Transition from Solo to Duet - Nee Paarththa Paarvaikku Nandri

Song : Nee Paarththa
Composer : Ilaiyaraja
Lyricist : Kamalhaasan
Originally sung by : Asha Bhosle, Hariharan
Movie : Hey

Singers: Tara Balakrishnan, Murali Venkatraman
Mixing : M


Transition from Solo to Duet - Nee Paarththa Paarvaikku Nandri | Music Upload

When a Tamil guy meets a bengali girl and the inevitable love blossoms, music (and english) seem to set bridges of communication. While, "Nee paarththa paarvaikku" stands singularly as a masterpiece of Raja, the couple seem to have forgotten the world around them and seem to be consumed by an enraptured entanglement of affection. The melody as it slips like water droplets on the lotus leaves, seems to embody this private conversation where the language is, as it occurs, often absent. With a hug here and a brush there, the song allows the couple to savor the nectar of love as the procession of notes is played as a simplified version on a broken piano.

Wait.. simplified version ? Broken Piano ?

Sorry. I was not describing the scene in the movie Hey Ram, but was describing one of yours truly. And so who be the lady, you may wonder. Well, the lady is multi-talented with postgraduate degrees in two fields - Statistics and Dance with a PhD in statistics. A Gorgeous dancer with a record 24 years of experience performing and teaching, an invited presenter at the school of arts, University of South Carolina, a rank holder in MSc statistics in Bombay university, second ranker in the PhD qualifiers in USC - her list of laurels seem to evolve naturally due to her flair for both the subjects. Her arrival in my life is like a million dollar CEO package except that she the package receiver is no CEO, but at the best a research clerk who struggles to understand the immensity of the fortune.

I found her in a stroke of artistic destiny almost 5 years back when we met in an Indian Students association function. The ignition and the subsequent flame are culminating today in the holy fire (havan) of our marriage with all the blessings of our families and friends in Raleigh, North Carolina, USA.

When she met me, I was into a period of academic and personal vegetation - the nadir of my life. Music was the only reason I was breathing, however it was after Lalita's arrival that I started finding my roots of life back. I collected myself, finished my PhD and she was singularly responsible for my reversal. And for that singular great gesture where she reintroduced myself to me, charging me up with the love and hope that I needed to build my life on, I will remain indebted to her till my last breath.

And to her this song is dedicated. To Lalita Das

Thank you Lalita for:

1. adding a dash of color on the greyscale map that my life was


2. the memories of many lunchtimes with the broken piano at the Dept of Statistics, University of South Carolina where in spite of my minimal playing abilities u were a patient listener


3. believing me despite the utterly bitter physical separation that we endured over the past 2 years where our relation, endurance and affection were tested


4. all the unconditional love that you have extended right from seeing my PhD through to making me a better person. ever indebted.


5. the countless number of other things and moments that I will cherish for the rest of my life with you

And our invitation to our friends read:

===============================================

Transition from Solo to Duet

Statistical Thermodynamics warns : The "free energy of mixture" of two ideal single components, is always less than the sum of the "free energies" of the two individual components.

Recognizing and reconciling to this, We - Lalita Das and Murali Venkatraman, at the expense of our free energies, enter the wedlock on Dec 11, in Raleigh NC.

Through this concerted effort, we seek to alter our current status of singular monotony and enter a more purposeful state of binary bliss. We strongly and happily seek the catalytic presence of you and your family towards our marital equilibrium.

===============================================

More on the marriage later with updates on how many singer friends made it enjoyable and memorable.

छम छम छलका रे - A Teaser

A teaser from my stable. Just an unfinished prelude. Lyricist will be Jai Kshatriya and singers will be decided later.

Madhyamavathy is one of my favorite ragams and this song is primarily based on that.


छम छम छलका रे - A Teaser | Online recorder

Celebrating ShankarabharaNam - 3- Brochevarevarura and Dialogues preceding the song

Song : Brochevarevarura and Dialogues preceding the song
Composer / Lyricist : Mysore Vasudevacharya
Originally sung by : Vani Jeyaram, S. P. Balasubramaniyam
Originally Arranged By : K. V. Mahadevan
Movie : shankaraBharaNam

Dramatization and Dialogue Delivery: Narayanan Raju (Dasu) and Vamsikrishna Nadella (Shastri)

Singers: Srividya Kasturi, Murali Venkatraman
Mixing : Meera Manohar


Celebrating ShankarabharaNam - 3- Brochevarevarura - With Srividya Kasturi | Upload Music

(The song starts at 3:43)

Remix - these days has become synonymous with making a cacophony of older compositions of high musical standing. The disturbing trend has started eroding the minds of newer listeners who may, if ignorant about the classics, start hating them baselessly simply because the only version of the classic they heard was a bad inharmonious effort from a wastrel of an arranger.

Lyrics form another domain where the value seems to be getting lost especially in tamil and telugu. Meaningless words with some stupid rhyme like:

"kaNNum kaNNum nOkia
cappuccino cofee ya
sofia "

are flooding the music scene. Songs like "arigori bonsaai samba nellaalE" which feature gibberish are better only than the vulgar songs like "aakalesthe" (nee rent kodutha tent pOdalaam)". In the movie Shankarabharanam there is a scene where 'Dasu' tries to 'teach' the kid a new variant of Brochevarevarura. His insistence on remixing the song in a speedy trendy (we are talking about late 70s here) way, incurs the attention and wrath of Shankara Shastri (Somayajulu). Shastri explains how each and every syllable of the great classical compostions brims with life. He explains how every aksharam has a distinct swaram and naadam and how one must not ruin the original in the name of remixing it.

I was of the opinion that this movie stressed only on the "holier-than-thou attitude" about Indian classical music until I saw this clip:

The director K. Vishwanath through the character of Shankara Shastri explains how one should approach and perform music with dedication be it western or Indian. That, I thought was a great piece of advice. What do we do with the musical giant that is S.P.B ? See how he effortlessly sings the 'pop' portions ? I don't know anything about western singing, but I can certainly recognize a voice which can effortlessly transition through octaves with ease and utmost clarity. It may be that he won the National award for Shankara Naada Shareera Para. But I think the movie has many bits like these which never got popular but featured some excellent singing (Remember - punjai uNdu nanjai uNdu humming of SPB in unnaal mudiyum thambi?).

