GLOBAL RASIKAS MEET DURING DECEMBER 2010.

arunk · Post by **arunk** » 19 Dec 2010, 19:43

excellent! I am sad that I am missing this by a few days

Thanks rajesh for the report!

Arun

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 19 Dec 2010, 20:27

Thanks Rajesh for the tasty sample! The 'real meat' is yet to come from the participants.
Of course we await the pictures.
We are very grateful to Nageswaran for this get-together and VKV for chairing and hope this is only the bbeginning of many more annual conventions of our Rasika Family in the years to come. Our great grand children will talk with pride and adoration of this very first meet!

Thanks to one and all of you since we are all together in spirits!

PUNARVASU · Post by **PUNARVASU** » 19 Dec 2010, 20:54

Thanks rajesh and others for a write-up of the rasikas meet.Altogether it seems to have been a wonderful sunday morning.Waiting for more info.
Glad to hear about young Srinidhi's concert.
Blessings and best wishesto her for a wonderful music-filled future.

VK RAMAN · Post by **VK RAMAN** » 19 Dec 2010, 21:03

Great initial coverage Rajesh. Did the group falicitate vgvindan?

bilahari · Post by **bilahari** » 19 Dec 2010, 21:05

Thorough minutes of the meeting, Rajesh! Thank you! I, too, am sorry to be missing this by just a few days. But I hope to catch up with rasikas individually during the next two weeks. Look forward to the photos!

rajumds · Post by **rajumds** » 19 Dec 2010, 21:16

It was a wonderful morning. I could join only in the second half and missed the initial proceeding and the concert. The photos are at

--link removed--

I have not added captions so that the match the name to face game continue.

Nick H · Post by **Nick H** » 19 Dec 2010, 21:22

Second meet, cmlover? less in scale, but we did gather at Sri Nageswaran's house last year.

Rajeshnat, thank you so much for your kindness. I just glanced through your review, and will return to read it properly. You say that you spoke quickly: I would say that you spoke with passion. Even though I have met you so many times, and read so many reviews, I had not realised your feeling, and your optimism for the state of music today and its future. I was moved and inspired. Altogether, an excellent to very excellent speech

It was a great day. There were so many faces and names that could be put together today. have so many of us ever gathered before? I don't think so.

Srinidhi gave an impressive performance. She is eleven: inevitably she has a child's voice. Had she chosen to be an instrumentalist, then it is probable that her age would not show at all, but young vocalists must live with their voice being not quite grown-up for a while. For a child, with a child's voice, her control over that voice, and its quality is terrific. All singers can sing the middle notes; quality and control is obvious (or not) when they take on the highs and lows. She is scoring well in this already, and her range is bound to become greater in the future.

She also has a stage presence that is very much more mature than her not-even-teenage years. She took command of the stage, and treated any uncertainties of her own with a gentle humour. Her teacher has helped her to have a great command of laya. There was absolutely nothing 'junior' in what she sang and how she sang it. It was great to hear Arvind's appreciation from a mridangist's point of view.

Enjoyed her singing last year enough to want to hear more: now I look forward to hearing her over the years to come. Sri Nageswaran's delight in his granddaughter was also lovely to see. Another sweet moment was when Ravikiran's father, on being honoured with a shawl, said that he did not deserve it, and put it around Srinidhi's shoulders.

Memories to bring tears to the eye...

PUNARVASU · Post by **PUNARVASU** » 19 Dec 2010, 21:29

rajumds, wish you had captioned the photos! ;(
I could make out only a few, like young Srinidhi, Dr.Narmada Goplakrishnan, Smt.Radha Bhaskar(?) ,Nick etc.

Nick H · Post by **Nick H** » 19 Dec 2010, 21:36

Hopefully, the captions will follow

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 19 Dec 2010, 21:43

I am so glad it went off well! Congratulations to Sri Nageshwaran (and others) for putting it together and keeping it running well. Those of us who were unable to attend have to live through the detailed reports from Rajesh and the pictures/videos.

