Hilarity in kutcheris

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 03 Apr 2009, 06:34

Many thanks Krishna!
Superb scenes... and superber

music of PUC...

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 03 Apr 2009, 07:35

Krishna,
Thanks for finding it. Had a laugh and could relive some moments of my childhood!

CML,
The scene stops abruptly just before he sang that song in kApi! SrIrangam enum kShEttira vAsi makes an entry then...

Nagaraj,
What a brainy tree!

Nick,
It is not as simple as what VK says. Yes, I do remember now that Arun pointed out that it is male cuckoos which sing (this one plays the flute, by the way). The reason for VK to assume this name was because of his admiration for N.C.Vasanthakokilam who was a shining female star in the CM world. Her career was cut short by her illness and ultimate death at a young age...

Vasanthakokilam,
From the weather reports I gather that there is snow and cold weather predicted for your part of the country. Now, don't you climb that snow-laden tree and start tootling

erode14 · Post by **erode14** » 03 Apr 2009, 12:39

ksrimech wrote:P U Chinappa Bhagavathar & his snuff powder in Krishna Bhakti:

While mridangam holds a degree as firt two letters, this man has the three letters...

BTW, the mrudangam artiste playing for little father (like the parents of mobile phone are Cellamma & Cellappa!)is Shri S.V.S.Narayanan.

ragam-talam · Post by **ragam-talam** » 03 Apr 2009, 15:22

vasanthakokilam wrote:The weather is very nice outside, may be I should cuckoo and make spring official

Just be careful people don't think you've gone cuckoo!

All this talk of cuckoos reminds me the movie One Flew over the Cuckoo's nest

Nick H · Post by **Nick H** » 03 Apr 2009, 15:39

Hats off to VK for such a wonderful name

. So closely related to the Koel? The male and female Koels have different calls; now I come to think of it, so do the European cuckoos, with the male making the eponymous sound.

I wish I had known before.

Two more words for my small vocabulary, thank you, Arasi.

gobilalitha · Post by **gobilalitha** » 03 Apr 2009, 15:54

obscenity!! what is the plural of cuckoo?hilarity at its worst. gobilalitha
post 356 may be removed

erode14 · Post by **erode14** » 03 Apr 2009, 18:13

what is the nexus between the number 356 and removal of things?(right from "thing", post and government)

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 03 Apr 2009, 20:04

arasi
I am more thrilled with the kedaram and the fire-power of PUC in its delivery. Towards the end ofthe movie he sings in sindhubhairavi 'ellOrum nallavarE..' which is an alltime best...

GBL
At our senior age there is no fears of becoming 'cuckold'

though VK has made us cuckoo with his passion for laya asking questions that drive even experts cuckoo

With the onset of spring he has started 'flying over the nest' and let the crows beware

Nick
The Indian cuckoos are smaller and sweeter! And you won't find any Nightingales here!

erode
Is SVS Narayanan still around? and did he play concerts in his days?

erode14 · Post by **erode14** » 03 Apr 2009, 20:11

Randor Guy has written in detail about the film Krishna Bhakthi...

With her good looks and singing talents not surprisingly motion picture producers went after her to get her into movies. One of them was the powerful Tamil film producer of his day, SM. Letchumanan Chettiar better known as 'Lena Chettiar' of Krishna Pictures. MLV appeared in a single scene in Lena's Tamil production, a musical movie, " Krishna Bhakthi" (1948).

In this film she sings in a king's court, a popular Saint Thyagaraja Swamigal composition in raga, 'sarasvati manOhari', "Enta vETukoNDu rAghavA"¦.." Slim and sensuously attractive, MLV looks impressive on screen . and her accompanying artistes were all women. The on-screen 'mridangam'- player was Kumari N. Rajam who was an adept in playing on that inimitable percussion instrument. During the song recording the noted mridangam artiste of the day, S. V. S. Narayanan played on the mridangam. Kumari Rajam 'acted' the scene well because she knew to play the instrument!

(Narayanan was the son of the singing stage and screen star of yesteryears, S. V. Subbaiah Bhagavathar of " Jayajaya Gokulabala"¦" fame. Sadly Narayanan passed away young without his talents flowering to full bloom. He too appeared in a single scene in " Krishna Bhakthi" playing on the mridangam in the famous and brilliant "Kathakalakshepam" sequence by the hero, P.U. Chinnappa.)

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 03 Apr 2009, 20:16

Nick,
kOyal (as it is known in Hindi) explains the koel to you. The sound of it appealed to the B.isher, I guess, like champak, the fragrant flower. Shelley sings: the champak odour fails....