As a tribute to the situation in the movie which featured the comical Dasu and serious Shastri, my friends and I here present you with both the dialogue and the song. For this, I requested Narayanan and Vamsi - two good singers in their own right - to recreate the situation. And that they did beautifully with Vidya who also joined me in rendering the song. And I need to acknowledge their guidance in pronunciation. The original had a few minor mistakes done by the lead singers and Vidya and I have tried to sing the song with the right words (with help from vamsi).

With Meera's help we seem to sound better than we actually do. And for the rest of the series too Meera has graciously accepted to mix. Thank you Meera.

Over to you all for all the bouquets and brickbats !

Lyrics:

ब्रॊचॆवारेवरुरा
निनु विना रघुवरा
नी चरणाम्बुजमुलनॆ
विडज़ाल करुणालवाल

ऒ चतुरा ननादि वन्दित
नीकु पराकॆलनैय्या
नी चरितमु पोगडलॆनि ना
चिन्त तीर्च्चि वरमुलीच्चि वॆगमॆ

सीतापतॆ नापै नीकभिमानमु लॆदा ?
वातात्मजार्चित पादा ना मोरलनु विनरादा ?
भासुरमुग करिराज़ुनु ब्रोचिन वासुदॆवुडवु नीवुकदा ?
ना पतकमेल्ल पॊगोट्टि गट्टिग ना चेय्यि पट्टि विडुवक

Sa;;Sanida pada niSanini dada pama ||

pa;dama;; ga;; ma;pa; da;ni ||

Sa,ni,dapama ni,da,pama gamapada ma ||

garisa; sama;gama padama; padani ||

SaSaRi ni; niniSa da; dadani pa;da ||

mapadani Sanidapa magama nidani pada||

ma; padaniSa Ma;GaRiSa Ri;Sa;ni ||

dapa Sa;ni;dapama ga;ma;padani ||

Celebrating Shankarabharanam - 2 - Maanasa Sancharare

(pic courtesy : Sulekha.com)

Song : Maanasa Sancharare
Composer / Lyricist : Sadashiva Brahmendra
Originally sung by : Vani Jeyaram, S. P. Balasubramaniyam
Orignally Arranged By : K. V. Mahadevan
Movie : shankaraBharaNam

Singers: Meera Manohar, Murali Venkatraman
Karaoke/ Arrangement : Murali Venkatraman
Mixing : Meera Manohar


Celebrating Shankarabharanam - 2 - Maanasa Sancharare with Meera Manohar | Upload Music

"Have you read all these books ?!"

My mother exclaimed innocently looking at the many cartons of books I have ranging from highly technical ones which ran for thousand pages or more to ones which were pocket-sized that captured popular science in an interesting way. I was stunned for a moment since I did not know how to answer. I took a look at my big collection and responded:

"No amma. I hope I will read them some day"

She got busy with kitchen work and had forgotten the conversation. For her it was just a curiosity as to how much her son could study.

But the question reverberated in my mind. Why do I have so many books some of which I may never be reading ? For example, I have books on mathematical logic,topology etc but given my time constraints, I wonder if I will ever get to read them. It led me to an important decision - "No more books until absolutely necessary". My mother's simple innocence-laden question pushed me to rethink about my attitude towards buying books.

While talking about the life of the poet-philosopher-composer Sadashiva Brahmendra one cannot but admire how a simple instruction from his mother-in-law transformed his life from one of a possible ordinary family man into someone who moved freely like a gypsy and composed beautiful songs with deep philosophical thought. It may be a folklore, that his mother-in-law's words "Don't come inside the house" on the night of his marriage consummation, made him rethink about his real pursuits in life. However, consider another related question : "What is the purpose of life if there is one at all ?". This seemingly simple question has been addressed for centuries and people are still trying to find an answer. With brahmendra, the simple instruction/question did have a deep impact on the man who finally came to the public domain and we were blessed with an exceptional poet. Thus seemingly simple innocent questions/instructions may bring about some dramatic irreversible transformations.

Read more about Sadasiva Brahmendra here :

1. http://www.hinduonnet.com/fr/2003/05/02/stories/2003050201370400.htm
2. http://ssubbanna.sulekha.com/blog/post/2007/08/sadashiva-brahmendra-the-avadhuta.htm

To quote my mentor Dr. Bosco Emmanuel:

"Pioneers of science always asked and addressed simple questions. How did D. J. Thouless arrive at the branching in the theory of percolation ? He just asked a simple question. What will be the conductivity of carbon if I randomly punched a few holes in it ? He took a carbon sheet and punched a few random holes in it, measured the conductivity and plotted a graph of the conductivity versus available area. He finally ended up being an exponent in percolation theory "

In this beautiful song which is set in the ragam shyama, which is a cousin of shuddha saaveri and aarabhi, Sadashiva expounds beautiful descriptions of a divine being (krishna) when he himself is in a state of trance. He instructs the mind to roam in the field of universal consciousness (the Brahman) aided sweetly by the music.

In the movie, this comes as a lullaby that the sishya sings for the guru. The director K. Vishwanath had tastefully used a break in the song in the guise of sishya forgetting the lyrics. This invariably invites the voice of guru (SPB) and an uninfringing melody which gently rocks the listener is born. In our version, I have expanded the song a little more to allow more room for the male singer to savor.

And this I believe is one of Meera's best renditions in which her gamakam laden voice has captured the soul of the song.

Lyrics:
====

maanasa sanchararE
brahmaNi maanasa sanchararE

madasikhi pinchaalankruta chikurE
mahaneeya kapOlajita mukurE

shri ramaNeekucha durga vihaari
sEvakajana mandira mandaarE
paramahamsamukha chandra chakOrE
pari poorita muraLeeravadhaarE

(courtesy : http://www.telugulyrics.net/Sankarabharanam-Movie-Lyrics/Manasa-Sancharare-Song-Lyrics/)

Meaning:
======

Oh, Mind ! Undertake your pilgrimage in the Brahmam !

The locks of Brahman, is adorned with the plumes of an exhilarated peacock (mada sikhi)! The cheeks of the Supreme One outwit the brightness of a mirror !

He sports around in the fort of the breast-hillocks of Mahalakshmi (Sri). For his devotees, He is a Kalpavriksha in the court yard (mandira Mandaare) Supreme ascetics (paramahamsa) delight in that face-moon (mukha chandraa) as a partridge bird (chakore - with obvious reference to the chakora bird that thirsts for moonlight) Oh, Mind! May your pilgrimage be complete in this Brahman that fills everything with the flow of the music from His flute(murali) ! !
(courtesy : http://www.ecse.rpi.edu/homepages/shivkuma/music/manasasancharare.htm )

Quietitude Weighs Heavy

..And parents have gone back. So has my dear sis aparna.

