Category Archives: Arts, Culture & Entertainment

Sangita Kalanidhi award for Aruna Sairam

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Records, All
Aruna Sairam. File photo | Photo Credit: M_Karunakaran
Aruna Sairam. File photo | Photo Credit: M_Karunakaran

Awards for Thanjavur R. Ramadoss, Kalyani Ganesan, K. Oman Kutty, S.R.G. Rajanna, Premeela Gurumurthy and Shanta Dhananjayan

Carnatic vocalist Aruna Sairam has been selected for this year’s Sangita Kalanidhi award of the Music Academy.

The executive committee of the Academy that met on Sunday, unanimously selected her for the award, said N. Murali, the president of the Academy.

“An illustrious career spanning decades, she can be credited with taking the art to a very wide audience both in India and abroad. She is also known for her collaborative exercise in music with artistes of other countries and genres,” said Mr. Murali.

She will preside over the 92nd annual conference to be held between December 15, 2018 and January 1, 2019. The award will be conferred to her on January 1, the day of Sadas.

“I am in an overwhelming situation and have no words to explain my feelings. Even though I have won other awards, Sangita Kalanidhi convinces me that I have left an imprint in my chosen field,” said Ms. Sairam, who first learnt from her mother Rajalakshmi Sethuraman, a disciple of Alathur Venkatesa Iyer, the father of Sivasubramani Iyer, the elder of the Alathur duo.

Her mother was from Sirukamani, a village near Alathur and her father Sethuraman was from Tiruvarur and she was constantly in touch with her roots through music, though her family lived in Bombay.

With a solid foundation in Alathur school of music, at 10 she became a student of T. Brinda, who used to visit Bombay to teach students.

“She would stay with us in my house and taught students for two and half months. For 15 years I learnt from her. I regularly visited Chennai with my parents during the music season and listening to the maestros was a great experience,” recalled Ms. Sairam, who also learnt from S. Ramachandran, a student of Chittoor Subramaniam Pillai, A.S. Mani, a disciple of Tiger Varadachariar, T.R. Subramanian and nagaswaram player S.R.D. Vaidhyanathan.

“Balamuralikrishna taught me the techniques of improving my voice and I learnt abhang from Mohan Pai,” said Ms. Sairam, whose concert would not be complete without rendering an abhang.

Though she lived in Mumbai, she started visiting Chennai regularly during the music season from 1990. In 2002, she shifted to Chennai permanently.

“My regular visits to Chennai between 1990 and 2000 gave an opportunity to imbibe the music of others and learn the techniques to communicate my music to the audience. Thus I could strike a chord with them,” said Ms. Sairam, who became one of the most popular musicians in a short span of time.

Other awards

Mridhangist Thanjavur R. Ramadoss, a student of Palghat T.S. Mani Iyer and vocalist K. Oman Kutty, will receive the Sangita Kala Acharya award.

T.T.K. Awards will be given to veena player Kalyani Ganesan and nagaswaram player S.R.G. Rajanna.

Dr. Premeela Gurumurthy, the Vice Chancellor, Tamil Nadu University for Fine Arts will get the musicologist award and dancer Shanta Dhananjayan will get the Nritiya Kalanidhi award, which will be conferred on her January 3.

source:http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Entertainment> Music / by B. Kolappan / Chennai – July 15th, 2018

Vocalist Jayalakshmi Santhanam passes away

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Records, All

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She was popular in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh

Carnatic vocalist Jayalakshmi Santhanam, who was popular both in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, died here on Saturday. She was 86 and is survived by two sons and a daughter.

Family played a crucial role in shaping Jayalakshmi as a musician and she imbibed music by listening to her mother Muthulakshmi. Her elder brother was V.V. Sadagopan, an actor and professor of music at Delhi University.

Her family lived in Thiruvananthapuram and her initial training was under Rukmini Sunderrrajan, wife of her eldest brother Sunderrajan. She won a gold medal when she was seven. Many well-known musicians used to visit her house.

