Lost in music

Recently, listened to the songs from the sound track of the Tamil movie Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa for the first time. The album though was released in Jan 2010. This is yet another album from A.R.Rehman (ARR). 

What a collection of songs... It was just mesmerizing and I was deeply lost in the music all through. I kept listening to the tracks over and over...

The one I liked the most is "Aaromale..." sung by Alphons Joseph. With its rock style, I felt being transported back to the world of Led Zeppelin ("Stairway to heaven...") while listening to this song. It is a fusion of rock and south Indian music. The tempo gradually builds up with the beats growing stronger as the song progresses - hats off to ARR. This song also reminded me of the song "Ententrum punnagai... maangalyam thanthunaanena mamajeevana hethuna..." from ARR's own movie album "Alaipayuthey" - I think it is because of the rhythmic lines "swasti swasti sumuhurtham".

The other tracks are also great. "Hosanna..." is the next one I liked the most. Then "Omana Penne..." after that.

I felt I was being taken back to the days of "Alaipayuthey" and "Kandukonden Kandukonden".

This one will remain in my hearts for a long time for sure....

The force of Nature

A few weeks ago, we had been to Gaganachukki and Bharachukki waterfalls at the peak of this rainy season (monsoon). They are in an area called Shivanasamudra which is around 120 KM from Bangalore on the Kanakapura road National highway (NH 209). We started from Bangalore at around 8 AM and reached Gaganachukki by 11 AM, stopping once for breakfast - we had packed our breakfast.

After visiting a very old temple at the beginning of the inner road that leads to Gaganachukki falls, we headed straight to the falls. It was nature at its mighty best offering a spectacular show of the Kaveri river. Water was coming down the high rocks with such a great ferocity, we were at awe and were humbled. It was just beautiful. Since it was the peak of the rainy season (south-west monsoon) here, Kaveri was flowing in full capacity - copious amounts of water falling from the top of the high rocks down on to the plains. The sound of nature (of the falling water) was dominating all other sounds and it was pleasant to the ears. I felt so peaceful and calm just being there. We could feel the water droplets in the air.
Here are some photos clicked by my amateurish hands :-)

Then we moved on to Bharachukki falls. It was as spectacular as the Gaganachukki falls if not more. Below are some photos clicked by the amateur photographer (me) :-) at Bharachukki falls 

We had some observers, who were keen on keeping an eye on what we visitors were up to in their backyard :-)

At that time, a movie shooting was also going on at Bharachukki, the set and the film crew was deep down on top of the rocks in the middle of the river. It was quite an adventurous shoot, I felt.

Overall, I felt really good - getting close to Nature has this really soothing effect on me that lasts for quite some time.

Flowers , flowers, and flowers...

On August 14th, the eve of the Independence Day (India), we (my children, my wife, and I) were at Lalbagh, the biggest and oldest garden in Bangalore, for the annual flower show. This flower show happens annually during the days leading to the Independence day (Aug 15) and also the Republic day (26 Jan).

All of us enjoyed the experience. The flower arrangements were really great! We could see plants with flowers of different varieties. Though there was a decent crowd, we did not feel too disturbed. See some of the photos here...

The below one is made of only vegetables... Yes, it's true!

The one below is modeled after The Lotus Temple...

Enjoying the music season

The key annual carnatic music season of Bangalore is on this month and next - the Ramanavami celebrations. I have been attending a few concerts at Sreeramaseva mandali Chamarajpet. So far, I could attend concerts of Nityashree Mahadevan, T.M.Krishna (TMK), Sowmya, Kadiri Gopalnath. I hope to make it to a few more.

TMK's performance was enchanting and inspiring as usual. He seems to be surpassing his own excellence every time. It was a totally involved performance. The ragam-thanam-pallavi at the end was an icing on the cake. It was fantastic. Sowmya gave out a very powerful performance. It was probably not one of those best performances from Nityashree this time, in my opinion. I could only spend a very limited time attending Kadiri's concert - he was at his inimitable best as usual. His saxophone notes and Kanyakumari's violin notes are a great combination every time.

All in all, a thoroughly enjoyable music season. 

Really nice road

On many days during my regular walks, I walk on a road (Anjanapura-Amruth Nagar main road) that goes over the NICE road (peripheral road). The overpass over the NICE road is towards the end of the Anjanapura township. When I look down from the overpass, the NICE road expressway is a sight to behold. This expressway is a marvelous job done. It has 4 lanes and on each side it has an extra lane (shoulder) for any emergency pulling over.

I have seen this road coming up from when the work began in 2005 and reach the completed (and fully operational) shape that it is in today. Right from 2005, with the permission of the engineers on the site, I used to drive, in my car, on this road (to Electronic city) during the construction phase, wherever any stretch had become drivable at that time. And, once the drivable portion used to end, I used to hop on to the nearest village road to enter a nearby village and find my way to a road that led to Electronic city. So, as months progressed, kilometers and kilometers of the NICE road got ready and I was enjoying more and more of my commute on this road. And, on one day (must have been in the beginning of 2007 I think) I could drive all the way to Electronic city fully on NICE road itself.

I have literally seen the effort that has gone behind getting this marvel created. Though I stopped commuting by car to Electronic city in 2008, now I feel doubly delighted to see the NICE road in all its splendor with all kinds of vehicles zipping past, underneath the Anjanapura overpass that I stand on to take a look.

