Arasi (Smt. Rajee Krishnan)

mahakavi · Post by **mahakavi** » 11 Feb 2007, 20:58

arasi wrote:Their next project is to bring other songs published in a few volumes. I don't know how long that is going to take...

arasi:
Why not take the assistance of a few of the members of this forum who are knowledgeable in several aspects we mentioned among the many M's? That should accelerate the pace of your progress. Of course it may not be a match to that provided by the experts in your family cirlce but still might be worth it.

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 11 Feb 2007, 21:58

We members of the Forum happily welcome Arasi with open hands, heart and hiraNyaM to share her handsome musical heritage and I am saying this with honesty and humility and no hesitations!

mahakavi · Post by **mahakavi** » 11 Feb 2007, 22:30

Hooray! Now it is the turn of "H". Sesame Street part II
Do I hear Homage....?

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 12 Feb 2007, 03:12

hara harasiva siva!

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 12 Feb 2007, 15:32

Narayana! (aranum sivanum onRE ena aRi manamE)
I realize the enormous good will and affection you have for your fellow forumite, and she still finds no words to thank you all! She also realizes that you have not heard the songs yet. We shall then see if she deserves at least a part of the praise that you shower on her...

mahakavi, many thanks for your suggestion. If and when my talented friends who excel in their abilities find time, they could help me with my work.

cMLoVer (you know why Sudha Raghunathan's daughter is called mALavikA

'munnai nAn seida puNNiamO, anRi munnOr sei naRpaNiyin payanO?

I do not want to leave out any of you forumites who have been very kind to me. Jayaram, for your hAsyam, chalanATA and krismech for your verses, DRS, Ravi, Lakshman, Meena, Cool and that Mr. Bean, and of course, Rajesh who started the whole thing all over again...in gratitude, but before I begin to sound like my name sake on the chinnath thirai soap opera, shut me up, please...

mahakavi · Post by **mahakavi** » 12 Feb 2007, 20:40

arasi wrote:Narayana! (aranum sivanum onRE ena aRi manamE)
...

arasi:
You meant to say "ariyum aranum onRE ena aRi manamE"--right? (aran and sivan are already onRE ena aRivIr!--before anybody ventured the other statement)

mahakavi · Post by **mahakavi** » 12 Feb 2007, 20:43

Perhaps not! You were tweaking cmlover's "hara hara siva siva"!

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 12 Feb 2007, 20:57

mahakavi,
You caught me there! A slip of my 'golden years' to which you gave a better twist...

jayaram · Post by **jayaram** » 12 Feb 2007, 21:30

but before I begin to sound like my name sake on the chinnath thirai soap opera, shut me up, please...

Ok, here goes: WE ALL LOVE YOU, ARASI!
There, I said it finally.

(now if only we could get to listen to some of her kriti renditions...)

chalanata · Post by **chalanata** » 12 Feb 2007, 21:35

that's why Thyagaraja had a forethought and sang 'Rajee'va lochana Rama... with Arasi in his mind!!!
(Guys, don't you all think we are blowing it a little out of proportion!??!)

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 12 Feb 2007, 21:41

Valentine's Day, way ahead of time!
Let me sing the mangaLam now: rAjIva nayana thyAgarAjAdi.

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 12 Feb 2007, 21:43

arasi
more appropriately we can invoke narasimha !

The gUDhArtha is already there if you read backwards 'narasimaha' (i.e., with the visargam in sanskrit). It becomes aham is aran . Note how elegantly the Lord is proclaiming his identity with Siva (aran) using all three languages (Sanskrit, English and Tamil). By the by the kannadas, telegus and malayaLees already know the truth and hence did not need a reiteration

Finally came the revelation to TN when they proclaimed
ariyum aranum onnu
aRiyAthavar vAyilE maNNu

mahakavi · Post by **mahakavi** » 13 Feb 2007, 02:18

Nah, I ain't translating such mundane statements, cmlover!

