he has a mini Dominos Pizza stall in his terrace. Trisha anga dhaan scooter vittu pazhaguva!

Rajni's son is a naathaari. Amma maathiri scooter eduthuttu oor oora suththuvaan! (Seri vidunga, idhukku maela ennala magix sonna "important" point-a stress panna mudiyala!)

Ippo oru bayangara music. Rajni balcony-lerundhu etti paarthing. Oor therandufies and comes to meet him. Inspite of the small space his heart occupies, the role demands that he be large hearted and so he is! All the people come in azhukku veshti and without sattai (mandatory!).

Ellam farmers. Mazhaiye varala, so they cant grow crops anymore. No water. Idhunaala Rajni kitta help kaettu varuvaanga. Rajni walks down like 100 steps (BGM ofcourse irukkum!) and comes down. He takes a glass of water and sez..."Panni Illadha gramamum, thanni illadha payirum nalla irundhatha sarithramey kidayaathu. Idha vechu vivasaayam pannunga, aandavan paarthuppan!"

Rajni's son watchifies this from the balcony. He doesn't like to waste a glass of water for some iththu pona farmers. So he thuppifies the echai in the glass of water (adhey Rajni mannerisms-oda!) from the balcony!!

Rajni gets angry...so he again climbs up the stairs (munnadi poatta BGM-a backmask panni use panrom inga!) and thttifies his thodai in front of his son to signify that he is challenging him. He sez..."Kanna, onnu mattum nalla nyabagam vechukko maelerundhu echai thupparthu easy..aana andha thuppina echaiya thirumba edukkarthu dhaan kashtam! Echai is the important for digestion. One should know how to control it, otherwise vaai will become dry! Nee maelaendhu echaiya thuppitta aana unakku maela aandavan-nu oruththan irukkan, avam unmaela adhey echaiya thuppuvaan! Nee senja indha thappukkaga en soththu ellathayum indha thanni prachanai solve pannavey use pannala, naan Ayyavey illa!"

Continued...

From: curses (@ 61.247.248.144) on: Fri Feb 27 13:19:20 EST 2004

*desperately searches for a tortoise coil.... oh well..*

(Vailerundhu echai varadha paarthom.. Dhoorathilirundhu scooter ottaradha paarthom..
now we zoom into the payyan's face)
Simbhu(!!) says
"Appa, indha glass kulla irukaradhu namba thanni
So why should we share it w/ that panni
Adhunaala dhaan vitten andha super Echi,
kandukaadhe naina, naan semma hot machi!"

Rajni-ku kovam patheendu varuthu... he takes his angavasthram and flings it at the roof.. a crate of "Bisleri" water bottle falls to the ground (zoom into the brand name Bisleri for a couple of seconds, they've paid us nice money man!). "Kanna, naan ippo sollaren, indha BISLERI bottle ellam andha ezhaigalukku thaan sontham.. adhu mattum illa, unakku en sothilirundhu oru paisa kidayaathu.." Simbhu registers shock on his face (flash adikuthu.. flashback poda mudiyaama curses thavikiraan!) Rajni continues, "I am distributing all my wealth to poor people.. poor people are backbone of Indian society, we must know how to help them..." Simbhu intervenes, "Dad, nee ippo thaane idhe maari oru dialogue adiche" Rajni (another flash!) "kurukke kurukke(!) pesaadhe. ennakku vara dialogue thaan pesuven. naan ippo sollaren, India yaen, indha ullagathil irukara ella rivers-a link panna naan fund pannuven!" To prove he has his plan ready he flings his angavasthram again and this time magicks a sombhu in his hand. (zoom into Sombhu.. then into Simbhu! :p )

Rajni adds "Idhu thaan en adutha kattam.. indha maathiri sombhugalai India muzhukka vechuduven.. adhula ovoru citizen-um thanni oothina oru pudhu river-ae form pannalaam!"

Simbhu gasps looking at the title of the sombhu.. "Adhennapa TiS-nu ezhutheerukku?" Rajni lips curve up in one side (Bayangara BGM!) "Thanni in Sombhu!"

From: C~P (@ 61.1.202.55) on: Fri Feb 27 14:00:05 EST 2004

"Thanni In Sombhu"-nu veerappa solliyaachu, adha eppadi implement seyyarthunnu Rajni-ku orey kuzhappam! Oor oora sombhu vecha niraya selavu aagum, oru city-ku oru Sombhu vecha collection aagaathu...confusion!!

