Paintings and Autographs

Parapancha Telugu Mahasabhalu of 1975 were a grand success.
I never thought I will be saving the Souvenir from the Sabhaluand sharing the Paintings on the net.
Technology does wonders some times.
I always tell people that we should learn to make use of technology for our purposes.
I think I am doing it now.

Krishnaveni with Autograph of Rajani

Paintings are however good.

But, to add value to them, there are signatures of great peole on them.

Rajani won laurels for his Radio feature "Kondanundi Kadali Daka" which was about River Krishna.

I never thought Balantarpu Rajanikantarao garu will become a friend of mine when I took this autograph.

Later in life we came very close to each other and he took a liking towards me.

There was a gap in this relation because he moved to other places.

Rajani became old, no doubt.

His spirits are the same, I can vouch.

I met him recently andreminded him who I am.

To my surprise he started asking me questions about the discussion on astronomy we had years back!

Hats off to the old man!

Rajani is polyglot.

It is injustice to talk about him in such short blog.

(Click on the pictures to see them in original size)

Nagarjunacharya with autograph of Murali garu

Mangalampalli Balamurali Krishna is a great person.

I came to know him also personally later in life.

Balamurali was and is a Hero for me!

He has a specila plce in my heart.

I will desist from talking about him here.

There will be better posts to talk about him!

More such paintings in the pipeline!

############

Maharajapuram Sri Santanam - Concert

I saw and heard Sri Santanam in Seventies. Not his Seventies of course!
I was not really impressed.
Later I heard a lot of his music.
I am nobody to comment on his music but, you could see his rising throughout!

This is what I found about Sri Santanam on the net.

Endowed with an enchantingly sweet voice and dedicated to the practice of classical music in his individualistic style, Maharajapuram Santhanam has earned the admiration of a massive majority of music lovers. He was the second son of his illustrious father, Maharajapuram Viswanatha Iyer. Fondly called "chinna kothandu" by his family, Santhanam sang with his father in concerts over a number of years from an early age.

Santaanam had his initial training under Melattur Sama Dikshithar and under his father. While joining his father in concerts, he simultaneously completed his schooling from the Town High School, Kumbakonam in 1945.

Though Santhanam's initiation into carnatic music began in 1948, at a marriage, to be quickly followed by a formal debut at the South Indian Club in Calcutta, he emerged as a 'complete musician' only in the 1970s, music critics say.

Santhanam gave a recital at the Thyagaraja Aradhana festival at Thiruvaiyaru in 1952 and made his appearance at the Music Academy in Madras, the Mecca of Carnatic musicians in 1958-59.

During 1960-65, Santhanam served as the HOD of the Ponnambalam Ramanathan College of Music in Jaffna in Sri Lanka.

Endowed with a 'genuine classicism', Santhanam was on the expert committe of the Music Academy for a number of years.

He won several titles and honours, including the 'Padmashri' in 1990,
'Sangeeta Kalanidhi' from the Music Academy in 1989,
Sangeeta Natak Academy award in 1984,
TN Govt's 'KalaiMamani' award.
"Sangeetha Sudhakara" by the Yoga vedanta University at Rishikesh.

A former "Asthana Vidwan" of the Tirumala Tirupathi Devasthanam and the Kanchi Kamakoti Mutt. Sri Santhanam was also bestowed with the "Gana Kalanidhi" by Sri Chandrasekhara Bharati of Sringeri, and "Sangitha Sagaramritha Varshi" by Sri Jayendra Saraswati of the Kanchi mutt.

The forte of Santhanam's singing technique was the art of communicating profound musical expressions with an easy to absorb simplicity. Towards this end he modulated his voice effectively to stress the nuances of a raga sanchara or to bring out the elegance of the sahitya in a song. In his kutcheris one could not discern the distinction between a weighty song and a thukkada, for he treated each song with consummate embellishment that long after he stopped singing the piece, it lingered in the ears of the listener.

It used to be said of Vidwans of yesteryears that their kutcheri pattern was marked by proportion - raga alapana, songs, and swaras. Santhanam was out-and-out a follower of this great tradition. In another aspect too he belonged to the galaxy of Viswanatha Iyer and his contemporaries. He had immense faith in the grandeur of familiar ragas, uplifting the quality of performancc- say Kalyani, Sankarabharana, or Khamboji.