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 14 Feb 2007, 01:58

About a week ago while I was discussing CM with a fellow rasika he was bewailing that after P Sivan and Thooran we do not have any good composers of Tamil CM ! I said 'Then there is Arasi..'. He said 'What? '. At that time I had no proof to offer. Now respectfully I offer one to you all ( seeking of course the permission of Rajee Krishnan..). This song is reminiscent of OothakkaaDu in charm and elegance and the simplicity of Ambujam Krishna!

A Royal Welcome to you Arasi to our Forum on behalf of our myriads of Rasikas.

Here is the sample lyric:
InRu varuvAnO.. Raga: Kalyanavasantam Tala: Adi

pallavi

inRu varuvAnO nALaiyO?-- ennEramum
avan vazhi nOkki ninREn

anupallavi
kanRugaL mEytthiDa kAnagam Egumun
senRu varEn enRu seppiya sol ninaindE

CharaNam
thenRal ennait toTTu tazhuviDinum
kunRininRum kuyilOsai kETTiDinum
sindai azhikkum avan kannal mozhiyum
kuzhalOsai amudum tuLLu naDaiyum

(madhyama kaalam)
ninaindEngum endan kaN poTRi aNaindu
kala kalavena nagai olitthiDa
tandEn aruL inRE enRu thaN oLi
pozhi mugam kATTiDa

and in Tamizh
(courtesy of AruN)

பல்லவி

இன்று வருவானோ நாளையோ?-- என்னேரமும்
அவன் வழி நோக்கி நின்றேன்

அனுபல்லவி
கன்றுகள் மேய்த்திட கானகம் ஏகுமுன்
சென்று வரேன் என்று செப்பிய சொல் நினைந்தே

சரணம்
தென்றல் என்னைத் தொட்டு தழுவிடினும்
குன்றினின்றும் குயிலோசை கேட்டிடினும்
சிந்தை அழிக்கும் அவன் கன்னல் மொழியும்
குழலோசை அமுதும் துள்ளு நடையும்

நினைந்தேங்கும் எந்தன் கண் பொற்றி அணைந்து
கல கலவென நகை ஒலித்திட
தந்தேன் அருள் இன்றே என்று தண் ஒளி
பொழி முகம் காட்டிட

Of course though the language is simple I cede the colourful translation to our Masters Mahakavi/Shankar..

Just a personal comment: I compare arasi to drAkShA rasa and DRS to nALikEra which is why I have not attempted to render any of DRS's masterful compositions. Now here is my aging attempt at this lyric (with your indulgence)

http://rapidshare.com/files/16322153/Inruvaruvano.mp3

If you want to hear it from a professional try
www.rajalakshmiaudio.com
I cannot u/l since it is commercia!

Bidding a warm welcome to arasi to our Forum and wishing her a long life and many more years of signal service to CM...

nArAyaNasm^Riti

drshrikaanth · Post by **drshrikaanth** » 14 Feb 2007, 02:03

Very nice Arasi. And thanks to CML for posting this.

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 14 Feb 2007, 02:08

and as coming from our Cognoscente Rasikapriya this approval is worth its weight in Gold

Suji Ram · Post by **Suji Ram** » 14 Feb 2007, 02:38

Very Nice
Now may I ask Arasi to give more explanation about the composition, milieu under which the composition was created etc.

CML good job singing. Im already humming.

ksrimech · Post by **ksrimech** » 14 Feb 2007, 03:06

arasi, now you have become yaSoda pirATTi. Bravo!

Suji Ramji, my guess is that yaSodai is calling kuTTi kaNNan to come back at the end of the day. kuTTi kaNNan has gone away with his friends and cattle for grazing.

