Mulla 1 Manishi ముల్లా నస్రుద్దీన్ కథ - మనిషి

Manishi, a short bit in Telugu!

The Flute - A short story of Adivi Bapiraju (rendered into English)

The Flute

A short story of Adivi Bapiraju 

(rendered into English by K B Gopalam)

The Flute

Adivi Bapiraju

 

The sounds of the boy's flute filled the bunds of the fields, crops, canals and the hills at a distance.

He had no knowledge of the ragas (musical scales) nor had he learnt about the swaras (musical notes). His mentors were – the koel, the carpenter bee, the mountain brook, the mooing of the cows, the gentle breeze floating over the fields, the thunder, the beetle and the Lavangi birds.

A naturally gifted flautist, he had a great sense of music though ignorant of musicology, its theories, principles and terminology. Comparing notes and notes, he would tune the shruti (pitch). His breath kept the laya (rhythm & tempo). Only three talas (beats) emerged from his rhythm & tempo – they were Adi, Eka and Roopaka.

The melodic patterns (moorchanas) he conjured up were simply out-of-the-world combinations.

2

He was a cattle grazer and nine years old. After eating yesterday's remnant rice and gruel with salted fish as side dish, he put some of the rice gruel in a small pot and a pickled piece of raw mango, covering it with a plate. Wrapping the lunch-pot in a piece of cloth, he reached the river bund riding a buffalo.

The shade of the neem tree was his throne; his cattle were his subjects, and his weapon was his flute!

A tattered loin cloth and an equally torn head scarf were his silken attires. Whenever it rained, he made a couple of buffalos stand close together and sat down under them. When the river swelled, he crossed it on the buffalos. Cows and buffalos were his armed guards. Equipped so, he could stand up even to a tiger.

3

Once he reached the grazing field, he bade them go on their own and settled himself under the tree, playing and singing.

He pulled out the flute and played on it to mesmerize the world. The lyrics for the songs were his heart itself.

Sometimes his song jumped and pranced. It flowered and spread gentle fragrance all around and bubbled up like the waters of a little spring.

Sometimes his song looked at the world and wondered, paled or shivered.

Another time his song searched for something. It gazed at the sky keenly; pierced the depths of the earth, and counted the water drops in the river.

At times it went into tears. It curled with some unknown fear, sulked with hunger and took on the form of the entire gamut of human suffering and wept.

Yet another time the song assumed the all-knowing lotus yogic posture and offered grass flowers in supplication. Also, it probed the depths like a fish in the water.

Kissing the flute with his lips, the boy turned into one who lost cognizance of his own handiwork.

4

One day from an adjacent farmland, a girl worker came looking for him following the song.

She was eight. She sat still before him listening to the song.

She did not divide his kingdom or usurp it.

She became one with his kingdom, with his song and with him.

She would come every day by his song time and sit there before him.

The tattered cloth on her midriff did not cover her nakedness completely. She had a pair of bangles on her arm, and two aluminum anklets on her legs.

If the boy's face was the image of the sun, her face was the lotus in the side-by-pond.

5

One day when he played on the flute, the whole world listened to it under a spell. And the girl turned into that very song.

In the meantime, some monstrous bird hovered in the sky with an earth-shattering sound. Stunned with the sound, the boy stopped playing and fell at once to the ground. The girl flew to his side. Shivering and wailing, she embraced him.

The demon bird flew away. After a while the two naïve kids got up and surveyed around with bleary eyes.

His cows and buffalos grazed as usual. Flowers were in bloom. The neem tree stood outspread just as before. The brook flowed on gurgling.

He mustered up courage to pick up the flute and once again harmonized the three sacred notes into a cadence that questioned this universe. The girl continued to cling to him.

Far away in Europe, there was a war raging. Japan let itself loose on Pearl Harbor.

The boy came out of the impact. Matching the pitch of the daily visitor demon birds, he played a new combination to which the girl listened, smiling and captivated.