I have always preferred a balance between calm and chatty times. I have sought quiet contemplation when home bubbles with activity and now ..the emptiness stares at me reminding the clatter and clamor that was life for the past 6 months..

well.. I realize that the clatter and clamor IS life..and quietitude should only be a vacation.. The affectionate awakening with steaming coffee by mom, the long puja by dad accompanied with a barrage of strong verbal push for aparna to get up against her characteristic sleepy defiance to savor the early morning slumber...

Appu is much younger to me and I have never seen her as my sister. The bond between her and me has been more like dad-daughter. Right from she was born, I was have babysat her for hours. The three of us - dad, mom and me - could easily go into our own worlds like cooking, reading and office work respectively and we may not even feel our mutual presence until either hunger beckons or mom sounds the food-bell. But with appu around, the home is always filled with vibrancy which is an admixture of arguments, jokes, laughter, her follies and what not.

That my dear appu - I miss. I never thought I would miss 'clamor'. But I realize that is a part of life.

When you folks were around, I felt a bit suffocated at times with a tight work schedule, weekend plans and the impossibility of finding time for things that otherwise enthuse me - like music. But with you folks gone, I have time but no interest.

Love you all.

Anbendra Mazaiyile - Sindhuja Bhaktavatsalam and Rashmi Nair

Song : Anbendra Mazaiyile
Composer : A.R.Rehman
Singer : Anuradha Shriram
Movie : Minsaara kanavu
Lyrics : Vairamuththu

Karaoke By : Murali Venkatraman
Performed by : Sindhuja Bhaktavatsalam, Rashmi Nair
Mixed By : Meera Manohar


Anbendra Mazhayile (Tamil Cover) Duet with Sindhuja | Music Upload

It is a heartwarming confluence of artists weaving a web of religious harmony. Although not very apparent. A.R. Rehman a muslim, teamed up with Vairamuthu - a non-believer, to give Anuradha Shriram - hindu to sing a beautiful christian devotional. The lilting flute of Naveen with the powerful lyrics of Vairamuththu has made this song an everlasting melody to cherish.

Another song, which I felt was a little easy to make a simple karaoke for. And to double the beauty of this song, I thought it would be nice to have two beautiful voices instead of just one. Sindhuja and Rashmi have done a great job in rendition and Meera - christened Mixie Mami by anup - has helped their voices sound great.

Let us know what you feel about this work here

Mother's Choice - 3 - Nakshatra DeepangaL

Song : Nakshatra DeepangaL
Composer : Jaya-Vijaya
Singer : K.J.Yesudas
Movie : Nirakudam

Performed by : Murali Venkatraman


It is sometimes difficult to understand how an artist feels. If you ask Ilaiyaraja or M.S. Vishwanathan, they would swear and say that they would like to be remembered as composers and not as singers. I woudl guess the same with Rehman. These people are amazing creators and they pride themselves in their creations. The sense of producing something new, unique and unprecedented drives them hard towards music.

And then there are people like Sharath who probably want to be remembered as both great singers and composers. I have belabored over Sharath's composing abilities in quite a few articles. However, if people had heard his "bhavayami" from a recent film, they would also understand how great a singer he is. His drive to perform beyond human reason is unmitigated.

But there are some like Jayan-Vijayan - the gifted twin duo who also are pupils of Balamuralikrishna similar to Sharath, who would like to be remembered for their singing only and not their songs. However it is hard not to remember them when a song of Nakshatra DeepangaL's quality comes afore. Its splendiferous tune with a brilliant orchestration delivered by a simmering Yesudas. I have no idea how this is picturized in the movie, but it is one of those songs which KJY sings occasionally in his carnatic concerts as a tribute to this great composer duo. Please find more info on Jayan-Vijayan here :

http://www.hindu.com/fr/2005/10/28/stories/2005102801250300.htm

In my school days when I learnt Bharatanatyam at my Mom's insistence, I had danced on this song a couple of times on stage. As I grew, my inherent reluctance to dance grew but the songs that I danced for stayed in mind. Needless to say my mom introduced me to these gems as she was preparing me for those dances. And now recognizing that her daughter is dancing well, she urged me to check if I could produce any worth singing this song.

You may let me know if there is any.

Thanks to Roshni for sending me this track out of her own volition after correctly guessing that I will be interested in it.

Dr. Bosco Emmanuel visit to CSIRO

It is not very often that one gets to work with his undergraduate school professor in his career. But I have been fortunate in that respect. Dr. Bosco Emmanuel of CECRI is currently visiting CMSE-CSIRO as a Distinguished Visiting Fellow. Dr Bosco is a theoretical electrochemist who has made important contributions in the various fields including (but not limited to) lithium batteries, corrosion, percolation and Feynman’s path integrals in leading journals. His current interests include developing a generic framework for Multiscale modeling in corrosion which coincides with our current interests.

Apart from his commendable work, he also was the first PhD student of Prof. late S. K. Rengarajan of IISc who was an eminent electrochemist. Dr. Bosco had not travelled outside India for nearly 23 years and was kind enough to accept CSIRO's invitation to work with us.

Everyday I am learning a new concept. and I am really happy about it.

Mother's Choice - 2 - SaagarangaLE

Song : SaagarangaLE
Composer : Bombay Ravi
Lyrics : Yousuf Ali Kachery
Singers : K.J.Yesudas
Movie : Panchagni

Performed by : Murali Venkatraman
Mixed by : Meera Manohar


I had written a bit about composer Bombay Ravi in dhool a while back : http://www.dhool.com/sotd2/567.html . He transitioned beautifully from Hindi to Malayalam in the 80s. And this was made possible by the director Hariharan who made some beautiful movies like Panchagni. Although I got to see the movie much later after it was made, I was really moved by the story line and the brilliant performances. And the music - 2 songs - SaagarangaLE and aa raatri maanju pOyi were just absolutely wonderful melodies enshrining the voices of Yesudas and Chitra individually.

This is the second song in the series of the songs that my mom has requested me to sing. Hope you like it. Meera helped mixing this so well. I think it may not be wrong to call her Mixer Meera ( a la Simxer Sidhu) :)

And ya..Sindhu, to your exasperation - another Sudhdha dhanyaasi number :)

Celebrating shankarabharaNam - 1 - E teeruga nanu

Song : E teeruga
Composer / Lyricist : Bhadrachala Ramadas
Originally sung by : Vani Jeyaram
Orignally Arranged By : K. V. Mahadevan
Movie : shankaraBharaNam

Singers: Meera Manohar, Murali Venkatraman
Karaoke/ Arrangement : Murali Venkatraman
Mixing : Meera Manohar




Celebrating ShankarabharaNam - 1 - E teeruga - With Meera Manohar

Sabhaku Namaskaaram.

