Oru Maalai

The title of this post in Tamil, translates to – “one evening”.
Oru maalai is a song from the Tamil movie Ghajini. It is sung by Karthik, composed by Harris Jeyaraj and features actors Surya and Asin.
The song is one of my all time favorites, I heard it everyday in the period spanning from Aug – Dec 2007. It serves as a standard for comparison, a metrics for evaluation of other Tamil film compositions.

Oru Maalai's strengths are simple and beautiful lyrics, highly refreshing music, the hearty whistle tune and flawless rendition by Karthik. The song would definitely not have topped the charts had somebody else lent their voice to it. I can vouch for that.

Commuting down Richmond Road one evening, the view of the glowing orange-red sun ahead of me, sinking down the azure sky, set me thinking about this song. It also paved way for some serious circumspection of tamil films that released post Ghajini (2007) , the multitude of songs in them, their failure to grab even a miniscule of my attention. Before Oru maalai, there were favorites at regular intervals, many compositions by Ilayaraja, AR Rahman and Vidyasagar. Despite careful efforts, I would miss listing down many significant songs in the pre Oru Maalai times. But now, I was squeezing my head inside out, striving hard to list down 5-6 of them post Oru Maalai.

Kangal Irandal

A song set in raagam Reethi Gowlai, from the movie Subramaniyapuram struck my head immediately. With interesting and funny visuals, excellent lyrics, great music and perfect playback, it is a simple, soulful number. Reethi Gowlai raagam has an innate potential to attract listeners, it provides a very soothing experience – not to forget – Azhagaana Rakshasiye from Mudhalvan for instance.

Kangal Irandal fares better than the Rahman composition primarily due to its lyrics, fresh voices – Belly Raj and Deepa Mariam, the constant, light hearted rhythm in tandem with video featuring Jai and Swathi. The video is a must watch, Swathi’s secret glances and innocent smiles with Jai’s funny antics to catch her attention - sheer delight to watch.

A little off the tangent, I must say I was taken aback by two things related to this song. As a school child, I was a big fan of James Vasanthan, the SUN TV anchor, his calm and decent demeanour while hosting shows. Though I knew he sang well and composed jingles then, I did not know he could churn out such a wonderful number. His name will be etched forever in Kollywood’s musical history. Hats off to James Vasanthan for such a masterpiece.

Jai, the hero of the movie, performed the role of Vijay’s brother in the movie Bhagavathy. Then, I had dismissed him as some look alike, possibly a relative of Vijay seeking a fervent entry into Kollywood. But Jai neither is a relative of Vijay nor is he insignificant. With some great performances in his kitty, he is not to be dismissed casually.

Munbe Vaa

She can make any song super sweet with her mellifluous voice, she faces no regional/linguistic barriers, she puts in dedicated efforts to pronounce words correctly, she is none other than Shreya Ghoshal. When she sings, my heart melts, particularly in this song, when she utters – “Naan saayum tholl mel veraarum saainthaale thagumaa” in the second paragraph.

A beautiful composition by AR Rahman, Bhoomika and Surya add natural elegance to the song from the movie Jillu nnu Oru Kaadhal. With a wonderful, opening piece, Shreya’s beautiful aalap towards the end and apt support by Naresh Iyer for the male playback, the song weaves an ethereal world, full of romance and poetic imagination.

Here’s something funny, listen to this song on the Real player with View -> Choose Visualization -> Annabelle the sheep. Watch the sheep jump, wink and nod its head to the tunes of the string instruments in the prelude to the song, you will love it.

Hosanna

Refreshing change, fresh in my memory as I write this post, from the recent most release – Vinnai Thandi Varuvayaa, AR Rahman's first creation post Oscar awards in Tamil, eagerly awaited by all and sundry, has not failed to captivate me. Rahman has performed various bold experiments, fusing different styles of music that will tick well with the college, more precisely, the urban youth.

When I heard Hosanna for the first time, a chart buster even before the movie’s release, I figured the movie had something to do with Christianity – Hosanna is a Hebrew term cried aloud in adoration of the almighty, Jesus. True, it turned out to be. The song features Simbu in a never seen before avatar and Trisha, the gorgeous lady clad in sarees, causing men to drool and women to secretly admire and emulate her.

May be it is the way Simbu dances or the way Trisha walks around poignantly with her innocent smile, the way the song is shot in Malta. For me, the song clicked for its opening music and the manner in which Vijay Prakash renders “Yen Idhayam Udaithaai Norungave”. Lyrics expressing pain and happiness, the western ballad, opera style music neatly mingling with techno stuff, a piece of rap by Blaaze, Hosanna rendition by Suzanne, the song is full of surprises and a mélange.

