The Cleveland Tyagaraja Festival 2014

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 17 Apr 2014, 09:05

The Cleveland festival started today with a torchbearers concert. Apart from celebrating Tyagaraja and CM, we in North America are proud to see our younger generation showing great promise in continuing the glory of CM in this part of the world. Thanks to Cleveland for that!

Sriranjani Dharba from Texas, Janani Iyer from Ilinois and Manasa Suresh from CA sang, Shashank Swaminathan and Vishvak Kumaran from Illinois played the mrudangam. Apoorva Krishnan was not there to play the violin. So,VidvAn V.V.Murari stepped in to accompany the youngsters.

The main was sAvEri (janani, natajana paripAlini) which they presented impressively, Sriranjani adding the bhAvam which the rAgA certainly demands. The other two were dressed a la Ra-gA in that they wore the same outfits, but the colors were reversed in their skirts-half saris and their blouses!

Top marks for your pronunciation of the lyrics, girls!

The young mrudangists played their tani well, as expected.

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 17 Apr 2014, 09:38

Remembering Ramnad Krishnan:

It was good to see VKV on the screen! He spoke of Krishnan who grew up in a musical family of six children (one of them was mrudangist Ramnad Raghavan who was known to many rasikAs here).

VKV said how unique Krishnan's music was. He was a musicians' musician. His guru was the venerable Ramanathapuram Sankarasivam. Krishnan's laya gnAnam was tremendous. PMI and Pazhani admired him.

Krishnan liked Brinda's style of singing a great deal and also admired GNB.

His music is noteworthy for his singing rakti rAgAs, going for hefty sAhityAs (like PaTnam's), and his feeling for the lyrics (P.Sivan's bhajanai singing brought tears to his eyes). The tukkaDAs he sang were chosen for their lyrical value too...

This was followed by an audio presentation of Ramnad Krishnan's singing from a new DVD (?)
which contained a refreshing Bhairavi RTP (how unique it is, VKV had said).

We heard ninnu cheppa kAraNamEmi manasA next (and how he sings 'kAraNa' without chopping up the word like some, making it sound like 'raNamEmi manasA'!).

A one of a kind kApi AlApana and parulanna mATa came next. As gOvardhana giridhAri was playing, I had to leave my seat, I'm afraid!

VKV, thanks

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 17 Apr 2014, 20:10

Dr.Sirgazhi Sivachidambaram's concert:

This physician/musician, son of a famed musician, gave a telugu/tamizh rich concert which I heard most parts of. Jay shankar Balan on the violin. The percussion team--Tiruvayur Vaidyanathan, Cleveland Balu and Toronto Surenthar.

The concert opened with Sri gaNapathini in SaurAshTram. LathAngi followed (dinamE sudinamu). Then came bEgaDa rAgam with anudinamunu gAvumaiyya (NS).

yagnAthulu and an absorbing paramAthmuDu were very pleasing to hear.

The songs which came later were SIr maruvu chennai nagar pugazh, karuNanidhi dAsarathi, and niri niri ga ma ga ri sa (hamsAnandi) tillAnA.

His ulagam vAzhga, inbamE SUzhga, ellOrum vAzhga! made one feel happy about the bond the people of the world have in music and languages. That's what a festival like this is all about...

rajeshnat · Post by **rajeshnat** » 18 Apr 2014, 07:20

writeup of the cleveland festival by vidushi charumathi ramachandran
http://www.thehindu.com/features/friday ... 922072.ece

VK RAMAN · Post by **VK RAMAN** » 18 Apr 2014, 19:30

rajeshnat - that link does not take us to the write up by vidushi.

rajeshnat · Post by **rajeshnat** » 18 Apr 2014, 21:19

VK RAMAN wrote:rajeshnat - that link does not take us to the write up by vidushi.

VKR
In my morning when I posted the link worked .The link url also had a phrase like hail-rama-the-greatest-rasika, now it is giving some other content as thirrukural festival .However at the top it says CLEVELAND, April 17, 2014. Dont know about the problem , let us wait for a day may be the hindu will fix it.

