Post Mortem II: Rasikas.org Season Coverage 2008

bilahari · Post by **bilahari** » 04 Jan 2009, 10:04

As someone (rajumds?) has mentioned, I think it is absolutely necessary for us to introspect every now and then and this would be an appropriate juncture for me to just indicate my personal highlights and lowlights of our forum's coverage of the season:

+Exhaustive coverage of some artistes like Sanjay, TMK, Suryaprakash, Gayathri Girish, TNS, etc. When we have a concert-by-concert update of an artiste's season, we get a much better idea of how they plan their concerts (if they do), whether they're in form, what sort of "mood" they're in during the season, etc, and can be very interesting to read and also helpful for planning our own schedules.
+Broadening Spectrum of Opinions. There is a big jump in this aspect this year, probably also because so many newer members are coming in to the fray and providing a whole spectrum of opinions on concerts, giving us a wider idea of how the concert was perceived. Case in point: Abhishek Raghuram's concert at Academy.
+Addition of pictures to reviews, a movement that more or less started with hariharans, which gives us a much better visualisation of the concert (literally). Kudos, hariharans!
+Continued coverage of less popular and up-and-coming artistes. I especially noted two good reviews of Sagar, the young flautist, who might even go unmentioned anywhere else, but in rasikas.org, there is always someone out there auditing new artistes and providing feedback on the forum.

-Decreasing objectivity in reviews. Some factions have become a lot more fundamentalist and will not tolerate a bad word uttered about artistes they cling to as if he/she were God. Similarly, there are posters who specifically target and insult certain artistes just to offend the hero-worshippers or just because they despise certain artistes. Neither side would even bother to notice, let alone acknowledge, if the God slipped up or the Devil excelled somewhere. As a result, there is a lot of petty infighting in the forum that is frankly boorish and disgraceful. I sincerely hope we will not have to degenerate to the extent of adopting a poster's idea to label reviews in advance as POSITIVE ONLY or POSITIVES AND NEGATIVES. Also, I don't know about other posters, but I never give credence to posters who consistently overly praise or criticise artistes and gain nothing from their reviews except the songlist.
-Decreasing tolerance of contrary viewpoints. This is a direct result of the fundamentalists described above, who not only worship/despise artistes blindly, but also absolutely do not respect an individual's freedome to state an opinion that they might disagree with (and disagree is a mild word for the childish mudslinging and namecalling that opponents have been resorting to recently). So many times an even minded poster has reminded the rivals that both sides have the right to state an opinion, but somehow this does not deter either side from impetuously battling ahead on their respective war paths.
-Lack of means for identifying other rasikas during concerts. The music season is our annual forum event and conference where all the members worldwide convene to submit ourselves to music and it's the best occasion for us to meet each other and get to know each other personally. Yet we still do not have an effective manner of identifying each other and can go on wild goose chases like on that one Sunday and a dozen of us can attend the same concert with not one meeting each other! We need to have badges by next year. I feel especially strongly about this.

I hope we can keep this thread civil and objective. There has been far too much spite in the name of sarcasm, pettiness, and negativity on this forum recently.

PUNARVASU · Post by **PUNARVASU** » 04 Jan 2009, 10:22

Bilahari,
that was a beautiful 'Summing up'- 'A review of reviews-so to say'.
Such mature thinking and clarity-coming from an youngster- I dont know how old you are, but I guess you are quite young-

. I think that you are a student studying in the US.
I am really happy to read you post which is is very mature and level-headed. Keept it up.

rajumds · Post by **rajumds** » 05 Jan 2009, 20:06

A good thread bilahari. You summed up nicely.

gobilalitha · Post by **gobilalitha** » 08 Jan 2009, 09:15

Excellent summing up. will you lend me your pen ,thoughts, ideas,memory, intellectualism of a very high order. ? feeling sad that when we met twice at singapore at the residence of the ever smiling hosts jananee (vidhyaand venkat) we did not have much time to converse .GOK,when we will meet next gobilalitha
p.s . if you are still in India, rush to bengalooru for a day or two ,to be my guest

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 08 Jan 2009, 11:45

Bilahari,
Well said.
I regret that I missed meeting you and several other rasikAs. In all the hurry in getting from place to place, stampedes in some places and meeting up with kith and kin made it impossible to connect with all rasikAs who made it to Chennai.