Vijay Prakash transforms seamlessly from the soulful prelude to hip hop part – “Antha neram anthi neram kann parthu kanthal aagi pona neram etho acchhe” and magically exits with a high pitch version of “Yen Idhayam”, we only yearn to hear more of his voice in future, wonder where he remained hidden for all these days.

The violins, string guitars perform a serenade in complete harmony and there are sudden packets of energy with techno variations and intermittent techno-ish “hello”, Rahman alone can handle such a mélange with such comfort.

Kaatrin Mozhi

After 2007, the number of Dappankoothu songs, proportion of trash, slang without reason, confusion in the name of English rap have risen exponentially. Tamil songs have lyrics devoid of meaning.

The much needed breather comes through this song from the movie Mozhi. The lyrical content has immense meaning and complete relevance, the movie is a very sensible subject and provides some brilliant performances by Jyothika, Prithiviraj and Prakash Raj.

Simple music in the song allows one to pay attention to the words that brim with meaning, tabla for percussion makes one tap their feet/nod their head. There are two versions – one sung by Balram and the other by Sujatha, I prefer listening to the former. Balram’s voice is crisp and continuous, expressive and blends with the lyrics better. This is an all time song for all moods, all days and people of all ages.

Kaathal Neruppin, Vizhi Moodi, Un Parvayil

The three songs - Kaathal nerupin from Veyil, Vizhi moodi from Ayan and Un paarvayil from Something Something Unakkum Enakkum have a big factor in common – all are sung by Karthik. If there is a parallel to Midas touch in music, it is Karthik’s voice for sure.

Kaadhal Neruppin has some powerful music by GV Prakash, an added advantage. Vizhi Moodi, is a soft, romantic ballad, apt for a hearty and casual whistle. Un paarvayil has a notably brilliant violin piece before the opening of the second paragraph.

Karthik is a gifted singer and I have a small prayer, may he sing more songs like Oru Maalai and provide me with more options for my play lists.

While making the above choices, I realised that three years is a long time and I had very few new additions in Tamil to my playlists. Songs sung Udit Narayan, songs that feature Dhanush and Simbu (VTV is an exception) with dappankoothu beats are conveniently chucked out. In fact, I hold the rising of Dhanush to stardom, a major reason for failure of Tamil Cinema. Movies overflow with violence, 10-12 songs, all with the crazy dappankoothu beats, more fight sequences and filthy, abusive language which even the most fiery Chennai auto rickshaw fellows will not use; decency quotients have plummeted to bare minimum. The worst team comprises of Dhanush (actor), Selva Raghavan (director) and Yuvan Shankar Raja (music director). For many, they have produced unprecedented box office hits and many would raise a brow in reading the above line. For me, the above is a plain fact. Even if Yuvan struck the right chords to produce an unimaginably massive hit like Thee Pidikka from Arinthum Ariyamalum, I would refrain from listening to it for the obscenity attached.

In conclusion, each song is a big package. Its lyrics, music and instruments used, the playback singers, their voice, expression, pronunciation and clarity; the way the song has been shot - all add to its success, each ingredient holds a substantial place in creating an impression in the listener’s mind. It is high time movie makers realised that viewers appreciate movies even without songs but trying to chip in 10-12 of them without reason makes it an insipid, in fact, repelling experience.

Life completes one full circle

On July 7, 2005, fresh out of college, for my first job, I stepped into Samsung Electronics – Samsung India Software Operations Pvt. Ltd (SISO) office premises at JP Techno Park, Millers Road, Bangalore. Almost 5 years later, on 22nd March 2010, I am here again, at the entrance of this building with grey exterior.

Nestled in the centre of the city, abuzz with activities, surrounded with multi cuisine restaurants, with a view of the towering Vidhana Soudha, floodlights of the Chinnaswamy stadium, trains chugging in and out of the Cantonment railway station from the open and airy cafeteria, the lush green golf course just a walk away, I could not ask for more from my workplace when I joined. With a daily commute of about 10 km from my Airport road residence then and no entry timing restrictions, life was pretty hassle free and interesting. I worked in this premises for roughly 4 months post induction training and then we shifted to Bagmane Tech Park, CV Raman Nagar.

Far away, from the heart of the city, flanked by green foliage and adjacent to a lake, work began in a new 8-storey building at Bagmane Tech Park. It started getting mundane within a week’s time with only offices and high-rise steel/aluminum – glass panel buildings in the vicinity and techies with ID cards dangling from their necks for our sole neighbors. Blame it on the cut off locality; away from all the hustle bustle of Bangalore or the routine that I had set into, the dosage of boredom persisted in good amounts in the new premises.

