The Circus Travels - Next stop March 17th- 6 PM(Note change

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 28 Feb 2007, 15:42

Nick
It is the street parallel to the one where we had the first program.
the next parallel.

meena · Post by **meena** » 02 Mar 2007, 23:35

kji

I was looking fwd. to chembai giving directions to Nick. And u could have captured on ur video Nick gliding down. hee hee

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 17 Mar 2007, 08:34

REMINDER

CONCERT IS ON SCHEDULE
TODAY EVENING AT 6.05 PM SHARP.

Will not extend beyond 9 pm since Mr.GS Mani has to catch a train to Delhi.

abadri and mantra will be making their appearance today.
sripathi-We know you will be there in spirit.

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 17 Mar 2007, 10:35

GB Bhuvaneswaran has confirmed his participation.
Mantra confirms the participation of Srinivasa Sarma , also.

vijay · Post by **vijay** » 17 Mar 2007, 13:16

HI Coolji, a friend is visiting town today. He is leaving this evening as well - I'll try to make it at least for a part of the concert but if not, my apologies. I need to figure out a way to pass on my contribution anyhow.

Nick H · Post by **Nick H** » 18 Mar 2007, 01:25

A great evening of music and good ambience

Many thanks to all involved.

I'm looking forward to getting the recording and roping in Suseela to translate the stories and mini-lectures for me. Even when he put some into English (which was very kind) for my benefit my deafness rather got in the way.

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 18 Mar 2007, 06:43

That was a memorable evening indeed.
Was a kind of concert that stood somewhere between a Lec Dem and a Regular Concert.
It was delightful to see Neyveli Santhanagoplan come in and sit a few feet away from the Artist , listening intently (Boy ! Did'nt he make a fine speech at the end !).
Vijay was sorely missed .So was his Cover with his contribution !
Mantra came in with his Dad .
Ananth went missing (wonder what latest turbulence in Italian politics kept him away).GBB was there but had to leave early.
Manakkal Rangarajan too came with Family
Govindan had a nice question for the artist - but more on that later.
Rajesh gave up the task of writing down of krithis halfway through-He ended up with 12 unheard of krithis-Great day for him.His camera must be bursting with photos.
First time I heard Manakkal Sriram in a live concert and the experience was great.
We cut down on Sweet and Khara and restricted to Water / Coffee.
Video was in the hands of a Professional this time

An evening that brought to mind the value of the statement ,
"You Spend an evening with most.With a few , you invest in an evening".
MA Sundaresan's Violin was such a pleasure
Natabhairavi - Shudha Sarang - Chandrakauns - Mayamalavagowla and its Musilm Connections,Nadanamkriya (I had requested this for the sake of a member here)-Valaji- the Abhang and its story -
and that last speech on the real Meaning of Music to all of us ....

This was one great evening.

mahesh33 · Post by **mahesh33** » 18 Mar 2007, 07:45

Natabhairavi - Shudha Sarang - Chandrakauns - Mayamalavagowla and Nadanamkriya

sounds very inviting! Senior artists performing for the sake of the art....this is true greatness in my mind. Raave Himagiri of TV Ramprasad in the previous concert was divine....Kji, keep up the good work. IN the hands of an administrator like you, rasikas.org cant grow fast enough

!

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 18 Mar 2007, 07:47

Sounds like a dream!
Now let us have the reality trickle in!

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 18 Mar 2007, 09:17

Kji,
It must have been divine - this is one of the times that I wish that Hogwarts existed and that I was a student there! The very thought of listening to a concert in the company of Sri Ranggarajan, and Sri Santhanagopalan is very rOmancak!

rajumds · Post by **rajumds** » 18 Mar 2007, 09:48

It was a wonderful evening. The fact that the artists and most of the rasikas stayed back for around 30 mins after the concert which ended by 9.30 pm is a proof of the mood Sri G S Mani created .In fact he was one of the last to leave. After the concert GSM remarked that it was such a pleasure singing to knwolegeble & committed rasikas and it was his duty to share the knowledge with rasikas. He conveyed his wishes for our venture & offered his full support.

Please don't miss down loading this concert.