“They took me to concerts and competitions and introduced me to veterans like Brinda/Mukta and Maharajapuram Viswanatha Iyer,” Jayalakshmi recalled in an interview to The Hindu in 2007.

She used to accompany her sister-in-law Rukmini, who learnt music from Harikesanallur Muthaiah Bhagavathar and Sattur A.G. Subramania Iyer and learnt advanced lessons in music.

She lived for several years in Andhra Pradesh, as her husband Santhanam worked in Hyderabad. Though she admired M.S. Subbulakshmi and M.L. Vasanthakumari, her all-time favourite was D.K. Pattammal.

“I wish I had been born a kitten in D.K. Pattammal’s house,” she would say.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Tamil Nadu / by Special Correspondent / Chennai – July 15th, 2018

How a Tamil-French music album came about

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Records, All, World Opinion

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What happens when French musicians write songs about travelling the world, and Indian composers set those words to music?

How do you compose a song when you can’t understand the words? It isn’t easy, but the students of KM Conservatory of Music found a way. “The lyrics would be in French, and none of us speak French,” grins Aditya Ravindran, singer-composer and a student who was part of a collaboration that led to the creation of Tamil-French music album No Parking.

Ravindran elaborates on the challenges, “When you are composing in a language you know, you know the little things, like which syllable to stress on when saying a word. Here, we didn’t know if we were just making the words sound funny.”FrenchTamil02CF13jul2018

But the students found a way to get around this. They had time: the project had begun in August 2017, when three French musicians — Regis Savigny, Lizzy Ling and Julie Bonnafont, who together comprise the Collectif A Contresens — approached the music school with a project. The idea was to lend Indian tunes to French words, and create soundtracks which would be new for Indian and French ears alike.

And just like that, 15 students dedicated an entire semester to this project: attending workshops, composing, collaborating and eventually recording. Because of the language barrier, much of the communication across continents had to be done through voice files, and a lot of time was spent dissecting things likes pronunciation.

“In our regional languages, the words are closed. But in French, the consonants just dissolve towards the end,” says Karthik Manickavasakam, with a slight frown that hints at the frustration he might have felt through those months of work. But nobody’s complaining now, especially not Ravindran and Manickavasakm, being the only two who were selected go to France for the album release, and tour the country with Collectif A Centresens. They gave performance halls, music shops and schoolrooms across the French countryside a taste of the fusion sounds of No Parking, with a liberal serving of popular Tamil tracks and songs from their band Pithukuli on the side.

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It’s hard to tell what the duo is more chuffed about: their performances around France or the exhilarating months of composition back in Chennai with their KM batchmates. “Everybody was kicked to give their own input,” recalls Manickavasakam, “For example, we found out that one of the sound engineers knew how to play the dholak. So, that was all he did: lend dholak sounds to the tracks that needed it. We took him off sound engineering completely.”

So pahadi folk, Carnatic and even electronic sounds made their way in songs about traffic signals, airport halts and crossing roads. As the project slowly took over their lives for a few months, eventually becoming part of their course work, even more sound engineers and technicians had to pitch in to set a second recording studio, in order to get things done on time.

“In December, 14 songs had to be recorded in 10 days,” says Manickavasakam, adding that usually, recording a single song takes multiple days.

As much as the students enjoyed the process on campus, their visit to France was a whole new experience. “If I had gone to France as a tourist, I wouldn’t have visited the places we visited then,” points out Ravindran, launching into a slew of memories, from teaching schoolchildren Indian classical rhythms to jamming to ‘Urvasi’ in a music store with its owner and some friends, long after closing hours.

The camaraderie that springs from a love for music — any music — is what really stood out for the duo. “We did eight concerts in three weeks, and performed in all kinds of venues. In every performance hall, after the performance, everyone would get together and sit down for a meal. The composer, the janitor, the light and sound technicians, the performers, their friends… everyone would discuss what they liked and didn’t like about the show,” recalls Manickavasakam.

