M. Chandrasekharan

(I got a mail this morning enquiring if the violinist in my previous post is a real person or I used that name just like that. He is real. So, Ladies and Gentlemen, let me introduce Shri. M.Chandrasekharan.)

Born on December 11, 1937 at Calcutta.

Father: Mohan

Mother: Charubala. For M.Chandrasekharan, she has been not only a mere mother, but was his Guru and God. And the mention of her name brings tears of remembrance and loving gratitude in his eyes. Chandrasekharan lost his eye-sight following an attack of jaundice by the age of two.

Learnt violin from his mother. Learnt vocal from Mannargudi Sambasiva Bhagavatar, Kumbakonam S. Viswanathan, Vidyala Narasimha Naidu and T. Jayammal.

Accompanied G. N. Balasubramaniam, Maharajapuram Viswanatha Iyer, Musiri Subramania Iyer, T. R. Mahalingam (Mali), Madurai Mani Iyer, Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavathar, Madurai Somasundaram, T. K. Rangachari, Ramnad Krishnan, Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer, Balamuralikrishna, and many others.

The following is from an article written by Vasumathi Badrinathan. Click here to read the article.)

"Had she not encouraged me then, the picture probably would have been very different", says M. Chandrasekaran Carnatic violin virtuoso thinking back on his mother in whose form the Muse manifested herself, transforming his visual handicap into virtual non-existence. Nothing deterred his violinist mother, the late Charubala Mohan, from goading on her young son and feeding into him the intricacies of music. "She would literally hold my hand and help me use the bow. Whatever hurdles there were, she overcame them. Today, I enjoy the fruit of her labour" reminisces the maestro with unconcealed nostalgia of an unstinting sacrifice that sculpted his career.

"Whatever I would have achieved with vision, I think I have been able to without it. Vision is but an exterior element. What I need to see, I still see it through my heart."

(Photo courtesy: The Hindu)

Let me introduce...

When a music concert is inaugurated, someone from the organizers normally say many good things about the artist as a part of introduction. If they say few things about the artists' unique style of singing or playing, from whom they have learnt, and also a few brief anecdotes, then it would really be an useful information to those who are going to listen for the first time. What if the artist is famous and popular? Still few lively anecdotes will create a nice ambience. Of course, this introduction should only be for few minutes and it should not be exploited to display the speaker's oratory skills. What if the speaker does not know any interesting events about the artist? Use superlatives - great musician, well-known, got awards like, musician par excellence, internationally acclaimed, etc. One person also started like this in a concert - looking at a piece of paper,"He is a great violinist; Internationally known; Accompanied many stalwarts;.." Nothing wrong with this. Who can find a fault in praising good artists? Are words sufficient? In fact, we ought to speak about the greatness of nobler souls as often as humanly possible. Anyway our friend continued,"..so that's his greatness. And let's welcome Shri.T.Chandrasekharan." People started their thunderous applause. One person raised his hand and tried to say something. That was the artist. He told the speaker that his name was not T. Chandrasekharan but M.Chandrasekharan. The speaker looked at the paper and was perplexed! Someone must have received severe chiding after that!!

M.S. Subbulakshmi - 006

எம்.எஸ். சுப்புலக்ஷ்மி:

ஸங்கீத தீபத்தை மங்காமல் ரக்ஷித்துத் தருகிற புனிதமான பொறுப்பைத் தாய்மார்கள் தொடர்ந்து ஏற்று, தமது மக்கட் செல்வத்துக்குப் பாலப் பருவத்திலிருந்தே ஸங்கீதத்தில் ஈடுபாட்டை ஏற்படுத்த வேண்டும் என்று கேட்டுக் கொள்கிறேன். தாய்மார்கள் அடுத்த தலைமுறையினருக்கு நல்ல ரஸிக உணர்வை ஊட்டினால் நாட்டில் ஸங்கீதம் பெருகும்; அதாவது பக்தி பெருகும்; அதாவது மக்களின் நல்வாழ்வு பெருகும்.

em.eS. subbulakshmi:

SangkItha thIpaththai mangkaamal rakshiththuth tharukiRa punithamaana poRuppaith thaaymaargaL thodarn-thu ERRu, thamathu makkatselvaththukkup baalap paruvaththilirun-thE SangkIthaththil Idupaattai ERpaduththa vENdum enRu kEttuk koLkiREn. thaaymaargaL aduththa thalaimuRaiyinarukku nalla raSika uNarvai Uttinaal n-aattil SangkItham perugum; athaavathu bakthi perugum; athaavathu makkaLin nalvaazhvu perugum.