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 18 Mar 2007, 12:58

And I must add the fact a few members in the age range of 80 - 95 , sitting upright in a chair with heads still , gave a sense of PERIOD for the concert.
This is one feature that distinguishes Sastri hall concerts from the rest.
Impeccable way of dressing for the evening (wonder how they keep their attire SO WHITE , even with Chennai Water)
One, who at 84 is still singing , and another at 94 had regular concerts at his home in Trichy- the last of which he recorded in the Mid 50s there !!!!

vijay · Post by **vijay** » 18 Mar 2007, 14:16

Too bad I missed it - sounds like a great evening. Indeed I had made it as far as as West Mambalam after dropping my friend off at the airport but it was past 8.30 by then and I realized that I did not know the name of the street...I have to remain content with the recording though..

The contribution will reach you though Kulkarniji - Rasika 007 should be approaching you shortly with an FYEO cover!

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 18 Mar 2007, 20:13

Vijay

Missed your lively commentary. Do still offer it after the u/l.

ccolkarni

Looks like you have new recruits from the other side of the spectrum. Do please introduce them to us when the pictures come out!
Boy! our team now consists of Manakkal, Neyveli and Madurai-- indeed a formidable team!

sbala · Post by **sbala** » 18 Mar 2007, 20:40

Gosh! Missed this one for the world cup match and what a blunder it turned out to be!

kaumaaram · Post by **kaumaaram** » 18 Mar 2007, 21:09

I had just moved into a new assignment and regret missing this concert. Yet, I hope the reviews and recordings will satisfy our quench for good music.

rajeshnat · Post by **rajeshnat** » 18 Mar 2007, 21:39

Madurai GS [email protected](take #2 circus show) on March 17th,2007

Accompanied by MA Sundareshwaran - violin and manakkAl Sriram - Mridangam

I think Shri GS Mani is one unique carnatic musician, who has not just seen quite a lot of frontiers that are closely related to CM but also assimilated deep inside within him to present CM from those frontiers. To name a few kAtha kAlakshebham, relating HM to CM ,devotion aspect of CM, stint of film music within the framework of CM , Abhangs and devotion aspect of abhang. He gave a cocktail of all those frontiers,just having only 3 hours to expose his 74 years of wisdom .

The vidwan was ably supported by MAS who is just top class when HM and CM intersects and Sriram (who i heard for the first time) who played with lot of pakkavadya sowkhyam.

Without taking away the excitement that you all will hear soon, Just listen to this vidwan Shri Gs mani's with this anecdote.

At the end of the concert ,
I asked him : "MamA who is your Guru??"
Shri Gs Mani said : "Enakku antha easwaran thAn guru (Lord easwara is my guru)" .

rajeshnat · Post by **rajeshnat** » 18 Mar 2007, 21:42

It was very tough to note down the songlist, because most were new .I am assuming since rAm and bharath left before the last few krithis, let me post this. I may be wrong with few of the composers/ragAs/krithis .

1. Intha chAlamu(varnam) - begadA - Veenai kuppier
Rest of everything should be new. I talked with Shri GS Mani's two grand daughters and his wife at the end of the concert to know about the composers/rAgas of the rare 12 + krithis. One of his teenaged grand daughter answered only in one tone. Ithu en thathA vodathu ("My grandpa composed this")

2. varaguna gambheera gajavadanam - kAnadA - madurai GS Mani
3. tarunam eedammA (R,S) - nAsikAbhooshani - madurai GS Mani

4A . A fantastic "intellectual" lecdem on MAyaMAlavagowlai.
I liked his definition of lifecycle of lakshyam to lakshanam and back to lakshyam. And his demonstration of "allAhu akbar" and connecting to mAyamAlava gowlai , I am just thinking now that he possibly knew that india is going to be thrashed by bangladesh in the world cup.

4B. karunasamOdhamu neevE (R,NS,S) - mAyamAlavagowlai - madurai GS Mani
neraval sketch in "mAyupravaghamu??"

5. rajendra kanye girisuthe gambeera mAlini(R) - shuddha sArang - madurai GS Mani
6. melukO melukO mAthangi thalli - bowli - madurai GS Mani
7A. mayilvahananE mAl(R,S) - natabhairavi - madurai GS Mani
7B. tani

8A. A fantastic "emotive" lecdem on this abhang by madhwamuneeshwar.
8B. tooo mAza etumAnana?? - kAfi (I guess most of you know do not know that KAfi is mishra sAlakabhairavi ) - madhwamuneeshwar??

