GLOBAL RASIKAS MEET 2010. reminiscences - 05.03.2015.

[S.NAGESWARAN]

Dear Rasikas,
The Global Rasikas Meet 2010 was a watershed meeting in our Raikas forum.
For the benefit of the new members who have recently joined, I am giving the
drop box link of the video of the meet below.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/v7llt14105tjz ... .divx?dl=0
This is the first volume of the VIDEO and the balance three more volumes will be uploaded in due course.
Enjoy the VIDEO.

S.NAGESWARAN.
07.03.2015.

[CRama]

Thanks a lot Sir. Brought many nostalgic memories. My participation for the first time in rasikas meet. Great opportunity to meet forum members, some old friends, some would be friends. But sad to note that many of the members present here now do not attend rasikas meets.

[Nick H]

I am giving the
drop box link of the video

I suggest that it would be a lot easier for members to see something like this in Youtube. I know I would prefer that.

Sorry, I can't advise on how to go about it: I have never uploaded a video to youtube. Kids put a lot of dumb stuff there, so it can't be too hard!

[S.NAGESWARAN]

The drop box links for the video of the Global Rasikas Meet 2010 vol 2 of 4 is given below.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/9givvd2ls82ta ... .divx?dl=0

Enjoy the video.

S.NAGESWARAN.
08.03.2015,

[vasanthakokilam]

Nick, watch out! That pesky Google algorithm may flag Srinidhi for copyright infringement

Kidding aside, if Sri. Nageswaran is OK with it and if no one else appearing there prominently do not object, I can upload to youtube.

[ganesh_mourthy]

No objection. One hand up.

Youtube , in any case, is easier.

[Nick H]

That pesky Google algorithm may flag Srinidhi for copyright infringement

Oh dear, I'd forgotten about all that.

Life should be simple!

[S.NAGESWARAN]

Dear Sri VK,
I WILL BE HAPPY IF YOU CAN UPLOAD THE RASIKAS MEET 2010 VIDEO IN YOU TUBE.
I am unable to do it.
S.NAGESWARAN.
08.03.2015.

[S.NAGESWARAN]

The drop box links for the video of the Global Rasikas Meet 2010 vol 3 of 4 is given below.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/zaul8ltzpy1k9 ... IDEO%20DVD
%203%20DIVx.divx?dl=0
Enjoy the VIDEO.
S.NAGESWARAN.
08.03.2015.

[vasanthakokilam]

Part 1 is ready: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rynh9qrJnww

I am now worried that the raghuvamsa sudha played on flute as the intro to the video is going to be flagged by the Google algorithm.

In any case, I marked it as unlisted, so one can not get to it by searching for it. You need the above link

[vasanthakokilam]

Nageswaran, please provide the link for vol 3 again. When you pasted the link, it did not come out quite right as you can see. Thanks.

[S.NAGESWARAN]

Global Rasikas MEET 2010 VOL 3 OF 4 VIDEO Drop box link is given again.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/zaul8ltzpy1k9 ... .divx?dl=0
It is working for me.
S.NAGESWARAN.
09.03.2015.

[cacm]

Dear Sri.S.N., THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES!...It was nice to see Sri.V.Govindan Mudhra Bhaskar & others,.....VKV

[S.NAGESWARAN]

Dear Rasikas,
The drop box link for the video of the global rasikas meet 2010 vol 4 of 4 is given below.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/gcy9fkezzu272 ... .divx?dl=0
Enjoy the video.
I must really thank Sri VKV in giving proper directions for the conducting our meet successfully.

Initially, I was trying to upload the videos in YOU TUBE. Since the speed of the internet in India was very slow, I was not able to upload in YOU TUBE.
I am really thankful to our moderator Sri VK in uploading VOL 1 OF 4 in YOU TUBE.
I hope the rest of the vols 2, 3 & 4 will be uploaded by Sri VK SOON.
S.NAGESWARAN.
09.03.2015.

