N S Srinivasan - Flute

Allow me the happiness of sharings Sri Srinivasan's music with you.

Earlier I announced one RTP on the Sangeethapriya forum and lot of people liked it.

I sincerely thank Smt. Sarada Srinivasan, herself an outstanding, top ranking radio drama artist, for allowing me access to the music collection.

Srinivasan was a versatile man.

Apart from playing flute he did a lot of things with unparalelled quality.

He produced a lot of radio and TV features of excellent quality and won laurels.

He wrote and lectured on music profusely.

He also wrote dramas which were very popular.

Srinivasan was an excellent humorist.

His mimicry of famous artists was a hit with elderly musicians also, I am told.

As for flute he stuck to the Sruti and Style of his Guru Great Sri Mahalingam.

Srinivasan shifted to Hyderabad to join AIR.
That was AIR's gain and a kind of loss to the music world.
Had he been in the regular music circuit of Chennai, we would have seen another popular flautist.
Not that he has not performed in the music circles.
Wherever and whenever he performed the house was sure to go into raptures.
Interestingly he reminds us of Mali sir with very first notes.

Srinivasan stuck to things dearer to his heart, namely music and its spread, not stage performances.
He has groomed many a youngster into fine musicians.
Made music for some good dance performances.
He also stuck to being silent and not making noise for publicity.

We will have a chance to enjoy the creativeness of Srinivasan through couple of Radio Features and a drama in the coming days.

First, we shall enjoy his flute recitals.
The first one in the series is here.

The Team:

Details not available.

List of items:

01 Ninne Bhajana - Nata - Adi - Tyagaraja
02 Mayamma - Ahiri - Adi - Shyama sastry
03 Gnanamosaga rada - Poorvikalyani - Rupakam - Tyagaraja
04 Swararga Sudha - Shankarabharanam - Adi - Tyagaraja

Link:

http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=10f3f26dc390f408ab1eab3e9fa335ca6dc2703d1ff8d0fc

I already mentioned that wind instruments are my favorites.
There will be more such concerts coming up here.
Let us enjoy good music.
***********

Pineapple - Sour or Sweet?

Ask a question and you will get an answer!
There are some questions that you always wanted to ask.
But, you never asked!

To question is to learn!

Why does adding salt to pineapple make it sweet?

When Pineapple not sweet enough reaching for the salt shaker may not be such a bad idea.

But, interestingly, why the pineapple then tastes sweeter may have more to do with what's going on in our head than what's going on in our food, thanks to the complexities of our sense of taste.

Technically we only have five tastes: sweet, sour, salty, bitter and umami [savoury]. We never think about such things at all. There are also specific places on the tongue where a particular taste is perceived predominantly. These things do not sounds simple enough until we start looking at complex foods that are composed of multiple tastes, like pineapple.

How salt can make pineapple sweeter "comes down to interactions between tastes" , but it's not a straightforward process.

In this case we're looking at how three different tastes — sweet, bitter and salty — interact.

To start with, bitter and sweet tastes can mutually suppress each other. A simple example of how this works is when you add sugar to coffee. As well as making the coffee sweeter it also reduces its bitterness.

It's the way we process the flavours, say scientists. The signals are still going up to the brain, the brain perceives sweet and bitter, and mutually suppresses both flavours. So while the coffee is sweet and bitter, it tastes less sweet and less bitter to us because of the way our brain cancels out some of the sweet and bitter tastes coming from our tongue. Into this situation we then add salt.

Common table salt is primarily made of sodium chloride and sodium is a very good bitterness inhibitor, meaning it can reduce the bitter taste of foods it's added to. So when you add salt to pineapple the sodium actually reduces the bitterness of the pineapple.

This is something that is happening at a tongue level and the signals are not going through to the brain. This sure sounds very interesting. We always think that brain is the centre of all information!! And if you don't have this bitter signal going through to the brain, it can't be suppressing the sweet flavour. So with some of the bitterness being removed by the salt, that means there is less bitterness to suppress the sweetness of the pineapple and voila — your pineapple tastes sweeter!

Food scientists say there may also be another mechanism at play. When the sodium chloride dissolves into the pineapple it will break apart into sodium and chloride ions. The sodium ion will then react with the malic and citric acids present in the pineapple to form neutral sodium salts. Acids normally have a tart or sour taste but when they are converted into neutral compounds they lose this sourness, and so the pineapple tastes sweeter.

Science is interesting as long as you want to explore it.
If you simply resist questions life and science are equally bland!!

I am and will remain a student of Science.
I don't know why I am not reading and writing science as I used to do!
I should get back into it.
Sooner the better.
By the way, I have not written the above answer!!
I collected it from the net!

Ravuri Bharadwaja - Drops of Light

Sri Ravuri Bharadwaja is a great man.
He has as many doctorates as possible.
Interestingly he never went to school, he says.
He is a writer of exceptional calibre.
He is so different from the usual good writers.
The books he has published are perhaps countless.
I found in my collection, a small book he gave me .

The book is tiltled Drops of Light.
The man appearing on the title is none other than Bharadwaja himself.

Flowing beard, coarse Khadi and all!
He also is different like his creations.
Our good frind Anand created that title.

The booklet is a collection of kind of poems comparable to those by Tagore.

They are very diffrent in their content.

This is the note he wrote on the inner title page of the book.

He calls me Mavayya, meaning uncle.

That too a Chinna Mavayya, younger one.

He calls everyone with a relation like that.

Not by the names!

Different again!

Here is a sampling of the content of the booklet.

He published such pieces continuously in Andhra Bhoomi, if I am right.

Read the rough translation of the pieces.

*   *   *

With the help of ropes of water,

to draw the mother earth towards them,

the black clouds;

with the same water ropes,

to pull the clouds towards her,

the mother earth,

Are struggling throughout the rainy season.

*    *    *

After giving you,

the me surrounding you,

and the me within me,

I am left as a popper,

who can never give anything to anybody,

my little one!

*    *    *

"As for me I am clean and white.

This lady sky, sprinkled her blue dirt all over me,

and turned me into a blue water body."

Thus lamented the tank.

##########

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