The boredom quotient was sustained by my husband’s tales of visiting few good restaurants, near his office on Richmond Road, for lunch. Few trips to his office in the evening made me crave even more for being in the centre of the city and use all of its strategic importance. There were offices of all kinds here – courier centers, marketing/sales offices, schools and colleges, lots of buses plied on the road with common man in them, samosa and chai wala up with their sales around the corner; this was a whale of a change from the nexus of techies in which I felt stifled.

However, Bagmane Tech Park, more precisely – Bagmane Lake View – Block B, remained my second home for nearly 3 ½ years, not away from my first one at New Tippasandra. A relocation plan added little difference – our division shifted further deep into the already isolated tech park – we shifted to Bagmane Tridib. It was no better, but a different set of neighbors in adjacent cubicles, getting to know few more of our colleagues, made the 6 month stint at Tridib a good one with no additional complaints.

Then came the news that we were shifting to JP Techno Park, Millers Road. It was all grapevine and we were not too sure till the end. But now I am sure, here I am, writing this post from my new office at JP Techno Park, back from where it all started for me. For me, life has completed a full circle. After an hour’s commute in BMTC bus, I came to Cunningham Road, walked down from the bus stop to office reminiscing my early workdays.

Almost 5 years back, I had no complaints. What is the project in which I will work? What training will I receive; will there be tests like in college during training? How will my teammates treat me? A ton of such questions hogged my mind.

Now, I swiped at the door, entered to find those same meeting rooms, recollected where I sat before, complained about the chairs at the desk, about the route the bus took to reach Shivaji Nagar and contemplated how I am going to manage my morning household chores with commute to work topped with timing restrictions of swiping in by 8.30 am. Things have changed and so have my reactions.

I am happy that I am back in one of the prime locations of the city. The view from the cafeteria was just as awesome as before – with UB city buildings adding more glitz. With IPL season currently in full swing, I pledge to stay back one of the evenings and admire the full power of floodlights from Chinnaswamy stadium. May be I can even hear the cheer and roar from the stadium from my office cafeteria. The contemplating process still runs as a parallel thread in my head like a train on the rail bridge to cantonment station, a pot pourri of feelings, serious thoughts of a hectic routine ahead and some happiness about being away from the lackluster Bagmane Tech Park.

Just some time to get accustomed to my new routine and I can bridge the gap, complete the full circle that life has defined for me.

Trees do not speak

Times of India , I must say, is truly trying to renovate the sphere of news and journalism. Through the move of introducing the Crest Edition, an apt preparatory material for CAT Group discussions, full of big essays on World and India, the Times Group vouched to keep its readers busy all week long.

Though not a big success, the Crest Edition is worth a buy for Rs 6, occasionally, if one forsees a boring weekend. This newspaper cum magazine does offer a wholesome read and whole lot of facts.

The spree to introduce variety has not stopped, the Times Group has come out with a supplement - The Speaking Tree on Sundays. This is an assortment of articles, on spirtuality, mind, body and soul, travel and few more arbitrary topics. The first edition dated Feb 28, 2010 has been a huge disappointment, with very poorly written articles, uninteresting matter running to few pages, adding much unwanted bulk to the Sunday newspaper. The articles school children write for their English exams fare thousand times better and score more in terms of content, flow, expression and style.

Times of India is no novice to the art of providing its readers with turn off s - the front page at times is just half the normal size, hangs out like a vestigeal appendage, hindering you from the simple act of folding the paper for a confortable read, there are innumerable pamphlets stocked between the pages of the newspaper, they fall like colorful confetti to brighten your morning, advertisements run from top to bottom, page after page and you search for news between advertisements, Aman ki Asha campaign figures on every page involving two nations who are currently in no mood for peace or talks, ruining the content and purpose on special days like the New year/Republic day, a multitude of articles on lifestyle, health, people and cultures with highly opposing and at times controversial opinions constituting a head swirling rigmarole.

The Speaking Tree, to state in simple terms, adds to the list of turn offs. I don't know what made the group name the supplement "The Speaking Tree", probably the act drew inspiration from Abhishek Bachchan's tree act for the Idea cellular advertisement. It is HIGH time, Times of India realised that adding volume to the newspaper does not offer any happiness to its readers or revamp the space of news/print journalism. The matter printed MATTERS a lot.

If Times of India continues to add meaningless volume like this to its editions, some day, TREES WILL SPEAK ... Save Us ... they are cutting us down for no purpose/reason.