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 18 Apr 2014, 22:29

Rajesh,
I could read the article Charumathi Ramachandran had written yesterday. Hope it is brought back. An engaging write up it is, about the vidushi's thoughts and experiences at the Cleveland festival We rasikAs write reams about our musical experience. How I wish artistes do a bit more of that!

There is a tendency in all of us to take for granted the good things that happen with the music we love, like the Cleveland festival.

There is much more value to all that we exchange as Rasikas--if the musicians also chip in to educate us, and dispel our misconceptions about CM and of the artistes themselves.

Needless to say, I'm waiting for fellow-member and communicator supreme (let alone a super musician) Ravikiran to present his productions in Cleveland--and also to enlighten us with his posts.

Rsachi · Post by **Rsachi** » 18 Apr 2014, 23:45

Charumathi Ramachandran

VK RAMAN · Post by **VK RAMAN** » 19 Apr 2014, 00:48

An engaging write up indeed. Thanks Rsachi.

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 19 Apr 2014, 01:59

On Thursday the 17th, Cleveland remembered our unforgettable sarvalaghu master Vellore Ramabhadran with a percussion concert. I do hope someone who was there (or watched it) will post here to share the program with us.

I caught Varun Ganesan (winner of Advanced (?) pallavi contest as he was singing bEgaDa rAgA with confidence and fluency. There was a lot of bhAvam as he expanded the rAgA. His tAnam was very efficiently executed in khanDa naDai chatusra jhampa (?): kulam tharum, guNam tharum, selvam tharum rAmanai ninai manamE. varALi, valaji (?), Ananda bhairavi ensued.
His suraTi sketch was sweet and succinct. A new song to me, it was about rAmA mainly (though a mention as pANDavA's charioteer was there). Silai vAngia raghurAman (the one who bent Siva's bow), the song went. Here is a creative singer with clout, I thought.

Apoorva Krishnan on the violin was a good match in her playing the violin.

VidvAn Trivandrum Balaji was subtle and supportive, and let Varun wield the reins.

What V.V.S said after the concert is inspiring. Varun is a student at MIT and the essay he wrote for admission to the college was about his experience with the Cleveland contests. When one wondered how the admission panel was going to appreciate it with their knowing nothing about CM, he was insistent about sending it.

Varun's passion for CM has to be appreciated! Wishing him a bright future as a scientist and a vocalist

Apoorva who supported him so well is a student of Anuradha Sridhar. V.V.S said that she was so keen on continuing her learning that she decided to move to India to pursue it full time, and is there now. Good luck to her!
And, we are proud of our kids in this continent!

Rsachi · Post by **Rsachi** » 19 Apr 2014, 07:22

Apoorva lives now in Bangalore and has advanced training under Vid. Lalgudi Srimathi Brahmanandam.
She has been very impressive in the few concerts I have listened to her. she has started solo concerts also.

She won the best instrumentalist prize in Carnatic music at all India level in the first ever Naad Bhed competition (SPiC MACAY DD) concluded end of 2013.

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 19 Apr 2014, 08:57

Thanks, Sachi.
Are you and others watching the festival from India?

Tomorrow, several friends will be there, its being the ArAdhanA day. All of weekend too. Lakshman, MKR, Meenaakshi and others, please write about the happenings.

VKV,
You too! I missed hearing your brother on the inaugural day. Hope to hear him sing, of course!

Rsachi · Post by **Rsachi** » 19 Apr 2014, 09:19

Sorry, too many hassles.
Maybe I will catch some portions later via YT.

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 19 Apr 2014, 11:04

Ra-GA A Riot!

Ranjani and Gayathri
H.N. Bhaskar: violin
Manoj Siva: mrudangam

Ranjani and Gayathri gave a spirited concert, a rich fare to satisfy their eager fans and to please all others.