CMLoverji you are a sangIta kalAnidhi. Nice control at 85. Brilliant.

mahakavi · Post by **mahakavi** » 14 Feb 2007, 03:37

My take on who is singing this: The context for the song reminds of someone (perhaps a gOpi) pining for the arrival of Krishna who promised he will visit (her). I don't see YashOdA waiting for Krishna thinking whether "today or tomorrow". Krishna dare not be absent from yashOdA for days on.

meena · Post by **meena** » 14 Feb 2007, 03:51

Deleted

ksrimech · Post by **ksrimech** » 14 Feb 2007, 04:24

Mahakavi avargaLE, you caught the point. I read the song again. May be a gOpikA singing nAyaki bhAvam. The charaNam makes more sense now. But I'm wondering when SrIkrSna started rAsakrIDa He was about 8 years of age. Every day He used to go to forest and play his pullAnkuzhal and all the gOpikAs will come there and they used to dance in circles("anganAm anganAm antarE mAdhava anganAm anganAm antarE gOpikA"). Only once did He keep them away from Himself to teach them a lesson. They then sing the gOpikAgitam ("jayati tEdikam janmanvrajE...."). This is the event that jayadEvar took as setting for his gitagOvindam. At that point He did not take his cattle to go for grazing. He just vanished from their sight and made them feel the virahatApam. That is also the background for tyAgarAjar's nauka charitram though it is new with respect to the Sukamukhadravyam, SrImadbhAgavatam. So I do not understand whether to take that the person singing is a gOpikA. May be you can correct me. Sorry if I'm making things complicated here.

ArasiyArE, please dispel my ignorance.

mahakavi · Post by **mahakavi** » 14 Feb 2007, 05:27

ksrimech:

All the age assignments as to when Krishna did what are subjects of intelligent speculation. We don't know when he started cowherding. Recall another song,
"mADu mEykkak kaNNe nI pOgavENDAm sonnEn..." by yashOdA! There Krishna answers confidently he can conquer the robbers in no time. A pre-teen with that kind of gumption! Also rasalIlA has been attributed more to divine doings than blatant amorous sex-based indulgence. We even hear that married gOpIs (rAdhA included according to some) went after him. They are all waiting and watching and waiting..., "inRO nALaiyO..."

But that is my take. Arasi may have had something else on her mind when she composed it. Let us hear from her. I don't want to outguess the context of her imagination.

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 14 Feb 2007, 07:15

Arasi, I am willing to let it all hang out and express what I felt as I read and re-read this composition. You can let me know if this is anywhere close to what you intended.

InRu varuvAnO.. Raga: Kalyanavasantam Tala: Adi

pallavi

inRu varuvAnO nALaiyO?
ennEramum avan vazhi nOkki ninREn

Will he come (varuvAnO) today (inRu) or will it be tomorrow (nALaiyO)--
regardless, I waited (ninREn) forever (ennEramum), anxiously looking (nOkki) at the path (vazhi) he (avan) will arrive by.

A young gOpI, or even mIrA or ANDAL could be the nAyikA here: patiently waiting waiting for the Lord. She is ready to wait all her life for him if need be. She is not upset with him, she is not angry with him. She is like sabarI - she knows he will definitely come, he will certainly bless her - (like pArvatI says with quiet conviction in Lalgudi's umA pariNayam - avaniyil kaDum tavan SeivEn, Sivan varuvAn, karam taruvAn, idu urudi). mIrA has composed songs with similar sentiments.

anupallavi
kanRugaL mEytthiDa kAnagam Egumun
senRu varEn enRu seppiya sol ninaindE

And how does the heroine spend her time, while waiting for the handsome one (bhuvanasundara)? By thinking (ninaindE) of his promise (seppiya Sol) to return (senRu varEn) after he roams the entire (engum) forrest (kAnagam) while grazing (mEyttiDa) the calves (kanRugaL).

