S.Aishwarya at Nayaki on October 24, 2015

[Parvathi M]

Tribute to M.S.Subbulakshmi Concert

Venue : Nayaki – Kotturpuram – Chennai

Date : 24th October 2015

Vocal : S. Aishwarya

Violin: Sherthalai Sivakumar

Mridangam: Akshay Anand

1. Era Napai-Todi varnam-Adi talam

2. Saranu Siddhi Vinayaka- Ragam :Sowraashtram Talam :Mishra chapu Composer : Purandaradasar

3. Parathpara Parameshwara-Ragam :Vachaspathi Talam :Adi  Composer : Papanasam Sivan

4. Sada Sarang Nayane-  Ragam :Ranjani Talam : Adi Composer : H.Yoganarasimhan

5. Saraguna Palimpa- Ragam :Kedaragaulai Talam : Adi  Composer : Sreenivasa Aiyangar

6.Narayana Nina Namada-Ragam:Shuddha Dhanyasi  Talam: Khand chapu Composer: Purandaradasar

7. Shantam Shasvatham Aprameyam – Virutham – Composer Valmiki – Yamuna Kalyani

7.Pibare Ramarasam-Ragam:Yamuna Kalyani     Talam:Adi   Composer:Sadasiva Brahmendra

8.Kandu Kandu-Ragam: ragamaalika(Bageshri,Nadanamakriya,Shubhapantuvarali)Talam: tishra Eka

                       Composer: Poontanam Nambootiri

9.Kurai Onrum Illai-Ragam: Ragamalika (Siva Ranjani,Kapi,Sindhubhairavi) Talam:Adi

                              Composer:C.Rajagopalachari

10.Maithreem Bhajata-Ragam:Yamuna Kalyani and Kapi Talam-Adi

                                  Composer: His Holiness Chandrasekharendra Saraswati Swamigal

11.Sita Kayanam Vaibhogamae-Ragam:Kurinji Talam:Khanda Chapu  Composer:Tyagaraja

I am a recent member of Rasikas,org and I introduce myself as a new student of Kalakshetra. This is my first review

as a part of a Project Work which I am doing.

The concert of Aishwarya began with the Thodi varnam, Era napai,one of M.S. Subbulakshmi's famous

varnams, followed by Saranu Siddhi Vinayaka of Purandaradasar.

Before staring Parathpara Parameshwara, Vachaspathi Ragam was rendered beautifully by Aishwarya. The violinist

Sivakumar responded so well. The karpana swarams by Aishwarya were very unique and brought out the beauty of the

ragam.

Sada Saranga Nayane in Ranjani is a tough composition with so many sangathis and Aishwarya sang this extremely

well. The chittaswaras were beautiful to hear.

The main piece of the concert was Saraguna Palimpa. The raga alapanai of Kedaragaulai was elaborate and brought

out feelings of bhakti. Neraval and Swarams were handled with aplomb.

The mridangam Vidwan Akshay diplayed his excellence in the thani avarthanam.

Mention must be made for the fantastic virutam which Aishwarya sang in Yamuna Kalyani. Pibare Ramarasam was a

surprise choice.

The raga malikas Kandu Kandu and Kurai Onrum Illai were handled with great precision in pure MS style.The concert

ended with an interactive session with Aishwarya , the Great-Granddaughter of the musical doyen,M.S. Subbulakshmi

handling questions deftly.

S.Aishwarya chose all of M.S. Subbulakshmi's famous songs.The concert covered a variety of ragams and she kept the

audience enthralled with her mellifluous voice and wonderful support of Sivakumar and Akshay. The concert was a

great success and the audience were absolutely delighted.

[CRama]

I remember that MSS lived in Kotturpuram. Was this concert held in that house? Nice song list. Very happy to hear about the steady March of Aiswarya. All the best to her.

[harimau]

I remember that MSS lived in Kotturpuram. Was this concert held in that house? Nice song list. Very happy to hear about the steady March of Aiswarya. All the best to her.

This was at the Abhirami Chidambaram Community Center.

Certainly it wasn't the place where SMT MS lived out the last days of her life.

[cienu]

I remember that MSS lived in Kotturpuram. Was this concert held in that house? Nice song list. Very happy to hear about the steady March of Aiswarya. All the best to her.