The French tour — a result of the collaborative project between Tamil Nadu Government and the Central State of France — having concluded recently, energies have been shifted towards an Indian leg of the tour. But things may not materialise till early next year. For now, the songs of No Parking are available on iTunes and Saavn.

 source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Entertainment / by Meghna Majumdar /  July 11th, 2018

What is special about Kanchipuram, heritage or music?

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Historical Links, Pre-Independence, Records, All

Gayathri12Jul2018

Gayathri Girish delved deep into Kanchipuram’s history to offer glimpses of its heritage, literature and music associated with the temple town

Gayathri Girish presented a concert recently, under the aegis of Music Forum, interspersed with information on the temple town of Kanchipuram. Through a multimedia presentation, she delved into its history and spoke about references in ancient literature at the Arkay Convention Centre. The programme was part of Music Forum’s Sangeetha Lakshana Lakshya series.

Kanchi that abounds with temples of Siva, Vishnu, Shakti and Skanda, is referred to as prithvi sthal. It is also known as Kamakottam, Devarajapuram and Shivajit Kshetram and has been widely mentioned in the agama sastras and Sangam literature. The town nurtured many scholars and saints such as Adi Sankara, Ramanuja, Thevara Nalvar, Upanishad Brahmam and Azhwars.

After this introduction, Gayathri moved to Kumara Kottam, the deity being Somaskandamurthy. The temple is located between the shrines of Ekambareswarar and Kamakshi. Gayathri presented Muthuswami Dikshitar’s ‘Chintaya makanda moolakandam’ in Bhairavi. “Tamizh Kanda Puranam was staged first at Kanda Kottam, where Lord Muruga imparted it to his devotee Kachyapasivachariar,” said Gayathri.

In Kama Kottam, Shakti exists in three forms — as a statue, Srichakram and Tapas Kamakshi. Gayathri brought out its significance through Dikshitar’s ‘Ekambranatham’ in Gamakakriya, a thevaram, a Mooka Kavi poem, Tyagaraja’s ‘Vinayakuni’ in Madhyamavati and Syama Sastri’s ‘Kanaka saila viharini’ in Punnagavarali. Her rendition of Oothukkadu Venkatakavi’s Kamakshi Navavarnam (‘Sadanandamayi’ in Hindolam) enhanced her presentation. A rare kriti ‘Sri Saraswati Hite’ in Manji was a pleasing addition.

Kriti on Varadaraja

Varadaraja Perumal, known by several names, was represented with the Tyagaraja kriti ‘Varadaraja ninne’. Gayathri said that the kriti was tuned in raga Swarabooshani but generally sung in Devamanohari. This was suffixed with verses from Vedanta Desikar’s ‘Adaikkalappaththu’ in ragamalika. ‘Varadarajam upasmahe’ in Saranga by Dikshitar was another choice.

Kailasanathar temple, known for its huge linga and beautiful sculptures, was the focus next. The kriti was Dikshitar’s ‘Kailasanathena’ in Khambodi. . Then came Thirumangai Azhwar’s pasuram on the gigantic Ulagalantha Perumal in raga Mohanam. Gayathri concluded her presentation with a Pattinathar song.

She was accompanied by Vishruthi and Mythreyi (vocal support), K. Ananthakrishnan (violin) and Kumbakonam Swaminathan (mridangam).

Chief guest Chithra Madhavan lauded Gayathri for packing the show with good music and interesting information.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Entertainment> Music / by G. Swaminathan /  July 12th, 2018

Chennai’s very own glass studio

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economy, Green Initiatives/ Environment

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For the founder of Goli Soda Glass Studio, it is a captivating, understated medium of art

K Radhika remembers staring at the flames of the kiln long before her first glass art class at Ohio State University. “I would go to the classroom and just watch the glass melt in the fire for hours, but never do anything. I used to feel so intimidated,” she recalls. That was back in 2008. Today, the 39-year-old runs her own glass making studio, Goli Soda Glass Studio at Palavakkam.