Initially, it looked as though Gayathri had a cold (she was reaching out for her hankie). As the concert progressed, she got more and more energetic, embroidering rAgA after rAgA tirelessly.

Hope someone posts a song list.

They started the concert with ST's varNam chalamEla jEsEvurA. Ninnu jUchi dhanyDaithi in saurAshTram followed. Sweetly done, polished to a shine. A torrent of svarAs followed.

Ranjani's rItigowLa AlApanA for rAga ratna mAlikachE was a fine exploration of the rAgA. Bhaskar's return was extremely good.Had neraval and svaram.

Then akilAnDESvari in jujAvanthi.

JyOthisvarUpiNi (gAnAmuda pAnam) was the main. Very well done. In the tani that followed, I could hear Manoj Siva's mrudangam humming the rAgA!

PaTTi viDuva rAdu, a quick (too quick? Radha Jayalakshmi quick!) filler.

RTP in janaranjani (tisra jAti, tisra tripuTa), if I heard it right.
tAnam stood out.
pallavi line: T's smaraNE sukhamu.
svarA-s were dazzling--in gowLa, bahudhAri, rAgESri. A special rAgESri. Bhaskar was very good too.

No ghana rAgam in the concert, I think. Please fill in the rest, folks. An abhang or two followed, to be sure. Was there a virutham? If so, wish I had heard it.

Ranjani is sounding even better as years go by. Gayathri is delightful when she sings exotic rAgAs. In this particular concert though, I thought she was singing a bit more than her share (is that a right thing to say with a duo that the singing portions should be equal? I don't know).
Anyhow, I thoroughly enjoyed listening to the sister (*) (*) -s.

mahavishnu · Post by **mahavishnu** » 19 Apr 2014, 11:42

Arasi, thanks for all your reviews and highlights. I have not managed to catch any of the proceedings so far; blame it on work.

In this particular concert though, I thought she was singing a bit more than her share (is that a right thing to say with a duo that the singing portions should be equal? I don't know).

Gayatri always sings more than the older sibling, and also tends to dominate their talks, interviews and even announcements. The slightly more sagacious older sister has a very peaceful countenance about her as she sees the younger one beam.

I am surprised (in a good way) to see them back in Cleveland. They haven't performed there in several years now. I had simply assumed that they had fallen out of favor with the brokerage, as some (read many) seem to. hmmm...

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 20 Apr 2014, 07:44

Thanks, Ramesh

I miss your not being in Cleveland now. Ramesh Sr will have a lot to share with us, I hope...
Lakshman, please write a short account at least of the festival. You don't miss the ArAdhanA as a rule. CML is busy with family, and he won't be posting as he did last year. Wonder if Pasupathy made the trip.

Photos...Meenaakshi isn't there this year, I hear

We will miss all those candid shots. Wonder if Ramanathan is present. His pictures are always eagerly awaited.

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 20 Apr 2014, 08:28

Friday the 18th:
Had a sampling of the competitions. This year, many songs I heard were not very familiar ones. Some were even 'tough to sing' songs.

I also heard many traditional rAgA-s--sAvEri, thODi, kAmbOdi, kEdAra gowLa, Ananda bhairavi...

Looks as though every year the quality in singing is going up. Heard a girl play bhairavi very well on the vINe.

Their pronunciation and clarity in sAhityA is something to be appreciated.

Sivaramakrishnan · Post by **Sivaramakrishnan** » 20 Apr 2014, 11:57

Thanks arasi for the beautiful reports.
Is it Cleveland or Cleverland for just hijacking music from South India?!

thanjavooran · Post by **thanjavooran** » 20 Apr 2014, 12:04

Arasiji,
Many thanx for the running commentary. Very interesting as IPL .
Thanjavooran
20 04 2014

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 20 Apr 2014, 18:11

Sivaramakrishnan and Thanjavooran,
Thank you both, and Mahavishnu too, for not making me feel like I'm a lone rasikA who gets all worked up about a phenomenon like Cleveland.

