scribblings

Yesterday I had to go and book some hotel room for a friend's friend who is visiting the city. So, this friend and I went around adyar area looking for a hotel...

We reached this place which had name board for two different names put one below the other and went in. we inspected the room and booked a room for the visitor and this is what the receptionist noted down in his diary.

Mr XYZ - some-blah-pur boking one doble nont ac room. 30-5-07. arivel-6 am. far two dais.

couldnt help feeling bad for the level of education our country is imparting to its citizens.

This post is a dedication to those 4 or 5 people whom i usually address with a Long Loud Call. However far they are, across roads, across wings, across visible distance, i always endup addressing the following people with a Long Loud Call.

Mind you, i mean, a real Long and Loud Call...


Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaal (Baal of Godav 5th wing) who was first in my memory, whom i would address with a LLC

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeepppppppppppppppppppppp (EP for Ganga 7th wing and later Narmad 2nd Wing) we still call each other this way on chat.

BhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaJuuuuuuuuuuuu (Sarayu 1st wing, then Narmad 1st wing and now in 6th wing) Much unlike the others, this guy doesnt reply with a LLC

Cuuuuuuuuuuppppeeeeeeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrr (godav 10th wing) we also share a telepathic hug along with the call. Though we would never hug each other in real.


The last, a surprise to those who know me too well.
Taaaaaaaaaaaaaaak (not all that often as u guys would think... very very rarely. the number of times i run away seeing him is usually quite high. if all i happen to bump into him, then i m forced to give the LLC to radiate the pain.)

புடவை பார்த்தல் என்பது திருமண வைபவங்களில் ஒரு முக்கியமான சடங்கு ஆகும். திருமண வீட்டார் தனது உற்றார் உறவினர்களுக்கு வாங்கி வைத்திருக்கும் புடவைகளை பார்த்து ஆராய்ந்து அங்கலாய்த்துக் கொள்வது, நம் வீட்டு பெண்களின் ஒரு முக்கியமான வேலை ஆகும்.

எனது புடவையில் ஜரிகை குறைச்சல்
எனது புடவையின் ஜரிகை design நன்றாக இல்லை
எனது புடவை நிறம் பளிச்சென்று இல்லை
இதே நிறத்தில் புடவை வாங்கிவிட்டார்களே, இந்த நிறத்தில் என்னிடம் வேறு இரண்டு புடவைகள் இருக்கிறதே
அவள் புடவை தான் நன்றாக இருக்கிறது
இன்னும் கொஞ்சம் புட்டா இருந்திருக்கலாம்
எனக்கு மேல்தாரி புடவை வாங்கிருக்கலாம்
நான் ஒரே அத்தை, எனக்கு வைர ஊசி புடவை வாங்கித் தந்திருக்கக் கூடாதா.

என பலவாறான குறைகளை (ஒன்றிரண்டு நிறைகளையும்) பரிமாறிக் கொள்வது நம் வீட்டு பெண்களின் உரிமை ஆகும்.

நிற்க, பெண் வீட்டார் மாப்பிள்ளை வீட்டு பெண்டிரை அழைத்து தாங்கள் திருமணத்திற்கு வாங்கி வைத்துள்ள புடவைகளையெல்லாம் காட்ட வேண்டியது மிக மிக முக்கியமான ஒன்றாகும். அப்படி காட்டும்போது மாப்பிள்ளை வீட்டாருக்கு பிடிக்காத புடவைகளை இரவோடு இரவாக மாற்றியும் விட வேண்டும். இது நடவாத பக்ஷத்தில் திருமணம் நின்றும் விடலாம்.

A friend of mine, posted on a general forum about how he went to music classes and dint like them because they taught him the beginners lessons, which are mostly the varisais and he said he would have appreciated probably, if they had taught him a certain piece which he had listened to quite a few times. I see this as the problem of people listening to a lot and start learning late. I dont say that listening to music is wrong and everybody should first learn and then listen. I wouldnt dare to make such statements. However, when u go to learn, you should realise that the learning and listening are two different cups of coffee and one shouldnt mix them up.