NAYAKI is located at River View road. It is not too far from where my Grandmother lived. Possibly a 5 minute walk.
As Nick mentioned in a different thread, there is ample parking space and the acoustics are very good.
The President of NAYAKI is Mrs Devaki Muthaiah and the support from the Chettinad Family has ensured that the hall is maintained aesthetically and has a perfect ambience for music concerts. Ms Priya Ravi, the secretary also takes keen interest in the functioning.
Mrs Devaki Muthaiah and Smt Saroja Athmanathan were present for the entire program.

[Nick H]

Welcome to Parvathi M

How great that you join the forum with an informed convert review!

[HarishankarK]

The song list is irksome ! Makes one think if indeed MSS repertoire was so limited ??

[cacm]

Dear Sri. H,
As you know the MS REPERTOIRE IS CLOSE TO 3500 & Aishwarya knows many of them. These concerts are to celebrate the MS CENTENARY & SHE has been requested to sing the WELL KNOWN & RECOGNISED MS FAVOURITES. ESP WHEN SHE SANG WITHIN 5 MINS BY WALK OF WHERE TS& MS LIVED...The last time I heard PARATHPARA was 10 years back! MS,MMI & LGJ MADE THAT SIVAN COMPOSITION IMMORTAL & WE DO NOT EVEN HEAR IT. ....VKV

[HarishankarK]

why was SHE invited to sing in this concert? For a change why can't they invite some other artiste to sing for this theme.
I have nothing against Aishwarya - for her age and experience she is a very good singer. What irritates me is her being so much associated with MSS. It's very artificial - as though we must think she is MSS reincarnate or something.
The girl is a very good singer in her own right. Hope we will just let her be !!

It is not my fault that Parathpara is not being sung in concerts in the last 10 years (and you donot have any evidence to that as well. Am sure you have not attended all the concerts that happened in Chennai, forget the rest of the world, to be sure that Parathpara is obscure.

[pattamaa]

I can't see what wrong with song list... it has good spread of ragam, talam, composers... ofcourse, thyagaraja and deekshitar is not feature...This is MS amma centenary year, and her great grand daughter is a performing artist learning from her grandma. If every single concert is based on MS amma's famous numbers in other than centenary year, i will be bothered... I am sure she is planning to sing more songs which are in MS amma's repertoire, but very often sung...

It is also important on how she sang...

[arasi]

HarishankarK,
I have a different perspective about this. Here is something which also serves the purpose of what we as rasikAs are all united in: wanting to see CM continue to flourish in all possible ways.

Ask any forumite who comes from a musical family. You will hear how they regret that the music wasn't carried on the way it should have been into future generations.

It takes a lot to make it happen. MS heard Aishwarya sing as a five year old and was delighted. She said, "Hope some day you will sing like me!" or something to that effect.

The dedication on the part of her grandmother and her parents in nurturing music in Aishwarya is to be seen to be believed.

There are parents we admire who give their time and encouragement to their children in their wanting to learn CM. I salute them all (especially when they do not live in India).

Back to Aishwarya. A prize winning athlete at school. Someone who could be at college, a carefree youngster. She instead opted for studying from home so that she could zero in on her music, music, mostly that.

Even as a youngster, I saw her as a mature and focused child. Her family and its musical wealth means an awful lot to her.

There are concerts galore all over the globe heralding MS's centenary year. We are all in a celebratory mood, and are also pleased that this great grandchild turned out to be a serious singer, as serious as one can get to be in her teens

Above all, I can imagine the gAnak kuyil looking upon her from up above with that beaming smile of hers...

[harimau]

why was SHE invited to sing in this concert? For a change why can't they invite some other artiste to sing for this theme.
I have nothing against Aishwarya - for her age and experience she is a very good singer. What irritates me is her being so much associated with MSS. It's very artificial - as though we must think she is MSS reincarnate or something.
The girl is a very good singer in her own right. Hope we will just let her be !!

It is not my fault that Parathpara is not being sung in concerts in the last 10 years (and you donot have any evidence to that as well. Am sure you have not attended all the concerts that happened in Chennai, forget the rest of the world, to be sure that Parathpara is obscure.

Look at it this way.

Any number of sabhas and organisers are instituting awards in the name of MS and handing it around. Nobody is trying to see if the name of MS should be trivialised in this manner. In Western countries, you just can't go around using a famous person's name even after their death without permission from the family of that famous person.

A few weeks back we had Mutthamizh Peravai giving an award named for MS to O S Arun. What is the connection, except that both sang bhajans? More recently, it was T N Krishnan getting the MS Award. Hello, did he play hundreds of times for MS? Why not to V V Subramaniam who accompanied her at the UN concert?

