Naadham en jeevanae... 2

After a much heavy philosophical topic, i am back to my prayer. I am painfully aware of the fact that this post bears a ever higher risk of stating the most obvious. So once again, let me say this post is not going to add anything to whatever you might already know. After all, every prayer does the same: repeating the omnipotency of God that everybody supposes to be knowing, but in varying colours. Now that i have established my music credentials in the previous post on IR, let us get straight to the point.

No composer, i think, would have so much to his credit.

In recognition of the futility of this whole exercise of translating my love in to words, i think i would better wind up with just a few more observations. Probably they might help you enjoy more the next time you happen to hear IR.

Leave alone the subjective issues of quality. Just look at the mere volume of the creative output of the maestro. They say about Bill Gates' wealth: if you stack dollar bills, equal to Bill's net worth, one over another, it would reach the moon (well, i don't personally vouch for the veracity of this story!!!). Likewise, if one were to play illayaraja's songs back-to-back without repeating any of them, I think it would last for a lifetime... (ahem! now you math geeks out there, don't take out your calculators...) And the success rate in terms of song recall (hehehe like the 'brand recall' as the ad guys use) is simply amazing, given this huge a volume.

Spice

The variety of IR's output, in terms of the emotions and music styles, is just mind boggling. He can make you laugh your heart out, prance around with joy or get down on your knees and cry: all with a single violin. He can make you feel lustful with a flute and with the same piece of bamboo, take you to the God, whom you would not get to this easy. He can arouse you with a 'urumi' melam and put you off a classic composition on the veena. I seriously doubt whether any one else would be able to create the romance of a "Valayiosai" (Sathya) or a Vaa vaa anbe (Agni Natchatram).

And apparently, there seems to be a notion of Carnatic-Western fusion being a new idea. The so-called Indian-Western fusion has so much jarring pieces of sounds from different styles that all you see is a coarse mix of chalk and cheese. Just listen to the interludes of IR and you will see, how IR makes exactly that chalk seem so natural a part of cheese. Just listen to Oru siriya paravai, apparently 'just another' IR song from a flop flick 'Antha oru nimidam', IR takes you on a wild, winding safari through the music scapes of carnatic, western classical, pop, and what not. If this is for just another song, what can i say about Kadhal Oviyam (Alagial Oyvathillai), Nizhalgal songs, Kan Malargalin Alaipithal (Thaipongal) and many others. My memory is so utterly inadequate to recall each of the song i enjoyed.

A few pointers that might be of help:

• Listen to the way IR blends, swaps layers of male and female voice one over the other at the same time. E.g. the evergreen "Poomalaiyae" from Pagalnilavu
• Listen to IR's guitar compositions especially the way he uses bass guitar. For instance, "Vaanengum thanga" from Moondrampirai (i'm sure not many of you would have heard about this song)
• Focus on the way IR blends pucca western classical notes with our folk music and lyrics. E.g. Listen to the classic violin prelude in "Pothi vecha" from Man Vasanai
• Any IR+SPB+SJ combo is a feast in itself.

Mind you, all this doesn't require any musical knowledge, whatsoever. Just a pair of listening ears is more than enough. The cheapest ticket you can ever get to heaven.

BGM Badsha

One in a million chance for anyone else to beat IR on BGMs. I seriously doubt whether even Hollywood or any other filmdom would have had so much spice in their back ground scores. So many films wouldn't have been what they were without IR's bgm. Take Aanpaavam, not exactly a musical film. But still I am crazily in love with the bgm from Aanpaavam. And i dont think there is a need to comment on the pathetic bgms that we hear these days. And of course, when you can't expect really great bgms every time even with the great ARR, you know who the biggest culprit is by now. Harris. No prizes for guessing.