It may not be wrong to call the movie shankarabharaNam as the crowning jewel among the works of composer Shri K. V. Mahadevan. It was a movie that simply established that in the midst of light music, one could really be left captivated by classical music if presented appropriately with a good story-line (by director K Vishwanath) . Although KVM had worked magic all through his telugu and tamil movies (e.g SwatikiraNam, thiruviLaiyaadal ), he made a remarkable choice of a singer in this movie. In all his earlier movies, he went for singers who were either partially trained (Susheela) or at the level of vidwan (Ghantasala, T. M. Soundararajan). In this movie, he picked S. P . Balasubramaniyam (who calls him that ? It is either SPB, SP or Balu) who was completely untrained and established that a committed effort to train him would provide rich dividends. SPB just grew from strength to strength and was associated with so many other films where he breezed through many classical and semi-classical compositions and both telugu and tamil music were never the same.

Science and Art cross barriers. An obscure researcher working quietly in a remote place like port of Madras, was recognized by the great mathematician Hardy only to unveil the genius that was Ramanujan. Ramanujan knew nothing but math. But Hardy ensured that his work was recognized beyond doubt. Similarly for our country that has had many regional problems because of languages, music has often provided the much needed fabric of harmony. How would one explain KVM and SPB's success then ? SPB - a native telugu speaker - is loved by tamils all over and KVM - a tamilian- whose reputation as a composer in Telugu is unmistakable. Other greats like MSV, IR, Susheela, Janaki, Chitra, and Yesudas and now Rehman have similar reputations. The beauty of Telugu seems to be locked in the fact that it is heavily derived from sanskrit but slanted in a delivery which is southern. In a way it ideally represents a good blend of the North and South Indian elements in sync. Malayalam is another language which has a similar blend although it is softer on most syllables than Telugu.

In an effort to recall and celebrate 30 years since the release of the movie, I team up with my friends ( Meera, Narayanan, Vidya, Adithi and may be some more) to re-do some of the songs in the movie as a tribute. Some songs will be rendered as they were in the movie and some with slight modifications in arrangements. Some of us are not native telugu speakers but have sincerely tried for dictional accuracy by consulting with telugu speaking friends. Despite our best efforts, if there be errors we sincerely apologize.

The first song in this series is "E teeruga nanu" - a classical composition of Bhadrachala Ramadas who may be called the telugu equivalent of Manikkavaasagar. Both were state-servants who out of their devotion towards their deities,, used up the state money for charity and religious causes. Both were great poets and singers and have left a wealth of literature for us to indulge. This song appeared in a truncated form in the movie. Hence when I created the Karaoke track, I took the liberty of expanding the song to include the last paragraph of the original. In the movie, the song was delivered by the inimitable Vani Jeyaram. In here, we present this as a duet with some extra (hopefully) un-infringing phrases. I find that the raga of the song is either Nadanamakriya or Mayamalawagowla. I am not very sure about the differences between these two. The lyrics of the song were obtained from :

http://www.engr.mun.ca/~adluri/telugu/classical/musical/rit/ramadasu.html

They are provided here for your reference:

E teeruga nanu daya jUcedavO ina vaMSOttama rAmA
nA taramA Bhava sAgara meedanu naLinadaLEkshaNa rAmA |E teeruga...|

Sree raghu naMdana seetA ramaNA Sritajana pOShaka rAmA
kAruNyAlaya Bhakta varada ninu kan&nadi kAnupu rAmA |E teeruga...|

krUra karmamulu nEraka cEsiti nEramuleMcaku rAmA
dAridryamu parihAramu sEyave daiva SikhAmaNi rAmA |E teeruga...|

vAsavanuta rAmadAsa pOShaka vaMdanamayOdhya rAmA
dAsArcita mAkaBhayamosaMgave dASarathee raghu rAmA |E teeruga...|

Please let us know how you feel about this song and also about the rest of the series to come.

My interview at Musicblogsindia

Jo is conducting a series of interviews about the blogger-musicians. My interview is here:

http://musicblogsindia.com/2009/07/interview-murali-venkatraman/

Mothers Choice 1: Aandholanam - With Rashmi Nair

Song : Aandholanam
Composer : Bombay Ravi
Lyrics : Yousuf Ali Kachery
Singers : K.J.Yesudas, K.S. Chithra
Movie : Sargam

Performed by : Murali Venkatraman, Rashmi Nair
Mixed by : George Kuruvilla

It was year 2001 I believe. I got a chance to sing in Tyagaraja Utsavam of Charlotte. I sang Samajavara gamana which I managed to learn from a stalwart's recording. The Charlotte community was extremely warm and embraced me in spite of me not having had a formal . They instilled in me a sense of confidence that I could sing bit of classical (and also compose a bit). One among those who became one of my best friends for life was Ramanan Moorthy.

Ramanan and I had similar music interests (not same) and it was easy to strike a conversation with him. He had a modest 2 bedroom flat (which luxury hotels could envy for its cleanliness and organization) and a small Yamaha keyboard with a music system and PC connected to it. We slowly learned basic voice recording using goldwave in the PC and were very happy to try out different things in the jam sessions which would last till 3:30 AM. Of course some nutrition supplements and 'health' drinks would help our singing cause.

Together we sang songs o f countless varieties through out the night. He introduced me to the world of Urdu. Earlier to him, I had heard ghazals but never paused to understand them. And I used to dismiss urdu as sounding bombastic and too high flown. In fact jokingly I remember a friend remarking that Urdu sounds like somebody burped as they talked (In fact he used a more 'southern' adjective). Even then I had only reluctantly agreed to understand urdu. (The real transformation of being able to appreciate urdu and develop a love towards it came a bit later, which I shall elaborate in a later post).

Bottom line is: mallu, hindi, urdu, tamil and bangla songs - formed our discussion. Ajay chakraborty, Lata Mangeshkar, Yesudas, SPB, Jagjit, ghulam Ali, Hariharan and other greats paid a vicarious visit to our mehfil in the form of their songs. But in person, he was visited by his endearing Mom for quite a good length of time and I had the pleasure of listening to her sitar and also vocals. In one of the Jam sessions that ensued, his mom and I sang andholanam dholanam - the song which seems to have been composed to ensure that melody would drip like honey would from an overflowing comb - and it was a memorable experience.

