Accompanists:
Nagai Muralidharan – Violin
Guruvayur Dorai – Mridangam
T.V.Vasan – Ghatam

Concert Duration: 3 hrs 20 min

List of Songs:
1. kanakAngi (varnam) – tODi – aTa
2. anumAnE – malayamArutam – rUpakam –swarams at anumAnE
3. rAga sudhA rasa – AndOLikA – Adi – AlApana; swarams at rAga sudhA
4. rAmA lOkAbhi rAmA– bhairavi – kaNDa cApu – AlApana; neraval & swarams at Emi gatilEdani prEmadAsuDu rAmA
5. idu nalla taruNam – SankarAbharaNam
6. gananaya dEsika – riSabhapriyA – AlApana; swarams at saptaswara sangIta
tani Avartanam
7. marugElarA – jayantaSrI
8. RTP – tilang
pallavi: ninnayE rati enRu ninaikkirEn aDi kaNNammA – Adi
swarams in Ananda bhairavi, nIlAmbarI, bhAgESrI
9. ninnayE rati – bhAgESrI – rUpakam
10. jAnAti rAmA (viruttam) – misra khamAj, sindhu bhairavi, suruTTi
rAmacandra nI dayE – suruTTi
11. nI nAma rUpamulaku – sowrASTram

Today’s concert was the Season’s first Sanjay-Nagai Muralidharan combo concert. If that itself had already made me excited, yesterday’s mind-blowing concert only added on to it! And what an amazing concert it turned out to be! It was brilliant from the start to finish!

The joyous AndOLikA AlApana, which came right after a comparatively serene tODi and malayamArutam, the fast-paced rendition of rAga sudhA rasa replete with some awesome swarams. The bhairavi AlApana as special as Sanjay’s bhairavis always are. That perfect riSabhapriyA, the riSabhapriyA kalpanA swarams at saptaswara sangIta which Sanjay started off with the ArOhaNam of the rAgam and a few rounds of swarams later sang the avarOhaNam followed by the ArOhaNam too. Guruvayur Dorai’s mridangam. That excellent RTP in tilang and the rAgamalika swarams full of delightful rAgas, which had one of the most beautiful Ananda bhairavi! It was Anandam/joy personified! The bhAgESrI swarams in RTP which had that special touch to bhAgESrI which only Sanjay and Nagai Muralidharan can bring to it and the beautiful full song ninnaye rati in bhAgESrI that followed it as expected. The delightful suruTTi in the end being perfectly in sync with the happiness and contentment that everyone in the audience would have felt at the end of this flawless concert! I just can’t stop going gaga over this concert!

You folks please do remember to update the feed to this.

The way that person tried to convince us to participate and said that even if we are not participating, we can ask someone else to, made me wonder whether they had not received enough SMSs. And I thought there were so many girls going crazy over Madhavan and dreaming of meeting him.

Update: I have already seen Madhavan twice

How I wish these scenes were not deleted! In the first scene, I love the way Sharukh pretends to be asleep every time Gayatri turns towards him while she is watering the plants. I love the BGM of this scene.

In the second scene, you should see Sharukh asking Kaveri Amma ‘kya?..’ when she says ‘Geeta ne mujhe bataya aaj school mein kya hua’. In the uncut scene when Gayatri hits him with the duster, Sharukh says ‘Maine to sab jawab sahi diya’ Lovely scenes!

P.S.: Photo taken with my mobile last Thursday.

Initially when I thought about what to write to mark the 15 years of completion of A R Rahman in the world of films, I couldn’t think of any specific aspect to focus on. Besides, I was thinking what’s so special on completing 15 years? After all, Rahman has been associated with/composing music for a period more than that. But, did I listen to his music before 15 years, knowing that the music that I was listening to was composed by him (Am referring to the jingles etc. here)? Hasn’t these 15 years made a difference to my life in a way it can’t be imagined? Besides, I thought I had said everything I wanted to say about his music in my earlier post. But, can proper justice be done to the magic produced by Rahman’s music in just a single post?! So, here’s my journey of how I transformed from just another fan of A R Rahman into a Rahmaniac.