CharaNam
thenRal ennait toTTu tazhuviDinum
kunRininRum kuyilOsai kETTiDinum
sindai azhikkum avan kannal mozhiyum
kuzhalOsai amudum tuLLu naDaiyum

(madhyama kaalam)
ninaindEngum endan kaN poTRi aNaindu
kala kalavena nagai olitthiDa
tandEn aruL inRE enRu thaN oLi
pozhi mugam kATTiDa

The nAyikA says: Even as the cool breeze (tenRal) caresses (tottu tazhuviDa) me (ennai), and I hear (kETTiDinum) melodious music from the cuckoo (kuyil Osai), and I listen to his (avan) intoxicating speech (kannal mozhiyum) that makes one forget one's thoughts (sindai azhikkum), and the nectar-sweet (amudum) notes from the flute (kuzhal Osai), and think longingly (ninaindu Engum) of his sprightly/cancal (tuLLu) gait (naDaiyum), I wait for my eyes to light up (endan kaN pORRi) as he embraces me (aNaindu), and peels of his/our joyous laughter (nagai) ring (kala kala vena olittiDa) all around. (I wait for) him to declare that he will shower his blessings (tandEn aruL) on me today (inRE enru) and reveal his (than) luminous (oLi pozhi) face (mugam kATTiDa)

This is a unique experience where the composer can set me (or for that matter, anyone else that presumes to interpret) right about the intent and import! As Carrie Bradshaw would say ' me likie'!

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 14 Feb 2007, 07:28

Bravo Shankar! Now let us wait for arasi's own interpretation! I also wonder whether we can also seek a philosophical (jIvAtmA yearning for paramAtmA) interprtation! By the by is this appropriate song for a dance recital?

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 14 Feb 2007, 07:37

Thanks, CML.
SURE..it is a great song for a bharatanATyam mArgam - very clean, loaded with visual imagery, and so, can be used in place of the more earthy padams and jAvaLIs when young girls dance....
Music is and always has been an intensely visual experience for me - only then it evokes a feeling of bliss...and that is one reason I need to hear the words (and I need the singer to enunciate clearly) so that the aural cues can become meaningful visual images. I find it hard to appreciate/interpret compositions that do not lend themselves to this type of appreciation. My interprettation here is what I 'saw'....

mahakavi · Post by **mahakavi** » 14 Feb 2007, 08:42

>>anupallavi
kanRugaL mEytthiDa kAnagam Egumun
senRu varEn enRu seppiya sol ninaindE

And how does the heroine spend her time, while waiting for the handsome one (bhuvanasundara)? By thinking (ninaindE) of his promise (seppiya Sol) to return (senRu varEn) after he roams the entire (engum) forrest (kAnagam) while grazing (mEyttiDa) the calves (kanRugaL).<<

I read the anupallavi differently. The word is not engum but Egumun. The latter word means "before I go to the forest"
Then the meaning changes. "Before I go to the forest to let the calves graze I will come back (to see you)" enRu seppiya sol ninaindE....

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 14 Feb 2007, 10:38

Looks like one big bash of a Valentine's Day for me! It has been an awesome February, soon after the 31st of January. I cannot cease to say 'thank you', when you folks don't seem to let up on your praises (strange--I was looking at the bhArathi thread before arriving here. Even after all these years, when the mahAkavi (the A distinguishes him from our sub) has made us exclaim: yAmaRinda pulavarilE' ivanaippOl maTRoruvanaik kANbOmO?--there seems to be some reservations about our praising our 'vAnOrum pugazhath thakka kavi varan'.
Where do I stand then? Is it your affection for the gal (as meena would put it?) My mature years--or my jovial banter which doesn't concur with the dignity of my accumulated years?

cml,
Your affection for me is something else. Folks, bear with him.

Thanks, DRS, fellow twice over, vAggEyakArA muy classico--you have been encouraging me all along (I had asked him not to say anything about my songs until they were published).

sujiram,
Thanks for your humming.

ksrimech,
Once again, thanks for your interest and interpretation. A song is a song, and if it can yield several interpretations, can it be taken that it has substance?

mahakavi,
Your guess, Ravi's and others seem nearer to what I had in mind when this song came to me. All I remember (the song is a dozen years old) is that it came after a walk in chilly weather. In spite of my being bundled up--it definitely was not thenRal but a freezing breeze--my state of mind at that time must have been sunny and sylvan. As with most of my songs, the outdoors play a great part as in all my writing. As I have said before, the songs come from nowhere, and since I live in that part of the world where I can sing (at least, hum) without others listening to me during my solitary walks, I am blessed.