Having returned to Chennai in 2016, after 20 years of life in the US, Radhika opened the studio last year and has been holding workshops on lamp working. “I think Goli Soda bottles have been our first memory of glass that is quirky and fun,” she says.

When I meet her, she is demonstrating how to join two thin tubes of glass. “You have to make sure that both pieces of glass have the same co-efficiency,” she explains. She later creates even thinner stringers out of the tubes, heating one end and plucking the molten glass out like cheese from a pizza: the stringers harden instantly.

She bends down on her seat, curling the end of a glass stringer in each hand simultaneously, till the fire fuses them to one sphere at the centre. A blue glass pendant with a white petal design inside it lies next to her on a graphite holder, fresh off the flame. The petals look like they are blooming upwards inside the glass. “We call it the implosion technique — creating a lens effect, it’s been very popular for the past 20-30 years,” says Radhika.

She shows us how it’s done, gathering a sphere of glass on one end and flattening it to give it a semi-hemispherical shape. She exposes the base to a light flame simultaneously etching patterns on it with a coloured glass pen. The surface of the sphere is then heated further so that it gathers below the design, lifting it up inside and giving the impression that the design has been frozen in glass mid-implosion.

“The glassmakers of Murano used this technique a lot. It used to be their trade secret once,” says Radhika.

In her other workshops, she teaches her students how to cut and reuse old glass bottles. “You have to give the bottle a thermal shock. It’s basically creating a fault line, heating it along that line and then dunking it in ice cold water to break it,” she explains.

Reduce, reuse, recycle

Radhika sources all her glass by going to the various pubs and bars along ECR, sack in tow. She recycles most of the glass in her studio, throwing away only the unusable pieces.

When she came to Chennai, she was surprised at the lack of a ‘glass community’ in the city. A ‘full-time mom’, as she calls herself, she then decided to run her own studio. “Glass, as a medium, is very exciting and challenging. You only have so much time to finish one piece. It’s not like painting, where you can take a break, come back and paint again. It’s a one-shot thing and if you go wrong, you just have to start all over again,” she says.

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And then of course, there is the captivating beauty of glass, its translucence. Radhika wants people to not think of glass as intimidating. She recently participated in the Glass Conference 2018 at Murano, where designers showcased outfits made majorly out of glass. She fashioned a black V-neck top with icicle-like frills of glass hanging from it. The outfit was completed with a glass necklace and a gajra made of glass flowers that had been sewn together. Says Radhika, “I want to experiment further with glass in traditional Indian clothing. People see glass as this fragile thing. But I want to make it fun!”

K Radhika can be contacted at 9566105313.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Entertainment> Art / by Sweta Akundi / July 11th, 2018

Award for ghatam maestro

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Records, All
Vikku Vinayakram | Photo Credit: R. Ravindran
Vikku Vinayakram | Photo Credit: R. Ravindran

Music Academy to honour ‘Vikku’ Vinayakram for outstanding calibre

The Music Academy on Thursday announced a Special Lifetime Achievement Award to be conferred on ghatam maestro T.H. Vinayakram, fondly known as ‘Vikku’ Vinayakram. “The award does not fall under the institution’s annual recognitions and honours. It is conferred, once in a while, on artistes of outstanding calibre who, the Music Academy feels, deserve independent recognition,” said Music Academy president N. Murali.

The award function will be held on October 10. The earlier recipients were dancer Kamala Lakshminarayanan and violinist Lalgudi G. Jayaraman. “I am really happy and deem it as an award for the ghatam, a uba-pakkavadhiyam. It is a real privilege that I have been placed on a par with great dancer Kamala and Lalgudi Jayaraman,” Mr. Vinayakram told The Hindu. He said he was grateful to the Academy for organising the function on a day convenient to him. He has already received the Sangita Kala Acharya Award of the Academy.