M.S. Subbulakshmi:

I wish to make a special appeal to mothers to take up the sacred responsibility of keeping the lamp of sangita burning bright in their homes and to instill a love for good music in their children from a tender age. If mothers create this taste for music in the next generation it will spread throughout the country; consequently Bhakti will also spread, and ultimately our people will lead good lives.

(From Kunjamma - Ode to a Nightingale by Lakshmi Vishwanathan)

Did you find them?

Why most of the service organisations working in Tsunami-affected areas of Tamilnadu are non-government and religious organisations? What happened to the fans associations of our actors and actresses? Leave this aside, what about our major political parties?

In the photos I have seen, there are volunteers in full white attire, in white and khaki, and with white caps. What happened to the members of political parties who would normally be 'asked ' to attend their leaders' meeting without fail by their leaders? Did those leaders not even 'request ' their followers to do service in the affected region?

Next time, when you see photographs of political meeting with people in black, red, white, green, and combination of all possible gaudy colors, do have a silent smile. Lest your loud laughter might disturb their activites - rational, fight-against-oppression, struggle-against-America's-materialism, our-lives-are-only-for-our-language, your-lives-for-our-idealogy, etc.

Bloggers: People of the Year

ABC News writes about the blog as " internet phenomenon that provides unique insights into people's thoughts ".

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Dec. 30, 2004 — A blog — short for "web log" — is an online personal journal that covers topics ranging from daily life to technology to culture to the arts. Blogs have made such an impact this year that Merriam-Webster named it the word of the year.

You can read the article here.

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You can also read here the BBC article "Blogs take on the mainstream".

கனவு

அடையாததை அடைய
விருப்பமில்லை.
அடையமுடியாததை அடைய
எண்ணமுமில்லை.

அதற்காக,
இருப்பதை வைத்து
சந்தோஷமா?
அதுவும் இல்லை.

இருப்பதே தேவையா
என்றுதான் கேள்வி.

இதய இருட்டறைகளில்
ஓர் ஒளிக்கீற்று.

M.S. Subbulakshmi - 005

Madurai Shanmugavadivu Subbulakshmi (MS) has acted in four films - Seva Sadan (1938), Sakuntalai (1940), Savitri (1941), and Meera (1945). Ellis R. Dungan, the director of Meera, writes in his book "A Guide to Adventure - An Autobiography" (2001):

"Of all the Tamil theatrical motion picture films that I directed in India, the film Meera was considered by my peers and local film critics to be my best – and I am inclined to agree.
...
An innovation I brought to Indian films was the 'shooting script', where the script would be broken down into scenes and shots, with action on the left half of the page and dialogue on the right half.
...
At the end of a month I was back in Madras with the completed shooting script preparing to cast the film, conduct dialogue and music rehearsals, and construct sets at Newtone Studio.
...
There is one scene of which I was particularly proud in this film. M.S. had beautiful large eyes, and I wanted to highlight them during one of her songs. I used a special lighting with equipment that I’d brought with me from the U.S. and isolated the area of her eyes with two ‘gobos’ – one at the top of her eyes and one underneath – and feathered the edges of the gobos by putting a diffusion screen on the top and bottom edges to soften them. The final cut showed only the close-up of her eyes, which filled the screen. It was a beautiful effect.
...
Notwithstanding her worldwide name and fame as a musical genius, M.S.’s personal life has always been a very simple one. She is unaffected by her celebrity status and international renown and is of almost childlike innocence and naivete.
...
Since she was always surrounded by musicians in her home rehearsing songs for a recital somewhere, I had to literally wait my turn to conduct film rehearsals. She was quite a busy lady and a lovable one..."

--------------
The vcd of Meera (Tamil, approximately 111 minutes only) has recently been released by Movie Land - MLVCD-0093. The Internet Movie Database reports 136 minutes runtime!!