Addendum 1 : Mar 21, 2010

Nothing has changed, The Speaking Tree issue priced at Rs 1.50 comes now on Sundays. Nothing valuable in the last two issues. I tried nailing my attention to the one dated 21 March 2010 and found only the 3 lines verses by Sarvajna (A renowed Kannada poet) with English meaning worth a read. Plainly, the remaining matter in the paper failed to attract any interest.

We gave them a second term, that is our mistake

Ever since the UPA government won the no confidence motion in Parliament, despite the Left giving it a cold shoulder over the heavily debated Indo US nuclear deal, Singh has truly remained the KING. Mr. Manmohan Singh has taken the Indian public into confidence, given the thumping victory Congress enjoyed in the general elections.

We brought them to power in true democratic spirit hoping to give them more time so that they can do a better job. We hoped against hope that anti incumbency will not help and felt UPA deserved a second term. May be that is a mistake we committed. There have been many gaffes and blunders, the government has committed quite easily, leaving us to suffer and ponder.

First, the faux pas at Sharam-el-sheikh in July 2009, right after the second term began, where the Prime Minister shook hands vigorously with our foe and made baseless, preposterous statements on Baluchistan. With a nation like Pakistan that plays with words and consistently nods a NO NO on its role in 26/11 attacks in India, despite our providing well prepared/organized dossiers of information revealing their role, we as Indians, expected our PM to be bolder, more ruthless and utmost careful with any dialogue with this elusive neighbor.

Gaffes continued. At Copenhagen, again, wrong hands shook together. This time it was environment minister Jairam Ramesh who without a second thought campaigned along with China against legally binding emission cuts. For the GDP percentage, we contribute; we as a nation are very well within our limits. China’s statistics speak of big breaches and severe action on them is mandatory to save Asia and the world overall. Where we should have stood alone without dirtying our hands, we joined with our enemy and managed to bring the Copenhagen summit to a total failure.

Not to forget, the birthday gift from Sonia Gandhi, this year, to Andhra people - the official affirmation to start the process of separate statehood for Telengana without even working out the logistics on Hyderabad which is the current capital. The past few weeks have exposed even more blunders.

We all know that the Pakistani players did not participate in IPL 2; the PCB instructed them not to. So why such outcry this time when they were not sold in IPL 3? The franchises made decisions on their own accord not to buy some members of the T20 world champion’s team. When the Union Home Minister was interviewed on whether the government had any influence on this decision, he must have just maintained an unusual calm and nodded a NO NO, the way Pakistan did and continues to do on the 26/11 issue. Why did he have to address the media on the disservice shown to Cricket by IPL organizers?

Why did Lalit Modi have to retract from his earlier stand and think of making an offering to the Pakistani players? Why did Deccan Chargers think of roping in Abdul Razzaq and then deny any such reports the next day? For a week, this news of IPL3 made rounds in media, all forgot that the Pakistani cricketers did not participate with true sportsman spirit in IPL 2 and therefore they have no right to clamor this time for getting snubbed.

I feel that the Union Home Minister must answer more serious concerns. The midnight announcement of liberation of Telengana, he made in haste, has spiraled into such a cataclysm that the IPL matches cannot be held in Hyderabad despite the city being the home ground of Deccan Chargers. Disservice to nation and people who voted for his party is of more serious concern than disservice to cricket.

What is this with the BT brinjal? On Feb 10, the nation must gear itself to meet the biggest gaucherie by the UPA. The Union Environment Minister has taken 10 days time to make a decision on deployment of BT Brinjal.

May we ask who this Mr. Jairam Ramesh is?

Can we not decide what we eat in a democratic nation?

Will Jairam Ramesh do that job for us and thrust his mercenary decisions on us?

Is the interest of corporations like Monsanto and Mahyco so important that it towers over the interests/concerns of multitude of environmentalists, scientists, farmers and most importantly, the consumers?

From Chandigarh to Hyderabad, the whole nation is protesting against BT brinjal, what more does the Union Minister want?

If he is going to say a NO, why take 10 days to speak in favor of the nations’ people?

If he decides to say YES, how can he decide on such a sensitive and complicated bioengineering/genetic issue which has profound and unfathomable effects on forthcoming generations within just 10 days?

Is India a democracy or a constitutional monarchy?

