Monthly Archives: January 2016

The Paganini of Carnatic music

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Uncategorized

Two years ago this week, M S Gopalakrishnan (MSG) who played Hindustani and Carnatic styles with ease on the violin passed away . In a musical world where violinists aspired to be the perfect human voice, MSG stayed within the `gayaki’ framework but gave it a uniquely violin touch – only a violin could unleash what he did. What characterized his playing was the totally relaxed manner built into his very approach, be it the rendering of the song, the alapana or the swara answers. And all of this would come with a disarming smile.

At The Music Academy in 1968, Balamuralikrishna had taken up Hindolam (Manasuloni Mar mamulu) to mesmerize the audience with a non-repetitive all-encompassing swara sequences that would end at the note of madhyamam (ma).MSG, who was the accompanying violinist, enhanced his stature on that day by staying at the “ma” all the while during all the rounds which must have put Balamurali in familiar territory throughout. MSG later unleashed his potential during his turn.

MSG combined famously with other instrumentalists – Ramani on the flute and TV Gopalakrishnan on the mridangam. MSG’s rendering of the Saveri varnam in two speeds is a landmark. The first speed has a caressing effect whereas the second is marked by clarity of notes.

MSG started on the violin when he was five and his first recording was the krithi `ManavyalaKinChara Thate’. He owes this and all other things to his father Parur Sundaram Iyer – innova tor of the Parur style of violin playing.

When he received the Sangeetha Kalanidhi award in 1998, he said that he attributed any award, including this, to the long hours (sometimes even 15 to 16 hours a day) of practice he put in. He also insisted that the first step in becoming an instrumentalist is learning vocal music, while fielding questions in an interactive session held in 2009.

Experts on the violin were more than amazed by the use of staccato and legato phrases he produced. The former came with exceptional sound quality and the latter was produced with deft fingering. Many violinists have, consciously and unconsciously, followed MSG’s playing style so much that it has come to stay as a style (bhani) in its own right, though it is still inscrutable to some.

When he toured the world (North America, Western Europe and Britain, Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong and South Africa), his audiences were left wondering how he was able to achieve the perfection that seemed to come to him so naturally . MSG is survived by his wife, two daughters and a son. His daughter M Narmadha is a front-ranking violinist.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Chennai / January 06th, 2016

2015: The year that saw many Kovaiites make headlines

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economy, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Science & Technologies

They did not want to follow the masses and hence, took the path less travelled. And then, nothing could deter them from making the headlines in 2015. Here are a few Kovaiites who thought out of the box and won the hearts of many in Coimbatore.

Shradha Prasad While students her age were burning the midnight oil to prep for their examinations, Shradha Prasad had a different agenda in the mind. This space enthusiast and mechanical engineering student from Amrita University was short-listed for the Mars-One mission. She is the only one from India residing in the country to be part of the final selection round of the mission that aims to establish a permanent human settlement on the red planet by offering a one-way trip to the chosen ones. “I want to do ample justice to the mission by being a thorough help in the scientific experiment. Once I reach there, I want to give my best to make the conditions favourable for human settlement.”

Aravind P Right from his childhood, Aravind P was sure that he would not settle for a nine-to-five job like many of his friends. And he did stand apart from the rest, by making it to the Guinness Book of World Records for memorizing the longest binary sequence of 270 digits. For this language teacher, it was a chance encounter with a record for memorizing the longest binary digit sequence a couple of years ago that pushed him to take up the challenge and surpass the record. “Every morning I would spend three hours staring at my laptop trying to recall sequences on the screen. I started with 90 numbers and gradually started increasing the sequences.” Aravind has started a memory club in the city to help students reduce learning time.” He is also contemplating working on memory enhancement techniques for adults.

Auto Chandran When M Chandra Kumar (‘Auto’ Chandran as he is fondly known) returned to Coimbatore after walking the red carpet at the 72 Venice Film Festival in September, he received a hero’s welcome. The auto driver from the Hopes auto stand was in Venice for the screening of the film Visaaranai, which was based on his book Lockup. The film won the Amnesty International Italy’s Cinema for Human Rights Award and became the first Tamil film to have won the honour. The book Lock up published in 2006, chronicles Chandran’s first-hand experience in police brutality as a young man when was working in Guntur. “We have to stop glorifying encounters on screen. Police enquiries have to be done in a fair manner and for that, we have to make some changes in the constitution itself.”

Sakthi B When Sakthi B, a civil engineering student from Coimbatore, did backward skips with his hands clasped, many made jaws drop. The 20-year-old made it to the Guinness Book of World Records by doing the maximum number of backward skips- 46 skips in a minute, a record hitherto held by Brittany Boffo, an Australian (40 skips in one minute). The attempt was recorded in front of a large gathering at a mall in the city. “When I first started working toward it, I was a tad doubtful if I would be able to achieve the feat. I used to wonder ‘Will this ever happen’? But after a few days, I decided to work hard and give it my best.” He is now awaiting the results for 25 skips in 30 seconds, which is expected to come in January.