Right now everybody and her sister-in-law is in singing Katriniley Varum Geetham, hoping that someone would take notice and invite them to perform at a function in memory of MS and maybe give them an award certifying them to be the MS of our generation.

What are you all going to do if someone gives out an MS award to Paravai Muniyamma (?), a playback singer on the basis that MS sang in a few movies?

Based on that, I would rather have Aiswarya Srinivasan sing a concert in memory of MS than Saindhavi, Mahathi or any number of today's film singers-cum-Carnatic musicians!

Bah, humbug!

[Vignesh Viswanathan]

Thank you Parvathi M for your detailed review. You beat me to it..

Sitting on the stage along with S.Aishwarya and playing the Tambura for her gave me such happiness that cannot be really expressed in words.

The program commenced with a welcome speech by Smt Devaki Muthaiah. She said that Kotturpuram was proud to have had Sri T Sadasivam and Bharat Ratna M.S.Subbulakshmi as residents. And how appropriate it was that during the centenary year, her great grand daughter and Smt Radha Viswanathan’s grand daughter should sing at this venue for a concert in memory of MS.

Ms. Priya Ravi recalled that it was MS Amma who inaugurated Nayaki 19 years back.

The energy filled tempo of Todi Varnam which Aishwarya sang in 2 speeds was a great start to the concert.
The moment she started the Sivan masterpiece Parathpara, a huge applause from the audience greeted the singer as though they had been waiting for this moment.

Extraordinary rendition of the difficult sangathis in Ranjini by Aishwarya was mind boggling.

The neraval and swarams at Varaguna Seshadri Varada Venkateshwara were sublime.

The brief Raga outline of Yamuna Kalyani and her elaborate Virutham in Shantham Shaswatham followed by Pibare Ramarasam was soul stirring. This version of the song tuned by the Pitamaha Semmangudi and sung by MS Amma is not sung at all now a days. The neraval at “Janana Marana Bhaya” was out of the world. I could almost feel her voice vibrate with the Tambura Shruti. I would request Sri Cienu to share this recording.

Sri Shertalai Sivakumar and the young mridangam vidwan Akshay Anand gave tremendous support and enriched the concert

The post concert Q&A was also interesting and well handled by a confident and smiling Aishwarya. Ms Priya Ravi was the person who coordinated this session. One of the questions was by Smt Devaki Muthaiah herself who asked Aishwarya to choose her favourite song from the extensive MS repertoire which she has acquired. Aishwarya replied after a deep thought that it is very difficult to choose from such a huge treasure. But if forced to she would say that she personally is fascinated by the famous Meera Bhajan - Baso More Nainina Me and the extraordinary Brigas sung with such ease and pitch perfection. Smt Muthaiah then requested her to sing a few lines and Aishwarya sang the Pallavi brilliantly with just the Tambura Sruti to a warm applause from the rasikas.

[cacm]

DearVignesh Viswanathan,
Thanks very much for your somewhat detailed description with SUCCINT & SUBTLE EXPLANATIONS OF THE RATIONALE for MOST of what happened in the Kotturpuram concert. Having visited TS & MS many times at Sivam-Subham to persons like me the entire area is HOLY GROUND like where PAPANASAM SIVAN,ARI, MMI, GNB, & S.RAJAM LIVED. The memories CANNOT BE ERASED and I am GLAD AISHWARYA is trying to carry on the TRADITION with the BLESSINGS OF MS AMMA HERSELF. As one who has been very poorly trying to understand & to some extent do something about our about our CULTURAL HERITAGE I thank AISHWARYA for doing her best to do this. ALL OF US SHOULD EMPHASISE positive aspects of these activities as we have lived AMONGST THE GREATEST IN 20TH CENTURY OUR REGION (if not the country) IN my opinion our country has produced....VKV

[MaheshS]

More recently, it was T N Krishnan getting the MS Award. Hello, did he play hundreds of times for MS? Why not to V V Subramaniam who accompanied her at the UN concert?
[/quote]

On a side note, has TNK or Lalgudi ever accompanied MS? I've heard MSG has though I have not seen any concert recordings available.

[MaheshS]

More recently, it was T N Krishnan getting the MS Award. Hello, did he play hundreds of times for MS? Why not to V V Subramaniam who accompanied her at the UN concert?

On a side note, has TNK or Lalgudi ever accompanied MS? I've heard MSG has though I have not seen any concert recordings available.

[pattamaa]

I don't think so... i'm not sure whether they have accompanied DKP, MLV also..