People from Northeast have clamored for more attention from the Centre for decades. However, the UPA has grossly misunderstood their requirement. It has performed a ridiculous act of providing a state like Meghalaya with 4 CM s. After committing such a wayward and silly error, an unimaginable violation of the constitutional propriety, they justify it saying there is effectively only one CM who is vested with decision-making powers, but three others with the rank of a CM who share all emoluments, security and privileges of that of a CM. We gave Congress/UPA a second term to provide basic amenities to common public (aam aadmi), to ameliorate our living standards, not to satiate the ego of politicians fighting for supremacy and power. When Pranab Mukherjee talked of cost cutting measures within the government asking Ministers to adopt frugal conduct, how does the same party perform such an ungracious act of anchoring 4 CM s in a state machinery? They quote the Constitution; we are forced to believe that our ancestors who drafted this constitution would not have foreseen such senseless behavior from future generations of politicians.

We gave the UPA a second term, it definitely appears a mistake now. But what do we do and whom do we turn our heads to? To BJP? The problems faced by Non Marathis in Maharashtra state has proliferated over time. The BJP did nothing to speak against its ally, Shiv sena which is perpetrating such acts all along. Suddenly, the RSS provides unconditional support to Non Marathis in Maharashtra and speaks openly about it. Just as we thought we did appreciate such a noble and bold act, we realize that there are elections round the corner in Bihar and it is just an act of votebank politics.

May be, we Indians, like our politicians, have become experts at committing blunders. We just have NO CHOICE.

Padma Award, not so difficult

No country can be as generous as India when it comes to recognizing individual effort and contribution to/in the field of medicine, arts, sports, trade, industry, literature, education, civil service, journalism, social service and public affairs. Ironically, the country is also known for letting down some of the top class players in these fields and boosting some misfits.

The prestigious Padma Awards bestow a mark of great respect and honor on the awardees and great recognition from Indian public. However, over the last few years, the list of Padma awardees has raised many an eyebrow, in anguish and more precisely, in rude shock.

I was surprised the last time when Vijendra Singh and Sushil Kumar, the Olympic medalists were left out and shocked when the Bachchan bahu and actor Akshay Kumar claimed the Padma Shri honor with equal ease. May be a Bronze medal at Olympics is just not as good a merit as getting married to the Bollywood Biggy’s son or acting in super flops like Singh is King, Welcome & Chandni Chowk to China.

This time too, the list is no less in providing quotients of surprise.

Rekha, for Padma Shri, this erstwhile damsel of the tinsel town, sure needs recognition, but a lifetime achievement award from Film Fare would be more than sufficient.
Saif Ali Khan gets Padma Shri, maybe for his true love towards Kareena. I need not write much about him as already the government is under grill from activists in Jodhpur for this decision. The act of hunting down a black buck, 10 years back is a case still under trial that Saif has as one of the credentials apart from acting in superb blockbusters like Dil Chahtha Hai, Omkara and Parineeta.

At last, Vijendra Singh has found a place in the list leaving behind an equally praiseworthy comrade, Sushil Kumar. Neither does Mallika Sarabhai in the list of Padma Bhushan awardees, nor does Zohra Sehgal in the list of Padma Vibhushan awardees sound a valid selection. Names like Sant Singh Chatwal in the list of Padma Bhushan awardees give a sense of repulsion.

Dr. Ramakant Madanmohan Panda of AIIMS has been awarded the Padma Bhushan for successfully operating upon our dear Prime Minister for 14 hours to complete a difficult bypass surgery. Yes, we respect the act. The doctor has saved OUR Prime Minister’s life. However, Padma awards are not granted to personal favorites or as personal token of thanksgiving. We will not forget how BJP government also granted Padma award to Vajpayee’s doctor from Breach Candy Hospital, so yes, why should Congress government not be equally magnanimous?

There will come a time when Kalam’s words will turn true, each one of us, we youngsters, can aspire to become a Padma Awardee, just dream BIG. Begin dreaming; no matter even if you are tainted. Befriend Hillary Clinton or some American bigwigs, act in at least two dozen movies an year, hit or flop does not matter, get married to an affluent/influential family that has ties with either SP/BSP or some big political party, win an Oscar or else you will have to wait long like Maestro Ilayaraja, if a doctor, then operate upon a big leader, remember to be very careful with his/her life. If the leader is alive post surgery, at least a Padma Bhushan is definitely guaranteed. As for sports, the reasons and the logic is still unclear, get into some controversies like Harbhajan did with Andrew Symonds, more seriously, get a gold Olympic medal and nothing less to affix your place in the list; most importantly, pray to have that stroke of luck which will get you on the list of padma awardees.

To conclude, if you are an engineer, hard luck, you have to toil to the top, become a CEO of your organization, then suddenly quit it all for politics and print unique identification cards with all fervor. So what if there is a driving license, a ration card, a voter's card, a PAN card, a unique ID is truly unique and tamper proof, you may win a PADMA award for this novel idea.