[vasanthakokilam]

Thanks Nageswaran. Link to V3 is good now. I am downloading 3 and 4 now and after that I will upload 2,3 and 4 to youtube.

[arasi]

Kokilam,
Thanks for all the hard work. Was good to see Rajani, Mahavishnu, Nick and the celebrities in the video.

VKV is VKV, his pleasant, unassuming self...

Every time someone appeared with that piece of ID (:) ) I was thinking about you. Take heart. Who knows? We may end up with a proper ID pin after all--with a globe, and Rasikas.org beaming on it in multicolor!

[vasanthakokilam]

part 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rynh9qrJnww
Part 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6PzLGv8xFw
Part 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zEvaG2oVFvw
part 4: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjXm0ofuf04

[rajeshnat]

part 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rynh9qrJnww

Just recycling the post of mine which can give a context for folks to know about each video. The 1st video is

Global Rasikas Meet @mudhra on Dec 19th ,2010, part 1 of 3
----------------------------------------------------------
It was roughly a 5 hr meet. Just organizing it as seperate blocks

1. VGV's citation:
----------------------
As I entered into the hall , I was 10 to 15 minutes late , nageshwaran sir's granddaughter srinidhi sang the hindolam no. As I entered VGV's citation poetry written by punarvasu was read by Vishnuramprasad and Shri VGV was presented the award.When asked to speak VGV spoke briefly and touched with his omnipresent humility, a really fanta fabulous personality.Govindan sir attributed everything to his guru sadguru thyagarAja and recited few couplets of kambar.VGV expresses bhAvam in real bhAvam . He talked that there is a commonality of him and T in the sense both were telugu speaking thamizhnadu domicile personalities.

He specifically said T's krithis and gandhiji's autobiography are very unique in the sense they did present things in open and free way. He talked about bhAvam from bantu reeti golu as an example and talked about a krithi in shankarAbharanam where how amma means two meanings in bhAvam , one that means a crying child calling ammA and another begger begging ammA

2. eesa sridharan of sangeethapriya:
-----------------------------------
He spoke very briefly about sangeethapriya and the concerts that we upload. Certainly what appealed the most is that he profusely thanked all the co sangeethapriya contributors.

3.RAdhA bhakar of Mudhra:
----------------------------
One thing that was repeated by all of us which started with rAdhA bhaskAr is she said every day the first thing she does after checking her mails is that she is addicted to the rasikas.org .She also talked about her music appreciation programme and how she is trying to reach masses

4. Arasi - RadhikA :
------------------
At that time very briefly the MC asked few of the rasikas to come forward.Arasi being arasi talked briefly and congragulated srkris and pavithra . RadhikA of Radel talked about the information and content that comes out of rasikas.org . Incidentally she also gave a cd with selected numbers. (Radhika if you could tell the contents that would be great)

Then srinidhi's concert followed

[rajeshnat]

Part 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6PzLGv8xFw

Global Rasikas Meet @mudhra on Dec 19th ,2010, part 2 of 3
----------------------------------------------------------
5.Srinidhi@Rasikas meet on Dec 19th ,2010
-------------------------------------------
Srinidhi was assisted by R . Murali in violin and santhAnagOpalan in mrudangam. Srinidhi is getting her training from AkellA Mallikarjuna Sir.

1. erA nApai - tOdi - patnam
2. evaroora ninnuvinA (R S) - mOhanam - T
Had a brief garland break by chitravina narasimhan
3. sathguru vAchOnE?? - Ahirbhairav ?? -??
4. sathguy Anantha buLAsi ?? - janasammOdhini?? -??
5. santha saMargamana?? - sindhubhairavi -??

Brief impression:
Srinidhi is just 11 and her training with akella who is known for rhythm was quite evident with her beginning in erA nApai. Her mohanam alapana was a nice choice considering she had just less than 45 minutes to sing and she sang evaroorA very well. In particular after few avarthana swaras , she came up with reallly nice patterns in mOhanam. The percussion overall just did not gel that well or possibly the mikes were possibly not adjusted well.