Nick H wrote:She also has a stage presence that is very much more mature than her not-even-teenage years

Nick, children, especially girls, that age (11-12) prefer the term 'tween' to describe themselves - as they are be'tween' the stages of being a 'child' (up to 10 years) and a 'teenager' (13+). Best Wishes to Srinidhi!!

rajeshnat · Post by **rajeshnat** » 19 Dec 2010, 21:50

After looking at the photos of rajumds , i just realized i had left two names sivaramakrishnan and vganesh in my earlier part 3 post, I added them now.

Raju,
Rocking pictures especially the group photo is very crystal clear.

Arasi,
You must be wondering as you see the group photos none of shrimathis and kumaris were present as all of u left . But I am sure videos will adequately compensate and certainly the professional photographer has taken photos of rajani, arasi,radhika, srinidhi ,her mom etal..

rajeshnat · Post by **rajeshnat** » 19 Dec 2010, 22:04

PUNARVASU wrote:rajumds, wish you had captioned the photos! ;(

Punarvasu
Atleast in the group photo I will tell you the names, refer the group photo link below
http://www.flickr.com/photos/23332012@N ... 630822212/

Sitting : From left to right:
---------------------------------
nAgeshwaran(red shirt with dhoti), akellA , VK Vishwanathan, pratyaksham bala, ponbhairavi,V govindan,VS Manjunath

First row standing: L to R:
----------------------------------
Ajit (brown stripes tshirt), semmu86, nickh, cienu, vasanthakOkilam, subramanian, anandasangeetham

Second Row standing : L to R
-------------------------------------------
Vishnuramprasad, TK HAribabu (dad of keyboard sathya), vganesh, coolkarni,rajumds, mahavishnu (green tshirt) and VS Viswanathan (brother of VS Manjunath)

One and Half row standing : L to R
-----------------------------------------------
rajeshnat(light orange shirt), shivadasan(with a black cross leather bag )

VK RAMAN · Post by **VK RAMAN** » 19 Dec 2010, 22:10

thank you Rajesh

Nick H · Post by **Nick H** » 19 Dec 2010, 22:25

rshankar wrote:Nick, children, especially girls, that age (11-12) prefer the term 'tween' to describe themselves - as they are be'tween' the stages of being a 'child' (up to 10 years) and a 'teenager' (13+). Best Wishes to Srinidhi!!

Oh yes... I had heard that, I guess! Tweenies!

Pratyaksham Bala · Post by **Pratyaksham Bala** » 19 Dec 2010, 22:42

rajeshnat,

Thanks for the crisp write-up.

It was a wonderful meet which provided the opportunity to get to know many other rasikas -- S/Shri Nageswaran, VKV, AM Sharma, VGovindan, mankuthimma, Nick H, vasanthakokilam, mahavishnu and many others including, of course, rajeshnat.

And we (Ponbhairavi and myself) could meet arasi at Music Academy!

We back at Puducherry.
I am elated; it was an exciting day!

mankuthimma · Post by **mankuthimma** » 19 Dec 2010, 22:48

It was a fine event . Kudos to Nageswaran for pulling it off . He must be going through the calculations again and again to see if he is in the red . On behalf of all of you , I have assured him that we will help him break even . :envy:
edited...

I came in , towards the end of Srinidhis concert . I Had to be at V Sriram's Lec dem at the TAG Centre as a matter of courtesy ( he was very insistent - more about it later ) . When some one announced (there) that some top end models of cars were parked on the road and were likely to be towed I sensed a chance and made a dash out of the auditorium . Got envious looks even . Little did they know that I was moving around a two wheeler of such vintage , that would not entice me to go to the Police station to reclaim it - if at all towed .

Coming in , to a rasikas meet has always posed a challenge for me . Given the nature of my now-hot-now-cold methods , I had to sneak in , like the nervous chap in a dark war zone . Calling out at every turn : Who is there ? Friend or Foe.?