Like his father, Santhanam took classical carnatic music to people in his melodious style and was marching with vigor and determination winning the hearts of overflowing audiences. Without deviating from the classical style of good quality, he made his recitals highly entertaining. He had a rich repertoire of songs. His mellow presentation, the pieces and rendition of ragas, neravals and swaras had a pleasant style of classicism satisfying common AND elite listeners. His many commercial cassettes are treasured in the homes of his admirers as a valuable possession.

Maharajapuram had respect for fellow musicians. The Maharajapuram Viswanatha Iyer trust founded by him in the name of his father in 1985 has been honouring senior musicians every year with awards and financial assistance and arranging concerts of eminent and young artists.

Santhanam's encouragement and sincere appreciation of the accompanists was as generous as his music was great. He was one who could create the satisfaction of a 4 hour concert in 2 hours. Programming was such that while neraval and swaraprasthanams moved with grace, the alapana threw open the magic casement of the aesthetic charm, the song bridged both.

The concert being presented here is exceptionally good!
Sri Santanam and the accompanists enjoyed every bit of it!

 The Team:


Sri Maharajapuram Santanam - Vocal
(Vocal Support by Sri Ramachandran?)
Sri M S Gopalakrishnan - Violin
Sri Guruvayur Dorai - Mridangam

List of items:

01 Rajarajeswari Sive Pahimam - Poornachandrika.mp3
02 Brihadambikayai - Vasanta.mp3
03 Anandamritakarshini - Amritavarshini.mp3
04 Tripura Sundari - Sama.mp3
05 Kamakshi - Varali.mp3
06 Kalyani Ragam.mp3
07 Pahi Pahi Sharade - Kalyani.mp3
08 Himachalatanaya - Anandabhairavi.mp3
09 Shanmukhapriya Ragam Tanam.mp3
10 Devi Sri Tripurasundari - pallavi.mp3
11 Srichakraraja - Ragamalika.mp3
12 Tunga teera Virajam - Salaga Bhairavi.mp3
13 Suttum Vizhi Chudar.mp3
14 Senthamiz Nadu.mp3
15 Mangalam.mp3



Link:
http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=10f3f26dc390f408ab1eab3e9fa335ca7647b3753b845f8b

Enjoy great music!!
************

Smt. Radha & Smt. Jayalakshmi - Vocal

GNB was a legend.

He taught many people who became masters in their own right.

Radha and Jayalakshmi were among such people.

Not to forget MLV.

It is painful to see that there is no place on the net where one can read about Radha & Jayalakshmi.

I saw R and J when they came for an invited audience concert to Hyderabad long back.

Their singing was so good.

They were so poupular at one point of time.

I still listen to their old recordings regularly.

Taraka Bindige rings in my ears!

During the Centenary Celebrations of GNB, let us pay homage to him by listening to his disciples.
I really do not know if I can share a radio concert of GNB!


Here is an old radio concert of Smt.Radha and Smt.Jayalakshmi.
This is not from Hyderabad. It is from AIR Chennai.

The Team:

Smt. Radha and Jayalakshmi - Vocal
Sri Coimbatore Dakshina Murthy - Violin
Sri Kuttalam Viswanatha Iyer - Mridangam
Sri Nagaraja Rao - Ghatam

List of items:

01 Sharanu Siddhi - Saurashtram.mp3
02 Aadamodi - Charukesi.mp3
03 Sundaratara - Pantuvarali.mp3
04 Annapurne - Sama.mp3
05 Swaminathena - Brindavana Saranga.mp3
06 Uruvidu - Kharaharapriya.mp3

Link:
http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=10f3f26dc390f408ab1eab3e9fa335cad22829281b305369
 
Watch out for more interesting uploads here!
*************

Zen Poem in Telugu

Zen Poem in Telugu

ఒక రాయి విసిరిన వేళ

గతంలో నేను నేర్చుకున్నవన్నీ

మటుమాయమయ్యాయి

ఒక్క క్షణం

అంతా అయోమయం

దైనందిన జీవితంలో

పనికోసం గాలించి

అడుగులేస్తున్న పాతబాటలోనే

నాకు

మానసిక ఇరకాటం లేదు

బలహీనత లేదు

నాబాటలో

అడ్డుగోడలు లేవు

నేను

ఒక రంగులోనో

వెలుగులోనో

అణిగి లేను

జ్ఞానులు

ఎక్కడయినా ఎప్పుడయినా

చెప్పేదొకటే

జ్ఞానం

ఇలాగే సిద్ధిస్తుందని.

జెన్ గురువు సెంజీ కవిత ఇది.

