I was on a visit to a place of worship and found this bunch of flowers enticing, hence the image.
Monday, April 2, 2012
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Caine Mutiny - Court Martial - Theater version
Hi,
I first heard of the book, Caine Mutiny after joining the Indian Navy. I got to read the book sometime in the late seventies or early eighties. Some parts of the story sunk in, some did not. I did not get a chance to see the movie adaptation till date.
When I read the advertisement for the stage show, "Caine Mutiny - Court martial", directed by none other than Naseeruddin Shah, I jumped to the chance of viewing the same. It was staged at Music Academy, Chennai on 10 July 2011.
I was engrossed in the drama that unfurled on the stage with its minimal props. The impetus was on the dialogues, voice modulations and the facial expressions. Props were minimal. There were four separate areas in which action were going on simultaneously; The defendants table, prosecutors table, the witness box and the court martial board table.
Naseeruddin Shah played the Prosecutor's (John Challee) role - a minor role compared to the defense lawyer (Lt Greenwald) and Captain Qweeg (the central character nicknamed "Old Yellow stain"). The main accused, Lt Maryk, Lt Keefer and Lt Kieth were the other main characters.
The nuances of the story were brought out very well through the short spells of high tension acting over the two separate acts. The way the defense lawyer tore apart Captain Qweeg and reduced him to a mental wreck was enacted very well.
The ending with Greenwald confronting Keefer, who actually had instigated Maryk to keep tabs on Capt Qweeg and managed to completely bias him against Qweeg was very well played.
Enjoyed the wonderful performance thoroughly.
I try and explore possibilities to take photographs of memorable events and carried my camera for the show. It was not written anywhere that photography is prohibited, but during one of the many announcements, there was a mention to this regard.
In between, I could not resist the temptation in taking a few photographs. I took a few without flash, using higher ISO ratings. During the intermission, a tiny girl volunteer came and told me not to take photographs. I did not take any afterwards.
The images are given below.
I first heard of the book, Caine Mutiny after joining the Indian Navy. I got to read the book sometime in the late seventies or early eighties. Some parts of the story sunk in, some did not. I did not get a chance to see the movie adaptation till date.
When I read the advertisement for the stage show, "Caine Mutiny - Court martial", directed by none other than Naseeruddin Shah, I jumped to the chance of viewing the same. It was staged at Music Academy, Chennai on 10 July 2011.
I was engrossed in the drama that unfurled on the stage with its minimal props. The impetus was on the dialogues, voice modulations and the facial expressions. Props were minimal. There were four separate areas in which action were going on simultaneously; The defendants table, prosecutors table, the witness box and the court martial board table.
Naseeruddin Shah played the Prosecutor's (John Challee) role - a minor role compared to the defense lawyer (Lt Greenwald) and Captain Qweeg (the central character nicknamed "Old Yellow stain"). The main accused, Lt Maryk, Lt Keefer and Lt Kieth were the other main characters.
The nuances of the story were brought out very well through the short spells of high tension acting over the two separate acts. The way the defense lawyer tore apart Captain Qweeg and reduced him to a mental wreck was enacted very well.
The ending with Greenwald confronting Keefer, who actually had instigated Maryk to keep tabs on Capt Qweeg and managed to completely bias him against Qweeg was very well played.
Enjoyed the wonderful performance thoroughly.
I try and explore possibilities to take photographs of memorable events and carried my camera for the show. It was not written anywhere that photography is prohibited, but during one of the many announcements, there was a mention to this regard.
In between, I could not resist the temptation in taking a few photographs. I took a few without flash, using higher ISO ratings. During the intermission, a tiny girl volunteer came and told me not to take photographs. I did not take any afterwards.
The images are given below.
 |
| John Challee - Prosecutor - feeling defeated |
 |
| Listening to an argument |
 |
| Lt Greenwald cross examining Kieth |
 |
| Prosecutor feeling the heat |
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Kannathil Muthamittal Lyrics from Kannathil Muthamittal from MusicMazaa.com
Hi,
This is a song I love. The visuals of the female version is pure magic. The male version is also excellent. To see the lyrics and sing along, access this link.
Kannathil Muthamittal song Lyrics | Kannathil Muthamittal Lyrics from Kannathil Muthamittal | Kannathil Muthamittal Kannathil Muthamittal Songs Lyrics - MusicMazaa.com
Wish you wonderful listening and singing
Ajith
This is a song I love. The visuals of the female version is pure magic. The male version is also excellent. To see the lyrics and sing along, access this link.
Kannathil Muthamittal song Lyrics | Kannathil Muthamittal Lyrics from Kannathil Muthamittal | Kannathil Muthamittal Kannathil Muthamittal Songs Lyrics - MusicMazaa.com
Wish you wonderful listening and singing
Ajith
Sunday, April 17, 2011
TM Krishna and Sudha Raghunathan on stage at Music Academy, Chennai
I have become a sort of TM Krishna fan. After the first live concert that I attended during the Margazhi 2020-11 season, the chance to attend a concert by the two fantastic singers could not be resisted.