Fortunately for me I ran into the friends only , today . Maybe the foes dont exist , VK comforted me.
edited..

I had picked up Shivadasan and was escorting him from 9 AM . He had made a start at 3 AM from Thiruvannamalai - just for these couple of hours . Amazing isn't it ? It is 10.30 pm now and Shivadasan must have just returned .
It must have been the same case with Ceinu , The Pondy Duo ( Pratyaksham Bala and Pon Bhairavi ) Radhika Rajnarayan and Sivaramakrishnan ( who came from Nagapattinam ).
It was obvious that this addiction to rasikas.org is becoming a bit more wide spread phenomenon . ;(

I wove my way through various names and cards , and in the process , remembered to tip my hat in deference to Arasi . It worked like Madhyamavathi and washed up any bitterness she may have had . I got it confirmed when she hailed me Hey Shassssheee
From then on I felt like the guy in that cartoon , seen coming out of a sermon . who is heard exclaiming.
Great sermon today . For once , I did not feel the priest meant me, when he was talking of sins

mankuthimma · Post by **mankuthimma** » 19 Dec 2010, 22:51

edited....

Nick H · Post by **Nick H** » 19 Dec 2010, 23:08

When some one announced (there) that some top end models of cars were parked on the road and were likely to be towed I sensed a chance and made a dash out of the auditorium . Got envious looks even . Little did they know that I was moving around a two wheeler of such vintage , that would not entice me to go to the Police station to reclaim it

Brilliant!

We had to make special arrangements with the BSNL engineers not to have their labourers dig across our gate yesterday, thus trapping me inside for 24 hours or send me scurrying out to bargain with auto drivers, which I have not done for years.

Three (at least) of us made it to J-&-J's for their excellent concert later in the afternoon. After that, I took in just a couple of songs from T N Krishnan and Family before crawling home. When I got here, the clock said "8.30" and I was about to change the battery when I noticed my watch said the same. Felt like at least 11.00pm to me! :$

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 19 Dec 2010, 23:30

Thanks rajumds and rajesh combine; we get to know now some of the newbies!
I am indeed jealous for not making it, but am glad VK was there and of course Arasi..

Now I look forward to more of your comments especially the 'pungent' ones from Thimma

Nageswaran
When do we get to see the videos?

What did you decide about the nest meet?

Nick/VGV/Nageswaran/...
Don't worry I will be fit to attend the next meet DV

Nick H · Post by **Nick H** » 19 Dec 2010, 23:47

Delighted to hear that!

smala · Post by **smala** » 20 Dec 2010, 03:21

cmlover wrote:
Now I look forward to more of your comments especially the 'pungent' ones from Thimma

So long as a holier-than-thou and condescension doesn't permeate the "pungent" ones.

Nageswaran
When do we get to see the videos?

What did you decide about the nest meet?

"Nest" it must have become, now and in the next

Nick/VGV/Nageswaran/...
Don't worry I will be fit to attend the next meet DV

What's "DV" ? drAvida vAkvivAdham ?

ragam-talam · Post by **ragam-talam** » 20 Dec 2010, 03:45

What's "DV" ? drAvida vAkvivAdham ?

DV = Deo volente (God willing in Latin)

smala · Post by **smala** » 20 Dec 2010, 04:13

ragam-talam wrote:DV = Deo volente (God willing in Latin)

Language crosses. Deo-prayag, meaning Lord/Dev

Were you there at the meet?

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 20 Dec 2010, 06:07

S-P
I made a spelling mistake! It was penchant

I also thought R-T would be there! Now I know for sure since Rajesh will never miss him!
allayO chETTA

S-P
Don't worry; we can have the next Rasika meet at NA again hosted by Nageswaran and chaired by VKV DV!