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 03 Apr 2009, 20:18

How we are steering away from the topic here too, as if to prove that music and rasikAs are in it togther!

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 03 Apr 2009, 20:19

Thanks
All the more interesting to know he was the son of SV Subbaiah bhagavathar. No cafe in TN existed which did not play his songs on a ricketty Gramophone those days!
If only MLV had agreed she would have become a superstar eclipsing even MS and KBS !

shripathi_g · Post by **shripathi_g** » 03 Apr 2009, 20:22

I read this thread in one go and it had me in splits the entire time. Now that I've collected myself together, here's a few from my end.

MDR

In one concert, he launches into a Begada alapana. After a few minutes, he pauses and says "Yojana panni paadanum. Romba naal aachu padi. Ennamo paadindruken na. Niruthi dhyanam panni paadanum" (It's been a while sing I sang this. I'm just meandering here. I need to focus).

http://sangeethamshare.org/sripathy/Aud ... Begada.mp3

At the end of the alapana, he says "Namma oorle indha street light eppovum seriya velai pannadhu. Pournami annikki nanna eriyum aana amaavasai annikki anaichiduvan. Adhu madhiri eppo venumo andha ideas varadhu" (Street lights don't always work on our streets. They work well on full moon day and are turned off on when there's a new moon).

In another concert with TNK and UKS, he's singing Sogasuga mridanga talamu. The anupallavi goes like this "nigama shirOttamu galgina nija vAkkulatO svara shuddhamutO". He sings a number of sangathis on nigama shirOttamu galgina and finally sings "nija vAkkulatO". He pauses and remarks "Nijam, a rare commodity these days".

Mali

Mali is playing a sublime Begada but there's a lot of chatter in the audience. He points out to some guy and says in a drawl (*wink*) "Saaar, dhees is naat dha time for dhees. After you finish, I'll start". Everything goes quiet and he plays a beautiful Nadopasana.

http://surasa.net/cgi-bin/plist.cgi?mal ... opasana.rm

A famous musician was singing Sabhapathiku veru dheivam and in the charanam he sang a few sangathis at "Oru dharam siva chidambaram endru uraithal podhume" (Uttering Shiva's name even once is enough (to get his grace) ). The naughty mridangist leaned over and whispered "Ennana, oru dhadava sonna podhumnu naalanju dhadava sollitele" (You said it was enough to sing it once and now you have sung it 4 or 5 times).

erode14 · Post by **erode14** » 03 Apr 2009, 20:34

As told by UKS Sir:

Once there was the famous upanyAsakar who called his sishya and asked for a pancha pAthram which was found missing. The sishya told, "mama.. I think I have misplaced it somewhere in the place we stayed before" and got a scolding for that.

After a few months, a similar thing happened but, this time, the sishya has brought an extra one, which would have been a belonging of the people who hosted them!

Again he got a heavy dose from his guru. Wondering why the man is unpredictable, he said "enna mAmA neenga... vechuttu vandhAlum thittaREL... eduththuNdu vandhAlum thittaREL!"

shripathi_g wrote:

http://rasikas.org/forums/post113776.html#p113776

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 03 Apr 2009, 20:35

shripathi_g,
Thanks for some good ones and the translation for those who cannot understand tamizh.
MDR was endearing in that he shared some of his introspective moments with the rest of us!

shripathi_g · Post by **shripathi_g** » 03 Apr 2009, 20:45

Suji Ram wrote:In one of MDR's rendition of bhAvayAmi raghurAmam, he sings "bhAvayami jayarAmam" after the mOhanam part. The audience laugh.. probably Lalgudi Jayaraman was accompanying him? He says something about Jayam..could not catch it all in the recording.

He stops before singing "Athi gora soorpanaka" and says "Ippo dhan varuvale enga amma" (Now comes our dear lady) . Needs to be heard to be appreciated better.

erode14 · Post by **erode14** » 03 Apr 2009, 21:40

vganesh wrote:Erode Sir,
Reading in Tamizh with big A, small a combinations kashtamAirukku. Englishle ezhuthongalen. EllArum padikarAllo theriyAdhu

Dear Ganesh,

The problem is, if we don't write them with those combinations, one can mistake nedu nel vAdai (the 7th among "paththu pAttu by nakkeeran) for nedu nAL vadai(a vada made many days ago!)...