Meena, my sakhi, my cheer leader, thanks. You rahs are well appreciated.

Ravi,
Kudos for your translation, comme d'habitude.
one little correction: kaN poTRi aNaindu is to be understood as--he came stealthily, covered my eyes from behind, and then embraced me.

Though there is no mudhra to the songs, most of the tamizh songs have the word aruL in them. aruL (grace) of the Almighty finds many forms of expression. Ravi, some of the songs DO lend themselves to children dancing to them. This one is border line! I once wrote to you about child friendly songs that I could suggest, for your daughter and other children...

vasanthakokilam · Post by **vasanthakokilam** » 14 Feb 2007, 12:17

Fantastic song Arasi. All this discussion and interpretation is going to make listening to the song that much more interesting and fun. These songs are meaningful and very approachable which works for me as someone who is just starting to pay some attention to sahitya. At a personal level, they also provide a strong memory link to the time we spent hanging out with you and your family at the CD release event which I was very fortunate to attend. That was a lot of fun. Thanks.

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 14 Feb 2007, 15:30

Thanks MR. Bean, for your coming with your sweet wife to spend time with us that evening!

Rajesh,
Your company is equally appreciated!

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 14 Feb 2007, 15:33

Yes, mahakavi, it is Egumun--before he went to the woods to graze cattle.

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 14 Feb 2007, 18:13

Arasi,
This is indeed a very unique experience: the composer sharing the import and interprettation of a composition! THANKS...
Ravi

vgvindan · Post by **vgvindan** » 14 Feb 2007, 18:24

தந்தேன் அருள் இன்றே என்று தண் ஒளி
பொழி முகம் காட்டிட
இன்று வருவானோ நாளையோ?-- என்னேரமும்
அவன் வழி நோக்கி நின்றேன்

tandEn aruL inRE enRu thaN oLi
pozhi mugam kATTiDa

inRu varuvAnO nALaiyO?-- ennEramum
avan vazhi nOkki ninREn

yaSOdA in me sings

PS : Sorry Shankar, - here the Roman version

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 14 Feb 2007, 18:29

Govindan and Others:
PLEASE - only post lyrics in romanized script...
MANY of us can't read the tamizh script.

Ravi

vgvindan · Post by **vgvindan** » 14 Feb 2007, 18:43

Shankar, Sorry, I have since incorporated the Roman version.

srkris · Post by **srkris** » 14 Feb 2007, 20:00

Thanks vgvindan. I request others also to post a romanized transliteration if you post something in vernacular scripts, for the benifit of people who may not able to read the vernacular scripts.

mahakavi · Post by **mahakavi** » 14 Feb 2007, 20:41

arasi:
Before you publish your songs in different volumes, would you consider publishing them here one at a time and let us take a stab at them interepreting? I doubt it will have any negative impact on your commercial publication. It is like publishing research articles in scientific journals and later on writing a review or book based on those articles. Think about it! I mean it, seriously.

Also I think it would be a novel feature for you to publish your songs (with notations) AND background for each song along with interpretations of your own with appendages from those of the members of this forum. This is what I had in mind when I first said about taking help from the members here.

mahakavi · Post by **mahakavi** » 14 Feb 2007, 20:46

>>My mature years--or my jovial banter which doesn't concur with the dignity of my accumulated years?<<

arasi:
Yes, it does. If you have any doubt refer to my Eleanor Roosevelt quote on the Periasamy Thooran thread. cmlover knows it!