I have always strongly believed in the fact that the basics are very important. As meena says, one needs to go thro' the rigorous basics just to be able to not only sing intricate stuff but also to appreciate them, when somebody is doing it on stage.

When one goes to listen at a concert, it is not enough if u get the ragam and composer of the piece being presented. Thats only the beginning. Many a rasika, think identifying these two is the end of the game. For heaven's sake, i wish they understand that, it all begins there. After identifying the rAgam, to be able to appreciate each svaram and each phrase and each usage and to absorb it all, u need to be having a sharp and rigorous trained mind. The saraLi, the jaNTai, the alankArams, the gItams, the varNams, well they are all very important and add a lot to the way one appreciates music and hence enjoy more.

There are some music schools, which start with short and simple songs and later on come to the basics and teach some simple songs along with the basic stuff. There are some supporting theories to such practices also, which say that the interest of the learner is kept alive this way. However, these methodologies claim keep the interest alive but have enough arguements going against them.

I was trained in the traditional way. Varisais for an year. gItams and then varNams. about 25 of them. Then with 'mahA gaNapatim' and 'girirAja sutA' and slowly. It was only after about 50 kritis, did my teacher venture to teach me a vilamba kAla, reNDu kaLai piece. The first one she took up was 'jagadIsvari' in mOhanam. It was not till about 100 pieces did she let me learn pieces like 'sarOja daLa nEtri' or 'EtavunarA' or 'enduku peddalavalE' while pieces like 'mEru samAna', 'akshaya linga vibhO' and 'tyAgarAjAya namastE' came much later. She still is not confident to teach me 'sri subramanayaya namastE' or 'kAmAkshi anudinamunu maravakanE'

In today's fast world, people wish to get things done as soon as they can. Many a parent, while admitting their kid to a music class, dream that their kid would start performing on stage in 2 years and become a star performer in say 5 years or so and finish learning music by then. Such attitudes make life miserable for a teacher who find its it difficult to make the parents believe that such fast paced stuff are not easy. The kids get juggled up and end up loosing interest in music anyway.

Music, still being a fashionable thing to learn and/or perform, has such people who do things without knowing what they loose and what they end up doing to the art of music on the whole. Well, its all part of evolution and one man's shouting on his personal page would do nothing to it. That wouldnt stop him from shouting...

PS: this was written primarily for my music blog. Later felt, it might find some readers here as well, hence copied to this page also.

My mom and dad were very keenly discussing things about their cousins and their families and things about what all they did together while they were kids. The ways they enjoyed their vacation together at some grand parents' or uncle's place in some village in the interior parts of Tamil Nadu.

While silently watching them busy at such an interesting discussion, My mind had the spinning wheel and going back in time. I have indeed spent time and vacations with cousins and at villages and at my grand parents's place and my great grand parents' place. Villages where buses never came. One had to travel by bullock driven carts to reach there. The typical village household.

I have played with them all kinds of games, lived in villages; do know some things about some cousins who are approximately of my age. However, of younger cousins is much less and by observation one feels that the gap between the cousins keep increasing with every passing year.

The cousin is a very important relationship and integral part of life. There are many things which you cannot talk to siblings and you can’t dream to be open to parents, and yet, you could tell your cousin and discuss these issues freely.

When there were joint families, there was never dearth for cousins. During vacations, one would travel to places were one would meet another set of cousins and it was all play and enjoyment. Today with the concept of nuclear families becoming inevitable, kids have only their parents to talk and socialize. The parents who work tend to not spend enough time with kids and as a result kids know more about TV and computer and video games and less about neighbours and still less about cousins. When the vacations came, gone is the era of visiting grand parents, it is the time to learn swimming, to go to guitar classes, to learn karate and do what not. And to make up for not taking their kids on long tours, parents tend to satisfy their children with trips to theme parks and cinemas. With the lifestyle changing a lot of the cultural and ethical and social bondings get broken.

The cousin would also be a penalty to this sooner than later.