Breeze of devotion....

Yesterday 7-May-2016, we enjoyed the concert of Aruna Sairam at the Ramanavami music festival at Sree ramaseva mandali Chamarajpet. She has been a regular here and is a favorite of the crowd. You could see a number of requests (through "chits") from the audience for specific songs and to most of them she obliged. She also explained the background of some of these compositions and why devotion is a very important part of carnatic music. She said well, audience make the artists feel humble and the humility of the artists go in a big way towards reaching music to the audience. Her performance was full of high energy and tempo. The accompanying artists struggled a bit to keep up. She sang a few "abhangs" and the audience followed her in those with the "thalam" and claps.

Here are some of the renditions from her:

• Srivighnaraajam bhaje - naatai
• Vandanamu raghunandana - Sahaana
• Rama lakshmana poorvajam - kalyaana raama (pallavi) - hamsa naadam
• Bandanodi govinda Krishna Banda nodi -Thodi
• Sree satya narayanam - Shubabanduvaraali
• Swetha padmaasana Sangeeta saamrajya sanjaarini - mohanam
• yenagu aane ranga ninagu aane - mukaari
• pandari nivasa sakya paanduranga - maandu - Abangh
• Vishamakaara Kannan - behaag

She brought the rain...

Sowmya's concert on 5-May-2016 at Sree Ramaseva Mandali Chamarajpet pleased the rain gods and it poured that evening. She was ably accompanied by Sudhindra, Charulatha Ramanujam, and Giridhar Udupa on the violin, mridangam, and ghatam respectively. She sang unaffected by the rain. Her songs and the rain cooled the air. At one point, the rain was so heavy that water started dripping onto the stage and the artists had to shift their seating a bit to avoid water falling on them. She explained her understanding of the second composition "Alagalalladagali ..." to the audience, showing how full of emotion that song was.

She sang the following:

1. Vanajaakshi - kalyaani
2. Alagalalladagali - madhyamavati
3. Maayoora naagam Anisham - dhanyasi
4. Manavyaala Kim chara - nalinakaanthi
5. Ambaneelalochani aashrita - sreeragam
6. Vandesadapadmanabham - navarasa kannada
7. Sreerama raghuvara - shanmughapriya (RTP and Thaniyaavarthanam)

Violin duo...

Yesterday (30-Apr-2016), we were at Sree Ramaseva Mandali, Chamarajpet, enjoying the violin concert of Mysore Manjunath and Mysore Nagaraj who were accompanied by Umayaalpuram Sivaraman on mridangam. They played to the crowd. What a coordination between the Mysore brothers all through the concert! They themselves were thoroughly enjoying the performance along with the audience. On the mridangam, it was an explosive performance by Umayaalpuram Sivaraman who energized everyone. He said it well, "This is a competition (healthy) between youth and experience". It was my privilege to be there to enjoy the show. The entire audience gave a standing ovation to the artists after the rendition with the thaniyaavarthanam got over.

Here are the ragams covered...

• Reethigowla
• Kannada
• Saraswathi manohari
• Kalyani
• Aandholika
• Aabheri
• Janaranjini (thaniyaavarthanam)

Sunday show

It was T.M.Krishna who mesmerized us this Sunday 17-Apr-2016 at Sree Ramaseva Mandali Chamarajpet.

There he was, with his trademark innovations. Each rendition had his total emotional involvement. He was immersed in each of them like only he could and the tempo was slow for most of the songs (as he thinks it should ideally be). His Ragam-Taanam-Pallavi was unique and was delivered in parts. Thaniyaavarthanam came very early in the sequence unlike the usual practice with other artists.

The mike/loud speakers were not helpful at times, with their blaring high-pitched shrill noise, irritating him. The organizers need to handle the acoustics better. In this age, we have better technologies and there is no reason for such noise to get generated.

Here are some of the renditions:

1. Sukki evvaro - Kaanada  (RTP - part)
2. Sarasuda - Kaanada (RTP - part)
3. Sri Maathrubutham - Kannada
4. Enta veduko o raghava - Saraswathi Manohari
5. Kanchi Kamakshi - Bairavi

Sanjay's concert

Yesterday (9-Apr-2016) evening, it was Sanjay Subrahmanyan's magic on display at Sree Ramaseva Mandali Chamarajpet.