VK,
The hand signals and badges would not have helped in all the hundreds of concerts we all seem to have taken in at different venues at different times!Thought of you at several concerts which you would have savored.

Was sorry about: missing J&J's concert.
not being at the jam session
missing a few, in spite of their being at the same venue!
not having that cuppa with Nick and Sushi, and degree coffee at Rajesh's.

Was very happy about meeting some rasikAs several times:
Rajesh (CP) and Vijay (BEB) several times and merci Vijay for the lasagna I enjoyed and for the rest of the fare.
Janani, the talented, sensitive young woman who has a bright future ahead.
Ram, who adding to our frequent meetings, provided a pleasant concert experience.
Bharath, and his cheerful presence.
VainikA Ramki--his soothing and smiling self
Arun who was great company at Gayatri Venkatraghavan's concert.
GV herself, very gracious when we met after the concert (Arun, you had to leave in a hurry).
Of course, Cool, The man of many feats who helps bind us all together.
Suryaprakash, whose two concerts we attended and chatted here and there too.
Vidyaarthi NSG who spares time for rasikAs even amidst his whirlwind activities--at his two concerts and a lec-dem on pallavi
Anil Srinivasan at two prformances--one with Sikkil I partly listened to (other rasikAs stayed till the end) and at the one I liked even better--his playing with Viji Krishnan Natarajan (on the violin) at a private gathering.
Erode Nagaraj--meeting him before his concert ((playing for K.Gayatri) and listening to his deft playing.
Wish I had heard and had met Mannarkoil Balaji too.
And my buddy 'Kojak' rshankar! Wish you had stayed on Ravi.

Feeling tired after all the season hopping. I might have left out a few names due to that. God willing, we can all meet again in Chennai at the next season...

gobilalitha · Post by **gobilalitha** » 08 Jan 2009, 15:26

Probably , you have forgotten the5 minutes meeting of yourself with me and mami at woodlands on 24 th morning , when I went searching from one table to another for any of the forum members. Thank GOD THE CUSTOMERS DID NOT MISTAKE ME FOR A WAITER!!! Gobilalitha

Nick H · Post by **Nick H** » 08 Jan 2009, 18:56

Arasi, I am very sad that we did not get to meet up.

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 08 Jan 2009, 23:52

Nick,
I did try to call you and the phone kept ringing. Will talk to you soon.

Gobilalitha,
Sorry that I left out the names of you and Lalitha this time! An earlier post which I tried to send sleepy eyed-last night had your names, but that message got gobbled up. I also mentioned meeting you in another thread earlier. Which one? With so many of them, I cannot figure out. Moreover, I am still tired and being in my league when it comes to remembering things, you will understand.

CML,
I did not say it (on the forum) how much I missed you all along. When it comes to Cienu, I do not know where to begin. He will understand.
As for the event, it was an unforgettable experience. The song was born soon after MS left this earth but it waited to be sung first on stage by her dear daughter and her great grandchild!
I did not have the time, and could not connect with the internet easily from where I stayed. Trying now to catch up with nearly three weeks of what has been happening on our busy forum.

Wanted to meet Mohan and hear Aditya too. Did not happen. And Nandagopal! Missed him by a day. Hope he will come to Bangalore before I leave the country...

Nick H · Post by **Nick H** » 09 Jan 2009, 00:00

Arasi! Very sorry to hear that.

I have had a couple of people have difficulty with calling my mobile. House phone might have meant we were out, of course. I'll send you Sushi's number just in case.

erode14 · Post by **erode14** » 09 Jan 2009, 00:30

Thanks for coming and making the green room (pasumai ninaivu) pleasant for some time, dear arasi and arasar....

rajeshnat · Post by **rajeshnat** » 09 Jan 2009, 08:30

Arasi,
From next year we will buy a pre paid mobile phone and give you, it is so difficult to contact you. Salute you and your husband Krishnan Sir . Coming Non stop for atleast 4 decades or may be even more from america and then sabha hoping atleast 2 to 3 concerts , you and krishnan Sir are a real role model, we at times talk too much about antha Kalathu vidwan , we also have to talk a lot about antha kalAthu rasikA.

bilahari · Post by **bilahari** » 09 Jan 2009, 11:19

Balu mama, I'm back in the States unfortunately, though I will make sure we meet this year! Arasi, I really did miss meeting our resident forum royalty (second year running now, actually).