Franz Kafka Story in Telugu

 Literature at it's best!

Franz Kafka!

A story or is it?

నిత్యం జరిగేదే - కథ

నిత్యమూ జరిగేదే!
ఫ్రాంత్స్ కాఫ్కా

మామూలు సంఘటన : దాన్ని ఎదురుకున్నామంటే అదొక గొప్ప!
ఇతనికి పక్క ఊళ్లోఉండే అతనితో జరూరు పని ఉంది. పది నిమిషాలలో వెళతాడు. కొంత మాట్లాడి మళ్లీ వస్తాడు. ఎంత తొందరగా వచ్చానో అంటాడు పైగా.
మరునాడు అతను మళ్లీ అక్కడికి పోతాడు. ఈసారి కొన్ని గంటలయినా సరే వ్యవహారం తేల్చేయాలి. పొద్దున్నే బయలుదేరతాడు. అన్ని పరిస్థితులు, కనీసం ఇతని దృష్టిలోనిన్నటిలాగే ఉన్నాయి. కానీ అక్కడికి చేరడానికి ఇతనికి పది గంటలు పడుతుంది. అలసి సాయంత్రానికి అక్కడకు చేరుకుంటే, ఇతను రాలేదని విసుగుచెంది అతను ఇతని స్థావరానికి బయలుదేరాడన్నారు. బయలుదేరి అరగంటయింది. దారిలో ఎదురయి ఉంటాడు అనీ అన్నారు. ఇతడిని కొంచెం సేపు ఉండమన్నారు. అతను త్వరలోనే వస్తాడన్నారు. ఇతను మాత్రం ఆత్రంగా వెనుదిరిగి వచ్చాడు.
ఈసారి అతను సంగతి తెలియకుండానే, క్షణంలో ఇల్లు చేరుకున్నాడు. అతను పొద్దున్నే వచ్చాడనీ, నిజానికి ఇతను బయలుదేరకముందే వచ్చాడనీ చెప్పారు. నిజంగా అతను ద్వారం దగ్గరే ఎదురయ్యి, వ్యవహారం గురించి చెప్ప ప్రయత్నించాడు. ఇతను మాత్రం తనకు టైం లేదనీ, తొందరగా వెళ్లాలనీ అంటూసాగిపోయాడు.
ఇతని తీరు అర్థంగాక అతను అక్కడే వేచి చూస్తూ ఉన్నాడు. ఇతని గదిలోనే ఉండి మళ్లీమళ్లీ వచ్చాడా అని అడిగాడు. అతనింకా అక్కడే ఉన్నాడిప్పుడు. అతడిని కలిసి సంగతి వివరించవచ్చునన్న సంతోషంతో ఇతను మెట్లెక్కసాగాడు. పైమెట్టు మీద పడిపోయాడు. దొర్లుతూ వచ్చి బాధ కారణంగా మూర్ఛపోయాడు. కనీసం అరవను కూడా లేదు. చీకట్లో ఉండి మూలుగుతున్నాడు. అతను కోపంగా మెట్లు దిగి గబగబా `దగ్గరనుంచా, దూరంనుంచా తెలియలేదు` వెళ్లిపోవడం మాత్రం కనబడుతూనే ఉన్నది. అతను వెళ్లిపోయాడు.
I I I I
ఇది కాఫ్కా రచన. దీన్ని కథ అనాలా? మరి కాఫ్కా కథకుడు గదా? కథానికలు రాసే వారందరికీ అతను అంత ఎత్తున కనిపిస్తాడు గదా? అందుకే కాఫ్కా తీరు (కాఫ్కాయెస్క్‌) అనే మాట పుట్టింది. పద్ధతి పుట్టింది.
ఇంతకూ కథానిక అంటే ఎట్లుండాలి? ఎవరు చెప్పగలరు?

Happy Moments!

It was after or during a training session I conducted.
Does that tell that I can make people comfortable and laugh their hearts away?
I am sure they are laughing for something I said.
I am not laughing though!
Am I happy? Oh! Boy!
These are the moments that make me go ahead even today!