I was slightly hoping that she will sung atleat one lovely tukkadas with an emphasis more on rAgas or viruththam . But she sang few bhajans or abhangs , I particularly liked the janasammOdhini , an exact replica of maharajapuram's govinda ninna nAmamE chanda. I have no idea about the tukkadas before .We did break for coffee around 12 noon or so.

6. AkellA mallikArjun Sharma Spoke:
-----------------------------------
AkellA sir spoke briefly about how he learnt violin, mridangam and how he became lecturer and principal and then finally only at the age of 60 he felt his teaching methods were not right . His Honesty just gets you straight into your heart . He built up very well but for due to lack of time he said in order to cover more I need atleast 2 hours each for swara singing and 2 hours for raga singing. Akella Sir I am interested in your 2 hours of swara singing. His speech was built up very well but just fizzled bit abruptly.

On the vidwan vidushi front we had Akella sir along with Dr narmada,Mysore nagaraj and manjunath and veteran chitravina narasimhan sir

[rajeshnat]

Part 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zEvaG2oVFvw
part 4: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjXm0ofuf04

The last two parts were really great as each of us spoke. The order of the speakers in you tube is different than what is mentioned.

by rajeshnat » 19 Dec 2010 18:56

Global Rasikas Meet @mudhra on Dec 19th ,2010, part 3 of 3
----------------------------------------------------------
7. Each Rasika of Rasikas spoke:
--------------------------------------------
The best of best happened in the last few hours where every rasika true to our spirit had a mike where he introduced himself and talked for few minutes .Those who spoke at the beginning had more time and those at the end had a tukkada time . Here is a brief for almost each of them in geographical order

From Canada and USA
--------------------
1. Vasanthakokilam
Spring cuckoo as arasi calls him spoke from the standpoint of how he is only the janitor of the forum and almost all of the decisions is decided by Ramakrishnan. He spoke that in general they take a fairly liberal approach.l VK is gifted speaker just like how he writes , a person who has to sit as an ambassador in US.He spoke wherein he said the site could be more artist friendly.

2. mahavishnnu - Ramesh Balasubramaniam
Mahavishnu spoke well , touched upon how at times some of them dont understand few things and just impulsively write . He gave an example of rhythm .

3. CACM or VKV Sir:
VKV Sir has a chembai vaidhyanAtha bhAgavathar sAreeram , he was the MC and he really did a great job . He spoke many things as he was MC but certainly in his own way very expressive personality

4. Music is life:
Music is life is from Detroit area and I forgot what he spoke.

5. Arasi:
Arasi spoke in the beginning and left bit early, wishing the new groom and bride.

From Bangalore :
---------------
The bangalore crowd was big . Some of them just came for just this

6. Cienu:
Spoke his addiction to forum and also touched upon anonymity.

7. RadhikA:
Radhika spoke before itself on the content of rasikas in general.

8. Semmu 86:
Semmu 86 was courteous to talk about the young srinidhi and talked about her mohanam mishra chApu and varnam

9. VS ManjunAth
VS ManjunAth spoke about few interesting collection of each artist like DKJ, KVN etc

From Chennai:
------------
From Chennai we had lot of speakers

10. NickH
Nick was fabulous speaker I guess mother tongue really matters to present with eloquence. He talked so well and had a great sense of humour.

11. Cool or mankuthimmA:
Cool spoke beautifully and talked in general about rasikas.org having a clearer vision . He also talked about his dearest of dear topics recording for prosterity. He also said there are many who want to take but not give back

12. RajuMds
Raju MDS highlighted there should be more focus on topics

13. Shivadasan
The senior most citizen from tiruvannamalai had the grace and blessing of ramana maharishi . He talked about in general spirituality must be experienced

14. Vishnuramprasad
VRP talked about that we have to bring in clippings of many performing youngsters and put a small cd.