There seems to be no IR vaarisu as such in tamil films, ellaarum deva vaarisungala irukkaanga. There is a ever bigger dogfight nowadays as to who gets to the latest hip hop hits faster than anybody else. And the crown undoubtedly goes to Harris. Though AR Rahman and Yuvan also lift some songs, they do come up with some scintillating original scores once in a while. But i am completely clueless as to why Harris Jeyaraj, the most undeserving among them, is so successful. "Suttum vizhi sudare - Ghajini. ok, bearable. Partha muthal naale - Vettaiyadu Vilayadu.... sari polachu poguthu... ithu pathaathunnu athayae vidaama... unakkul naane - Pachaikili Muthucharam layum athu yenda yerkanvae setha paamba thiruppi thiruppi intha saavadi adikkireenga..." But, there is no point in blaming him alone, it all because of the tamil fraternity which has undergone mass STM loss like Ghajini, ironically the beginning of this episode.

All said, enlightenment is not something that can be shared. After all, how can one explain the inexplicable? Of mystics, they say "Those who speak, don't know, those who know, don't speak." I think it is high time i stopped doing the talking.

kadalai kasakkuthayya...

Enna ithu vara vara post title ellaam tamil layae vekkireengalaennu neraya peru kekkaraanga. Padathukku tamil la per vecha incentive tharra maathiri blog postukkum tamil per vechaa tax incentive tharuvaangalonnu oru chinna nappasa thaan. What actually happened was i came to like the titles used in Sara's blog (the only part of his posts that i can really understand), but I was really finding it difficult to think of titles like those. Then i stumbled upon usha's blog and got inspired to name my posts in tamil. Tamil vaazhga!!!

I reckon this is going to be the most informative post i have ever written. Before we begin...

Important Disclaimer
By kadalai, the author hereby refers to the widely prevalent practice of conversing with the opposite gender for humanly impossible long hours, with absolutely no transfer of knowledge, whatsoever. The title of this post and its content thereof is by no means a guarantee that the author intends to reduce the intensity or completely stop the concerned practice in the foreseeable future. The author wishes to thank one and all for providing him with such a deep understanding of the above-mentioned process.

Kadalai is more of an art, that too a very delicate and the hardest-to-master one at that.

A sack of peanuts and frying pan is sufficient, but certainly not enough. More often than not, guys (not gender specific) tend to overdo it. Sometimes, you fry it so shallow that it is disappointingly tasteless; sometimes, it gets fried deeper than it ought to be and then leaves a very bad, bitter taste that lingers so long in your mouth that you need even more fresh peanuts to flush it down.To get it perfectly fried, you need not only an expert chef's culinary knowledge and skills but also the perseverance and detachment of a Tibetan monk.

Kadalai has much in common with meditation than anything else. Both have the same goal: losing oneself. Or realizing oneself, whichever way you want to put it. This need sits right up there - on the top of the top of the pyramid of needs proposed by Abraham Maslow. I am sure i don't have to submit proof for this; many of you would already have lost yourselves several times in such manner or if you are at the lower rungs of the needs pyramid and not so much interested in self-realization, you would have at least witnessed many of your friends deep in such team meditation.

Unlike your acads, which sharpen your concentration, kadalai increases your awareness. It is very important to understand the basic difference between concentration and awareness. Concentration is inherently one-dimensional. It focuses all your energy on a single thing at a given time, leaving you at a disadvantage. On the other hand, awareness is multi-dimensional or no-dimensional, as you want to see it. It acknowledges and embraces the existence in its totality. Awareness conserves your energy and applies it only when it is really necessary. Thus, kadalai helps you stay alert, energetic and make the most of your miserable lives by increasing your awareness levels.

Come to think of it, kadalai is more efficient than meditation on many counts. While meditation consciously sweats towards reaching the realization goal, with kadalai, the process just happens in a jiffy and so effortlessly.

Well, i know it is not as easy as i make it out to be. A lot depends on the IQ (the lower, the better; as you very well know two wise people can't be friends), GQ (Absolutely needs to be high on this scale, need i emphasize more?) and EQ (better be low to keep you both together and sail through the hardships of the kadalai process) of the partner(s) you have. But, the heartening fact is that with kadalai, you have more than enough operational freedom: if one conks out, you have the ample freedom to resume with another asap. And the best part is, with the ownership and commitment being so low, it doesn't leave you feeling any worse.