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 14 Feb 2007, 21:48

Here is sub's lovely quote

Eleanor Roosevelt (wife of US President Franklin Roosevelt) said once, "Beautiful young people are the accidents of nature;beautiful old people are works of art".

(by the by it was in the 'good looking ...' thread.

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 14 Feb 2007, 22:01

As one work of art to the other--thanks:)

ramakriya · Post by **ramakriya** » 15 Feb 2007, 00:03

arasi avare,

A nice composition! The mood of the song reminds me of a mIrA bhajan, which I have heard only in kannaDa translation (translated by well known poet Sri N S Lakshminarayana Bhatta) , excellently sung by B.R.Chaya in rAga jOg

elli hOgale hEge kANale nanna giridharana

-Ramakriya

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 15 Feb 2007, 00:35

Thanks, Ramakriya!
Funnily enough, I can't think of a single kannaDa song of mine where giridhar is grown up. He is always kiri hari!

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 15 Feb 2007, 02:52

In my view a lyric is for singing though the sahityam helps to setup the mood. We can discuss the meaning of the words and the hidden meanings till the cows come home; but that is prosaic. I rendered the verse of Arasi after listening to that by Sumithra which lifted me up. But that is not me! I tried to internalize the verse and tried to give it a life of my own (which is in fact what every performer should do!). Here it is as coming from my soul (and with apologies to arasi if I have taken liberty with the raga)
http://www.sendspace.com/file/mj0wqs
I wish I had a tabla player to accompany me. At any rate I will appreciate if coolkarni listens to this and comments
(Kill me if he likes

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 15 Feb 2007, 06:33

(Kill me if he likes )

Who me ??!!
I am more in Love with the Muse than the Music.
You know that.
Have you ever heard Madan Mohan singing his own songs.
Listening to you , is a bit like that experience.

Strange.Only today I received a clip in which Madan Mohan sings
Dil Dhoondtha Hai phir wohi ... an alternative tune (to the one he ultimately chose for Bhupinder)
BTW was it Madhuvanthi ??

drshrikaanth · Post by **drshrikaanth** » 15 Feb 2007, 06:47

coolkarni wrote:Dil Dhoondtha Hai phir wohi ... an alternative tune (to the one he ultimately chose for Bhupinder)
BTW was it Madhuvanthi ??

You mean what bupinder sings it in? Not sure what rAga it is but has kIravANi swaras.

ksrimech · Post by **ksrimech** » 15 Feb 2007, 07:17

arasi, If I'm able to connect SrIrAma or SrIkrSNa in any sAhitya, that itself tell me its is good. We do not have to go to the interpretations part since each mind thinks differently.

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 15 Feb 2007, 07:39

no not that song.
the raga in which cml sings.track in post #29

Suji Ram · Post by **Suji Ram** » 15 Feb 2007, 08:54

coolkarni wrote:no not that song.
the raga in which cml sings.track in post #29

You are right Coolkarni.
it is madhuvanti

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 15 Feb 2007, 09:21

so you see CML
You aroused in my memory ,
a fine song by Kalyanraman...

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 15 Feb 2007, 09:44

shabhAsh, cMLoVer!Voice in great form, and such bhAvam!

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 15 Feb 2007, 19:18

DRS
You think and feel with your head (no offence), but I think coolkarni thinks (feels) with his heart. As I was appealing to the heart I needed his feedback. I wanted him to kill with an honest feedback as I was venturing into an unknown territory! I am glad the madhuvanti is recognizable and is triggering other emotions!

In short a lyric appeals to our intellect and leads us to intellectual speculations (as it taps cognitive areas of the brain); on the otherhand music triggers the emotional areas (limbic system) which elevates us to a divine plane. No doubt a vaggeyakara is in communion with GOD (or whatever if you are an agnostic

which is why Music has to be 'listened to' and not 'read'. Thanks to 'arasi' for opening the portals to the heart. Now as most of you are more accomplished I would love to listen to the 'Ahata Sounds' from your hearts! Pl oblige!