People say, I am grumpy, grouchy and all that.
People make a monster out of me.
But, there is a human being inside me also!
I am sure there is one.
I look for him.
You also look for him!
Thanks!

Eela Pata Raghuramaiah - Interview

Listen to the legendary Singer and Whistler speak about self and the art!
Talking to him is Dr Ms. Panda Shamantakamani.

Kalyanam Raghuramaiah - Interview

Let us honor great artists.
&*&*&*&*&*&*

Yaminipoorna Tilaka - A Radio Drama

This is an interesting drama.
Radio adaptation of Bilhaneeyam, the famous kavyam.

Sri Sesham Ramanujacharya was the author.
I should confirm whether the verses were adapted from an earler work.

Usually radio dramas are of the length of 60 minutes or less.
This one goes a little longer.
When the drama was put on AIR first, it ended abrupltly at the 60th minute leaving the listeners in a situation.

The drama was again b'cast within a few days in its full version.

Prof G V Subrahmanyam, a well known writer and critic did the role of Bilhana.
Did he ever act in any other radio drama?
He was of course taking part in the much acclaimed "Bhuvana Vijayam" those days.
He did a memorable role.

Smt Sarada Srinivasan as Yamini in is unparalelled.
There is a sequence towards the end of the play where she goes on in a monologue kind of dialogue shifting moods without an effort.
I asked her whether the scene was recorded in a single take. She said "Yes!"
It shows!
That is talent!!

I request all my friends to listen to this play!

Here is the link from where You can download the tarcks.

Yaminipoorna Tilaka - Radio Play

Let us enjoy great works with words!!
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Kanyasulkam of Gurajada

Kanyasulkam is a wonderful drama penned by Sri Gurajada Appa Rao Pantulu garu.
Though it is based on the Sanskrit play Mrichakatikam, you do not even think of it as a clone.
There is so much of originality in it that you forget the similarities!
I read this play whenever I am in blues!!
There is so much slap stick humour in it that you cannot help laughing.
Though the play portraits the Brahmins in poor light, Pantulu Garu is fully justified.

You can download the book for reading pleasure from here

My contribution here is a radio version of this famous paly!

Download the play from here

A write up on the drama for those who do not know about it!

Gurazada wrote this play to raise awareness about what he felt was a scandalous state of affairs in society. His English preface to the first edition states: "Such a scandalous state of things is a disgrace to society, and literature can not have a higher function than to show up such practices and give currency to a high standard of moral ideas. Until reading habits prevail among masses, one must look only to the stage to exert such healthy influence." Traditionally, Telugu literary works were written in a highly stylistic language with complicated words and meter; these works could only be understood by the educated elite. Gurazada's mission was to reach out to the masses, so he broke with tradition (he called the literary dialect "doubly dead" in his preface) and wrote in the vibrant and colorful spoken language of the day.

Madhuravani, the muse of Girisam during the beginning of the play, and that of Ramappa Panthulu in the rest of the play, is portrayed as a very righteous, wise, magnanimous and able woman who is willing to even bend over backwards to help someone in need. This way the play sought to take on the prejudices and practices of contemporary Indian society head-on. The play includes a few gut-wrenching scenes such as one where Agnihothravadhanulu, an egoistic, male-chauvinistic Brahmin and a key player in the play, barbarically slams his food plate onto the face of his young, widowed daughter, when she requests that he reconsider his decision to marry his pre-pubescent daughter to an old man. The practice of parents arranging the marriages of their pre-pubescent daughters to old men for cash was very prevalent during those days, and was referred to popularly as Kanyasulkam, literally meaning "money in lieu for a girl", which also forms the title of the play.


The play also depicts, amusingly, the practices of orthodox Brahmins, such as Madi, with a particular character in the play even shrivelling away from everyone and everything like a touch-me-not, lest he might lose his sanctity. (He even has to perform some "religious cleansing" for the things someone touched before he can touch them.)