Ramasubramanian M.K · Post by **Ramasubramanian M.K** » 20 Dec 2010, 06:10

Rajesh: Thanks for a beautiful summary painstakingly done-- I really missed the function--judging from the narrative it struck me as a little too sedate and respectful!! I would have injected the right tone of levity had I been present--just kidding!!! I think Mr.Nageswaran,VKV,Radha Bhaskar --all deserve thanks and kudos for their yeoman efforts to bring the Rasikas together.

I think as Mankuthimma has said we at the forum can do more to promote CM--broadening the base-instead of it being perceived as too elitist(not the rasikas fault but CM music can be intimidating to new rasikas eager to learn to appreciate music).

I for one offer my services to any endeavour that advances the cause.

last but not least hats off to the Rasikas from far and wide who attended the meet.
Look forward to the photos!!

Enna_Solven · Post by **Enna_Solven** » 20 Dec 2010, 06:28

Hope to make it to Madras in December one of these years; do not know when, being bound to US with kids at school.

Glad to see you all had a good time.

gobilalitha · Post by **gobilalitha** » 20 Dec 2010, 06:55

Sri Nageswaran, I am very happy to read about the proceedings of the day elaborately posted by the rasikas.( mind watering ,manasukulirndhadu) i My present state of health(arthritis as well as sudden seizures due to giddiness of a violent nature) do not allow me to attend any function . I REQUEST you to post snaps with member's names . gobilalitha

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 20 Dec 2010, 07:11

GBL
Welcome to the club of Problem-Ridden Senior Rasikas (PRSR)
Some of us have to enjoy these meets only in the Virtual World!

mankuthimma · Post by **mankuthimma** » 20 Dec 2010, 07:24

So long as a holier-than-thou and condescension doesn't permeate the "pungent" ones.

especially the 'pungent' ones from Thimma

Exactly the sort of stuff in this site that was at the heart of most speeches yesterday .
Well , If this site wishes to sacrifice contributors at the altar of such postings which do not add value to the proceedings , it is a choice which nobody has made , and would lead straight up the path to the non-proactive admin.
So long as a holier - than - thou ......pungent....... hmmmm
Good luck to this irresponsible Chat Room .

Pratyaksham Bala · Post by **Pratyaksham Bala** » 20 Dec 2010, 07:31

deleted.

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 20 Dec 2010, 07:46

First off, I for one did not find any of the comments pungent, hard hitting perhaps, and deservedly so...but, holier than thou is certainly not something I would ever attribute to Kji - not in a thousand years. Now, there are many others who are holier than thou, down right stinky, not merely pungent, but, we wont go there....

smala · Post by **smala** » 20 Dec 2010, 07:47

Case of pot calling the kettle black... "irresponsible"....hmmm.

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 20 Dec 2010, 07:49

Sorry Thimma! I thought you have mellowed..
I was only referring to

I will stick to my style of narrating it. Through my lenses .Stuff that the Video camera may not capture.

There are only friends here no foes!
(Now don't send fduddy to do me in

I am already half dead and having a new lease on life

venkatakailasam · Post by **venkatakailasam** » 20 Dec 2010, 07:55

"such postings which do not add value to the proceedings , it is a choice which nobody has made , and would lead straight up the path to the non-proactive admin."

Sir ,

Can you elucidate ?

venkatakailasam

smala · Post by **smala** » 20 Dec 2010, 07:58

CML :

Have never met you still I pray that you have many more healthy fruitful years ahead of you.

ajit · Post by **ajit** » 20 Dec 2010, 08:17

Rajesh,
One correction - I am from Pittsburgh(I may not have mentioned that..) and not Chennai.

Ramasubramanian mama,
We did miss you at the meet - I was looking forward to a session similar to the one we had in
Cleveland. VKV mama was in his usual form.

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 20 Dec 2010, 08:19

Thx S-P
We will meet one of these days!

veeyens3 · Post by **veeyens3** » 20 Dec 2010, 08:52

Ref # 278, do I qualify for the office of (hon) president of PRSR?