9A. rAga alApanai with sprinkle of swaram - pahadi
9B. supa pAgath thAmthoShani - pahadi -???
10. nAlai varum enru nambalAmA - chandrakowns - madurai GS Mani

11A. slokham (could not catch the lines)- mishra kAmacchh -??
11B. darisanu lOkhanum shyam - mishra kAmacchh - tukkarAm ?

12. pratyangirAbhagavathim - nAdanAmakriya - Muttuswamy Dikshitar
13. talaci nantanE nA -mukhAri - ThyagarAja

14A. slokham + viruththam - combo
"pOnarkanchi" - bhavani +shankharabharanam + ? + valaci+ briindavan sAranga (all in slokham)
nilai yetra thanniL ninrAlum - sindhubhairavi(viruththam)

14B. chidambaranai digambaranai gangAdharanai - sindhubhairavi - Madurai GS Mani

15. Speech by neyveli santhanagOpalan.
16. Mangalam

On a side note,rasikas.org is just metamorphosising slowly as a sabha .We had a delayed start as the artists (vocalist and violinist were held up in traffic jam).We had parking problems near the concert hall .We did not hear the violin in the begadA varnam. We also had quite a lot of long speeches and interesting requests , but Shri GS mani compensated the speech time by extending his kutcheri (Kudos to Shri GS Mani

,let musicians of today pick that aspect ). Tx to Shri NAgeshwaran and their family for hosting concert #2 .Needless to say

and his team rocked.

vgvindan · Post by **vgvindan** » 18 Mar 2007, 22:31

rajesh,
the slOka is 'kvaNatkAncI dAma' - saundarya lahari (7)

kvaNatkAncI dAma karikalabha kumbha-stana natA
parikShINA madhyE pariNata Saraccandra-vadanA ||
dhanur-bANAn pASam sRNimapi dadhAnA karastalai:
purastA dAstAm na: puramathitu rAhO-puruSikA || 7 ||

The svarUpa of dEvi in maNipUraka cakra (opposite to navel) is described in the SlOka.

One who is adorned with jingling (kvaNat) golden waist belt (oDDiyANam) (kAncI dAmA), one who is a little bent because of breasts resembling that of the head of elephant (kari-kalabha-kumbha-stana-nathA), one who is very slender (parikSINA) in the middle (waist) (madhyE), one who has a face like the full-moon of autumnal season (pariNata Saraccandra vadanA), one who wields (dadhAnA) sugar-cane bow, flower arrows, noose (pAza) and goad (sRni) (dhanur-bANAn pAzam-sRNimapi) in the hands (karatalai:), the parAzakti - the wonderful embodiment of ego (ahambhAva) (AhO-puruSikA) of Siva - one who destroyed the three cities (puramathitu:) - may She manifest (AstAm) before (purastAt) us (na:)

(SlOka and meanings as given in the book 'saundarya lahari - bhASyam' - commentator - Anna - Ramakrishna Math, Mylapore publication.
Translated from Tamil by me.

meena · Post by **meena** » 18 Mar 2007, 23:01

rajesh

thanks

meena · Post by **meena** » 18 Mar 2007, 23:05

Lji

Has sree GS Mani published his comp.?

Nick H · Post by **Nick H** » 19 Mar 2007, 00:22

14A. slokham + viruththam - comboI once asked my guruji if these two words meant the same thing. He told me yes --- he may well have been simplifying to give me an answer appropriate to my elementary level of knowledge. There is a difference?

I have to say that the speaking, whether by Sri Mani or by others, did not seem to me to take away from the 'time' of the performance. Everything seemed perfectly balanced. (even to me: a non-tamil-speaker!).