[SrinathK]

cacm : As you know the MS REPERTOIRE IS CLOSE TO 3500

A number that is incomprehensible to even decades seasoned rasikas. No seriously, the average number of compositions that a casual rasika can be familiar with is hardly 100, for some barely 50, which is why the audiences can end up making the same familiar demands on their favourite musicians.

As an exercise, <insert favourite musician's name here> and <list what renditions you can recall of theirs readily here> -- and see for yourself.

The kind of effort required to merely familiarize oneself with the opening lines of 3500 compositions is enormous, what to speak of actually learning and rendering them as the great lady had done.

[cacm]

Dear SrinathK,
Others told me that MMI HAD REPERTIRE OF 2500 though he never RENDERED IN PUBLIC ANYTHING CLOSE- There are lots of cycles of ragas he had rendered (verified by reliable persons who had heard them in person)-recordings not available- Vellore Ramabhadran vouschafed for the many he had played like Ksheera sagara in Suriyanaar koil when some one shouted from audience!-; When I had queried he explained to me that his approach was to choose atmost 15 selections/season and EXHAUST his capabilities over seasons. ARI for example never rendered in PUBLIC anything he had not rendered in private at least 100times & was satisfied with it. Veena Dhanammal it was said had a similar number in her repertoire.
I hesitated OUT OF RESPECT & REVERENCE to NOT initiate myself areas of discussion esp. as I KNEW MY LEVEL OF IGNORANCE....
I have discussed many things with MS but I DIDNOT DISCUSS THIS as my interests had to do with her various other abilities but others who should know have said it. I dont want to mention NAMES. I appeal to those who know to discuss this subject as I am pursuing Music-Language- Brain aspects for over 30 years now & find it "Mind Boggling" as the saying goes!. VKV

[hnbhagavan]

Somehow lineage plays its own psychology on majority of Rasikas and it is not surprising the head start Aishwarya is getting.This is true in business or films.It is true in Carnatic Music also.

[SrinathK]

Actually it's very different than you think. Later on, the price you pay for being in the shadow of a tree is that if you sing like MS, you'll be called a carbon copy. If you sing like yourself, you'll never be considered as great -- well until you become your own great tree. I have personally been privy to comments like these by a not so insignificant number of rasikas about other musicians from such lineages, most of them senior people who grew up with the previous generation. After a great concert you want to talk about how great it was and you are told, "Yeah. But they'll never be equal to their <insert previous generation here>." All I can say is, criticism is the oldest tradition of music.

[arasi]

"criticism is the oldest tradition of music."
Have to etch it in stone now, so that at least the coming generations might get to see it and ponder over it

[SrinathK]

@arasi, Update: "Criticism is the oldest and most universal tradition of music"

No form of music or art is universal. But music criticism can be found everywhere there is music.

Now you may call your stone carvers.

[cienu]

On a side note, has TNK or Lalgudi ever accompanied MS? I've heard MSG has though I have not seen any concert recordings available.

There is a commercial recording available.
http://www.kalakendra.com/anubhti-4acd-p-3481.html

[arasi]

Whether opera, or sung with tambura,
In mAnAmadurA or Melbourne, Australia,
There come the critics, crabby or crazy--
See them! A universal creed of their own...

[Nick H]

why was SHE invited to sing in this concert? For a change why can't they invite some other artiste to sing for this theme.
I have nothing against Aishwarya - for her age and experience she is a very good singer. What irritates me is her being so much associated with MSS. It's very artificial - as though we must think she is MSS reincarnate or something.
The girl is a very good singer in her own right. Hope we will just let her be !! ... ... ...

Aishwarya and her father are friends of mine. Probably many of us would say the same, as her father is a long-standing member of rasikas.org, not to mention the members who have known the family since long before the internet was thought of. Perhaps that colours my thinking, but, with that disclosure....

There are actually three main thoughts that occur to me:

1. Aishwarya is not the only person to be performing in the name of MSS's centenary, nor are her family the only people to be organising such events. Actually, of the couple of MSS-linked events I have been to, the first was a magnificent violin-solo performance by VVS,

2. To some extent, the concerts/events that are organised by the family, are family celebrations, to which we are invited: family function, family third-generation performer. I don't have any problem with that.

3. On a more general level, Aishwarya is blessed to be born into that family, but also has to live in the shadows of both her grandmother and her great grandmother. That's a tough situation to be in, and there will always be people with whom she can't win: if she follows the tradition exactly, some people will say she is just copying, if she develops an entirely different style, repertoire, etc, other people will demand to know what has happened to MSS tradition. She is very young still: she will choose her own way. In this, I see and respect your point of view.