Commentary it isn't, Thanjavooran, because I bring the happenings late. Can't help it because others are not around to add speed to the delivery...

Sivaramakrishnan,
'Cleverland' it certainly is. Otherwise, such a production is impossible! My feelings are that just like the children of indian extraction in this continent have taken to, and are doing so well in CM (fifteen years ago, we wouldn't even have dreamed of it), the almost impossible task of mounting a mammoth event like this is happening for CM away from Chennai every year.

Of course, with cleverness goes hard work, cooperation and undying inspiration!

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 20 Apr 2014, 21:18

Arasi - really appreciate your sharing of this - yAm peRRa inbam and all that! Thank you.
I believe that Sri Ashok Ramani will be coordinating a tribute to Papanasam Sri Sivan on Monday...hope you get to watch that. I'm told the children have done an awesome job in the rehearsals.

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 21 Apr 2014, 01:27

Thanks, Ravi. Will try and catch it.

Still one more week to go, and young as I am

I need others to chip in with their posts to cover all that's going on in Cleveland. Hours of watching, hurried chores around the house and other commitments in my life makes me slow in delivery--so this snail-space commentary!

rajeshnat · Post by **rajeshnat** » 21 Apr 2014, 07:39

Arasi
Please continue writing , afterall among the many here- you and your husband krishnan sir must have even heard the first 10 years of aradhana by attending the live cleveland festival.

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 21 Apr 2014, 08:41

The wonderful production Draupadi KalyANam just ended in Cleveland. Two greats in their fields--Ravikiran and Chandrashekhar presented this dance drama in a praiseworthy manner. The weekend, with the ArAdhanA, children singing and endless programs of stars and stalwarts was overwhelming. The differences in the programs--of the genres and participants were astonishing!

Rajesh,
I am trying to keep my 'diary entries format' (which is far from being a live commentary).
Let me go back to where I left off...

Bless iCarnatic! Even if I were in Cleveland for a week, I wouldn't have been able to take in this many programs

My only request to the Aradhana Committee is this: don't get ambitious and make the festival even bigger next year! We can't take it all in--and you people simply can't manage much more responsibilities! V.V.S, I know you and your team perhaps can

but remember what the journalist-friend from Cleveland said to you: why pack programs back to back?

Since I cannot give my attention fully to every program I see, and also will be missing some in the coming days, the facility for the subscribers to watch every program once as videos in May at our convenience, is a good thing!

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 22 Apr 2014, 04:36

Back to last friday afternoon...

A ceremonial procession down the stairs and the lobby (weather forecast: three inches of snow in Cleveland). Vyasarpadi Kodandaraman and party leading the group with mangala iSai, Udayalur with the nAma sankIrthanai folks and Sundaram (carrying the portrait of Tyagaraja) with Nagai, MAE and others. MAE took over from Sundaram, then Khanjari Gopalakrishnan, T in a relay, carried safely back to his place on the stage!

kOlaTTam by three groups of young ones followed. Very nice...

Three mega programs followed that very evening!

BMK, the adored king of CM was in a collaboration with CSU Jazz ensemble. He had created a new rAgA for the occasion. Then came the amazing rasikapriya ouvre. How his voice rained nectar!

The university jazz ensemble played the rAgA too. The children did a splendid job of their singing. Gayathri Venkataraghavan and the maestro wove a grand strand of what became the rasikAs' priya (Rajesh, I'm emulating you here!).

Shashikiran was the coordinator, singer, and connector of all elements. Ganesh sang too, but he barely played the chithravina (he was billed to). I was waiting to hear him, but heard only a few strains of his playing, though Shashi was signalling him to play more. Murari's violin sounds were very pleasing. Since there was a violin already in the ensemble, a bit more of the chithravinA sound would have added more dimension to the piece.

Tiruvarur rocked and the jazz percussion's multi-sounds were a treat to hear...