Just to avoid common errors owing to optical illusions!

some famous ones are...

nanmai kadaipidi [do good]
namma kadai beedi [the beedi of our shop!]

nEsamaNi ponnaiyAh [a name]
nAsamA nee pOniyA [have you gone to dogs?]

apAram [great]
aparam [next or 40th samakAram!]

mALavi [rAgam]
malAvi [dhEsam]

a lot can be added, that is why the forum's name itself is
rasikAs OyArji [rasikas are never tired of.... what not?]

shripathi_g · Post by **shripathi_g** » 03 Apr 2009, 21:59

MMI, Thiruvalangadu Sundaresa Iyer and PMI were giving a concert in Nangavaram once. After replying to MMI's Nalinakanthi alapana, TSI remarks "Indha edathla vaasika naanga panam kudukanum" (We should be the ones paying to perform here). MMI replies "Ivar kuduka thayar" (Tells the audience that TSI is ready to pay). TSI says "Illa neenga kudukalam. Ippdi kutcheri na kaathotama irundha nalla gushi" ( If it's nice and airy, it just peps us up). MMI says "Na evalovu kudukanumnu solli vittudadheer" (Don't tell me how much I should pay).

http://www.sangeethamshare.org/sripathy ... am-001.mp3 (About 24 minutes into the concert).

shripathi_g · Post by **shripathi_g** » 03 Apr 2009, 22:01

What's the difference between an apple and an onion?

An apple a day keeps the doctor away. An onion a day keeps everybody away.

PS: I heard this as a masal vada instead of an onion. A very naughty friend of mine whispered it into my ear in a biology class when I was in my 9th std I guess. I burst out laughing and immediately panicked since the biology teacher was a strict disciplinarian. He made me tell the joke to the whole class and thankfully laughed along with us. *phew*.

mridhangam · Post by **mridhangam** » 03 Apr 2009, 22:02

Shripathi there is another one with this apple.....

An apple a day keeps the doctor away.

If the doctor is a lady keep the apple away.

J.Balaji

erode14 · Post by **erode14** » 03 Apr 2009, 22:19

like the reserve bank keeps the vAzhaip pazham away!

[banana - Ban - aNa]

shripathi_g · Post by **shripathi_g** » 03 Apr 2009, 23:30

Doh completely missed the Sabhapathiku veru dheivam thread when I posted that joke.

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 03 Apr 2009, 23:44

Here is a story that I used while teaching our medical students in the good old days when immunizations were not commonly available :

As the doctor examined little mohan who was miserably ill he queried his father whether the boy had kissed anybody since he was getting a virulent attack of measles. The father replied that the boy was quite friendly with the servant girl and he kissed her quite often. Doctor said that was too bad and the servant girl will get it soon. The father now squirming a bit confided to the doctor that he had kissed the servant girl. The doctor added that it was too bad and now the father is sure to get it. And as he was about to leave the man added: 'Doctor I have also kissed my wife'. The doctor suddenly exploded "damn it! Now I am going to get it "

(Measles is contagious in the pre-infectious period before even the symptoms manifest.)

Nick H · Post by **Nick H** » 04 Apr 2009, 00:06

CMLover... could not resist looking it up, and, yes! The Nightingale is an 'occasional visitor' according to Salim Ali!!

The sound of the Koel, for me, is as much a part of Mylapore as is the sound of carnatic music. Of course they are found elsewhere in the city (seldom, sadly, here, although the crows are not sad about that) but somehow the Mylapore ones are more sonorous, more resonant.

They are also the subject of a sweet song...

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 04 Apr 2009, 02:22

nick H wrote:They are also the subject of a sweet song...

Here is one of them: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQ6sTjW2 ... playnext=1

srkris had posted the rAgs featured in this song one before.

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 04 Apr 2009, 03:02

Nick

There wss once a crow who really wanted to attend a CM concert of the kuyils. And as he confided to one of the kuyil friend who promised to take him along if he promised to keep quiet all the time. The kuyil introduced the crow to the rasika clan as a kuyil who was an expert in CM but who does not talk much. As the concert started the performer kuyil who had a very bad sore throat and was hence so raucous that the concert had to be terminated prematurely. The Crow now took the stage and said: "it is very difficult for me comment on today's concert but with difficulty I will try to conclude the concert in the format and spirit it was started". Saying that the Crow cawed to his heart's content

(incidentally CM hhas nothing to do with the voice quality; even those who have a not so pleasant voice can still be a great expert. Eg., MDR

arunk · Post by **arunk** » 04 Apr 2009, 03:05

Gasp! MDR not a pleasant voice

? When you have ARI and SSI to choose from

!