[HarishankarK]

In this, I see and respect your point of view.

Thank you Nick H.
In the TMK article I read that even though MSS desired to sing Bhairavi or Todi for a concert and begged with Sadasivam he would insist that she sing Shankarabharanam only as main. Similarly I feel that for a memorial concert there is no need to sing the same list of songs popularised by the artiste. Any song or raga sung well should be good.
In youtube I heard a concert from R Vedavalli when she was invited for Vairamangalam Laxminarayanan memorial day. She just sang song after song with great quality. The classicism with what she sang was a true tribute to Vairamangalam Laxminarayanan.

[VRV]

Nick,

Very well said. Thank you for articulating with such clarity.

Vinod Venkataraman

[pattamaa]

In the TMK article I read that even though MSS desired to sing Bhairavi or Todi for a concert and begged with Sadasivam he would insist that she sing Shankarabharanam only as main.n.

This hypothesis itself is flawed.. It is as if MS amma sang only shankarabharanam in every concert and didn't sing any other raga !! If you go through her concert lists, she has sing every other major ragas as main...

If you take this concert, aishwarya has sung kedaragowla and vachaspati... these are definitely part of MS amma repertorie, but it is not that MS amma sung these songs more often and popularized them.. It is being written as if Aishwarya sings Sarojadalanetri or sadasivam upasmahe concert after concert !

[SrinathK]

In the TMK article I read that even though MSS desired to sing Bhairavi or Todi for a concert and begged with Sadasivam he would insist that she sing Shankarabharanam only as main.

In India, when a story passes on, each speaker adds 2 layers of drama more.

It would be better for the family and those close to MS Amma to tell us from their personal anecdotes. The musical experience of MS Amma is something else and the so called "elite rasikas" (or should I say elitist) forms a very small part of the Indian population and an even smaller part of the world population.

It's sad that her greatest strengths are seen by some as weaknesses or some sort of inferior musical vision or an aberration or a marketing exercise or worst of all, a field for discussing caste issues? How many people have been benefitted by such vambu? On a side note, we know that those renditions of Vishnu sahasranama or Suprabhatam are simply not going to be equaled for centuries, only for some to call it a "musical free fall" or "lyrics are not so important" -- as good as writing off all that hard work.

Let's not drag this post into a debate on those views though, there is a separate topic for that. The interesting thing was that I think in that "Baso More Nainan mein" video there was a Youtube comment that went something similar too "MS could have been the greatest playback singer ever. It's a loss that she didn't sing more of this." And in my own family there are people who are aching that they don't have her version of the Lalita Sahasranamam -- "If only."

I'm beginning to see a trend here. Whatever MS did, you always wanted more of it. I think that's the hallmark of a great artiste.

Some critics may also rephrase this and dismiss it a "jack of all trades" or "it was a loss to all genres" Who knows?

[Lavanya Murali]

OMG What is wrong in one singing her Great Grandmother’s songs. And by the way the MS repertoire is so vast as

cacm has mentioned that Aishwarya would need 250 concerts to exhaust just the MS list.

The song list is irksome ! Makes one think if indeed MSS repertoire was so limited ??

Limited. ??? This is a superb concert list. If you are referring to the post tani section, Kurai Onrum Illai and Maitreem

Bhajata are songs which the audience – including me wait for till the end hoping to listen.

why was SHE invited to sing in this concert?

That is a nice question but to be put to the concert organisers.

But personally, if I had the means, I would be delighted to organise a concert by the Great Grand daughter of MS and

especially during MS centenary year.

I have nothing against Aishwarya - for her age and experience she is a very good singer.

Oh! Thank you. The fact that you cannot poke holes in her music tells it own story. There must be other reasons for your

rant.

What irritates me is her being so much associated with MSS.

You can’t change an accident of birth. She is the grand daughter of Radha Viswanathan who has sung with the Bharat

Ratna for almost 5 decades if not more

It's very artificial - as though we must think she is MSS reincarnate or something.

Most of us would not mind if she reincarnates through Aishwarya

In the TMK article I read that even though MSS desired to sing Bhairavi or Todi for a concert and begged with Sadasivam

he would insist that she sing Shankarabharanam only as main

Good attempt to stir the pot.

Similarly I feel that for a memorial concert there is no need to sing the same list of songs

popularised by the artiste.

If Sri Vijay Siva is singing a tribute concert to DKJ whose repertoire should he sing?