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 22 Apr 2014, 05:03

Birju Maharaj and Sasvathi Sen next!

I was stunned by their performance. Wish Nick had watched it with me. He's a true admirer of their art. And Ravi--I think of his expertise in the enjoyment of Dance whenever I need to know more about this art form I know very little about

Their performance was a tribute to Ravi Shankar, and the musical tribute by Ashwini Bhide followed on Saturday, another treat.

Birju Maharaj! Oh, his footwork! And all the poise and the joy contained in that one person! He is a class act in motion--a child Krishna now, a treasure house of subtle sounds the next. Many Krishnas stealing butter in bharatha natyam performances have gladdened me too, but this one stole my heart. Birju Maharaj's Krishna's ways of trying to get at the butter, his greed, and his wiping his face off all that surfeit of butter was enchanting to watch! The cheekiness on his face, his fine movements, steps and mime actions (reminding me of Marcel Marceau) charmed me no end.

The microphone kept blaring at intervals for a short time. He stops in his track, takes steps across the stage, makes a blowing of a conch gesture and says 'shankh!' musically and keeps rhythm

Loved it!

Sasvathi Sen, even without stealing butter, stole my heart. She danced Ahalya's story stunningly. Maharaj's 'a conversation between a japanese and a sardarji' that she danced to, amused no end, and of course, her footwork awed me!

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 22 Apr 2014, 05:55

The last program for the evening was the beginning of Cleveland festival's five part dance drama of The MahAbhArathA.

Suguna Purushotham, in spite of her ill health, had handed in the lyrics and music for the project she had taken up--bless her. We all wish her well. Hope she recovers soon and is back to normal to sing and to impart music to her many students.

Her student and CM performer K.Gayathri took care of the musical part of the production in her place, I guess. She was the main singer in the production.

As expected, Cleveland gets concert artistes to sing for dance performances! Instrumentalists too--it's a boot camp both for artistes and rasikAs

We have to spend many hours and work hard to earn our music. Yet, how rewarding it all is!

Narthaki Nataraj was the choreographer, and she appeared as GangA (in this Bhishma's story in the epic). I was impressed with her description of the river in her movements and gestures. The youngsters gave their best, indeed. It was a good production.

As it has become tradition, the veteran bharathanatyam exponent 'live wire and ever-reaching out' Rhada made a cameo appearance as Matsya kanyA's father with gusto.

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 22 Apr 2014, 08:17

MKR,
Since you are still in Cleveland, could you please echo RaviSri's post in the other thread on Muktha when you speak to V.V.S and VKV? He had reminded us that 2014 is Muktha's centenary year and he did not find any event in the Cleveland festival schedule having to do with her. Even now, it isn't too late to rustle up a quick session to honor her, he felt, with Ravikiran, Kiranavali (students), and a few others who knew her being in Cleveland? I know, back to back programs will not make it easy, but it's a suggestion I'm voicing, in case no one read it. Well-worth considering. Thanks.

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 22 Apr 2014, 09:11

Saturday was ArAdhanA day. As always, the singing sounded far better than in Tiruvaiyaru. The stars were there, so were many musicians and youngsters.

I was happy to see Guruvayur Dorai (he was felicitated this year). He is also playing tomorrow For NSG.

The prize winning children (Carnatic Idol USA, I think) sang in the morning. Aditya Chakravarthy opened with 'mAra vairi ramaNi' and sang bhairavi, his very first phrases bringing the essence of the rAgA to us. I could not hear Rishabh Ranganathan who won the junior prize.

Then I heard Bengaluru Rama Lalitha Kala Mandira's CA branch children give a neat little performance.

Harimau had mentioned Mudikondan Ramesh once, and I wanted to listen to him in December in Chennai, and I had the chance of hearing him accompanying Gayathri Girish in one of her thematic concerts. So, I looked forward to listening to him in Cleveland. His playing was sweet and heart-melting at times. Little Vinjamuri Kamalkiran and Athul Kumar on the flute added even more sweetness to his playing.
The sAramati svarams Mudikondan Ramesh played were moving.