Rajni padam aachey, politics illama eppadi? He goes and meets the CM directly. Appointment ellam kidayaathu, naera door ellam etti othachindu povaaru ulla, appo dhaan fans kai thattuvaanga! CM moonjiya kaattavey maattom. Vaerum oru "Blue Jersey" dhaan kaatuvom. (Padam paarthapuram contest ellam vekkanum-la, indha Blue Jersey poattirukkum CM yaaru-nu question kaettukkalaam!).
CM : Innapa vaenum ungalukke? Yaen katavey udacheenge?
Rajni : Hey hey neenga makkal prathinidhi! Unga kathavu enaglukkaga eppovum tharanthirukkanum. Illaena udachuttu dhaan varuvaan indha Ayya!
CM : Neenge aanalum rombe mosame pa! Seri chollunga, enna vaenum?
Rajni : Haahhaaaaahaaaaa...Kanna enakku thanni vaenum.
CM : Thare mudiyaathe!
Rajni : Indha Ayya thanni kudutha kudichuttu povaan, illatti adichuttu povaan! Ulagathula irukkara ella nadhiyayum Ramanathapuram maavattam pakkam thiruppi vidanum. Mudiyuma mudiyaatha? Paththu second time tharaen...10,9,6..
CM : Innapa thappu thappa count panre?
Rajni : Adhellam enakku theriyaathu. 8 and 7 solli tharachey enga oorla mazhai. Naan pallikoodam pakkam pogala! Adhellam edhukku unakku?! Ayya counting-a yaenda niruthina?! Enakku marandhu poachu paaru!!
CM : Thanni vida mudiyaathe pa, unnale enna seyye mudiyumo senjukko!
Rajni : Seri, tata!!

Poochandy balikkala-nu Rajni-ku orey varuththam. Sombhu dhaan orey choice pola. Vaangara sombhu nalla sombh-a vaangina varungaalathula vayakaattu pakkam makkal porachey use aagum-nu oru nalla ennam!! ;-)

Yaemaarama sombu vaanga he goes to Prabhu who is capable of telling a Sombhu's birthday and even it's IP number!! So he goes and buys the Sombhu with the help of Prabhu. Adhula unfortunately he has to spend his entire soththu! (As promised we have a song! Rajni becomes ezhai in this song...evalo difference paartheengala??! Kumudam-la aaru vidhyasayngal pakkathula varum idhellam!)

Succesfully he buys the Sombhu and places it in all major districts and asks the people to contribue water to ThanniInSombhu thittam. Next day paartha all sombhus missing!! Yaaro suruttikinu poitaanga! :-(

Rajni savaal-la jeippara?? Ellarum nagatha kadinga, appo dhaan solluvaen! :-)

Difference-kaga idhellam change pannina eppadi? Ofcourse jeippar! Baba padathula avarukku actually 8 varam kuduppanga...avar kaathula thappa 7-nu vizhindhium...innum oru varam baakki irukkum! :P

Indha varam vechu Gangotri Glacier-a TamizhNaadu-ku shift panniduvaar so that Ganga inimey south-la irukkum! Appadiye sanjeevi malaya thookkara maathiri Himalayas-a thookki avar voottu pakkathula vechuppar. Train charge micham aagum paarunga!! Ippadi water problem solve pannuiduvaar!

Since all his soththu is lost, Trisha and Chimbhu become mad! Trisha scooter-la suthittae iruppa. Simbhu is taken and adachified inside a cage in Vandalur Zoo!

Idhellam paarthu manasu odinju Rajni goes trekking on Imayamalai. Thalayila oru oli theriyum. Keezha jananga ellam "Ayya pogaatheenga, pogaatheenga"-nu kaththa, Rajni thavam seyya...Gatham Gatham!! :-)

From: curses (@ 61.247.248.144) on: Fri Feb 27 14:10:56 EST 2004

Himalayas ponathukku aparam thaan realise panninaaru... kulir thaanga mudiyaathu! Sothu irundha oru fur coat vaangeerukalaam! enna seyya, (soga tune-ukkum backmasking nadakuthu!) Mun veitha kaalainaan pinn veikka maaten solli, vera route-la thirumba Chennaike varaaru! Blue Jersey-a thochu kuduthu sambhaathikuraaru. Kadaisseyil oru Mega Laundry kadai setup pannaraaru! Trisha, Simbhu, the CM, Prabhu,.. ivanga ellam Rajni easy(?) chair-il ukaarumbothu suthi ukaandhukaraanga... indha thoL-il Trisha, andha thoL-il Simbhu.. kaal kitta CM and Prabhu.. Rajni dhaadi venchundu comedy-a oru smile adikaraaru! :)

(curses kaila tortoise coil kidaichuduchu!!)

bayapadadheenga.. oru oru scene flash aagi, thiruppi Rajni moonjike focus! :)

Subham! (that reminds me.. what happened to our DFer called Subha!!)

Ilaiyaraaja's Rithigowlais

2004-01-31T02:20:00.000-05:00

RithigowlA is one of those hard-core carnatic rAgas which has been expertly handled by IsaiGnani Ilayaraja. It is the janya (derivative) of of the 22nd melakartha Karaharapriya, and it has this convoluted aarohanam (ascending portion of the raga) S G2 R2 G2 M1 N2 N2 S. This unique aarohanam makes this ragA one of the more easily identifiable ones.