My mom is visiting me here in Melbourne and at her insistence I am singing a series of malayalam songs off which personally this is my biggest favorite (my yahoo id is andholanam). when I decided to sing this, one voice that came to my mind was Rashmi Nair's. Check her rendition out yourself. To me it sounded like a perfect combination of bhavam, swaram, layam, gamakam and sangathi (especially in the aalaap that find its place in the second charanam).

Sahana Chaaral/saaral thoovudho - With Meena S

Song : Sahaana Chaaral
Composer : A.R.Rehman
Lyrics : Vairamuthu
Singer : Udit Narayanan, Chinmayee
Movie : Sivaji



Performed by : Murali Venkatraman, Meena S
Mixed by : George Kuruvilla


Meena - who is a new talented face in the audio blog world was kind to invite me to sing this song with her. I have tried to iron out some of the pronunciation problems in the original. Hope you like it.



Sahana Saaral Thoovudho From Sivaji-Duet By Meena and Murali

கலைவாணியே -->களவாணியே --->Song Satire

In TFMPAGE, there used to be a song satire threads where we would write alternate comical lines for tfm numbers. Here is one I wrote for kalaivaaNiyE from sindhu bhairavi..there is not much meaning..just for fun.

களவாணியே
உனைத்தானே பிடித்தேன்
உயிர்போக உதைத்தேன்
தர வேண்டும்
களவானதை

இடித்தேன் கடித்தேன் உதிரமும்
குடித்தேன் அடித்தேன் ஓடிடும்

(களவாணியே)

சுரம் வாங்கி அடித்தாய்
சுருதி ஏற்றிக் கவிழ்த்தாய்
தடி கொண்டு அடித்தேன்
தலை தெறிக்க பறந்தாய்

சிறு விரல்களால் களவாடி
வங்கிக் கணக்கினை வளர்த்தாய்
காவல் படை வெள்ளம் வரும் நேரம்
திசை சொல்லவில்லை பறந்தாய்

முகம் காட்ட மறுத்தாய்
முகவரியை மறைத்தாய்
நீ முன் வந்து
தான் குந்து
பசும்நரம்பு புடைக்கிறது
அடங்கிவிடு

(களவாணியே)

கள்ளம் செய்தது கபடம் செய்தது
உனது கதையில் சரிபாதி
சங்கை அரிந்தது கொள்ளை செய்தது
இரண்டும் உலகில் வெகு பீதி

மாமன் ஒருவகை மச்சான் ஒரு வகை
இவர்கள் பங்கு சரிபாதி
அங்கே திருடுதல் இங்கே வருடுதல்
அதுவும் இதுவும் ஜன வியாதி

தொல்லை பெருகியதே..
தொல்லை பெருகிய காலம் உன்மேல்
அழுகிய முட்டைகள் பறக்கும்

மவனே..
ஓடுற மவனே..

வையுறென்..
நல்லா வையுறேன்

இனி ஒரு வழி இல்லை
உன்னால் ரொம்ப நாளா தொல்லை
காவல்காரன் போட்டான் எல்லை
ஓடுவதில் பயனில்லை..பணிவாய் !!

குரு வந்தனம்

வேதாந்தம் கற்றுக் கொள்ளும் காலத்தில், என் நண்பர்களுடன் அளவளாவும்போது ஏற்பட்ட வாதங்களில் குருவைப் பற்றி எழுந்த வாதத்திற்கு நான் கொடுத்த கவி வடிவம்.

குரு என்பது ஒரு மனிதன் அல்ல. உண்மை தான் குரு என்பதே இதன் சாராம்சம்.

நண்பன் 1:
========

கருவறை வாழும்
கரிய தெய்வமும்
மறுவுரை பகரா !
மதியிலீர் ! ஞானக்

குருவரை சென்று
குவிகரம் செய்து
திருவுரை கேட்டே
திருந்துதல் வேண்டும்

குறுகிய மனமும்
குவலயமாகும்
இறுகிய இதயம்
இளகியே போகும்

அறியா மையது
அண்டாதொழியும்
குறையா மையது
குணமென ஆகும்

நண்பன் 2:
========

குருவெனச் சொன்னால்
குறுகிய மனித
உருவினில் உண்டென
உருவகிக்காதே !

பரந்த வானம்
விரிந்த பூமி
சுரந்த நீரும்
நகர்ந்த காற்றும்

எரிந்த தீயும்
எண்திசைக்கோளும்
செரிந்த சான்றோர்
கண்டதைப் பகரும்

கண்டது எல்லாம்
விளங்கிட நீயும்
சிந்தனை செய்தே
உய்தலும் வேண்டும்

பொறிகள் மூலம்
புரிகிறதாலே
பொறியும் குருவே !
புரிதலும் குருவே!

நூலும் குருவே !
நுண்ணியம் குருவே!
நாலும் குருவே !
உண்மைதான் குருவே !

Teaser 6 - Rajasthani Folk

Have been dabbling with quite a few compositions of mine and arranging them one by one (rather side by side). This is one among those songs.

Sax plays a placeholder for vocals.


Rajasthani Folk - Teaser | Upload Music

கண்ணன் பாடல்கள் - 5 - கண்ணனின் ஏக்கம்

கண்ணன் கதைகளில் ராதையின் இடம் மிக முக்கியமானது. ராதை கண்ணனுடனே பிறந்து வளர்ந்து காதல் செய்து களிப்புடன் வாழ்ந்த மங்கை. ஆனால், கண்ணன் ஏன் ராதையை மணமுடிக்காமல் போனான் என்ற கேள்விக்கு சரியான பதில் எதிலும் இல்லை. சில கதைகளில் கண்ணன் அக்ரூரருடன் கிளம்பிப் போனபின் தொலை தூரத் தொடர்பை (long distance relationship) காக்க முடியாமல் அந்தக் காதல் தடுமாறிப் போனதாக சொல்லப் படுகிறது. ஆனால், பல கதைகளில் மற்றும் பாடல்களில் ராதைக்கு கண்ணனின் ராசலீலைகள் பிடிக்காமல் போனதற்கான பல தகவல்கள் உள்ளன. தன்னிடம் மிக்க காதல் கொண்டிருந்தாலும், பிற பெண்டிரிடம் கண்ணன் கொண்டிருந்த அன்பு காரணமாக ராதையின் மனதில் கண்ணன் மேல் மிகுந்த கோபம் இருந்ததாகத் தெரிய வருகிறது. லகான் படத்தில் கூட வரும் பாடல் “ராத கைஸே ந ஜலே” என்ற பாடல் கூட இந்த கருத்தில் எழுதப்பட்டது தான்.