M/s Movie Land,
59/60, Singanna Chetty Street,
Chintadripet, Chennai-600002, India.
Phone: 044 - 52027294

An Ignominious Question

The village of Mullaithivu is in north-east Sri Lanka and is controlled by Tamil Tigers. The Indian Ocean Tsunami struck this small village killing around 3000 people - more than fifty percent of the local population. Since this is not a government-controlled region, it is not easy to gain access to it. Now let us assume you, the readers, have somehow reached this place. Imagine all the news you have read about Tsunami's destruction. Bring to your mind's eye the images of all those moving and gory photographs you have seen so far in various websites and in magazines.

What are you seeing in Mullaithivu around you? Flattened buildings on the beach. The destroyed church - 95% of the people in this area are Catholics. But isn't your nose telling something? The bodies are rotting. Rotting badly.

The local administration have arranged young rebels to pick up the bodies and burn them fearing public health problems. You are seeing few people collecting bodies around you. The village is filled with the smoke of funeral pyres. And you are now meeting a survivor - the local Roman Catholic priest.

What do you discuss? What do you talk? I do not know what you will ask. But one needs courage even to say few words. Let us now listen to what Mr. Jeremy Bowen of British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) asked.

"Isn't it a shame they are not getting Christian burials?"

How terrible this is!

The question looks more abominable when we come to know the answer given by the priest.

"I don't think the Lord is very fussy about this."

You can read the news here.

A Deceptive Blue

May this year bring .....


Photo courtesy: Lin Pei

.....Some hope to people in despair
.....Some happiness to people who suffer
.....Some insights to many who still live on this Earth
(In memory of the victims of Indian Ocean Tsunami on December 26, 2004)

kaiviLakku - கைவிளக்கு

கைவிளக்கின் பின்னேபோய்க் காண்பார்போல்
மெய்ஞ்ஞான மெய்விளக்கின் பின்னேபோய்
மெய் காண்பது எந்நாளோ?
- தாயுமானவர்

kaiviLakkin pinnEpOyk kANbArpOl
meynjnjAna meyviLakkin pinnEpOy
mey kANbathu ennALO?
- thAyumAnavar

It was completely dark. It was a night in some forest. I did not know whether my eyes were open or not. How does it matter when all you see is pitch-black? Suddenly I saw a spark somewhere very far. It was very far indeed. I believed someone was walking with a hand-lamp. I thought he must be knowing how to traverse this forest. With a lamp in hand, he did not seem to have any problem. He vanished after few minutes.

Who would show me the light? I was moving here and there in that darkness. Hitting the trees. Stamping on thorns. Getting hurt. Feeling the 'getting lost forever' emotion. Who would show me the way?

Did I hear someone saying "I will show" ? I was then scared. I immediately started singing my favourite song loudly to cast off any fear from showing up too much.

Did I hear "Why are you singing out of fear? I have now come." ?

This was getting too much. I stopped walking and looked around. Someone seemed to be standing behind me at a distance. Was it my illusion? How could I see in this dense night? I then noticed she was holding something behind her shoulder. A small cone of light was seen behind her.

She said with lots of grace and care, "Hold this hand (kai) lamp (viLakku). I know the way out. We will move out of this forest".

I walked holding the lamp. She also had one. In a way, we followed the lamp. How could it be useful if we walk in front of it? To see (kAnbathu) the way, we have to walk behind (pinnepOy) the lamp. After few hours of walking, we came out of the forest. Safely reached...

I am now sitting in my home; my place - a familiar place. But Is this familiar? This city is also like a forest. Why city? This life is also like a forest. We are quite confused at times. We are very assured at other times. We do not know what to do. Or we think we know what to do. There are moments of joy, happiness, and peace. There are problems too. Problems at home. Problems at office. Problems with colleagues. Problems with family.

Who will show me the light? Who will show me the way? I yearn for the wisdom (meynjnjAnam). The real truth (mey) behind this Life. I long for that feeling of "always acting rightly and wisely with a good heart".

Who will show me the light of wisdom (meyviLakku)?
Who will show me the path?
Is there anyone whom I could follow?
(meyviLakku can also mean Guru, an Enlightened Soul. pinnepOy also means 'to follow'.)

When will I see "It" ? Wisdom. Truth. Reality.
When will that day come? (ennALO)

.....

kANbAr means one who sees.

pOl means similar, like, etc.

.....

People go only behind the hand-lamp to be watchful of their way. Like that, when will I realize the Truth by going behind the light of Wisdom?
(Song by Thayumanavar, Transliteration and English Notes by Shencottah)