Recently I had a debate with one of my friends about IlayaRaja's first Rithigowla - Chinna Kannan Azhaikiraan from Kavi Kuyil (1977). Well it wasn't really a debate - he claimed that it was composed by Balamuralikrishna (who actually sung one of the versions the song) and I promptly rejected it with such intensity that he went on the defensive and then just backed out of the argument. Anyway I thought "Ilayaraaja's RithigowlAs" would make a good Blog post (I am still getting used to this whole Blogging concept).

Chinna Kannan Azhaikiraan (1) - The year was 1977. A relatively unknown music director from the villages of interior Tamil Nadu had announced his arrival on the Tamil film music (TFM) scene a year ago with the smash hit Annakili. But the critics were questioning his versatility, and dismissed him as capable of composing only folk tunes - carnatic was out of question. And this was the song he composed to prove the critics wrong, and it was in style - sung by none other than Balamuralikrishna.

The stamp of the raga is brought out in the first line of the pallavi - Chinna Kannan [S G2 R2 G2] Azhaikiraan [M1 N2 N2 S], with the notes conforming exactly to the aarohanam of the song. Watch out for the flute bits - especially in the first interlude where you have two flutes playing different melodies parallely (in a contrapuntal fashion I guess). The string sections are also equally amazing that IR
probably decided to reorchestrate the song focusing exclusively on the strings. This second version Chinna Kannan Azhaikiraan (2) is sung by S. Janaki, who along with the other string players do a commendable job - not that I have any credentials to commend Janaki's singing :-).

IR's third RithigowlA was from the movie Oru Odai NathiAgirathu - the song Thalaiyai Kuniyum Thamaraiye sung by "gods own voice" SPB and some other vague singer called Rajeswari. I haven't listened to this song too many times, and I don't know too much about the movie either.

Rama Kanavemira from Swathi Muthyam [1986] (Raman Kathai Kelungal from Sippikul Muthu in Tamil). This song is composed in the harikatha style, narrating the story of Sita's swayamvaram in a little less than 7 minutes, compared to what seemed like eternity on Ramanand Sagar's Ramayan. This is one of those songs which could have been sung only by SPB - he just freaks out. Actually only the first portion of this song is set to RithiGowlA, so this song actually a ragamAlika. 2 min 15 seconds into the song you can hear SPB sing the swaras of ritigowlA [S G R G M N D M N N].

IR's most recent rithigowlA is from the movie Poonthottam [1998]. The song Meetathe Oru Veenai is critically acclaimed as his best rithigowlA to date. This song is different from his previous ventures, in several aspects. It more westernized than the other ones, is at a much slower tempo, and the rhythm appears to be complicated too. This song is actually a very difficult song to sing and Hariharan and Mahalakshmi do a decent job. Wonder how many times they had to record it. Though this movie was released in 1998 I actually listened to this song for the first time only in 2003. Quite shameful. I was actually trapped in the Matrix in from 1994-2000, which is why I missed this song, but that is a different story. I'll just add that I was released from the Matrix in
2000 by Hari and How to Name It.

That brings us to the end of IR's rithigowlAs (till date). This bloG post was sponsored by the IsaiGnani bhaktas @ Duke.

Location Yaar Aval

2004-01-13T02:18:00.000-05:00

My friends at Duke and I have been discussing this idea for a "show about nothing" in Tamil based on Seinfeld. One of the episodes is going to be a carroms game or multiple games (depending on whether Beauty Raja is playing or not). The name of the episode is "Location - Yaar Aval" after the famous set of dialogues from Mahabharatathil Mangaatha. In this episode 4 characters sit and play carroms. An India-Australia cricket match is happening at the same time.

Thoppus and Hari are on one team, and
Beauty Raja is on the other team. Beauty Raja's partner is not yet decided but the leading contender is Prasant. Vijay N is the substitute player and plays instead of Hari/Prasant when either of them is on the phone. Ali Baba makes tea during this episode. Naga plays an important role but ends up coming after the show ends, so you will not see him on screen.

Watch this space for more details on the script and the other characters.

my first blog

2004-01-06T02:15:00.000-05:00

I was first introduced to the concept of Bloggin
by my friend Partha who's most recent nickname is Shehwhijkahgh (ijk silent - included for numerological perfectness). We were discussing about a online portal I was supposed to create for the fundraising group in AID, and he brought up the concept of blogs. After several hours of Googling I stumbled upon another superior concept called Wiki, fell in love with it, and ended up using it for my online portal project. I'll probably write another story on Wikis some other time. Anyway, six months later I am creating my first weBlog which you are currently reading.

Photos from NC event - Wednesday, May 19, 2004

2004-01-01T02:57:00.000-05:00