15. Subramanian
This gentleman talked bit long and he was talking about posterity of recordings . Subramanian writes minimally and he was the first person to host our concert series few years back (TVRamprasadh concert in his house)

Time was running out bit too fast there and very briefly rest of us spoke

16. Uday_shankar
Uday Shankar introduced his name and spoke very minimally

17. RajeshNat
I talked very fast , I had written few points but I was pushed almost like a semmangudi dhanasri thillAnA and I spoke atleast one point where I did not repeat anything that was spoken before . I said musicians have to reach rasikas and they should come openly and post ,also I said that folks like me have a very minor effect but of late I am very happy to see in the last year and half even sabha patrons like mudhra and radha Bhaskar , PratyAksham bala and KSSR are all participating and I asked them to meet reqularly and not even call rasikas like me after reading every post and create more meritocracy. Incidentally when I spoke I did not know PB , and PB raised his hand .

18. TKB:
He talked about how rasikas can reciprocate with objective discussion when presenting a point . He took an example of how when there was a challenge about todi being played in keyboard and presented fair points

19. Ajit :
Ajit writes the same id and is the disciple of Flute Ramani. He spoke briefly his dharmasangadam to write as he is a disciple of ramani sir
Ajit is from pittsburgh, not chennai

20.Crama
Crama alias cramachandran also spoke quite well, forgot what he told.

21. PRatyAksham bAla
PratyAksham balA said at any point rasikas need not quit the forum and if few posts are not favourable and bit rough he will treat that poster just like his grandchild

22. PonBhairavi
A fabulous man the founder president of pondycheri bhairavi and hence the handle ponbhairavi . His name is rajagopAlan.

23. ANandasangeetham
A new entrant spoke forgot what he spoke

24. Ksivakumar
Forgot whether it was his id or his name . he briefly spoke

25.MuniRao:
He spoke briefly .

26. Mudhra bhaskar
After I spoke Mudhra bhaskar spoke beautifully and lamented in general about patronage . He being the organizer says rasikas have to flock sabhas then hearing in CD's and talked about poor attendance in concerts .

27. sivaramakrishnan spoke briefly cant remember what he spoke

28. vganesh spoke briefly , i forgot what he spoke

29. The last id to speak was bit of a chuckle .He was preposterous, he was perhaps the sweetest speaker he only said his id and name

Note:
In short each of them spoke something that is most dear to them .I may have forgotten quite a few of them I am sorry , you all could add more

Conclusively:
------------------
1. Collectively 25 to 30 of us lost our visual anonymity , that too at the end we were all videographed .

2. But there is just a great camraderie that has built all for the love of music . How else you can explain folks like cienu or vSmanjunath coming from bangalore , elderly patrons like ponbhairavi/PB and shivadasan coming from pondy and tiruvannAmalai. Not to speak of few northamerican visitors

3. The meet was definitely global. If I could thank one person who championed all this it was indeed nAgeshwaran sir with some lovely support from VKV .

4. Artists and Rasikas --> key takeaway build more rapport from this core base of rasikas, not just those who participated but also those who are as far as cmlover, punarvasu , mohan etc . Collectively there is a close to zero hypocrisy and prejudice , opinions are getting expressed with only the love of the divine carnatic music.

[rajeshnat]

Nageshwaran Sir,
This meet was very special. I was kind of discouraging then Nageswaran Sir two days back before that D day as I felt he is really going overboard and also taking health risk . But it was primarily his effort .

VKV Sir,
I looked at the video tonight , you seem to have a great sense of humor and you are the best MC. There is a lot of americanism that i re learnt today from you which I think is worth reinforcing . For your voice you did not need a microphone .Thank you Sir.

and many many more or rasika of rasikas- just have time to point out just two.

[cacm]

Dear Sri. Rajeshnat,
YOUR MENTIOINING CHEMBAI SIR & V.K.Viswanathan in the SAME sentence IS THE GREATEST HONOUR I CAN IMAGINE! THANKS, VKV

[arasi]

And the Passion for Music Award goes to, who else...our Rajesh...don't add Nath to his name and provoke him!