The years 1992-1999:

As I had written in one of my earlier posts, I still remember the day when my dad got the cassette of Roja and how I loved all the songs. Then many more excellent albums of Rahman released. Pudhiya Mugam, Gentleman, May Madham, Bombay, Indian, Rangeela…. In all the movies, there were a few songs that became my all-time favourites. But, it was just that. I liked the songs and kept listening to those again and again. Nothing else special happened. It wasn’t until 1997 when Minsara Kanavu released that I slowly started realizing how much I like his music. Suddenly, I found most of the songs by other music directors at that time to be not quite as great as Rahman’s. I started telling everyone that Rahman is the best. But, even at that time, I neither bought the CD/cassette of Rahman’s movies on the day of the release itself nor did I start discussing Rahman’s music with anyone who would be willing to lend an ear nor did I completely realize the effect his music has on me but, my passion for Rahman’s music seemed to be ever-growing.

The year 2000 – Alaipayuthey and ARR Fan Club:

2000 is the year that was something like a turning point in my life. I had always been known as the most silent girl of the class though I had a few close friends with whom I did talk a lot. I had given my Class 10 Board Exams. That was the time when Alaipayuthey released and as you all know, I became crazy about the movie.

Thanks to the admission system in Tamil Nadu, I had to switch over to a State Board school and in the new school, I was not the most silent girl in the class anymore (Of course, I have not changed completely. Some part of the old-me is still left even now). The reason being, Alaipayuthey (the music and the movie) became a rage and everywhere, people were discussing about it. And I found it irresistible not to take part in those conversations. When I heard someone rave about Pachchai Nirame (can any song ever come close to it? ) or some other song from the movie, I too started joining in and before I knew it, I had made a lot of good friends thanks to Alaipayuthey and Rahman!

It was at that time that I slowly started using the Internet and thanks to my craziness for Alaipayuthey, I got introduced to the Yahoo Groups. I first came to know about Madhavan fan club. Then, I searched through the groups and stumbled upon Mani Ratnam and A R Rahman fan club. Seeing so many of them sharing the same excitement about Rahman’s music and discuss about it left me amazed, and before I realized what was happening, I became a Rahmaniac! It felt great to know that there were so many others sharing the same passion (some even more!) for the man’s music. I realized that his music had always had the same effect on me ever since the beginning.

Following the messages in the group started as an activity which I pursued once a week or so. But, very soon it became everyday activity! (Since the group didn’t require a membership to read the messages, I didn’t become a member of the group till 2004 and till I started blogging, I never posted even a single message in the group!)

The year 2000 was a defining one since that’s when I realized that if I wanted to celebrate my happiness, if I wanted to cheer up, if I wanted to get motivated to do something or even if I was feeling very sad and didn’t feel like getting back to normal soon or when I was curled up with a book in my hand on a lazy weekend, I had a set of Rahman’s songs that would give me company!

2002:

I joined college and that’s where I got fully exposed to the Dappankutthu and Gaana songs (read sub-standard stuff according to me) since I was forced to listen to those in bus during industrial visits or even while traveling to college everyday. After listening to such crap, my passion for Rahman’s music grew even more. When anyone asked me what my hobby is, I would say listening to Rahman’s and Carnatic music! Wherever informal introduction was required, I started introducing myself as a fan of A R Rahman. When any of my friends came across anything related to Rahman, I became the first person they told that to. And, I became what I am today some 5 years back – a complete Rahmaniac!

Chinna Chinna Aasai, Telephone Manipol, Thee Thee, Aathangara Marame, Kadhalikkum, Tanha Tanha, Leo Coffee Ad, Thendrale, Kanava, O Rey Chori, O Bawre, Poo Pookkum Osai, Uyirum Neeye, Nenjinile, Kaatre En Vaasal, Do Kadam, Ishq Bina, Kabhi Meeti Lagti Hai/Tu Accha Lagta Hai, Des Ki Mitti, Yeh Tara, Vanessa Mae’s Raaga’s Dance, New York Nagaram,….. I started enjoying every bit of music composed by Rahman.

2007 – Dream comes true!