Pleasant walks

With the days getting warmer gradually, my morning walks have become more pleasant. Also, some parks in our neighborhood have been renovated. It looks beautiful with plants (and shrubs) having flowers and leaves of various hues looking super fresh. It is so colorful that at times, I get lost in them forgetting the count of my trips around the park.

The dawn is another sight to behold while I walk. The sun is almost at the center on the east when we walk in the north-south direction and looks apple reddish and a perfect circle - here in Bangalore this is at around 6:30 AM (IST) now a days. After three quarters of an hour it gets warmer though and looking at the sun directly at that time becomes really difficult and can really overwhelm the naked eyes.

With multiple thoughts having crossed my mind, on the whole, when I come back home from the walk it is refreshing due to the effect of the nature. Thank you nature.

New greens

There is sign of new life now on the Badam (Almond) tree near my house. After about two months (December and early January) of relentless leaf shedding, the green leaves are coming back finally. In January the Badam trees were looking totally barren with empty long branches. Now I can see them back sprouting with force, young and full of green, with the cold weather seeming to be going away slowly.
Nature's work is amazing. In October/November, the leaves were all maroon in color. During each season, it offers a beautiful treat for the eyes. The tree also offers a good shade for my car when parked outside my house. Squirrels, bats feast on the badams from this tree - but then they also spoil our balcony with the leftovers :-)
It feels so good seeing the sprouting of new green life.

Wonderful experience

This tuesday I had a great time attending T.M.Krishna's katcheri (carnatic music concert) at Bangalore Gayana Samaja, Bangalore along with my friend. Actually, the hall was full by the time we reached the venue and this was before the start of the concert. Thanks to the performing artists and the organizers, we were lucky to be allowed to sit in the dais (along the sides).

It was a great feeling to experience the music sitting closer to the musicians in action. This was my first experience sitting in the dais. We almost sat through the entire duration (2.5 hours) and it was an enchanting experience listening to T.M.Krishna's music. According to me, it was complete music - it had bhava (emotion), rigour, technical quality, clarity of notes, sahitya (justice to the lyrics, for want of a better word) and good justice to the composition. His performance displayed excellence. I enjoyed it thoroughly and so did my friend.

T.M.Krishna's renditions had a divine feel to them and at some points I felt being transported to a higher state of mind, a blissful feeling. Perhaps his music was connecting well to my mind. He is such a gifted singer and musician, with good knowledge of music. As a musician, he has been steadily and rapidly growing over the years reaching newer heights of greatness each time. I hope I get more opportunities to attend his concerts.

Chilly days

It is chilly. I find this winter to be colder than usual in Bangalore. In a decade of my life here in Bangalore, I do not remember wearing a jacket or a sweater for my morning walks. But this January, I have been putting on the jacket while going out for my regular walk. I can't seem to avoid wearing it. I usually go for walk at around 6:15 AM.

Is this unusual chill a sign of something going on with the environment? I hope this is not going to be the pattern and it is just one of those odd years where the weather changes a bit from what is normal for the season. There was a report in the newspaper that said we could be in for an unusually hotter spring/summer too this time :-(

What is happening with our earth and the environment?

Where are those saplings? and also trees?

Over the last 5 years, I have got a few hundred saplings planted in my neighborhood, out of my interest in greenery and environment. I was comfortable spending my own money for the same. Many of them were planted in the parks, and some by the road side (where there are no overhead electric lines). I used to make sure they were planted only at the onset of our rainy seasons, so that their survival chances could improve and I could depend more on nature for their watering.

My hope was, at least 40 percent of them would survive the various hostile conditions such as freely roaming cattle that feast on the tree leaves, scarcity of rain, construction and infrastructure work, and less than desirable environment awareness level in public at large. Though I have been monitoring the saplings/trees fairly regularly (weekly), I have found that only about 20 percent of them have survived - the rest have just perished - this is despite arranging for tree guards for those trees vulnerable to cattle grazing, watering the trees in case of real need, and preferring trees such as Pongamia (called "Pongai" or "Honge" in South India) that are fairly resilient to hostile conditions and more geographically-suited. I feel disappointed.

This is what I have observed:
-- Some of the tree guards (mainly for non-Pongamia varieties) got damaged by cattle that eventually led to the growing saplings getting exposed to cattle grazing.
-- Some saplings that survived (and came off their tree guard support) and became decently sized growing trees (maybe 6 feet tall) broke off right at the trunk because some cow leaned on them for scratching comfort - yes it happens. The growing tree could just not take the heavy load and gave way from the trauma. Such trees eventually die. Even if further new leaves sprout from what is left of the trunk, they get devoured by hungry cattle looking for tasty food.
-- The civic authority suddenly decided to develop all the parks in our neighborhood (after 10 years since the layout was formed). Development meant - first wipe out the entire park clean, along with ridding the grass and bushes get rid of all the saplings, shrubs, and growing-up trees. It does not matter even if those saplings did not come in the way of a walking trail or something else; Then dump mud, stone dust and such all over. Fortunately, some decently grown pongamia saplings survived this development onslaught. But, a good number of saplings got wiped out. When the development work began, I had politely requested the workers to save those saplings.
-- One or two growing-up trees found cut off at the base of the trunk - effectively killing them. This clearly looked like the work of some people (for what reason they did it, I do not know) - they cannot be the workers  from the electricity service since there was no electric line running overhead those trees. They seemed to be randomly chosen trees. I tried to ask around, but nobody could tell who cut those trees off.

I am still trying to keep my motivation to plant trees from falling below the active threshold level. It seems hard.