ஆனால் ஒவ்வொன்றிலும் கண்ணன் செய்கைகள சிறிதே நியாயப் படுத்தி அல்லது “அதுதான் பேராண்மைக்கு அழகு” என்று ரசிப்பது போன்று எழுதப் பட்டு இருக்கிறது. அப்படி என்றால் ராதை என்ன கிள்ளுக் கீரையா ? ஏன் ? அவள் பிரிதொரு ஆடவனிடம் கூடி வந்திருந்தால் இந்த உலகம் கண்ணனைப் போற்றிய அளவு அவளைப் போற்றி இருக்குமா ? கோவலனுக்குப் பதில் கண்ணகி தவறு செய்திருந்தால் அவளை இழித்து அல்லவா தூற்றி இருக்கும் ? எனவே இது ஒரு ஆணாதிக்கக் கண்ணோட்டததிலிருந்து எழுதப் பட்ட சரிதம் அல்லவா ?

அப்படி அல்லாமல் கண்ணனை ராதா பிரிந்து வேறு ஒருவரை மணம் செய்ய காரணம் கண்ணனின் இந்த நிலையில்லாத மனமாகக் கூட இருக்கலாமே ! அப்படி இருந்தக்கால், தன்னை மதித்து தன்னுடன் மட்டுமே உறவாடும் ஒருவனை அவள் திருமணம் செய்து கொள்வதாக தான் அவளின் வாழ்க்கை அமைந்திருக்க வேண்டும். அப்படி அவள் தன்னை விட்டுச் செல்லும்போது தான் கண்ணன் அவளுடைய அருமையை உணர்ந்திருக்க வேண்டும். அப்படி உணரும்போது, அவள் மணம் ஆகி செல்லும்போது, அவன் சோகப்படுதல் போல் ஒரு பாடலைத் தான் இங்கு தந்திருக்கிறேன். இதுவும் ஆஹீர் பைரவியில் அமைந்தது தான். வரிகள் தற்போது. பாடல் பிற்போது.

பல்லவி
=======

ஒளியும் கதிரை நீங்குமோ ?
சுவாசம் நின்ற பின்னும் சடலம்
என்ன காற்றைத் தேடுமோ ?

சரணம் 1
==========

காம வேள்வியில் நானும் விட்டிலாய்
கனன்று எரிந்தாலும்

காதல் தீயது ராதை அன்றியோர்
கண்ணில் கண்டதில்லை

ஆணுக்கொர் நீதி பெண்ணுக்கொர் நீதி
இல்லை என்று சொன்னாய்

வேறு கூடல்கள் வேண்டாம் என் காதல்
ஆணை என்று சொன்னாய்

ஆணையை நான் மறந்தேன் - இந்த
ஆணையே நீ மறந்தாய்

(ஒளியும்)

சரணம் 2
==========

காற்று இன்றி குழல் இதிலே
நாதம் ஏது சொல்லடி

ஊற்று இன்றி பாலையிலே
உயிர்கள் வாழ்வதெப்படி ?

செல்பவளே உன்னிதழில்
முன்னம் நான் வைத்த ஈரம் இனிது

நீ செல்லவே என் கண்ணிலே
இன்று நீ கொணர்ந்த ஈரம் கொடிது

(ஒளியும்)

கண்ணன் பாடல்கள் - 4 - குசேலனின் கலக்கம்

கண்ணன் பாடல்களில் கோபியருக்கு கொடுத்த முக்கியத்துவத்தை சுதாமனுக்கு கொடுக்கவில்லை. சில வருடஙளுக்கு முன் நான் நான் எழுதிய ”கொன்றை மலர் கொய்து” என்ற பாடலில் ஒருமுறை சுதாமனைப் பற்றிக் குறிப்பிட்டேன். சில நாட்களுக்கு முன்னே சுதாமனைப் பற்றி இரண்டு பாடல்கள் எழுதத் தோன்றியது.

சுதாமன் கண்ணனைக் கண்ட பின்பு அவருக்கு கிடைத்த செல்வத்தை பற்றி பல கதைகள் வந்துள்ளன. ஆனால், அங்கு செல்லும்போது அவருடைய மனநிலை எப்படி இருந்தது ? அப்படி சென்ற பின், கண்ணன் நன்கு உபசரித்து அனுப்பினான் - வெறும் கையுடனே. அப்படி மீண்டு வரும்போது அவர் மன நிலை எப்படி இருந்தது ?

இந்த இரண்டும் இரண்டு பாடல்களாக என் மனதில் வந்தன. அதிலே முதல் பாடல் சுதாமனுக்கு கண்ணன் களைப்பு தீர பாத பூஜை செய்து வரவேற்கும் நேரத்தில் சுதாமனுடைய மனதில் எழும் சில ஏக்கங்கள் , பயங்கள் பற்றி ஆகும். முக்கியமாக அவர் வாய் விட்டு எதுவும் கேட்பதில்லை. ஆனாலும் அவரது மனதில் இருக்கின்ற சில கவலைகள் பற்றிய பாடல் இது. அதை இங்கே தருகிறேன். இதனை ஆஹீர் பைரவி அல்லது சக்ரவாகத்தில் மெட்டமைத்து இருக்கிறேன். பாடல் வரிகளை இப்போது தருகிறேன். பாடலைப் பின்னர் தருகிறேன்.

====

ராகம் : சக்ரவாகம்
தாளம் : ஆதி

பல்லவி:
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கால்களைக் கழுவும் கண்ணா - என்
கையறு நிலை கண்டு கை கழுவாதிருப்பாய்

அனுபல்லவி
===========

காடு மலை கடந்த வலி ஒன்றும் இல்லை - நீ
காண மறுத்திருந்தால் தரையில் மீன் என் நிலை

சரணம் 1:
=======

அடுப்பிலே தீ மூட்டி வாரங்கள் ஆனது
இடுப்பிலே ஈரமாய் கந்தலும் ஆடுது
இளமையை இயலாமை கொன்று தான் போட்டது
இயல்பென வறுமையும் இம்சையாய் ஆனது

கரும் பலகை கண்டு கரிந்த உணவு என
கொடும் பசி உந்தவே குழந்தை வாய் வைக்குது

சரணம் 2:
=======

கோபுரம் தேவையில்லை
கோடிப்பொன் தேவையில்லை
மாடமும் தேவையில்லை
மனை ஏதும் தேவையில்லை
இல்லக் கிழத்தியின்
இளைத்த பிள்ளகளின்
கொல்லும் வறுமை போக
கொஞ்சம் நெல் தாராய்


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Prof Oldham's Lectures on Electrochemistry at Monash University

As a student, you would learn from certain textbooks, the authors of which would mostly be world-renowned authorities in the subjects. Although, I came to know about Prof. Keith B . Oldham's works later in my student life, I have always been fascinated by his crystal clear introduction to electrochemistry. What could be better ?