“Hailed as the artiste who put the ghatam on the international stage, Mr. Vinayakram is one of the best known faces of percussion from South India,” Mr. Murali said.

Mr. Vinayakram began performing at the age of 13 and went on to accompany top singers of the last generation.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Tamil Nadu / by Special Correspondent / Chennai – July 06th, 2018

Anukreethy Vas is Miss India 2018

Amazing Feats, Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Leaders, Records, All

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Anukreethy Vas, a 19-year-old college student from Tamil Nadu, has been crowned fbb Colors Femina Miss India 2018 in an extravagant ceremony held here, hosted by filmmaker Karan Johar and actor Ayushmann Khurrana.

Meenakshi Chaudhary (21) from Harayana was declared the first runner-up while Andhra Pradesh’s Shrey Rao Kamvarapu (23) stood as the second runner-up in the beauty competition.

Miss India

✔@feminamissindia

Congratulations to the winners of @fbb_india@ColorsTV Femina Miss India 2018
Co powered by @Sephora_India and @DS_SilverPearls at @DomeIndia

The crowning ceremony saw performances by actors such as Kareena Kapoor Khan, Jacqueline Farnandez and Madhuri Dixit, and also by Miss World 2017 Manushi Chillar.

The judges panel included cricketers K L Rahul and Irfan Pathan, actors Bobby Deol, Malaika Arora and Kunal Kapoor.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> National / by PTI / Mumbai – June 20th, 2018

‘Time to strengthen ties with Denmark’

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economy, Historical Links, Pre-Independence, Leaders, Records, All, World Opinion

Sankar is Honorary Consul General

It is time to reshape the role of the honorary consulates of Denmark in India and to build the business-to-business relationship between the two countries, Danish Ambassador to India, Peter Taksoe-Jensen said.

He was speaking at a reception marking the appointment of Vijay Sankar, Deputy Chairman, Sanmar Group, as the Honorary Consul General of the Royal Danish Consulate in Chennai.

Mr. Sankar will be in charge of operations for South India.

Mr. Taksoe-Jensen presented a citation from the Queen of Denmark to Mr. Sankar on the occasion.

The Danish Ambassador said with the relationship between India and Denmark improving now after nearly seven years, it was time to “board the train” to the market of 1.3 billion people.

Archiving records

The Danish Embassy and the Danish National Archives department hope to digitise almost 70 metres of Danish archival records that are in Tamil Nadu.

The embassy is hoping to get funding from private enterprises in Denmark for the venture.

Efforts would also be made to maintain the Governor’s House in Tranquebar by raising funds, the Ambassador said.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Chennai / by Special Correspondent / Chennai – July 05th, 2018

Coimbatore homemakeris Master Chef of T.N.

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Leaders, Records, All
D. Jayakumar, Minister for Fisheries, giving away the first prize to R. Padmapriya at Taramani. | Photo Credit: M. Karunakaran
D. Jayakumar, Minister for Fisheries, giving away the first prize to R. Padmapriya at Taramani. | Photo Credit: M. Karunakaran

Padmapriya bagged first prize in The Hindu Group’s ‘Our State-Our Taste’ competition

Padmapriya Radhakrishnan’s Karuveppilai chicken curry, garlic ghee rice and wheat rava kesari won her the first prize in The Hindu Group’s ‘Our State-Our Taste’ competition on Saturday. A very excited Ms. Radhakrishnan, who hails from Coimbatore, said she wanted to try more traditional foods.

“This is a big achievement for me. I want to try out more foods using traditional ingredients. I never eat junk food and I ensure that I give healthy dishes to my son and husband,” said the homemaker who was given the title of ‘Master Chef of Tamil Nadu’ by Fisheries Minister D. Jayakumar.