PUNARVASU · Post by **PUNARVASU** » 20 Dec 2010, 08:56

GBL, and CML,
we pray that your health problems are resolved soon. Take care.

eesha · Post by **eesha** » 20 Dec 2010, 09:57

cmlover wrote:Nageswaran
When do we get to see the videos?

I am eagerly waiting for audio/video of invocation song of Srinidhi. Not a commonly heard kriti. And a difficult one too. Srinidhi delivered it with perfection with her bubbling childish cheerfulness ....

Nick H · Post by **Nick H** » 20 Dec 2010, 10:59

So many people were there, but so many were not. A reminder that r-t was expected but not present: oh well, maybe we might meet somewhere else, I hope so.

fduddy · Post by **fduddy** » 20 Dec 2010, 11:01

cmlover wrote:(Now don't send fduddy to do me in

WHY ROPE ME IN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
UNWARRANTED I MUST SAY.

Time and again you jump the gun and go on a sebatical.
Man, you are crazy, stirring controversies all the time..........

anandasangeetham · Post by **anandasangeetham** » 20 Dec 2010, 11:39

Kudos to Shri Nageswaran sir for the great get together...it was lovely and i enjoyed every moment of it.
Congratulations to Srinidhi for a very satisfying concert. it was a treat to the eyes to see her enjoying and swaying rythmically..got a great stage presence too.,. a promising star....

Special thanks to Radhika for the excellent treasure trove of a collection...

all the greats included and wow what a collection..on a glance of the items in the collection what stood out immediately was a RTP in Jonpuri, wow and it was fantastic.......excellent thanks once again

mankuthimma · Post by **mankuthimma** » 20 Dec 2010, 11:58

venkatakailasam wrote:"such postings which do not add value to the proceedings , it is a choice which nobody has made , and would lead straight up the path to the non-proactive admin."
Sir , Can you elucidate ? venkatakailasam

I have little interest in others , but since you may be hurting yourself in the future , for your sake I will elucidate .

(Now don't send fduddy to do me in
I am already half dead and having a new lease on life

This poster is a part of the admin . He has had trouble with me several times . And look at what he is doing here . He is insinuating that I am behind the postings of XYZ here .
Like hundreds before him or after him , if he does take a balance sheet he is sure to have arrived at a conclusion that he has got more from and given less to me . And yet , he has the gall to misuse a smiley and the word sorry.
I will not elaborate further .
And worse he has takers for his line , due to many reasons , which I understand .

Rasikas.org is not 10 % of what it was once upon a time . I hoped that the number of earnest people who spoke yesterday merited some backtracking on my part , but obviously these guys never learn .
Go ahead and have fun here . Make sure you dont get hurt in the process . And dont get conned when people compose a song on you too.
As far as irresponsible posters are concerned , I write this because they have the gall to email me within seconds of running me down . So they too go the "marked for spam " way. They have just done too little to earn my respect . If you want proof of that just search for posts on authors and decide for yourself
Bye . with Best wishes.

smala · Post by **smala** » 20 Dec 2010, 12:16

Sad that even if one is forgiving the other is not. Neither the judgmental posts nor the insinuations speak well. Misunderstandings galore. Oh well, que sera, sera.

A truce, anybody?

rajumds · Post by **rajumds** » 20 Dec 2010, 13:20

A thread on a wonderful occasion turned sour by a few posts by people , who have made it a point to irritate others.

There was no need for CML, who is a moderator here to post unwanted remarks and then say it was a spelling mistake. Even a child will not spell penchant as pungent. There was no need for Shyama Priya to respond. The sole purpose of these posts was to provoke others.

I am also not going to post any further in this forum unless these posters apologise and admin/mods ensure that such posts are suitably acted against. I am also editing and removing the link for the photos uploaded by me.

By doing this I am may not be acting in the interest of hunderds of other wonderful members of this forum, but unless we collectively act against such posters, this forum will lose its relevance. In yesterday's meet VK raised an issue - Is Rasikas.org artist friendly. The question now is -- Is it rasikas friendly.

smala · Post by **smala** » 20 Dec 2010, 13:29

...There was no need for Shyama Priya to respond. The sole purpose of these posts was to provoke others....