A course directly taught by him.

Prof. Alan Bond of Monash - another authority in fundamental electrochemistry has organized a series of lectures by Prof. Oldham and I am so very delighted to be learning from him directly in a class !

Thanks CSIRO and Monash. Enjoyable totally !

NaadharoopiNi - the swara circus of Ravindran - M.G. Sreekumar - A Tribute on the 4th anniversary

Song : Naadha roopiNi
Composer : Raveendran
Lyrics : Kaithapram Damodaran Namboodhiri
Singer : M.G. Sreekumar
Movie : His Highness Abdullah

Performed by : Murali Venkatraman

It has been quite a while since I tried anything even modestly semi-classical. The last time I sang a semi-classical was in Oct 2005:

1. Vedham Nee
2. Pramadhavanam
3. Sangeethame

But my recent enrollment in Smt. Shobha Shekhar's classes has once again sparked my excitement in the old semi-classicals. And the result of this excitement ? Internet needs to bear with my version of a National award winning song of MGS.

To say Raveendran was a gandharvan would be a severe understatement. Can you imagine an angel without wings but with an unshaven face and with glasses ? If you can that would be Raveendran. This master composer left us with his rich musical legacy four years ago when the South Indian musical fraternity wept. ( Check out dhool's tribute here ).

With all the Idea Star Singer and Super Singer programmes popping up in every possible channel, Raveendran's long lost songs like rajeevam vidarum nin mizigaL are regularly sung since they challenge the singer to the very end. A Raveendran song was always an elaborately prepared feast in a modern setting with traditional techniques. Anybody could enjoy the tasty meal and those who know musical cookery revel in the technique apart from the taste.

This song dragged MGS from relative obscurity to superstardom. MGS has been singing difficult songs for long (e.g. swaminatha paripaalayasumaam and nagumomu in Chitram) but gained unprecedented popularity with this song which won his first national award. His delivery which stuck to the classical roots with his apt warmed up tone won him plaudits.

My humble attempt is two-pronged:

1. Remember Raveendran by singing his songs akin to singing Tyagaraja's songs in Thiruvaiyaaru.

2. To dust my rust and stand-up for better semi-classical / classical performances.

Listeners - please feel free to critique.

Upcoming Concert of Kaumudee on March 8th: India Literacy Project presents ILP Fest 2009

My friend Kaumudee's concert is on March 8th for a noble cause of improving Indian literacy. Please support her in this effort by attending this concert. Kaumudee is a brilliant singer and add to it the satisfaction of helping a good cause. More details at :

http://www.kaumudee.com

PS: She has sung in front of Stalwarts like Drums shivamani and Pt. Hridayanath Mangeshkar !! Cheers !!

Beggary of the Disabled

பாலாவின் "நான் கடவுள் " படத்தில் காட்டிய பிச்சைக்காரர்களின் வாழ்க்கை மனதை விட்டு அகல மறுக்கின்றது. அதன் பிரதிபலிப்பாக இதோ எனது சிறுகவி.
(இது பாடலாக வர வாய்ப்பு உள்ளது)

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கால்கள் வளர்ந்தது காலளவே -மன
ஊனம் வளர்ந்தது முழு அளவே
கரமாய் சிரமாய்
திசைக்கு ஒன்றாய் தசைகள்

ஊழ்வினையோ ? பெற்றோர் வினையோ ?
இயற்கையின் ஓர வஞ்சனையோ ?

எண்சாண் உடம்பில்லை
ஒரு சாண் வயிறுண்டு
வயிறு வாழ நிதம்
உயிரைக் கரைக்கிறது

ஊனம் ஒன்று தான்
விற்கும் பொருள் இங்கு
விற்ற பின்னாலும்
விட்டுப் போகாமல்
பற்றிக் கொண்டு நிதம்
விற்கும் பொருள் இங்கு

இணையம் கணினி என
இகமோ இன்புறுது
இதயம் பணி விட்டு
இருண்டு உறங்கிடுது

சதையின் அவலமாய்
சடலமாய் வாழ்கின்ற
ஊன வறியார்கள்
உய்ய வழி என்ன ?

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uDalin thiriyaalE - Tribute to Mother - My composition sung by Pradip Somasundaran

 Buy this song from Amazon or iTunes ! 
All proceeds go to Akshayapatra !

Song : udalin thiriyaalE
Composed by : Murali Venkatraman
Lyrics : Murali Venkatraman
Singer : Pradip Somasundaran
Cover Design : Chondryma Chakrabortti


uDalin thiriyaalE - Tribute to Mother - My composition sung by Pradip Somasundaran | Music Upload

A mother's contribution toward's a child's life is immeasurable. This is a song that I wrote and composed as a tribute to my mother.

Kanakaangi is the first mELakartha or "janana" raagams. That is, it is the first among the mother ragams. It is one of my favorite ragams and I believe it epitomizes an emotional tension. My first tryst with Kanakaangi came unsurprisingly with "thom thom" of Sindhubhairavi and then followed "shree gaNanatham bhajamyaham". There are purists who feel that this raga was artificially derived when assembling the Venkatamahi scheme but one could always argue what is natural and what is artifical. To me, kanakaangi evokes a deep feeling which ragas like bhairavi and thoDi do. It may just be a personal feeling.

Every song when conceived by the composer innately comes with the image of the voice which would sing it. The composer has a construct in his mind about the song and delivery. It is the responsibility of the composer to convey the image properly to the singer. It is only some singers that grasp the mental image of the song, polish it and take it to the next level at which point the composer sits back and just enjoys his work being savored.

I can understand how Raveendran would have felt when "souparnikamritha veechikaL" was delivered by Yesudas. When I ended up listening to Pradip's version of souparnikamritha veechikaL I felt equally mesmerized that I ended up listening to it 10 times in a day. And I knew none other than Pradip can bring the required bhaavam for a soulful tribute to mom.