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 19 Mar 2007, 03:43

High praise indeed, Nick!
Let me try to answer your question - experts can correct me.
viruttams are usually in tamizh, while slOkams are in sanskrit. They can both be used in place of an AlAp to give the rAgaswarUpa without an inbuilt tAla aspect...

vasya10 · Post by **vasya10** » 19 Mar 2007, 04:32

that sounds like a wonderful concert, all new previously unheard krits -- thats my fav.

i have only listened to a few of sri GS Mani Iyer concerts, (posted in these forums) and there is "saukhyam" in it. i cant describe it, but it gives immense satisfaction and peace to the mind.

am not attempting to compare any artists here, but for some artists, the saukhyam aspect of the music stands apart (mdr, trs, gsm etc) and it really makes one listen them again and again.

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 19 Mar 2007, 05:36

No doubt GSM enjoyed an appreciative intellectual crowd! He has indeed given a scholarly treat. I just can't wait to hear/see the program.
Please ask him and post the lyrics for his compositions so that we can fully enjoy them. Thanks.

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 19 Mar 2007, 07:25

Photos are trickling in.please keep checking this link.

http://coolkarni.badongo.com/gallery/8756/0

abadri can be seen (in a red shirt) next to Nick and rbharath.

mohan · Post by **mohan** » 19 Mar 2007, 08:01

coolkarni wrote:Photos are trickling in.please keep checking this link.

http://coolkarni.badongo.com/gallery/8756/0

I get a message saying this album is password-protected

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 19 Mar 2007, 08:14

password

GSMANI

please use capitals , or copy and paste.
sorry.still not used to this album mechanism.

mohan · Post by **mohan** » 19 Mar 2007, 08:31

Thanks - got to see the photos. Very nice to see the presence of senior musicians in the audience. I note you have used Kannan for the sound system. They do a great job - I used them for the kutcheri at my wedding!

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 19 Mar 2007, 08:50

Thanks
I thought it was mikeless concert!
Nice to see Neyveli geetting involved!
Do identify other folks!

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 19 Mar 2007, 09:56

photo no 6
The Old Gentleman is Mr PA Gopalkrishnan .He used to reside in Trichy , with his home right opposite the House of Ratnachalam Iyer (a philanthropist who hosted Concerts at home in the 30s-40s)
two unknown faces to us ( photo no2 person with yellow T shirt entering) and photo no 5 , sitting in front of badri ) are
Mr Chandran and Mr Satyamurthy- Long time fans of GS Mani

rbharath · Post by **rbharath** » 19 Mar 2007, 10:47

it was a nice evening. from the list by Rajesh, i knew almost none of the songs. just the varnam and the dikshitar kritis were familiar ones.

Ram and I had to leave when he began the sindhubhairavi slokam.

Nick H · Post by **Nick H** » 19 Mar 2007, 12:20

rshankar, thanks for the explanation. So it is mostly a matter of language?

Ram... If you email me your number it would be nice to meet for a cup of tea one day while we are still neighbours!

ninjathegreat · Post by **ninjathegreat** » 19 Mar 2007, 12:24

coolji, use picasaweb... it's awesome...

ninjathegreat · Post by **ninjathegreat** » 19 Mar 2007, 12:30

you are all having all the fun

... I'm going to try and attend the "carnatica brothers" concert in phoenix this thursday... How about some snippets? A lot of the compositions are new to me too...

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 19 Mar 2007, 12:39

ninja
you will get the full concert here - audio as well as video-
all the fun... dont forget to be here in the middle of the month-either may or july...
phoenix..please convey my warm regards to sashikiran.

ram · Post by **ram** » 19 Mar 2007, 13:17

Done Nick. Have mailed my contact number to you.

Coolji: Nick and I discovered we are neighbours just like Rajesh & Vijay did a couple of weeks back - all courtesy rasikas.org !!!!!

mridhangam · Post by **mridhangam** » 19 Mar 2007, 13:20

i missed it. Neyveli sir infact asked me to come to the function. But due to some other personal peroccupation i couldnt make it. Next time i will be there to meet you all friends at rasikas.
Thanks for the excellent service. Photos are excellent and Coolji can you upload more pics if you have pls
Tks
J.balaji

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 19 Mar 2007, 14:27

we will have lots of photos.shortly.

ram .. we can now breathe easily.Wont have to worrry about Nickslatet night returns,anymore.

Ananth · Post by **Ananth** » 19 Mar 2007, 14:58

coolkarni wrote:Ananth went missing (wonder what latest turbulence in Italian politics kept him away).