Vaideki Rammohan, 39, of Rajapalayam, who made ‘varagu arisi saadham’, ‘keerai masiyal’ and ‘paasi parupu payasam’ came in second and the third place went to S. Bagamperiyal, 72, of Thoothukudi, who made ‘iral gravy’, ‘vanjara meen kuzhambu’ and ‘paal payasam’.

Speaking at the finals of the contest that was conducted in 10 districts in the State, Mr. Jayakumar said that food played a major role in shaping the personality of a person. He stressed the need to maintain health and consume healthy foods, especially millets. “Regular exercise and a balanced diet keeps the body fit,” he said, while congratulating The Hindu group for conducting the contest.

Chef Damu, the knowledge partner for the contest, said that among the 10 cities where the contest was held, contestants from Thanjavur, Madurai and Puducherry really did well. “We got to see dishes like ‘Kayiru gola’ (minced meat wound and cooked), ‘takadi’ (rice balls in minced meat gravy) and ‘ukkarai’ being made by participants. These are dishes that have medicinal values but many have forgotten,” he said. Mr. Damu suggested that The Hindu bring out a book of such recipes.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Chennai / by Special Correspondent / Chennai – June 30th, 2018

City bizman remakes original Constitution, exquisite artwork and all

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Leaders, Records, All
Vijay Anand has invested the past two years in sourcing the best possible images for each page
Vijay Anand has invested the past two years in sourcing the best possible images for each page

Chennai :

The first edition of the Constitution  of India is a rare piece of art. Professionals from Shantiniketan decorated with exquisite designs the sides of each page of that handwritten publication of what is the world’s longest Constitution. Survey of India offices photolithographed the original on handmade paper but few copies now exist.
But they are making a return. Two years ago, Vijay Anand, an entrepreneur and a member of Chennai Tricolour Initiative, embarked on a journey to recreate the first edition.

“The original is enclosed in a helium-filled case in the Parliament library,” Anand said. “Some copies were handed down from generation to generation and have been lost over the years.”

His search took him to a family in Hosur whose ancestor was part of the constituent assembly in 1950. “They were kind of enough to share the copy they had,” he said. “The book survived through such a long time, albeit with some wear and tear.”

Several years of research told him that sourcing one of the first copies would be nearly impossible. “One of the original copies was auctioned by Sotheby’s for 35 lakh in 2012,” Anand said. “This book is valuable not just because it enshrines the foundations of the republic, but also because of the work that has gone into creating it.”

India’s Constitution has won recognition as one of the rare books of the world and found a place in the Library of Congress in the United States, said historian and Constitution enthusiast Vikram Raghavan. The tome, with all its artwork, commands a tremendous sense of awe and nostalgia for lawyers and students, he added.

Anand has invested the past two years in sourcing the best possible images for each page. A family from Ahmedabad sent him scanned images of a copy that they have. He then had each page hand drawn to recreate the original art. The work has not been easy. Every inch of the illustration and design is manually traced, digitally blown up and coloured. Each page took close to a week to recreate.

“The original is not accessible and it’s as good as gone,” Anand said. “We need one that we can preserve for at least another 100 years.”

He plans to make two versions – one will be a hardcover, the other a leather-bound edition for collectors. The 234-page volume will be published on specialty paper by Chennai Tricolor Initiative Trust. The copies will be available by September, Anand said. Besides limited copies that will be given to those contribute to the Chennai Tricolour Initiative Trust, Anand intends to give copies to schools at a nominal price so they can preserve them in their libraries.

“We want to spur healthy debate in government schools. The idea is to initiate a conversation on the foundation of today’s India, how the government functions. Healthy debates are not just about finding fault but being aware of both sides of the coin,” he said.

Download a remastered version of the preamble at http://bit.ly/2HnNKmN.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> News> City News> Chennai News / TNN / July 02nd, 2018