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

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 25 Feb 2007, 06:48

ARTIST OF THE EVENING

http://rapidshare.com/files/18066021/Ma ... i.avi.html

Details of the visit later today.

Quick word to member-mantra though.
We picked on the date to organise it at your place , but due to other reasons we cannot do it there this time.
Sorry about that.More on email.

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 25 Feb 2007, 09:37

I received a call in the afternoon that GS Mani was ready to receive us, if we could visit him between 4-6 pm.
Frantically I searched for the Phones numbers of Ram, Bharath,Vijay and Rajesh, to call them up and see if they could make it , but Unfortunately I had not organized myself properly.There was little time to alert them through email and so we three went.
Nageswaran ,Subramaniam and Myself.
Actually four since my better half also joined me , to watch how a concert is planned from start to end.
At the appointed hour we were knocking on wood with GS Mani greeting us at the door.

We had not told him that we would be inviting him to sing for us , so the meeting proceeded on the lines of our earlier visits.

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 25 Feb 2007, 09:37

After pleasantries, we found him move on to a favourite subject of his â€“
Bade Ghulam Ali Khan and his voice culture.And going back in time , more and more.
The narration of the visit of Bade to Chennai was the centerpiece.
Bade had been in Chennai for a long stay and news was out that GNB had done a Sashtanaga Namaskaram to this Artist , raising everybodyâ€™s interest.

Armed with all this news GS Mani and a few of his friends , kept vigil at the gates of the place where BGAK stayed , to find a way to sneak in and meet the maestro.
Bitter with the experience of being rebuffed at the doors by the hostess ( What ! you want to see Bade saab .What nerve !) they never lost heart and a day later they noticed GNB get down from the car to the enter the house .
Turning his head to respond to a â€œNamaskaramâ€

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 25 Feb 2007, 09:38

Back on the road in no time, the friends sit down to make a lunch party with that box of sweets.
â€œWe had so little money then , but so much fun.â€

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 25 Feb 2007, 09:38

Only then we started the subject of our next concert.
â€œ You have told me last year itself, about your internet activities â€œ
No need to request , I AM SINGING FOR YOU ALL.
Go ahead and make the preparations .And I insist that it should be mikeless and donâ€™t worry about the volume for the violin. I will make sure you will not be disappointed.

"Why Once. I will sing for you as many times as you wish. This art is not for hoarding.
It is for distributing..
Make the audio and Video recordings as you wish and use it wherever you want to.
The pleasure will be mine
Let all of us get connected, no matter where we are.

So thatâ€™s it Folks.
Date is March 18th
Time 6 pm
Venue Nageswaranâ€™ House â€“ very close to the previous venue.
It is a Sunday and we plan to assemble a few hours before,to dicsuss and meet .We plan to keep you engaged with some great video footage on a 6Ft by 3 Ft TV screen- apart from the usual snacks and Tea.

Any ideas / requests for passing on to the artsit. Please use this space until March 18th.
Accompanists have not yet been finalized.

rbharath · Post by **rbharath** » 26 Feb 2007, 09:36

a sunday evening might not be easy for me to make it [:(] lemme see

vijay · Post by **vijay** » 26 Feb 2007, 10:51

Let me start working my travel plans around the event!

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 26 Feb 2007, 11:22

that is a good idea.
What is Power , if it is not the power to Choose..

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 27 Feb 2007, 09:19

There is a change in the date :
IT WILL BE HELD ON SATURDAY , THE 17TH OF MARCH.

Venue :
Residence of Mr Nageswaran
Old no 21 New no 12
Sreenivasa Pillay Street
West Mambalam
(This is the street on which one can find Satyanarayana Temple also)
More details as we approach D Day.

Accompanists have also been finalised.

Violin : MA Sundaresan
Mridangam : Manakkal Sriram

mantra · Post by **mantra** » 27 Feb 2007, 10:26

I will be attending this event. Thanks
Shyam

rbharath · Post by **rbharath** » 27 Feb 2007, 10:45

aah. saturday evening, is fun. most prolly i m there.

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 27 Feb 2007, 10:47

bharath
i thought you were a student.
sunday evening - monday morning blues are the exclusive prerogative of people in a career

rbharath · Post by **rbharath** » 27 Feb 2007, 10:48

cool
i am indeed a student.

i aint contesting that at all...

however, there is a special tribe of students who live in hostels not-so-far-off from home. which means, they are required to have a minimum number of home-hours which cannot be compromised...

Nick H · Post by **Nick H** » 27 Feb 2007, 10:48

I'm sure I'll be there.

Now, how many sreenivasa streets does West Mambalam have?

It will be a refreshing change from last time if the Pillais managed to get a monopoly on this one

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 27 Feb 2007, 10:50

Nick
You are not yet stumped by a Pillayar Koil street I guess.

rbharath · Post by **rbharath** » 27 Feb 2007, 10:58

lets send nick to mylapore and he would get to know all the possible pillaiyar kovils and their streets.

vgvindan · Post by **vgvindan** » 27 Feb 2007, 11:29

Please include me also.

naaree · Post by **naaree** » 27 Feb 2007, 19:37

Just curious.

Any thoughts to WEBCAST these events?

NS

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 27 Feb 2007, 19:41

yes.someday in the future.we need to settle in a permanent place for this .not very far off,though.

sbala · Post by **sbala** » 28 Feb 2007, 13:05

kji,
I'll come on the 17th iff I'm not quizzed on ragas!

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 28 Feb 2007, 13:25

sbala

We have not, the reverent feeling for the rainbow, that the savage has, because we know how it is made.
We have lost as much as we have gained, by prying into that matter.
MARK TWAIN.

Welcome.And be a Savage.
Like the rest of Us.

shripathi_g · Post by **shripathi_g** » 28 Feb 2007, 13:44

Too bad I'm missing this by 3 days.

I would've requested a Valaji from him. Have fun!!

Nick H · Post by **Nick H** » 28 Feb 2007, 15:37

Would this be the street listed in my trusty Eicher City Map (wonderful publication that it is) as Srinivasan ST --- off Arya Gowda Road, and also leading to the street of the inaugural event?

Nick H · Post by **Nick H** » 28 Feb 2007, 15:39

(I may be stumped by the deity names --- but I'm good at Mylapore! And Suseela is good at the Mandaveli side of it that I don't know....)

sbala · Post by **sbala** » 28 Feb 2007, 15:40

Nick,
Yes. I think so. The locals there know the Satyanarayana temple. So that should be your landmark.

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.