And the goodies just doesn't end there. Exactly as it happens as you go deeper and deeper into meditation, with kadalai too, you realize the meaninglessness/ meaningfulness of life. It might be a bit confusing here. How can the same thing lead to totally opposite ends i.e. meaninglessness/ meaningfulness of life? Let us try to understand it. It might help to draw a parallel here with something we have assumed to have known all along. Shaiva and vaishnava philosophies. While a shaivaite goes on denying existence (why do you think then he wears ash on his forehead and his deity Shiva is depicted to be living in the burial ground?), a vaishnavaite revels in festivities (think of all the beauty you see at Vishnu temples and the tasty dishes that you get there) all through his life. It is similar to the cliched half empty/half full, optimistic/pessimistic views. Despite the popular theory that the negative, pessimistic view is inferior to the positive, optimistic view, both are right. When you say it is half full, you essentially imply that it is half empty. Only difference is the focus or the point of reference. Just like that, both shaivaite and vaishnavaite reach the same ends but take different approaches. In a similar vein, with kadalai, no matter what, whichever conclusion you get to at the end, you are absolutely right.

Fine. Enough for today. Time to meditate!!!

Note
IQ: Intelligence Quotient; GQ: Glamour Quotient; EQ: Emotional Quotient

Naadham en jeevanae... 1

Nowadays, i m getting too religious. And the religion is Illayaraja.

I think that should give you at least a faint idea about how utterly biased this post is going to be!!! ;) In a way, this is just another hymn on the Raja. Of course, this post is not going to add anything. In fact, I still wonder if i have anything to add. It is just that I wanted to reflect on my rediscovery of Illayaraja. And what a discovery it has been!!!

Before i get too prayerful, let us get some facts straight.

My knowledge of music is zilch. In fact, only now I am trying hard to learn to distinguish between different instrument sounds. And I don't really intend to learn any music.

As any average 25 something tamilian, I too grew up listening to IR right from my nenavu therinja days. And as happens to folks coming from other parts of Tamilnadu to Chennai, once i was in Chennai for my B.E., i too was very much into listening engileesu songs, partly out of my curiosity and partly out of necessity. After all, one's music tastes is more a matter of life/death than just personal choice: apparently you got to know at least a couple of lines from popular english songs or not even a single gal would bother to have a second look at you.

And just like any self-respecting guy, brought up on the heavy dosage of 101 Sure Ways to Get a Girl, tried and time-tested by each and every hero in tamil-film history, I too set up on the Mission Mr.Peter. Ethana padathula paathurukkom: Paattu paadi paalum karappanga, appdiyae ponaa poguthunnu micha timela sidela nikkara figarayum madipaanga. So, armed with such deep knowledge of the female psyche, there I was among the many poor souls who spent more time listening to the incorrigible english songs more than to our lecturers. That those lectures were even more mysterious is another issue anyway. Boys la varra Bob Gaali (played by Barath) maathiri oru koottame suthittu irunthuthu. I am quite positive that you can find such souls on any planet, any time.

Inspite of all that I told till now, my music tastes were quite exotic, at least it appeared so to me at that point of the time. I have had my own share of rock to heavy metal, carnatic: Sudha Ragunathan, Bombay Jayashree, world music: from Peter Gabriel to Yungchen Lhama, instrumental: Yanni, Joe Satriani, Kenny G and Indian maestros like Zakir and AmjadAli Khan, pop: MJ, Dr Alban and all those bands of boys and gals, Enigma, Snap etc. Ok ok avlo thaan niruthitten... ippo kooda ithellaam sollalaenna epdi!!! ;)

So, ippo naan enna solla varraennaa... "Yaamarindha mozhigalile tamil mozhi pol inidhavathu engum kaanom" nu Bharathi sonna mathiri, "Yaamarintha isaiyinile ilayarasa pol inidhavadhu engum kaanom". Ithukku thaan avlo buildup.