The thing that I never ever thought would happen even in my wildest dreams, happened – Meeting A R Rahman himself! Standing in front of him, I wanted to tell him so much, how much his music meant to me and all such stuff. But, as expected, I got tongue-tied. All I wanted was to catch a glimpse of the man whose music has made a very big difference to my life and I got that. That was more than more than enough. Writing these lines has made me relive every moment of that day! It all still seems like a dream.

Never wishing to wake up from that dream and ever a Rahmaniac,
Aparna

Shopping at Nalli, Kumaran, RMKV, Pothys, Chennai Silks, Naidu Hall, Krishna Collections or Roshanlals, Her Choice, Moksha or Saravana Stores, Jeyachandran Textiles or the platform shops in Pondy Bazar or one of the many small shops in the ever-crowded Ranganathan Street. Eating out at Saravana Bhavan, Sangeetha, Woodlands, Mathura, Palimar, Eden, Gangotri. Ice creams at Freeze Zone, Snofield, Milky World. Sweets at Grand Sweets, Shree Mitai, Surya Sweets, Sri Krishna Sweets, Adyar Ananda Bhavan. Food World/Spencers Daily, Nilgiris. Flowers, fruits, vegetables in abundance at the Koyambedu market.

The fruits/vegetables/flowers vendors who take the money from you with a smile when you happen to be their first customer of the day. Fighting with Auto drivers and feeling triumphant when he agrees to the fare that you say. During concerts, hearing Mylapore Maamis boast about their son/daughter settled in US or discuss about what’s happening in Mega Serials. The bus conductor who refuses to give you 50 paisa change. The poor people missing bus after bus at the bus stop, hoping that at least the next bus doesn’t turn out to be a Super Deluxe or an Express bus. The shopkeepers in the platform shops with whom you can bargain endlessly though still he gets to win in the end most of the times. The road-side Romeos who stare and shamelessly sing loudly whenever a girl passes by. The traffic police who is never present when there’s a traffic jam.

The December Music Season. Kutcheris at Music Academy, Narada Gana Sabha, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Asthika Samajam, etc. Movies at Satyam, Udhayam, Melody, Mayajal, Devi. Travelling by PTC bus with friends, while bunking college, chatting with them and at the same time, having an eye on your purse lest it gets stolen. Hunting for projects, during college, in all the shops in Ritchie Street. Roaming around aimlessly at Spencers or Citi Centre with friends. Trains at Egmore, Central, Tambaram, Mambalam stations. School excursions to Guindy Park, Snake Park, Planetarium, Vandalur Zoo, Museum, VGP, Mahabalipuram.
And above all, my home sweet home!

This is Madras for me and I love this city very much. Sorgame endraalum adhu nammoora poala varumaa?

Wishing all the Chennaiites a belated Happy Madras Day and a very Happy Madras Week!

1. Varnam – Reetigowlai
2. Tulasidala – Mayamalavagowlai
3. Kamakshi – Bhairavi
4. Ee Vasudha – Sahana
5. Chesinadella – Todi
6. Gopa Nandana – Bhushavali
7. Raagam Taanam Pallavi – Kedaragowlai
Pallavi – Sarasa daLa Nayana Hare Krishna,
Swarams in Varali, Sama and Hamir Kalyani
8. Marubaari – Khamas
9. Varugalamo – Manji
10. Mangalam – Sourashtram
11. Mangalam Kosalendraya – Surutti

Last weekend turned out to be a great one thanks to back to back wonderful kutcheris (each lasting some 2-hour 45-minutes!) on Saturday and Sunday

I had been eagerly waiting to listen to a Kedaragowlai (one of my most favourite raagams ) for a long time now and little did I expect him to sing it yesterday after the Todi main piece. By the way, I liked TMK’s Todi very much yesterday! See how I am saying this about Todi in contrast to what I said in my earlier post.

My favourites in yesterday’s concert: Reetigowlai varnam, Kamakshi, Kedaragowlai RTP, Khamas and of course, Sahana!! It felt great listening to TMK’s Sahana after a long time!

With a great team performing together, it was yet another wonderful concert. TMK, Umayalpuram Sivaraman & Shriramkumar are the one of the best combinations ever!