Rathi Punithavathiyar The transgender community seems to be going places in the city. While Padmini Prakash (country’s first transgender newsreader) made headlines in 2014, it was the turn of author Rathi Punithavathiyar to hog the limelight in 2015. Ostracized by her family at the age of 14, Rathi became the first author from the city to have penned a book. But the journey wasn’t a cakewalk & she even resorted to begging for survival at a point of time. Despite the fact that she had studied only till Class 10, Rani was confident that she would author a book. Her book revolves around stories of transgenders and is expected to hit screens in January. “I hope one day the society would treat us as equals.”

Sabari Venkat 12-year-old Sabari Venkat has no vision in his right eye, and has partial vision in his left. But that didn’t deter the Class VIII student from being winning with the ‘Creative Child with Disabilities’ award by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment. “I want to eradicate corruption & illiteracy. I want India to become a leading nation by 2016. I enjoy addressing those issues through my speeches,” says Sabari, who aspires to become a journalist when he grows up. Sabari was also featured in a calendar titled I’m special’.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Coimbatore / P. Sangeetha, TNN / December 31st, 2016

Angling festival to celebrate native fish species

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Green Initiatives/ Environment, Nature, Sports

Madurai :

To sensitise people about the importance of preserving local fish species, nature enthusiasts have decided to organise an angling festival in a water body at the outskirts of the city on Sunday. Kayal – a centre for traditional inland fishermen and fish species – and the Madurai Nature Forum are organizing the event, inviting eager people to spend some time in angling at the Nesaneri tank near Thirumangalam.

 

Explaining the objective of such novel initiative, M Tamildasan said childhood memories were always filled with catching fish, climbing trees and using catapults to target birds. “With many species of birds disappearing at an alarming rate, we can’t justify using the catapult. At the same time we just cannot forget the games that helped us connect with nature. Hunting for food cannot be deemed a reason for several species vanishing; the actual reasons are the destruction of natural habitat of birds and fishes for human use and the mindless exploitation of natural resources,” he said. The new generation has lost touch with nature. This angling festival is just to recreate that childhood sport and reconnect with nature, he said.

 
A Ravichandran of Kayal said it would be also an occasion to document indigenous fish species in water bodies. A fortnight ago, the centre organized a river walk with volunteers to sensitize them on native fish species and their decline due to commercial aqua culture.

 
“Angling was one of the ancient practices of catching fish. There are different methods of angling to catch different species of fishes. We will be demonstrating to volunteers these methods as well as traditional fishing practices,” he said.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Madurai / TNN / January 01st, 2015

Documenting writer who propagated Bharati’s works

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Historical Links, Pre-Independence, Leaders, Records, All
Bharati's wife Chellamma (sitting third from left) and Thiruloga Seetharam (standing second from right).
Bharati’s wife Chellamma (sitting third from left) and Thiruloga Seetharam (standing second from right).

It offers glimpses of a school dropout who inspired a generation of writers.

Former Chief Minister C.N. Annadurai, once described Thiruloga Seetharam as a poet, editor and Bharati scholar and another Athisaya Manithar of Akkirakaram (wonder man of Agraharam) . The DMK founder had earlier given the title to freedom fighter and writer Va. Ramasamy.

Now, a documentary on Seetharam explains how he used music as a form to propagate the songs of Subramania Bharati.

The documentary, Thiruloga Seetharam Enkira Aalumai , by writer Ravi Subramaniam offers glimpses into a life of a school dropout who later inspired a generation of writers. Seetharam would mono act the entire Panchali Sabatham.

Even though Va. Ramasamy, communist leader P. Jeevanandam, Thiruloga Seetharam and Jayakanthan popularised the songs of Bharati, Seetharam declared himself the adopted son of Bharati’s widow Chellamma.

“When he learnt Chellamma was not well, he immediately left his family to take care of her. He served her for three months. Lying on his lap, she breathed her last,” said T.N. Ramachandaran, a disciple of Seetharam and an expert on Sekkizhar, the author of Periyapuranam.

Seetharam was forced to work as a purohit to earn a livelihood after the death of his father.

He learnt Tamil and poetry from Andhakakavi Ramasamy Padayachi, a visually challenged scholar in Thondamanthurai in Tiruchi.

He had to read out literary works to his teacher and in the process learnt by heart thousands of poems.

As the editor of the literary magazine Sivaji, he encouraged young writers and Sujatha’s first short story appeared in the magazine.

Late Tamil writer T. Janakiraman once said three writers — Ku.Pa. Rajagopalan, Na. Pitchamurthy and Seetharam — whose mother tongue was Telugu made immense contribution to the development of modern Tamil literature. He also translated into Tamil, Nobel laureate Hermann Hesse’s Siddartha.

Though a nationalist, he maintained a close relationship with Bharathidasan and even mobilised funds to provide financial assistance.

He would render Bharathidasan’s Kudumba Vilakku set to music.

“I am yet to come across a person who could excel in poetry reading,” said writer Ashokamitran, who had attended Seetharam’s poetry reading sessions.

He always faced a financial crisis.

Once when Bharati’s daughter Thangamma Bharati asked him whether the situation had improved, Seetharam said, “Of course. Once I struggled for five rupees and ten rupees and now I am struggling for fifty and hundred,’” he quipped.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> City> Chennai / by B. Kolappan / Chennai – January 01st, 2015