Vettiness

My blog description reads 'As if blogging were a height of vettiness.....'. For the souls that are not aware of this Thanglish(Tamil + English) word, vettiness is a state of joblessness. Vetti means jobless in Tamil, the dravidian language.

It was not until recently(say 18 months ago) that I got to know of this word. My stay in this desert has taught me a good bunch of Tamil words apart from many other things. This word was one of it too. Being vetti is the trademark of a Graduate student in the Summer and winter breaks unless someone has path-breaking research to work on or a demanding internship. Vettipaechu is the word for non-stop talk without a purpose.

Enough of Vetti blogging..... Me getting ready to go home.....

Flower - Life

Oh flower!!!!
Though short-lived,
your life is a joyous one....
as a queen who rules,
the world for a day....
which is unachievable....
by anyone else.
Lingering on one's lips....
in the form of honey,
you make one's life sweet,
which is again....
possible by a very few.

Enjoy your life....
the short one....
Make someone's life sweet....
thus making your life meaningful....

(Some portions of this are inspired by the song 'Poova Poove'(oh flower) from Poovellaam Kaettupar(Ask all the flowers)).
Picture Courtesy: The flowers at the potluck at Dr. Antonia's place on 12th May 2007. :)

Non-stop Nonsense

As I walk to the end of this semester, I turn back to see the two years that I've spent here. With most of my friends gone after this semester, it is going to be a really different life for me, but yet the same, with new people around. I hope it continues to be a good learning experience for me.

In these two years I have learned something that I hadn't learned in the years I was under my parent's warmth back home.

And the summer is here, though the past week has been pleasant, not too hot. More blogs to crib on the AZ summer soon.

Meanwhile, this weekend was a movie fiesta for me. I saw Lesa Lesa, Pardes and Meenaxi: A Tale of three cities. I watched Lesa Lesa completely for the first time, it was a really beautiful movie in terms of colors, music and locales. Pardes made me think about the artificiality of the life that is lived here in the US, but was long, but devoid of Sharukh's overacting and heroics, sonce it was not his movie at all. Meenaxi, though a complex movie was beautiful with the genius' music and some slick camera work in shooting the beautiful Jaisalmer and Prague.
I also happened to see 'Kangalal Kaidhu Sei', later on in the weekend, even though my prediction that the movie was going to be a big letdown. I simply love the songs in the movie, remarkably different from the usual stuff that is around. But, I have no idea why they had to feature in a movie of errors like this one.

More movies lined up for the summer :), but work comes first. The demands and expectations of my superiors are increasing and I need to push myself into that. I am sure, I will so well.

Hindi blog

हिंदी में भी blogging. वाह रे वाह

Just got blogging in Hindi activated. Hopefully, they introduce in more and more Indian languages.

Summer in AZ

I somehow dread the aspect of being in AZ this summer. Having been in Bangalore all my 21 summers, including the last one, I somehow cannot digest that I AM going to be here this summer. I've heard summer being the most productive time for research, since you cannot head out anywhere till 7-8 pm any day, it's best if you are in your office/lab by 8 am. I hope this does some good to me. I am also going to be teaching, and my class is a 1 pm and I pity my students who will have to come by at that time. Fortunately, for me, my lab is in the same building, so I am saved from the torture of walking in the mid-day heat, unless I wake up later on in the morning and need to rush to hold my class :).
Bangalore is blessed and has one of the spectacular climate(unpredictable at times though). The temperature there never goes beyong 35 deg C(95 F) on most days of the year. If at all it goes beyond 35 deg C, it is going to rain in a day or two and this brings the temperature down.
Having cribbed about those few 100 F days, I see this as a oven to get baked, a frying pan to get fried, and a dryer to get dry(literally). I remember the day I landed here in Phoenix at 2 am, and when I stepped out of the aircraft, a gust of hot air greeted me. I felt as if a hair dryer was targetted at me. For a portion of a last summer(1 month), I was here, and the AC in my apartment was being too very good and kept the room hotter than ever. I hope it is better this time. But one good thing about AZ is that, there is very little or no humidity at all. It saves me from the sticky days that I used to see in Chennai.
How I survive this summer might be a good thing to write at the end of summer(does it ever end?). I might live on fruits, juice(as usual), and icecream(something I have been limiting for a while). Sunscreen would be a tool, if not an umbrella to shield me from the sunshine.
Hope the summer ends soon.

Virginia Tech Massacre

I pray for the souls of the people who lost their lives in the Virginia Tech shoot-out. May they Rest in Peace.

A dear friend

A friend of mine.....
Always with me at work.....
A giver of happiness.....
Places good notes in my ears.....

Strives to pass to me.....
All that he receives.....
Whether he likes it or not....
Just to make me happy.....
Bearing with my moods.....
And a change in them.....

My headphone.....
Stay with me forever.....

Hariharan's concert in Phoenix

It was the 23^rd March, a few days before couple of submissions and meetings. I knew it was going to be a nasty weekend ahead, but I couldn’t give up something that I’d planned a few months ago. It was singer Hariharan’s concert ‘SRISHTI’ that was to take place in Mesa, AZ. It was marketed as ‘Hariharan in Phoenix’ and was probably the first time that the ‘Phoenixites’(ala Mumbaiites, Delhiites….. or is there a better way, ‘Phoenicians’??) were getting to see Hariharan.

For those who aren’t familiar with Hariharan, he is one of the renowned playback singers in the Indian film industry, who was into Ghazal singing for quite a while till A.R. Rahman used him for a song in his debut film ‘Roja’ in 1992. It is pretty unfortunate that Hariharan was not noticed by the masses till then, except by the Ghazal-loving people. It is after the song in Roja, ‘Thamizha, Thamizha’, that he was noticed by the conventional film-makers and music directors who begun using his voice. His song ‘Uyire Uyire’ from Bombay is still one of the finest songs ever in the history of Tamil cinema. In 1996 he formed ‘Colonial Cousins’, with Leslie Lewis and the very first pop album and its successors were well received by the Indians. He’s been singing in Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, Kannada and a couple of other languages.