The play also has numerous lighter moments, notably regarding the marriage of the stingy old man, Lubdhavadhanulu. Much of that comedy occurs as dialogue between Girisam and his various love interests, and also during the marriage of Lubdhavadhanulu to a boy disguised as a girl. Contemporary Indian society is depicted in a very real fashion, without glorifying it so that it has the effect of being 'in-your-face'. Numerous interesting characters spring up during various points of the play, such as the widowed owner of a local food court, referred to as Pootakoolla 'Munda' (the word in quotes being an offensive word for a widow, originating from 'Mundan', meaning shaving, in Sanskrit and Telugu, because during that period, a woman had to shave her hair off after her husband's death), the debauched and widowed daughter of Lubdhavadhanulu, Meenakshi, and the son of Lubdhavadhanulu. They are very much similar in their notions and prejudices to the people one may see in any Indian village even today.

In Girisam, we can see that kind of a young man who is opportunistic, yearns for momentary pleasures, desires easy money and is unwilling to work, for the simple reason that he is too fickle-minded to hold any particular job for a considerable amount of time. He is so unwilling, in fact, that he wouldn't think twice about taking the easiest path to fulfilling his desires, even if he is trampling upon someone else's life while he is on his way. He claims to be a progressionist, but claiming is all he does. In Meenakshi, we may see a woman who might have been widowed even before she hit puberty. She was therefore paying for a mistake that was anyone's but hers and was being accused of being unfaithful to a husband she did not have. Ramappa Panthulu is a middle man and very incompetent one at that. He tries to twist and turn every situation in his favor, but ends up being entangled in the very much he himself created in the first place. He is a victim of his own making. Probably, Madhuravani and PootaKoolla 'Munda' are the only characters who have strong moral footing and maintain their stand throughout the play. There are no surprises, shocks, or suspense regarding the characters of the persons and flaws in their characters, if any, are laid out clearly by the playwright.

This play was also produced as a film in Telugu.
Great NTR is in lead.
I am sure some bits are available on You tube!!
 
Let us enjoy great works of creativity!
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Vipranarayana - Radio Drama

Thanks for the overwhelming response to the upload of songs from the drama.
Many friends have enquired if I have the recording of the entire drama.
I have been trying for it for long without results.
At present I have only a part of the Drama with me.
Even the part is eminently enchanting.

Here I bring it for you.

http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=10f3f26dc390f408ab1eab3e9fa335ca6b7057ffcc0ef1fc

Let us enjoy Good music and all things musical!!
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Vipranarayana - Radio Drama - Songs

There is a famous film "Vipranarayana" in which A Nageswara Rao Excelled in the title role.
Many may not know that there is a radio drama written by Sri Devulapalli Krishna Sastry on the theme.
Music was by Sri Balantrapu Rajani Kanta Rao.
Dr Balamurali and Kum Srirangam Gopalaratnam play the lead roles here.
This drama was staged at Ravindra Bharati, Hyderabad long back.

The same script and music is used by Smt Ratna Papa for her Kuchipudi performance.
Smt Sobha Naidu also stages the drama with her troupe.
I was involved in some way in the latters first production.

I now bring you some songs from the drama sung by Balamurali and Ratnam Garu.
They are ever enjoyable!!

List:

01-Emi_Matale_Sari.mp3
02-Pandemu_Galada.mp3
03-Vedalenide.mp3
04-Tagana_Swamy_with_Padyam.mp3
05-Mundu_Telisena.mp3
06-Vadduvaddu_Suma.mp3
07-Tuluva_manasaye.mp3
08-Vanalona.mp3

Link:
 
http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=10f3f26dc390f408ab1eab3e9fa335caf800b012a63397db
 
Let us enjoy good music!
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Annamayya - Radio Drama

I am enjoying this work of converting old cassttes to mp3s
Joy is much more in sharing the material with friends!