I was overwhelmed by one more of the torch bearers' concert. They gave a top notch performance, all of them! I can't tire of admiring the kids, their parents and teachers. We say it over and over again, but how every year we see them reach higher levels of proficiency! Tough Krutis, tongue-twisters and difficult ragAs don't faze them. Even if they did have problems initially, they had worked hard on getting them right.

Nagai Muralidharan and Nagai Sriram gave a super concert along with MAE, Vaikkom Gopalakrishnan on the ghatam and Rajganesh on the khanjari.

kAmbODi varNam followed by Bhuvini dAsuDani. Their kEdaram (Ananda naTana prakASam) was simply mellifluous. So was their mAnavathi RTP. The bilahari they played was first rate.

Our forumite MAE's playing of the mrudangam appeals to me no end. Vaikkom's ghaTam was very good too.

vasanthakokilam · Post by **vasanthakokilam** » 22 Apr 2014, 10:07

Arasi, what you are reporting is much appreciated. I know you could use some help from others who are attending/watching since it is a monumental ask of time and energy to summarize the day long activity while keeping busy enjoying the current day long activity. Keep it up at your own pace. Thanks.

mahavishnu · Post by **mahavishnu** » 22 Apr 2014, 10:13

Second what VK said. Arasi, thanks for all the trouble you are taking to post!
I wish I had more time to watch the livestream. Or better yet, be there in person.

rajeshnat · Post by **rajeshnat** » 22 Apr 2014, 10:58

While others can indeed shoulder bit more responsibility and take up arasi load , but she being in US for atleast 4 decades and seeing most of them who could range from grandchildren to even great grand children, her enthusiasm is understandably high. Keep them coming madam. :ymapplause:

Manavati RTP by the violin duo from nagaipattinams must have been one of a kind , keep it going vidwans sriram and muralidharan and all the rest who are to follow .

bsnram · Post by **bsnram** » 22 Apr 2014, 20:57

Students of Guru Smt. Kiranavali Vidyasankar will be presenting Mela Ragamalika of the celebrated Maha Vaidhyanatha Sivan at Cleveland Aradhana on Apr 25th (Fri) at 8AM. Months of hard work has has gone into the preparation for this performance. If you happen to be in the Cleveland area, please attend this and encourage the youngsters. The event should also be available live in icarnatic.org.

Regards .. Ram

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 24 Apr 2014, 03:43

Folks, my tortoise pace continues, and having lost yesterdays jottings to malware, here I am, starting all over again (thanks srkris for fixing the problem in a trice)...

pperumal · Post by **pperumal** » 24 Apr 2014, 03:57

Saw snatches of Manimaran's concert since I am in India past few weeks and icarnatic lets you watch this free from India. Thanks icarnatic team!!!
Didn't enjoy the concert though - maybe he had an off day.

Then watched Sikkil Gurucharan - again he seems to adhere to the golden mean - neither great nor bad...so one can't really comment much...saveri and keeravani were neat - yes that's the word i was looking for!!!!!

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 24 Apr 2014, 07:39

More music by the torch bearers, their tackling kalyANi or kannaDa or any other rAgA like pros (with a lot of help from their teachers and by sheer hard work). Any language seemed to sound as if they knew them well. It's always amusing to hear them while the sound is being set up--american accented exchanges in english is what you hear, and once they start singing, they sound as if they learn indian languages at school!

Cleveland Aradhana has this commendable custom of honoring musicians, dancers, folks in the music business and volunteers who give countless hours of their time to the growth of CM and dance in north america. On this very busy day this year though, it looked like a SuNDal prasAdam distribution scene in a big temple on a festive day. The stage looked like an animated spirograph of colors of saris, kurtAs and those shimmering shawls--all persons hurriedly making their way to the exit!