Arun

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 04 Apr 2009, 03:07

It is true Arun. His voice has been considered inappropriate by a number of Rasikas during his time..
(No offence..)
SSI used to make fun of those who had a high pitched voice simple because he could never reach out

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 04 Apr 2009, 03:57

Arun,
Times do change. MMI had a beautiful voice. We adored him. Yet, there were some who thought he trivialized serious music by singing 'ta ra la lA's and 'Ays' and 'Oys'! I wish they had stayed around to see how highly he is regarded by today's rasikAs. As CML says, MDR was not mainstream at all for some. Those who were very keen on his music were teased: erumai mADu kanaikkiRadu pOl, enna pATTu adu? as a buffalo sounds!! rasikAs were as merciless in their opinions in those days too, as they are now.
Musicians, take heart! Hopefully rasikAs will appreciate you fully in your performing years instead of glorifying you when you have retired or have left this earth

shripathi_g · Post by **shripathi_g** » 04 Apr 2009, 04:22

I thought MDR was disliked because of his slow singing. I totally love his voice mostly because my singing voice is very close to his.

Also, I don't think he always sang in a very low sruthi.

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 04 Apr 2009, 04:29

arasi
you hit the nail on the head

Even the Trinity were not appreciated in their days. But for the coterie of devoted sishyas where will CM be today. Just that lack of sishyas simply doomed OVK, who again was not fully appreciated later as the rediscovery goes on.
It is distance that always lends enchantment to the view

P.S: I could also add HMB to the list

PUNARVASU · Post by **PUNARVASU** » 04 Apr 2009, 06:44

cmlover wrote:Nick

There wss once a crow who really wanted to attend a CM concert of the kuyils. And as he confided to one of the kuyil friend who promised to take him along if he promised to keep quiet all the time. The kuyil introduced the crow to the rasika clan as a kuyil who was an expert in CM but who does not talk much. As the concert started the performer kuyil who had a very bad sore throat and was hence so raucous that the concert had to be terminated prematurely. The Crow now took the stage and said: "it is very difficult for me comment on today's concert but with difficulty I will try to conclude the concert in the format and spirit it was started". Saying that the Crow cawed to his heart's content

(incidentally CM hhas nothing to do with the voice quality; even those who have a not so pleasant voice can still be a great expert. Eg., MDR

There was this subhAshitam in samskritam:
kAkah krishNah pikah krishNah, kO bhEdO pikakAkayOho
vasanta kAlE samprAptE sati kAkah kAkaha pikah pikaha.
(The crow is black, the cuckoo is black, what then is the difference between the two?
When the spring comes (one knows) the crow is the CROW and the cuckoo is the cuckoo.
Probably we can add
'sangeetha sabhAyAM, kAkah kAKha, pikah pikaha.
(On the dais of the music sabha, a crow is a crow and cuckoo is a cuckoo).

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 04 Apr 2009, 07:09

To maintain the chandas you should have something like:
sangeeta sabhAyAM madhyE kAkaH kAkaH pikaH pikaH |

tathApi vivAha ApaNE bhEdaM nAsti kAkapikayOH |
(yet in the marriage market there is no difference (in the sale value) of a crow vs cuckoo

mridhangam · Post by **mridhangam** » 04 Apr 2009, 10:49

It was commented by mridangists about the lowest Shruti of MDR. It is also difficult to prepare mridangam for such lowest sruthis. When asked a famous mridangist, what he is planning to do for the ensuing concert for MDR next week. The mridangist said "Naan nethikke mridangatha Kinathula Pottutten. Rendu nALla Sruthi irangidum. Appuram thaan eduthu sekkanum".

J.Balaji

ganeshkant · Post by **ganeshkant** » 04 Apr 2009, 12:31

MDR might have sung in a lower shruti but no one can say it lacked melody.Once UKS told that Kunnakudi made some special arrangement in his violin and added an extra string to match the shruti of MDR and together they played many concerts.UKS and also Parur MSA praised Kunnakudy that day for his tenacity in achieving perfection.

Its a normal practice to single out someone when he is not in the group of goats.This is applicable everywhere even in our own families.If you go to kutcheries often you are ridiculed because you are not sitting and watching TV serials along with them !

vasanthakokilam · Post by **vasanthakokilam** » 04 Apr 2009, 12:50

By the same token, I would think violinists would have loved to play for MDR. I had heard that it is a bit harder for violinists to play at the higher sruthies.

ganeshkant: You can further alienate your distractors with a line like this: One week of your serial episodes can be summed up in one line, whereas one line of singing stays with me for the whole week. See, we are not different at all!! ( need to work on polishing it and then on the delivery

)

hariharans · Post by **hariharans** » 04 Apr 2009, 18:33

I was telling my cousin Ravi that if he gets a daughter, he should name her Sindhu.

He asked why so and my reply was

"So that we can call her Sindhu by Ravi"

Nick H · Post by **Nick H** » 04 Apr 2009, 19:13

I'm thinking of a song... forgive the spelling... Koel-lei?