This radio Drama "Annamayya" with Sri Balamurali and Ratnam garu in lead roles, is an interesting find, I should say!
A real vintage Drama.
May be 60s!
People should tell me!

Both, Balamurali and Gopalaratnam sound so young!
So are all the others.

Some of the songs that we listen today are sung in different ragas in this drama.
You will sure like it.
As for the story, it is anybodies guess.
There is not much of documentation about the saint composer Annamayya.
There are only a few anecdote kind of things and each one weaves the story according to own imagination.
Good that there is no visualisation in this like in the stage presenatations and the film.
I remember the unusual scenes and make up in the much acclaimed perormance of a famous dance Guru's opera.
It was horrible to see the thing.
People don't give a thought to the details.
The creation of period is a big challenge in visual media.

Good that what we have here is a radio presenataion.
Voices create the scene.
If you don't ask about the authenticity of the scenes, this is a wonderful creation!

Annamayya - A Radio Drama

Link:

http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=10f3f26dc390f408ab1eab3e9fa335ca610250279a45c88d

Let us enjoy good music!
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Bhagyanagaram - Radio Drama

This is the love story of a prince and a young lady.
Was there really any lady by name Bhagamati?
Is Bhagynagaram, Hyderabad now, named after this lady?

There is an earlier post which discussed the book about the questions.

http://lokabhiramam.blogspot.com/2009/11/bhagyamati-was-she-for-real.html

Now, it is Radio version of the famous Drama written by Sri Narla Chiranjeevi.
It catches the hearts of the two young people in love like never before.

The drama comes alive with the Music by Sri Mahabhashyam Chittranjan, the famous music composer at AIR Hyderabad.
The first song itself will mesmerise you for sure!
Voices of Smt Sarada Srinivasan and Sri Chiranjeevi (Not Narla but K.Chiranjeevi) in lead roles, add life to the episodes.

http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=10f3f26dc390f408ab1eab3e9fa335ca28d9b6b3d98fcfdb

For lovers of Drama and music, this sure will be a must have material

The Drama is available in print form also.
Details at
http://www.avkf.org/BookLink/display_titled_book.php?book_id=8476&PHPSESSID=7ffc321bce9740aa3a8ba043a1bb663c

Let us enjoy good works of arts!!
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Ghatanam Sarvajaneenam - Drama

Please don't get bewildered by the title.
I was not there when this title was decided.
Or, I would have made it soemthing like "We are like this only!"
This is a story from any office in this country.
There are all kinds of people in this office.
You should only listen to the drama to know if you are also featured in it.
You would know half the characters of the play personally.

Best part is, it is Musical.
All kinds of music, starting with Carnatic to Hindustani, Qawwali and also Western are featured in this spoof! Nothing sounds out of place.
I remember classical musicians appreciated this drama more than the common listeners.
There is a whole retinue of people who took part in it!

Srinivasan, yes, the flute maestro, wrote and produced it.
He was humorist to the core!
He would mimic people, tell anecdotes and make people laugh without let up.
His presence would make the party a real party!!
I am not saying these things, but people said this.

Srinivasan made Kopalle Sivaram pen the lyrics to the preset tunes.
Whether you understand Telugu or not, you will enjoy them.
I request all visitors to the blog to listen to this Radio Drama.

Link:

http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=10f3f26dc390f408ab1eab3e9fa335ca09418c17660cb14f

PS: I will continue to post more radio dramas here.
I cannot announce them in the music forums.
People interested in Telugu drama and light music may kindly follw my blog, inform other people.
I also request you to suggest me ways in which I can inform more people about this treasure coming up.
For example, light music of real vintage value is in pipeline!
How do ypu like to listen to Balamurali singing Enki Patalu?

Let us enjoy good music!
!!!!!!!!