జెన్ కథలు అనే

(డి.చంద్రశేఖర రెడ్డి, యామిజాల జగదీశ్ గారల) పుస్తకంలోని ఒక కథ నుంచి

Sri T R Mahalingam - Flute

Sri T R Mahalingam, a muiscal Genius

(Yours sincerely with Mali Sir) 

I was fortunate to know Sri Mahalingam personally and shared my moments with him in some places.

I will not make any personal comments here, but bring a few words from a book “Carnatic Summer” written by Sriram. V, a well known writer in music circles.

I have my own reservations about the way he has written about various people in the book.

However, his comments are not to be brushed aside.

This is what he wrote in the beginning of the article on Mali Sir.

When Semmangudi srinivasa Iyer was asked to list the great geniuses of Carnatic music, he thought of only three names – ‘Flute’ Mali, T N Rajarathinam Pillai and Palghat Mani Iyer. That Mali or T R Mahalingam, though the youngest of the three had come first to the mind of the grand sire of music spoke eloquently of his unquestioned virtuosity on the flute. He was, in many ways, the flute equivalent of Rajarathinam Pillai on the nagaswaram. When Mali was in the mood, he played some of the finest melodies on his flute, enchanting his listeners and taking them on the path to musical nirvana. He did not just please his listeners; he would also move their hearts.

This recording being presented here is unusual. There is no Violin accompaniment.

Knowledgeable people should tell whether there was a concert without Violin, or this is a special recording. I got this recording from the collection of my good friend Late N S Srinivasan, a disciple of Mali sir.

There is only one item in the hour long recording.

Details are as under.

01 Shankarabharanam Alapana 1

02 Shankarabharanam Alapana 2

03 Eduta Nilachite – Shankarabharanam

04 Tani

I hope I am correct in identifying the Kriti.

 Link:

http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=10f3f26dc390f408ab1eab3e9fa335ca2a3b2aaede3ba825

I request rasikas to give some feedback on the post.
I am not looking at thanking notes, please.
************

A page from my diary

A page literally from my diary.
As I have written it at that time.

(Click to see it bigger)

The year is 2000.

I have as usual mused about human nature.
I said.
Man is ahbituated to feel happy for no reason.
Some thing that you like happens.Even though it i not such a great thing to cause happiness, based on your mental status one fels happy.
You are aware of the feelings.
Even then happiness after all is happiness!

Interestingly I wrote this and many others of my musings in old Telugu.
Thare were times when couple of us were too very impressed by the language style of Viswanatha and were talikng like that.
I continued it much longer.
My son who is sympathetic towards Telugu and its idiom read a couple of pages from the diary recently.
He asked me who would understand the language these days.

He is right perhaps.
Language has become no man's land!
The expressions in the media are so strange that I feel I do not know my language!
Less said about it, better it is!

There may be one person who would like to read such language.
I am waiting for that person. perhaps.
I usually do not give up things very easily!!!

Bharatiyar song

The great Tamil poet Mahakavi Subramanya Bharati has penned a lot of wonderful songs.

This one is among the few that haunt me.

1: kAkkai shiraginilE nandalAlA ninran kariya niram tOnrudaiyE nandalAlA
2: pArkku marangaLellAm nandalAlA ninran paccai niram tOnrudaiyE nandalAlA
3: kEtkum oli ellAm nandalAlA ninran gItam ishaikkudaDA nandalAlA
4: tIkkuL viralai vaittAl nandalAlA ninnait-tINDum inbam tOnrudaDA nandalAlA

 This is what it roughly means.

In the crow’s black feather, Nanda Lala,

I see your duskiness, Nanda Lala.

In every green tree that I see, Nanda Lala,

I see your divine colour, Nanda Lala.

In every sound that I hear, Nanda Lala,

I hear the sound of your music, Nanda Lala.

In the touch of a fire, Nanda Lala,

I feel the thrill of touching you, Nanda Lala.

Telugu version by me.

కాకి నల్లరెక్కలలో నందలాలా, నీ కారుమేని చాయదోచె నందలాలా

చూచిన చెట్లన్నిటిలో నందలాలా, నీ పచ్చదనమే తోచె నందలాలా

విన్న ప్రతి సవ్వడిలో నందలాలా, నీ దివ్యగానమే తోచె నందలాలా

నిప్పు తాకినాగాని నందలాలా, నిన్ను తాకినట్టె తోచె నందలాలా

Listen to the song.

K J Yesudas in Film style

O S Arun in classical style

@@@@@@@@@