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 04 Apr 2009, 22:14

hariharans wrote:I was telling my cousin Ravi that if he gets a daughter, he should name her Sindhu.

He asked why so and my reply was

"So that we can call her Sindhu by Ravi"

Why not 'Ananda'

mridhangam · Post by **mridhangam** » 05 Apr 2009, 16:37

Why Not (Blank) i mean name her "by ravi ", name her "vasantha" by ravi .. ?

JB

erode14 · Post by **erode14** » 05 Apr 2009, 17:29

ganeshkant wrote:MDR might have sung in a lower shruti but no one can say it lacked melody. !

Shri UKS Sir had played many concerts in a fibre glass mrudangam too for MDR. His sruthi was A or between A and A sharp [heard from his recordings]

I told Vasudha Ravi, " you are vasudha-by-ravi, so sing amba kAmAkshi for main" (when she sang at ganapathi sachidhanandha asram for a vijayadhasami 3 years ago)

if one prays that he lacks fame, God gives keerthi...
if one prays that he has no money, HE blesses with money...
if one sings, "kuRai ondrumillai?!!"

BTW, where is ram?

sudhir · Post by **sudhir** » 05 Apr 2009, 18:27

I remember once a mama (not so knowledgable about KM) had gone to listen to Karnatic Music Concert in Delhi. After he cameback from the concert, he was telling us how great the concert was.
He said innocently
"Concert romba pramadham. Konnakol nu Othar Irundhaar, avar mridungam paadangal yellam karrachu kuduchu appadiye Opichuttaru." with all astonishment
He obviously thought the name of the person as Konakkol.

uday_shankar · Post by **uday_shankar** » 05 Apr 2009, 23:26

(SOME TAMIL REQUIRED)
Once in the US I drove a few hours to catch a jugalbandi of chitravina maestro ravikiran with Santoor maestro Tarun Bhattacharya, accompanied by Ghatam and Konakkol wizard Shri Subash Chandran. I managed to arrive sufficiently early for the concert and rendezvous with them back stage in the green room. Both Ravikiran and Subash Chadran were their usual cordial, jovial and self-effacing selves and enquired if I had eaten and pointed to a generous supply of bondas, vadais, etc.. left there by the organizers. After thanking them for their generosity, I replied that I had come to listen to the jugalbandi and not sit in the "mudal pandi". Subash Chandran was extremely appreciative and said "adada aduve porum" and complimented Ravikiran for imparting such skills to his fan.

mridhangam · Post by **mridhangam** » 06 Apr 2009, 21:26

Once a musician was at home and a good friend of him visited. After exchanging pleasantries the friend asked the musician if he can lend some money to him. The musician didnt want to say no but either didnt want to say Yes. He intended not to give but didnt want to hurt the feelings of the friend. so he said :

Ungalukku Illainnu Sollama Vera yarukku Illainnu sollaporen. (Generally we say Unagalukku Illamala .. vera yarukku sir kudukka poren ?)

J.Balaji

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 06 Apr 2009, 22:45

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 07 Apr 2009, 04:15

Cool,
Hope he makes an appearance soon before folks start asking: who is Ram?!

Yes, Ram. You are missed. To make the duo a trio, hope you will join in. Also with your reviews, I hope.

mridhangam · Post by **mridhangam** » 07 Apr 2009, 10:17

Once a mridanga Vidwan told his students when they came for class. Moonayum Naalayum sekkanum Ana total 9 varanum. Eppadi setha varum ? many hours the students worked and finally came to the guru and accepted their inability to find an answer. The guru asked the students .. what did i ask ? Students Said : - Moonayum Nalayum Setha 9 varanumnu sonnel sir. Eppadi setha varumnu kettel. Eppadi Koottinalum or sethalum vara maatengarade ?

The Guru smiled and answered : Moonayum nAlayum eppadi kootina 9 varum ? Thappa Koottina varum.

J.Balaji

erode14 · Post by **erode14** » 07 Apr 2009, 10:38

3 = Moon
4 = nAlum therinjavan = 6 aRivu.

So, 3 + 6 = 9. Simlple!!

or

4 = Four
3 = moon = 15 (days matter)

So, 4 + 15 = 19. Nineteen is paththombadhu.

oNNu enna? You get paththu onbadhu"¦ ENjoy"¦

what a logic!

that is why i like this...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4Q0qYaz ... annel_page

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 07 Apr 2009, 11:02

erode14 · Post by **erode14** » 07 Apr 2009, 11:10

coolji...

no pathos as the path(of UKS Sir) owes to this sense of humour...