How did you know?! In fact I was away showing around Chennai to some Italian visitors, having forgotten the change of date and still thinking that the concert is on Sunday.
What a pity! Any way I eagerly await the uploads now...

Nick H · Post by **Nick H** » 19 Mar 2007, 15:34

Its ok... I've now pretty much sorted out which of the roads converging on Panagal Park goes where --- and which is my route home

No sign of the mail yet, Ram... I'll keep an eye open and let you know if it doesn't arrive.

Better still, I'll mail you my number: one direction or the other is bound to get through!

ram · Post by **ram** » 19 Mar 2007, 16:01

Nick: My email ID is [email protected]

I think the emails sent through the forum take some time to arrive.

Coolji: I think Nick knows Chennai roads better than I do. I almost took him on a site-seeing tour of Mambalam when returning back last time

MANNARGUDIYAAN · Post by **MANNARGUDIYAAN** » 19 Mar 2007, 19:18

eagerly awaiting upload..... thank you coolji...

vgvindan · Post by **vgvindan** » 19 Mar 2007, 19:46

In an otherwise a very enjoyable evening with GSM, there was a jarring note - I am referring to GSM's statement about brahman as 'sUnya'.
That a person who would sing saundarya lahari - kvaNat kAnci dAmA - so nicely to enable listeners behold the Mother in all her beauty, should describe that same 'AhO puruShikA' as 'sUnya' is not very convincing. Did he fumble in selection of words? Much would I like to forget these words, they ring in my ears discordantly.

arunk · Post by **arunk** » 19 Mar 2007, 20:38

vgv,

A google search on sunya and brahman (sunya brahman) returns many relevant hits. This concept of sunya with brahman (the nothing/void that is all) seems like a strand of Hindu philosophy.

Arun

vgvindan · Post by **vgvindan** » 19 Mar 2007, 20:53

arun,
sUnya vAda belongs to buddhism.
'brahman' is not 'nothingness' or 'void';
the triple designation of brahman is 'sat-cit-Ananda'. 'sat' is 'being' or 'existence' and not 'nothing' or 'void'.

arunk · Post by **arunk** » 19 Mar 2007, 21:07

vgv,

ok - i see that it does fit best with buddhist philosophy - this being the critical difference with Hindu philosophy.

But my point was it may not be a slip in choice of words.

Arun

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 19 Mar 2007, 21:32

vgv
In IshAvAsya if you replace 'pUrNaM with shUnyaM everything holds. In fact in mathematics infinity and zero map onto each other and both are indeterminate. In fact 'zero' as we know is the contribution of the Indian philosophers (not buddhists!). Again shUnya (as per indian philosophy is not 'nothing'. It is like the 'point' in geometry which exists but has no dimentions. The point generates the rest of the dimentions though it is of shUnya dimension. Hence don't be too hasty in condemning GSM; both of you are looking at the same thing. Just review the theory of 'Big Bang' and see how logical the shUnya concept is !

Further if you check the dictionary (Apte) for the meaning of shUnyaM, one of the meaning is Brahman!

drshrikaanth · Post by **drshrikaanth** » 19 Mar 2007, 21:55

From tiruvAymoZhi

uLan enil uLan avan uruvam ivvuruvugaL
uLan alan enil avan aruvam ivvaruvugaL
uLan ena ilan ena ivai guNam uDaimaiyil
uLan iru tagaimaiyoDu ozhivilan parandE || (1.9)

AmE ennin AmEyAm inRE ennin inREyAm | (kambarAmAyaNam. MSS has sung this)

Basically, the parabrahma cannot be defined by any word or language:- for once that can be classified or decsribed by a word, that beocmes bound by or limited to the meanings and connotaions of that word/definition. And that simply is not parabrahma anymore. So SUnya and pUrNa can both be taken to parabrahma. IMO that does not necessarily negate the existence of tat

Without any intentions of blasphemy "pUrNamadaH pUrNamidam pUrNAt pUrNamudacyatE-- "can equally be correct if one says "SUnyamadaH SUnyamidam SUnyAt SUnyamudacyatE----".

drshrikaanth · Post by **drshrikaanth** » 19 Mar 2007, 21:56

CML

You have said the same thing as I have