Not that we all don't love music, but his unrestrained love for CM and in nourishing it goes beyond bounds.I may be a great fan of the genre, so are all of us, but Rajesh is a kATTARu--the torrentuous wild stream which comes gushing down after heavy rains--and he is a jIVa nadi (a perennial river)!

Thanks Nageswaran, for taking us back. How's Srinidhi progressing?

VKV,
What can I say? You endear yourself to all of us as each day goes by. Your smile is yet another thing which Rajesh the mountain stream didn't include.

I am glad most of you are still there at Rasikas, good old friends who enrich my life. And the unseen ones who are precious--and the ones who joined after this meet.

PB and PB, good to see you both, and thanks for all the poetry you generate, which nourishes me--not forgetting Sridhar_ranga (who was then in the middle east). The Canadians, dear friend CML and Pasupathy (who came to Rasikas after this meet, a treasure house of literary and musical writing, a poet).

Mahavishnu, I met for the first time here, and how I knew his aunt in my childhood and now, his parents!
Nick, my brit connection and friend, Rajani, Shashi Cool, Raju and others.

Famed Narmada , Cienu (which means his whole family), and Uday (yes, you have made a mark in the music world!) and all...

How I missed Ravi (rshankar) there! Punarvasu whose poem was read (we always remember her father who was active on RAsikas into his nineties, and with such clarity!). Dear Govindan who was honored, whose life works are, and are going to be a treasure house for learners and enthusiasts. Thygaraja in heaven is mighty proud of his dedicated and meticulous translations (MD and SS too). No doubt...

I haven't spoken about all those who met that day. Rajesh has done the major coverage.

Not forgetting the Rasikas meet which Chitravina Ravikiran (another most valuable contributor) hosted two years ago which was a treat.

Cienu's hosting of the two Bengaluru meets are unforgettable, I hear and feel (on seeing the video and pictures) I have missed, by not being in Bengaluru at those times.

I cannot ever forget Bharath's (don't hear from him these days ) very first Rasikas meet. He was waiting with a packet of mixture at the appointed hour (he had posted about his desire to meet other rasikAs), found one other rasikA there, and they shared the snack while talking about music! Hope like kuchElA's handful of flaked rice, Rasikas.org will be blessed with more riches in its content in the years to come...

Each and every one of you there, and out there in the wider world who are members of Rasikas, thanks and greetings

I now can visualize Sivaramakrishnan, the commuter from Thanjavur/Nagappattinam!

Spring Cuckoo,
Thanks for always being there for me, and more for what you have been doing to keep Rasikas in good shape.

Not forgetting the reason behind all our joy and learning at Rasikas.org--srkris, Ramakrishnan...

[Nick H]

And the Passion for Music Award goes to, who else...our Rajesh...

Rajesh spoke for 2 minutes and 47 seconds. It was an excellent to very excellent speech



He does not mention his own contribution at the microphone. Some people who only meet him in writing make the mistake of not seeing beyond his cataloguing of concerts, with analysis and precise timings, and fail to see the love and enthusiasm that takes him to all those concerts.

I don't remember his words, but, above all of us, I remember his contribution that day: full of love and enthusiasm for the past, present and future of carnatic music.

[mahavishnu]

Rajesh spoke for 2 minutes and 47 seconds. It was an excellent to very excellent speech

Perfect summary, Nick! Yes, this Rasikas meeting was major milestone in the forum's history. As Arasi said, many important friendships were made and sustained because of that meeting.

[chalanata]

Thanks for the uploads. The personalities are exactly matching my imagination about them in their posts.

[msakella]

Dear brother-member, rajeshnat,

Accidentally today only I saw your post in which you wrote that you are interested in my 2 hours of Swara singing. That is why I am answering it now.

In general, to demonstrate either Swarakalpana or Ragalapana to the students I need 2 hours for each topic and for a work-shop for the students I may need 6 days to cover both the topics working from 7 am to 7 pm daily with a recess of I hour in-between. I have already held such work-shop in Kerala and you can find the details in http://rasikas.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=19085. amsharma