My response was not to provoke...was still smarting, a carryover, from some unwarranted stuff imposed on me in another thread where it all began. Feeling upset is not just Thimma's prerogative.

If that and other recent ones can be retracted, so will all of mine.

fduddy · Post by **fduddy** » 20 Dec 2010, 14:10

Rajumds,
Completely agree to what you said. But do you think cml will stop this nonsense. Time and again he has stirred controversies, instigagted members etc etc. And comes with a ridiculous apology.
I have protested and taken up with VK and Admin but no action has been taken.

If one sees the pattern of discussions in the forumn the times that cml has taken a breakn discussions have been decent, sensible and friendly.
I strongly protest for my name to be dragged unnecessarily.

anandasangeetham · Post by **anandasangeetham** » 20 Dec 2010, 14:18

Dear All,

This is going to be a long post..Sorry for butting in but is the Rasikas .org start and end yesterday......i think not. this is a place for airing views though all may not be constructive..some irrelevant (if i may call that) comment, view may also be posted...so what? in my opinion the so called irrelevant posts may fade away.....sooner or later....but the discussion should go on.....everyone has an opinion of artists, songs, ragas, sabhas and everything....even at times about other forum members......so what again? only restriction should be not to use expletives other wise i think any criticism / opinion/ view / comment is welcome.....like in other forums (NDTV) where the post is first edited by the moderator for expletives..if we can have one i think that will sove many issues(i have not any seen expletives such being posted here by the way)
For example the remark on MA...that the SK is more political than talent and that the junior BMK has got a slot ahead of others...unless some one makes a remark how will others know? or should these be never known at all? in a forum of this magnitude there is bound to be some unsavoury remarks made...please take as it all for good.....some may like TMK other downright hate him..so what ...from the forum i got to know that there were factions in olden days of MMI rasiga and GNB rasigas...it has neither brought down their vidwat nor their status....like yesterday one remark was made that only knowledgeable rasikas to comment .....in my view rasigas are are of three types....a rasiga who has had some grounding in music, a lay rasiga who has some kelvi gnanam and the last who just listens and enjoys music...but all three have a right make a remark, comment and opinionate....for example yesterday i attended a concert of Maharajapuram ramachandran at Hamsavinodhini and i think Kalyani was very badly portrayed and he was off key through out the concert... I may not be an expert but it was very hard to listen to the concert. for the sake of record i dont even know the arohana or avarohana of Kalyani but it should not bar me from commenting. I obvioulsy cannot comment if he used a wrong swara as i cannot identify a sa from pa but can relish the raga on a holistice whole some basis
what i want to drive home is to say that anybody can post anything as long as there is no expletives thrown....there could be someone who would have enjoyed this concert very well and woudl have ffelt this was a best concert..there could always be more than one opinion....Ev en if personalities are dealt with it will die down on its own......everyone knows the fight between the SSI and MBK, SB....now how many talk about that when the great masters' music is discussed. as all vidwans become public figures thier other side will also be discussed to add spice...and spice will never be a full meal....it just gives some one a relief saying ..oh he also was not infallible or was given to ...etc.etc.....but the greats are always greats whatever said and done.....similarly all rasigas are great in their own right....some may not like being pulled and some may like it....at the end of the day everything will die wdown and only the good part will reign.......lika a bag of nellikais......only the ripe comes on top and the raw will stay at the bottom....

over the years forum members will remember only the good things and though the not so good messages will remain inthe site people may just skip through it and forget..

hence a humnle request to all ...please do not go away from the forum or refrain from posting.....each one is good in his own right and let all contribute......i am sure that all will take this in gthe best of spirits and continue posting....we should not miss even one member from this site and only get added by new members.....

tkb · Post by **tkb** » 20 Dec 2010, 14:47

rajeshnat, just for your information i am T. Krishnababu.