That he is a singer par excellence has already been nationally acclaimed through Lata Mangeshkar award. But what is more rewarding and pedagogical to a younger musician is his untiring effort towards precision. Precision as in clinical precision and not the engineering precision. As the lyricist, I felt my lines had come to life in his absolutely soothing, expression laden voice with appropriate emphasis on the syllables.

பல்லவி
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உடலின் திரியாலே
உயிரின் தீயாலே
ஒளியும் கொடுத்தாயே
உனக்கிணை யார் தாயே ?

அனுபல்லவி
===========

ஆலய தெய்வமும்
தாயில்லை என்றேங்கி
கருவறை என்று தன்
வசிப்பிடம் தன்னை சொன்னதோ ?
என் தாயே - நீ
நந்தாயே என்றும்
நந்தாயே

(உடலின்)

சரணம் :
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பரமனைப்பார்த்தொரு நாள்
பரிகசித்தேன் - அவன்
'பதரே எதற்கிந்த
ஏளனம்?' என்றான்.

'அண்டமோ உனது உன்
ஆயுளோ நெடிது - ஆனால்
கண்டதுண்டோ நீயும்
தாயன்பின் அமுதை ?' என்றேன்

இல்லை என்றான் - தலை
நாணி நின்றான் - பரமன்
நாணி நின்றான்

(உடலின்)

For those who do not understand tamil a loose translation:
=========================================

Oh incomparable Mother !

With the body as the wick
and soul as the fire
You gave birth to light that is me.

Even the deity which resides in the temple
Felt it was lifeless since it did not have a mother
And chose to call its residence "garba gruham" (the womb or karuvaRai)
Oh my mother - Your greatness will never cease !

I bantered God the other day
He retorted : "You puny creature ? why are you mocking me ?"
I replied : "The universe is yours. You have infinite lifetime. But have you ever tasted the nectar of a mother's love ?"
He felt humbled and bowed down replying : "No"

Jashn-e-Bahara - Muzumadhi

Song : Muzumadhi avaLAdhu
Movie: Jodha Akbar
Singers : Srinivas
Composer : A. R. Rehman

Performed by : Murali Venkatraman




Jashn-e-Bahara - tamil - Muzumadhi | Music Upload

This song delivered in Hindi by Javed Khan was beautifully re-rendered by Pradip and from the day I heard it, I had the irrepressible urge to sing. I have heard many attempt the hindi version whereas the Tamil version was seemingly untried by many blog singers. I vaguely remember Santhosh Hariaharan singing it.

One of the beautiful qualities in a Srinivas rendition is the consistency in expression and enunciation, whatever language it may be. His voice is tailor-made for songs like these and I have always enjoyed singing his songs with a little imaginative twist of my own since he is a singer who inspires the neurons in me. Not many singers can boast of being able to sing songs that embrace the listener as does a cool breeze on a hot day - gentle, unexpected and irresistible once it starts.

The song is a mixed bag in terms of lyrics. It has some stunning lines like:

ஒரு கரையாக அவள் இருக்க
மறு கரையாக நான் இருக்க
இடையில் தனிமை தளும்புதே நதியாய்

But lines like:

மார்கழி மாதத்துப் பனித்துளி அவளது குரலாகும்

do not make any sense. Apart from that, there were some metric issues (maargazi maadhaththup panithuLi is like biting and chewing..whereas maargazi maadhap paniththuLi would be just right)

Hence I asked Udhaya to write an alternate set of lyrics. His lines dripped poetry and I plan to sing them in another post. For now, please let me know how this rendition of mine is..

Programme with Sahana in Bay Area - With Meera

This blog is being dusted.

To say that my short visit to SFO was colorfully enriched with wonderful memories would be an understatement. The family that was single-handedly responsible for that was Meera's. Almost every other weekend was spent with Ayush, Meera and Manohar. A typical weekend would start with wine in the evening kick-starting Mano's technical and comical brilliance about sundry stuff. Be it the famed reference to a mallu buying "Dungin Donuts" from a Chinese at the counter or the resolution of relative velocity in circular motion - Mano had me, Vijay and Narayanan in splits or in musing for most of the time. And as we occasionally warmly welcomed Mr. Johnnie Walker into our brigade in the night, the natural smile of Meera would slowly give way to a deliberately self-imposed one (aah..the pressure of having to act as a good host !). Of course the Thai food was ordered to help us with the solids not to forget Ramya Narayanan's inventive "Oats Dhosai". Meera and Co also surprised me with a hugely surprising and meticulously planned Birthday Bash for me which included Narayanan Venkitu, Vamshi, Narayanan, Balagopal and their families. They brought with them a whole range of food including Vaththak kuzambu. The winner on that day was Mano's Potato Curry though !

And all these wonderful hospitality coupled with regular visits to Komala Vilas transformed into pounds of flab before I boarded for Melbourne.

Gluttons at Komala Vilas

Whenever such little pleasures of life were not available, music came in as Meera, Narayanan and I discussed some songs. Meera and I sat for the songs azagaay poosum manjaL and kaNNimai thaanE aadume with Ayush sometimes providing some background music. Not many times does one get the opportunity of performing with his audio-blogging friends. I am probably the luckiest in that regard since I have performed with many of them. Anup, Barani, Sam and Karthik Gomadam performed with me in Raleigh in 2006. And the latest that happened was in Bay Area with Meera and Narayanan with Sahana.

Sahana's leader Arun was a pleasure to work with although he never distinguished between types of communication. He would scrap me on Orkut and presume he mailed me. Or would talk to Meera on phone and mistake for paging her. It was fun working with Ashwin, Srinath and Krishna - the instrumentalists. I ended up singing a couple of songs with my trademark slips.

One of them was Uyirin Uyire - a Kay Kay song - a genre I should probably not have attempted. I struggled at the start of the song due to a dry throat and unable to hear my voice back from monitors but warmed up in the middle. This video has more nostalgic value and less musical value.

With the sound system not really helping much to hear the low notes, Raja Raja Chozan was also approximately delivered. I had to cut off at places like "kaadhal theeve..maNmeedhu sorgam" to ensure that I was not braying the wrong notes.

The winners on that day were Raja M's "engeyum eppodhum", Vamshi's "Sangeetha Megam" and Meera's "Rangeela Theme". Bharathi did a great job on "aattama" and "vaan mEgam". You can catch them here.

Thanks to Kaumudee for coming and cheering us up !