Sundara Kanda (Telugu) - Radio Version

Sri M S Rama Rao was a singer of yester years.
He was a playback singer in films too.
He made the Telugu version of Hanuman Chalisa and used to sing it at many places.
It became very famous.
In 70's he made the Telugu version of Sundara Kanda in lyrical form and rendered it himself.
Initially it was recorded for All India Radio.
Then, a shorter version came out commercially.
I remember, those were the days when cassette players became popular.
Any Telugu person buying a player would also buy a Suprabhatam by MS and Sundara Kanda of M S Rama Rao.
It almost became a super hit.
It perhaps continues to be in the same position for those who have listened to it.
A street in Chikkadpally, where Sri Rama Rao lived, was named after him.
Sri Rama Rao's sweet voice narrating the intricacies of the story in simple Telugu will mesmerise the listener.

Thanks to Sri SSPrakash, here is the Radio Version of the famous Sundara Kanda, for your personal listening pleasure. It runs for more than 5 hours.
Kindly note that this is not the commercial version, which is just 2 hours long.

Sundara Kanda is the heart of Ramayanam.
Hanuman is the hero of this part of Ramayanam.
I dedicate this musical rendition to all those devotees of Rama and Hanuman!!

Link:

http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=10f3f26dc390f408ab1eab3e9fa335ca8690bbee5eb32fca

Enjoy the bliss!!
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Bhamakalapam - Radio Version

It is a pleasure to present to the music lovers, this Kuchipudi production, specially recorded for All India Radio, a few decades back. Bhamakalapam is the first and foremost item in the list of dance dramas under the style. it is also perhaps the most popular one among the performances of any Kuchipudi dance troupe. Kuchipudi is a style of dance dramas, earlier called as Bhagavatams. It is perhaps because the stories revolved around Bhgavan Vishnu. Bhamakalapam and Golla Kalapam are the two dramas which are popular even today.

(A painting by Sri Goli Sivaram. Click to see it bigger.)

For those who really do not know much about this dance form from Andhra Pradesh, here are a few lines about it.

It is unfortunate that not much information could be found either about Bhamakalapam or Kuchipudi dance in general. All that available is sketchy articles here and there. What si given below is from Wiki and it is pathetic that only this is the information available.

I would urge those with some good information about teh dance form to send me the same so that we can make it available to all.

Kuchipudi is a classical dance form from Andhra Pradesh, a state of South India. Kuchipudi is the name of a small village in the Divi Taluq of Krishna district that borders the Bay of Bengal and with resident Brahmins practicing this traditional dance form, it acquired the present name.

With the dance form attaining perfection by the time of Golconda king Abdul Hassan Tanesha, Kuchipudi brahmins are said to have received 600 acres (2.4 km²) of land as an endowment from Tanesha for the great presentation before him.

Siddhendra Yogi is said to be the first scholar to give it the current form of dance drama. Bhamakalapam is one of his celebrated compositions. He also reserved the art to males by teaching it to young brahmin boys of the village. However, in modern times, the art has been dominated by women.

The performance usually begins with some stage rites, after which each of the character comes on to the stage and introduces him/herself with a daru (a small composition of both song and dance) to introduce the identity, set the mood, of the character in the drama. The drama then begins. The dance is accompanied by song which is typically carnatic music. The singer is accompanied by mridangam (a classical South Indian percussion instrument), violin, flute and the tambura (a drone instrument with strings which are plucked). Ornaments worn by the artists are generally made of a light weight wood called Boorugu.

There is a little more information from a book.

The recording being presented here was produced under the supervision and the participation of Sri Chinta Krishna Murthy, doyen of Kuchipudi art form. It has none other than Sri Mangalampalli Balamuralikrishna and Kum Srirangam Gopalaratnam in the lead roles.

Here is the link:

http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=10f3f26dc390f408ab1eab3e9fa335ca9c536742abcf6bbf

This is the beginning of regular uploads of famous Telugu Radio Dramas. I really do not know how all the art lovers will come to know of it. Inform me if there is any group on the internet which will be interested in such uploads.

You may also tell all the art lovers about this effort. I will also bring here a lot of telugu light music from yester years.

Help me in making people happy!!

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