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 09 Jan 2009, 11:26

Thanks, Rajesh!
No, we have not been coming to Chennai for the season for decades, but just after retirement. Until then, we were living with music (not much of live music in the earlier decades outside India!) by way of spool to spool and later, cassettes. The 'live' experience is giddy, and I am guilty of attending even three concerts a day! My husband had his limits (sabha chairs being uncomfortable and coming in an assortment of torture levels). I got energized by refills of (good) music and perked up every morning to continue my binge. I feel the tiredness now, but miss the concerts! I even hear tanis in my head every now and then (imagine! This gnAna SUnyam in tALam).
Hoping we can do one more season, and another, if we are granted to age gracefully and with good health.
As for the mobile--The Mobile and Me hasn't been written yet. With my injured hand and my zero aptitude and ability with anything which resembles a gadget, I cannot win. I would not blame the mobile though. Too many commitments, Chennai being a center of friends and relatives. But we were very happy to spend some time with you and others (only secondary

, CP!

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 09 Jan 2009, 11:43

Bilahari,
My sentiments too. Your posts have been great on the season. Hope we have better luck next season. Who knows? The two coasts are not that far off, compared to the distance one has to cover, coming to Chennai--Citizen Queen

By the way, wish you had heard that Bilahari (yes!) composition of mine sung by Jayalakshmi Santhanam!

bilahari · Post by **bilahari** » 09 Jan 2009, 21:14

I would LOVE to have heard your Bilahari composition, Arasi! Pity I kept being in the wrong place at the wrong time wrt Bilahari

PUNARVASU · Post by **PUNARVASU** » 09 Jan 2009, 22:17

bilahari is/was there where Bilahari is/was not.-

Or is it vice versa?

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 09 Jan 2009, 22:40

Next season the retinue should hold
a rasika darbaar !
( so as not to miss out)

vasanthakokilam · Post by **vasanthakokilam** » 10 Jan 2009, 03:18

Punarvasu wrote:bilahari is/was there where Bilahari is/was not.-
Or is it vice versa?

Like, bilahariyai kandAl bilahariyai kAnOm, bilahariyai kandAl bilahariyai kAnOm

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 10 Jan 2009, 04:30

you mean
Bilahariyai kaNDAl bilahariyai kANOM; bilahariyai kaNDAl Bilahariyai kANOM!
There should be lahiri for bilahari to be there and perhaps Bilahari too

bilahari · Post by **bilahari** » 10 Jan 2009, 05:43

Bilahari's getting very confused about Bilahari and Bilahari

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 10 Jan 2009, 11:23

Arasi too. While CML always supports me, whether a throne would support me is another question. The way I sat in all those varied, but definitely not comfortable chairs of many sabhas, the music I heard was what gave me that elevated state. Those who would know my deficiencies in the knowledge in music, particularly when it comes to several of the most knowledgeable rasikAs on the forum, I can easily be given the title 'arasika' by just bringing those two words together

PUNARVASU · Post by **PUNARVASU** » 10 Jan 2009, 14:22

'arasik(k)A' inda nilaimai?

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 10 Jan 2009, 22:23

Just to make arasi happy in conformity with her request let us compromise as
'arasiakka'

(particularly for you Punarvasu and for many others too! )

PUNARVASU · Post by **PUNARVASU** » 10 Jan 2009, 22:48

CML, thanks for gifting me an' akkA' in the new year.

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 10 Jan 2009, 23:40

Punarvasu,
Your new year present was present even before that!

erode14 · Post by **erode14** » 10 Jan 2009, 23:59

oh...

lets thalai muzhugify for this arasika topic with kAl or
ara-sIyakkA...

na bhruyAth "satyam - apriyam" (rAma rAma...)

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 11 Jan 2009, 02:51

arasi wrote:
And my buddy 'Kojak' rshankar! Wish you had stayed on Ravi.

LOL! Mark of a true composer!!

I too wish I had stayed on, or that the time I was there was spent more on concerts, but, sadly that was not to be!

PUNARVASU · Post by **PUNARVASU** » 11 Jan 2009, 06:33

arasi, thanks for that; very true-did not know the present which was in hand already.

erode-14, why 'kAl or ara(i)? For muzhugufying, we need 'muzhu' sIyakka.

I better stop with this-had enough fun.