He enthralled all of us with his impeccable style. According to me, the Ragam Thanam Pallavi that he rendered towards the end was the highlight. He is one artist who literally throws music notes at you through his mouth, gestures, and actions, and still they land as gems. I like the way he enjoys his performance and his take-it-easy style.

Here are some of the renditions yesterday:

1. Jalajaksha ninne - hamsadwani
2. Pallandu pallandu pallaayirathaandu - Naattai
3. Bhajana seiyave -  kalyani
4. Kaaru - mugaari
5. Ma jaanaki jata - kamboji
6. Yendukudaya - Thodi
7. Ninu paraamugam yeno - Begada
8. Kanakasabesa jagadeesha - Ragam Thanam Pallavi - Mohanam , sahana, saaveri , nalinakanti, sindhubhairavi

Music season of 2016 in Bangalore now on

This year's music season in Bangalore got off to a great start yesterday at Sree Ramaseva Mandali Chamarajpet. I was there enjoying Bombay Jayashri's captivating concert. Her voice is very distinct and catches attention. Here are some of the songs she rendered.

1. Sree saraswati namosthuthe - Aarabhi
2. Ramaninnu bamboo naan - Mohanam
3.sakalagragabhalaneene - Ataana
4.Ninne nambithenayya srirama - Simhendra madhyamam
5. Smarane onde saalade -Malaya marutham
6. Oh rangashaayi - Kamboji

Looking forward to the other concerts as well this season ....

Fascinating Cambodia

This time, we (I and my family) spent the Christmas/New Year holidays in Cambodia. The trip was well worth it. It is a country so full of culture. There is a heavy influence of Hinduism and Buddhism in Cambodia (the land of Khmer).  The Indian epics of Ramayana and Mahabharata are inscribed and depicted in many old temples here including Angkor Wat.

There was so much of Khmer culture to soak in. We went to Phnom Penh first and Siem Reap next. Keeping Siem Reap as the base, we explored places around such as Angkor Wat, Bantey Srei, Tonle Sap. The majestic Angkor Wat is a an imposing structure. It is arguably the largest temple in the world.

Coming from India, it was easy for us to relate to the stories carved or inscribed in the temple stones and walls. In fact, we were called upon by our guide to explain some stories (from the epics and Hinduism) to the rest of the tourist group, which we gladly did to the best of our knowledge.

We found the Khmer people to be so polite, friendly, pleasing, and hospitable. We never felt, anyone we interacted with was taking us for a ride.

A few striking observations that I had:

Tuk-tuks are ubiquitous in Cambodia. A tuk-tuk is very much like the "auto rickshaw" in India. A tuk-tuk is a three-wheeler which provides seating for 4 people. It is a 2-wheeler motor vehicle made taller and expanded to accommodate 4 passengers by having one wheel in the front and two wheels in the back. It is a very inexpensive way of going around the city or towns. To travel say 2 kilometers, you would need to pay something like USD 2 to 3. They are easy to hire and available anytime.

If it is 4 wheeler (cars, SUVs etc.), then it is Toyota everywhere. More than 90% of cars and SUVs that we saw in Cambodia are Toyota. In Cambodia, they consider Toyota to be the most reliable brand for cars. We learned that Cambodians largely import used cars from USA, since that the customs and duty involved is cheaper than that for importing brand new cars. Most of these used cars are Toyota. I saw exclusive shops selling imported cars (the cars are lined up for the customer to come and pick) and I found it hard to spot one that is not a Toyota. Quite a number of them still sported the American registration plates, which I assume,  will be converted to Cambodian registration once the customer buys it.

Vegetarian food (no meat, no fish, no egg) is not easy to find. We being vegetarians had a bit of problem in finding vegetarian food.  We had to explain to the restaurants clearly about no fish, no meat, no fish sauce, no egg in the dish. A few Cambodian dishes (such as coconut milk mixed veg curry with steamed rice) that we tried were really tasty. A few times, we located some good Indian restaurants where it was easy to order vegetarian food.

For local cell phone connection, I bought a USD 5 SIM card from the telecom operator named "Smart", right at the Phnom Penh airport itself. That card gave me about 80 minutes of local calls within Cambodia plus international calls with about 1 GB of internet. That was sufficient to cover our 6 day trip.

Here are some pictures from Cambodia.

Bayon Temple

Angkor Wat

Sunset from Bekhang Hill

 Bantey Srei

 Fishing Village

 Tonle Sap lake

 Cambodian culture village

 Reclining Budha