It’s not strange that, never are his renditions of a song, identical. That’s something to his advantage and disadvantage (the former is true in most cases). And he always begins a song in a totally different way, before getting into the actual lyrics of the song. This was really one of the interesting things that happened during this concert. He kept the entire audience guessing what song he was going to be singing, and this surely was something a music fanatic would love to do. Myself, Supraja, Shanta and a few of Shanta’s friends were together and were seated in the last row of the balcony(is that what they call it here?, well atleast it was on the second level(first floor by Indian norms)).

The concert supposed to begin at 7 pm started with an atrocious introductory speech, and a dance for a medley of ‘Nahin Samne’ from Taal, ‘Premalekha’ a song from a Telugu movie(sounded close to a song in a Tamil movie called ‘Nee Varuvai Ena’, probably a remake), and a song from a Tamil movie Ullasam. If this was an indication to the kind of songs he was going to be singing, I definitely felt I was going to hate the concert, since except for the first song, I didn’t enjoy listening to the other two.

I expected him to sing a couple of Ghazals as well and I was not wrong. I am not a person into Ghazals, but love listening to them whenever I get a chance to listen to them. He started with a couple of Ghazals and the strictly normal audience (nothing to do with the probability distribution), was getting bored and people began to talk and he was forced to cut them short and start singing movie songs. He made a mention at the beginning of the concert that he was going to be singing ‘Urdu Blues’ and some ‘Sufi Music’. The terms ‘Blues’ was coined because the uniform for people singing blues was Blue in color, seems interesting.

A list of songs/Ghazals that Hariharan sung that evening:

Kash Aisa Koi Manzar

Usne Jab Mujhse Kiya

E Aayine Se Pehle - this song had some really excellent keyboard notes. This was what he called Urdu blues.

Eh de Masti Hain – He began this song by teaching a few swaras to the Phoenix people, and made them repeat it, but ultimately ended up in a faster rendition which no one could repeat J. With this began Ga Ga Ni Ga Ri Sa Sa, Eh De Masti hain, Log Kehte Hain.

It was by this time that the audience became restless and began with an unusual song, but loved by everyone.

Nila Kaaygiradhu – This is from a Tamil movie Indira, set to music by ARR. He also gave an English translation to the song.

Yeh Lamhe Yeh Pal Hain

Ennai Thalatta Varuvaalo – A song from ‘Kadhalukku Mariyadhai’, something that I didn’t expect nor did I enjoy this one. This might be because I am biased against the Tamil actor Vijay.

He finally came up with the song from’Yaadein’, Baatein Bhool Bhool Jaathein Hain, Yaadein Yaad Aathi Hain. This song end with the Phoenix people singing the song. This was the end of first part of the concert.

The Sankara Eye foundation that organized the concert, had a 10 minute show of what they were doing in India and this seemed to be a really nice initiative. There was a 10 minute break till 9 pm. The restaurant Udipi Café seemed to cash on this opportunity by providing with dinner for the audience, however at a reasonable cost.

The second part of the concert had a greater number of songs. Hariharan was joined by one of his students Chandrayi, who was the female lead for the few duets he sung.

Bahon ki Dharmiyan – This was a really soothing number from ‘Khamoshi: The Musical’

Nelloru Nele Jaana - the dubbed version of immensely popular ‘Kurukku Sirithavale’ from Mudhalvan. He however seemed to sing a few lines from the Tamil version in the middle. But neither Hariharan nor Chandrayi could get their Telugu right.

He then began with a classical rendition of Krishna Nee Begane Baro, and followed it up with the Colonial Cousins version of the songs and ended it on a classical note. Only Hariharan can do it.

He next began ‘Tuj Pi Kahan…?’, and none of us knew this song, but ultimately it was a beginning to ‘Chanda Re aka Vennilave’ from ‘Sapnay aka Minsara Kanavu’ in typical Hariharan style.

It was the same with ‘More Saiyyan Ghar Nahin Aaye’ which ended in ’Roja Jaaneman’. Till then I didn’t know SPB and Hariharan had rendered that in Hindi. It seemed really good in Hariharan’s voice too.

He then sung his latest hit from the Jyothika-Kamalhasan starrer Vettaiyaadu Vilaiyaadu – ‘Manjal Veyyil Maalaiyile’.

Next was the most awaited song – one of his recent hits, one of current favorites and what he called Sufi Music. Aye Hairathey Aashiqui from Guru. One of the features of this one was that Hariharan himself sung the ‘Dham Dhara Dham Dhara Chashm Chashm”, with great ease. Chandrayi sung this better than Alka Yagnik in the original.

Yamuna Theeram from the Telugu Movie Anand was his next song.

He had Ghazal next and a few Thukdas for an old friend in Phoenix. This included his first song.

It was then he said he was going to sign three songs before ending the concert.

He then sung Taj Mahal’s Apni Zulfen. This was followed by Nahin Saamne from Taal, which had a long ‘Preyasi…….’ And finally him at his best ‘Uyire Uyire’ from Bombay.

It was really refreshing after his concert. We also managed to get a photograph taken along with him and also his autograph. I was really excited about this and so were Supraja and Shanta. I wouldn’t want to post the photo over her though.

The only thing I don’t want to remember about this event was the way I had dressed up. I was in school till an hour before the concert and had no time to change, I was in my usual weekend attire. And that weekend was a really demanding one for me, and I was happy that I could make it to the concert.