If Smt Nithyashree were to sing the centenary concert for DKP what would one expect her to sing?

Aishwarya, whose entire music is derived from the MS bani, thanks to Smt Radha Viswanthan, will ofcourse sing MS

popularised songs in an MS centenary tribute concert.

In youtube I heard a concert from R Vedavalli when she was invited for Vairamangalam Laxminarayanan memorial day.

She just sang song after song with great quality. The classicism with what she sang was a true tribute to Vairamangalam

Laxminarayanan.

Now you are trying to make sense. It is not what one sings but how .. There is enough scope for individuality even when

you represent a legacy. Knowledgeable rasikas will understand.

I know that you are a troll out to create controversies when none exist. You tried the same last year again and not

surprisingly with the same artist (TTD concert where Aishwarya was accompanied by Aishu Venkatraman). I am exposing

you after rebutting your points.

Remember, the history of every post you make in Rasikas is a reflection of your personality.

NickH and SrinathK – wonderful posts which hit the nail on the head.

[Nick H]

Similarly I feel that for a memorial concert there is no need to sing the same list of songs popularised by the artiste. Any song or raga sung well should be good.

Yes but...

There are all kinds of people in the audience. Let me give an example: the performance that Aishwarya gave at Arkay Convention centre was running late, as function+concerts often do. I expected it to end more-or-less after the main piece, as it was already past the going-home-time of most Chennai rasikas. It was becoming a long day for a performer too! Aishwarya did not end the concert there, but sang two more items, both popular songs that people associate with MSS. That, for my wife, made the day great. She had something that she could go home humming and feeling good about.

For myself, a somewhat quirky=example audience member who relishes the heavy-weight music but, unlike most rasikas, knows little about it, I welcomed those songs too. This is not always the case for me: sometimes a string of tukkadas spoils the "taste" of the "main meal" for me. I'm talking about another event, which may be offtopic to this thread, because I did not go to the Nayaki event, but I felt that Aishwarya did a good job of balancing the content. I suspect that when there is less time, that task becomes harder.

Perhaps we should encourage Aishwarya (If we care about her at all, which many of us do, as the family are are friends) to change her musical horizons. Perhaps we should, perhaps we shouldn't: somehow I feel that the MSS 100th year is not the time for that debate. Let's revisit it in 2016!

[priyaram78]

Just two cents. I have never met MS Amma unfortunately. So when I heard her great grand daughter is in Dubai, I just left everything to meet Aishwarya at a friend's place. To my complete surprise, Aishwarya was so humble, so simple. Her parents whom I did not know at all welcomed me and spoke to me for long. I was touched by their genuine simplicity, their humility. I felt so
overwhelmed that I could not meet MS Amma
atleast I have met her family. Now coming to
the professional aspect, Aishwarya gave a
fantastic concert of Tyagaraja Panchartnas and many popular kritis to a packed
auditorium at the Indian Consulate, Dubai. I
have posted a review here. Aishwarya is
talented, dedicated and I feel the most
important thing is I came to know, she is
sacrificing a lot of personal little pleasures to
commit to carnatic music. Being born into a
family of a legend means a huge
responsibility. And at this young age
Aishwarya is doing a great job. I would like to
see MS Amma's style of singing. Ofcourse Aishwarya will bring back the lovely magic MS Amma created in the hearts of rasikas with her soulful singing.

[rshankar]

I think all that we as rasikas can say to Aishwarya is to hone her craft with the dedication that was/is the hallmark of her great-grandmother and grandmother, and make her music an expression of her inner bliss, and to take everything that people say with a ton of salt!
She's in the unenviable position, as Nick says, of offending someone or another with whatever she sings. Reminds me of "ErinAl kuTRam, iRanginAl aparAdham". But with all that, she seems to be walking the space with mature grace! More power to her and her wonderful family.

[priyaram78]

Lets encourage musicians. As rasikas we should give constructive and positive feedback than compare them with Legends to point out mistakes and demotivate them.

[vasanthakokilam]

HarishankarK, I think you are coming uncomfortably close to crossing the line of causing harm to a young artist in the attempt to win an argument. We have gotten complaints that you have already crossed the line. Irregardless of that, I think we need to stop that now. We have pretty much said most things in our minds.

I think you will all agree that any small satisfaction we get in winning our point of view is trivial compared to any major anguish and damage such harsh language/criticism can cause to young artists. In keeping this principle in mind, I have quarantined a couple of posts.

Just to cool off and to not prolong this back and forth war of words, I am locking this thread.