One might argue all this craze for IR is just classical conditioning, just like the famous case of Pavlov's dog. "You hear so much of IR's music that you associate parts of it with events in your life. It is this associative process that makes you identify yourself with IR's music and therefore love it." Some Freud disciples among you might say "The root of your love for Illayaraja is in your disturbed ;) childhood" and try deconstruction. "It is a process of slow hypnotism: the more you listen to it, the deeper it gets into your subconsciousness. Your love grows from that subconscious association."

Though all this and a bit of nostalgia might play a part, the reason is much more than just a rusted memory playing back the notes heard long ago. It is not out of a dark, hidden pit of subconsciousness that my love for IR grows, but it springs out of complete awareness and bliss.

Like Krishna says in Gita: all you need to get to God is to remember, one fine evening, I started remembering. And finally, I ARRIVED, as the mystics say, and I found that my long and tiring journey had ended exactly where I started - Illayaraja, the treasure in my own backyard that I had forgotten and lost in my vain search for The MUSIC outside.

Once I reached home, I find no need now to look outside. By saying this, I m not trying to belittle the skills of the so many musicians that i have come to really enjoy all along the way. It is just that now i am indifferent to others. Now, I have IR, nothing else matters.

If nothing else feels like coming home, then listening to IR is coming home for me. Now, tell me where your home is?

P.S.
Naadham innum olikkum.... ;)

salangai oli...

Just the other day, thanks to my fever, I was at home bunking office and I happened to watch Salangai Oli by K Viswanath. A great film, mind you it was dubbed in tamil from telugu (well i am not really sure about this), with exceptional performances by Jayapradha, Kamal Hassan and even his torn shoes. It is one of those movies that unfailingly make my eyes moist at least once before it ends. Most often (as with most of the audience I am sure), it is the scene where Jayapradha gives the national dance festival invitation to Kamal. Or the scene in which Kamal meets his dying mother. Or it might be even one of those scenes where drunkard old Kamal talks to Sarathbabu or his wife.

The immense strength of the film’s emotion comes from Illayaraja. Who else can possibly do that, if not the Raja? K Viswanath’s direction is just brilliant all through. And gosh!!! Jayapradha looks so divine. No wonder Satyajit Ray adorned her so much.

By mere coincidence, on the same day, I happened to read a review of Cinema Paradiso in an old issue of Anantha Vikatan. It is supposedly one of the greatest movies ever made on this earth. Is our own Salangai Oli any less? A Big NO is my answer.

If the western dickheads and those that are born in India who ape them don’t think so, I would give ‘em the middle finger! You might call me an emotional idiot. May be I am. May be not. I jus don’t give a damn! And most of the Indian “elite” that I have met just shove aside Indian films such as this as “tear jerkers” in the likes of Karan Johar (without him no discussion of Indian cinema would be complete, right? At least that’s what the national news channels make me think. Whether Karan Johar makes good films or not is another issue anyway.)

What is realism in films? Most often, we, the elite, tend to consider Hollywood as the god-sent standard with a totally unjustified reverence... So if you underplay like they do there, we have no qualms accepting you as a good actor. (i think this deserves another lengthy post!!!)

Most often, these “elite” friends of mine say they feel like fools when watching films like Salangai Oli. These films make you cry, so what? It is probably the unconscious resistance to show one’s “weakness”, if a heart (kind or otherwise) that identifies itself with a third person be it on screen or off screen, can ever be called a “weakness”.

Or it might be even our fear of emotions, either ours or others’. Probably it is a symptom of the fact that we are losing our skills to deal with emotions. And this argument seems to have a high chance of being true. With so many of us getting educated and becoming intelligent?!, we are capable of confronting violence or answering many intriguing puzzles of nature, but not our own emotions.

We have become so impervious to emotive stimuli (forgive my technical language!) that today we have to have blood spattering gruesomely on our faces to stir our animal instincts and make us understand that the actor is under pain. In the name of reality, all that we are doing is to provide sadistic pleasures and satisfy the bloody animal within.

It seems we are losing our understanding of the subtle language of emotions.