Yes, back to back programs there were, but a bit more time for the ceremony would have made the recipients savor their moment and share it with the audience (no need for 'I want to say a 'few' words!). To see their faces beam would have made the rasikAs feel happy too.

My pet peeve is being repeated one more time. Why shawls? Why this wrapping ceremony? In ancient days, it made a lot of sense when the kings and patrons gave rewards of money and a silk or embroidered woolen shawls (they 'wore' them as part of their clothing and here was a fancy one to wear for special occasions and the woolen ones in cold weather!).

This business of trying to wrap individuals with them on a congested stage was no easy feat that day. I know I'm irking many organizers in every part of the world who indulge in this practice with good will in their hearts. I don't question that. It just seems like a redundant thing to me. I do know that in recent years this practice was revived for some reason. I should perhaps blame the politicians for this 'excess' too!

Sorry if I offended anyone...

mahavishnu · Post by **mahavishnu** » 24 Apr 2014, 07:52

My pet peeve is being repeated one more time. Why shawls? Why this wrapping ceremony? In ancient days, it made a lot of sense when the kings and patrons gave rewards of money and a silk wrap (they 'wore' them as part of their clothing and here was a fancy one to wear for special occasions--like a shawl ritual!).

Couldn't agree more. :ymapplause:

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 24 Apr 2014, 07:58

Thanks, Ramesh, I feel like getting a shawl for you. I had edited my post while you posted. You will find the woolen ones too there now. Which one do you prefer?

VK RAMAN · Post by **VK RAMAN** » 24 Apr 2014, 07:59

Honoring them with PoorNakumbham with the chanting of shanti panchakam would have a devotional effect, IMO

mahavishnu · Post by **mahavishnu** » 24 Apr 2014, 09:28

arasi wrote:
Thanks, Ramesh, I feel like getting a shawl for you. I had edited my post while you posted. You will find the woolen ones too there now. Which one do you prefer?

How sweet of you! Can there be anything better than being wrapped up in the warmth and goodwill of the people that matter? A shawl is perhaps just a symbol of such a benediction.

However as you intuited, ponnAdai and associated bling are best left for politicians and their ilk.

Rsachi · Post by **Rsachi** » 24 Apr 2014, 09:57

Ladies and gents, well spoken!

There is an old proverb:
In public life, think not how many shawls you get, but what you do with them.

I think we should simply accept the ritual of draping the shawl - woollen, silk, and in some places like Assam they have a local cotton weave (I got one long back..) or poly silk etc.. As a quaint historical custom and do not look for more practicality.

However, I think there DOES exist an opportunity for some clever and artistic people to come up with some fine collage-like arrangements of these shawls nicely folded and placed in a mural like format with framing, which someone can add to their lovely walls. Thought of it before?

Let me illustrate my idea:

mahavishnu · Post by **mahavishnu** » 24 Apr 2014, 10:04

Sachi, Very creative. A giant quilt of a lifetime of shawls!

rajeshnat · Post by **rajeshnat** » 24 Apr 2014, 10:42

arasi wrote:Folks, my tortoise pace continues, and having lost yesterdays jottings to malware, here I am, starting all over again (thanks srkris for fixing the problem in a trice)...

All
In general type in notepad save in your local machine and then ctrl c and ctrl v it(copy and paste).

Arasi
I hope we did not lose any content of few artists which you had to type and lose, thanks and keep continuing with your femaleware

)

Narasimha · Post by **Narasimha** » 24 Apr 2014, 10:52

Understand that TVG has recd this years award...looks like he also sang...can anyone post the song list

varsha · Post by **varsha** » 24 Apr 2014, 12:38

A look at Shawls on World Book Day

Shawl
by Albert Goldbarth

Eight hours by bus, and night
was on them. He could see himself now
in the window, see his head there with the country
running through it like a long thought made of steel and wheat.
Darkness outside; darkness in the bus—as if the sea
were dark and the belly of the whale were dark to match it.
He was twenty: of course his eyes returned, repeatedly,
to the knee of the woman two rows up: positioned so
occasional headlights struck it into life.
But more reliable was the book; he was discovering himself
to be among the tribe that reads. Now his, the only
overhead turned on. Now nothing else existed:
only him, and the book, and the light thrown over his shoulders
as luxuriously as a cashmere shawl.

Nick H · Post by **Nick H** » 24 Apr 2014, 13:09

arasi wrote:My pet peeve is being repeated one more time. Why shawls? Why this wrapping ceremony? In ancient days, it made a lot of sense when the kings and patrons gave rewards of money and a silk or embroidered woolen shawls (they 'wore' them as part of their clothing and here was a fancy one to wear for special occasions and the woolen ones in cold weather!).

This business of trying to wrap individuals with them on a congested stage was no easy feat that day. I know I'm irking many organizers in every part of the world who indulge in this practice with good will in their hearts. I don't question that. It just seems like a redundant thing to me. I do know that in recent years this practice was revived for some reason. I should perhaps blame the politicians for this 'excess' too!

Sorry if I offended anyone...

Never mind if you did!

At least, in North America, these undeniably beautiful things have some chance (even if tiny) of actual use. Here, in Chennai's climate, the whole thing is a complete absurdity: they are presented on the stage and never, ever seen again. It was part of the policy of the rasikas.org concert presenters to put the cash into direct payments to the artists, rather than this ceremonial fluff.

Rant over, back to the good stuff, of which there is plenty!

Arasi, it was hard to come to terms with the idea that you are commenting on the basis of the webcasts. From your vivid descriptions, I still find it hard to believe that you are not actually there!

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 24 Apr 2014, 22:04

Wish you were here this afternoon (your very late night). Ravikiran and Birju Maharaj and Saswathi Devi this evening. Night owl as you are, you may be able to see it in India

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 25 Apr 2014, 09:19

After all the extremely busy engagements of the ArAdhanA day, we settled down to the calming effects of Ashvini Bhide's concert. It took some time to do that though, because the tabla sound was overwhelming and drowned her voice (at least in the streaming). I waited for it to be adjusted, and then sent mail to icarnatic. They were very good about it. Wrote back to ask if that had changed. Soon, I could report back to them that all was well. Thank you, icarnatic!

Oh yes, it was a soothing concert from then on. I heard her voice flowing smoothly, singing ?? kauns. kalAvathi with the 'tabla thunder' came first. Then came ghara (reminding me of mohe panghaT mE nandlAl chEd gayOrE), and how calming it was!

Simply clad, clinging to her tambUra, she sang blissfully. Also an abhang in a style which was lively but not wild.
So, Saturday wound down, making it a sweet end to a hectic day...

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 25 Apr 2014, 10:11

Neyveli's Students:

To go with this year's theme of The MahAbhArathA at Cleveland, Neyveli's students started their morning concert with a dhyAna SlOkam in rAgamAlikA. They sang without flagging in momentum, all in unison. On to Tiger's composition about VinAyakA.

They changed the pace in a trice to sing a 'note'. They sang a thiruppugazh (which would faze some native singers to take it up in a concert!). This they sang so well--with no mispronunciation, but with clarity. The only thing I once heard which was 'american' was 'uthamazh' from some instead of uthamar!

They sang mAyAtIta svarUpiNi, tulasi dala, saraLi varisai, gItham, varNam, thus exploring all forms of compositions in a single rAgA.

NSG makes us proud, and his students made him proud!

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My scanty notes and my leaving the vicinity of my laptop every now and then makes my lists incomplete. I do appreciate those who know more and have corrections to e-mail me though the forum. Then, my errors and slips can be corrected. Thanks...

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Rsachi · Post by **Rsachi** » 25 Apr 2014, 15:21

Varsha
The poem is so beautiful, thanks!
Next time we meet, maybe I will give you a shawl.. Or better, a book?

Have you read the story ಶಾಲು ಸಾಬಿ by Gorur?