Since only listening was planned, I took the lowest denomination ticket. The hall is so well laid out with speakers, that I could enjoy the concert fully. The songs rendered and the on stage music revelry by the two accomplished vocalists and the accompaniments set the pace well. The full hall applauded the excellent rendition of ragalapam, keerthanam, thaniyavarthanam and the ending crescendo.
My only grouse was that photography was prohibited. I took one image with all the limitations on a mobile camera.
Since only listening was planned, I took the lowest denomination ticket. The hall is so well laid out with speakers, that I could enjoy the concert fully. The songs rendered and the on stage music revelry by the two accomplished vocalists and the accompaniments set the pace well. The full hall applauded the excellent rendition of ragalapam, keerthanam, thaniyavarthanam and the ending crescendo. My only grouse was that photography was prohibited. I took one image with all the limitations on a mobile camera.
Just Another Bend - Consequence of Out of Place Thrift
A time comes for everyone, when responsibilities are either handed down gracefully or just thrown at you at random. In the first case, some amount of mentoring, preparation and guidance are given; but in the second case, one could get crushed under the sudden impact.
The current post is more of a second case scenario.
When I was about 12 years of age, we used to travel a lot from Trivandrum (Capital city of Kerala, India) to Kottakkal (a small town in Malappuram - near Calicut, Kerala, India). I am from Kottakkal and had some exposure to places in and around the town, where some of our close relatives lived. Travel used to be mostly in buses.
On one occasion during the summer holidays, all the other male members were otherwise occupied or shied away from the duty of leading a band of ladies and children to my grandfather's place, about 30 Kms distance from Kottakkal. The job of leading the group of three women of age group 40+, one teen aged girl and two small girls was given to me. The money that changed hands in this transaction was just enough for the bus fares. The number of buses running on that particular route was limited, hence timings had to be adapted to.
I led the team to the Kottakkal bus stand on foot, since there were no other means. The Kerala State bus that goes on to our destination came on the dot at 9:00 AM and the ride was good and all of us were comfortable seated since from those days the local populace preferred private owned buses. The reason for the bias to private buses was that they stopped wherever one wanted to get on or get off. Not so with the state buses which followed a strict set of designated bus stops and charged as per stage fares.
I was seated next to the conductor and inquired about the fares and took tickets to the closest village bus stop thinking that it would suffice. We reached that stop after a ride of about one hour. The conductor demanded that we get down. When I insisted that we want to get down at the next stop, for which the incremental fare by private buses was just 10 Paise per adult and 5 Paise for children below 12, the state bus conductor insisted that we need to cough out 40 Paise per adult and 20 Paise per child. I refused, and we all had to get down.
I was not very sure of the actual distance from Thrithala, the place where we got down, to Mezhathur, the actual bus stop where we should have got down. The sun was already burning down harshly and the road sides were barren. I was leading the small band of disheartened women and children towards the destination. There were a few ups, downs and bends on the way. Every time we used go around one bend, I was hopeful of seeing Mezhathur bus stop. After a few bends the older women were tired and the smaller children were refusing to walk. The youngest had to be carried by her mother after some time. I used to lead them saying that the destination is just around the next bend.
After about 45 minutes walk in the sun, we reached my grandfather's place. All the people whom we met there sympathised with the women and children I got some good natured scolding and advice on "Out of place thrift". None of them took away my credit of having brought the group there and did not make me feel ashamed of the episode.
The return trip went off as planned. We got a bus from Mezhathur to Kuttippuram, where we got another bus to Kottakkal.
The sense of elation for having completed the given task was a little dampened but still very sweet.
What I learned from this episode was that, when given a duty of leading a group of people, one should strive to complete it fully without causing any suffering to the team or group - as far as possible. I learned to lead people from the front. These lessons helped me while I served the Indian Navy.
As regards thrift, I still spend judiciously, but is more open minded.
The current post is more of a second case scenario.
When I was about 12 years of age, we used to travel a lot from Trivandrum (Capital city of Kerala, India) to Kottakkal (a small town in Malappuram - near Calicut, Kerala, India). I am from Kottakkal and had some exposure to places in and around the town, where some of our close relatives lived. Travel used to be mostly in buses.
On one occasion during the summer holidays, all the other male members were otherwise occupied or shied away from the duty of leading a band of ladies and children to my grandfather's place, about 30 Kms distance from Kottakkal. The job of leading the group of three women of age group 40+, one teen aged girl and two small girls was given to me. The money that changed hands in this transaction was just enough for the bus fares. The number of buses running on that particular route was limited, hence timings had to be adapted to.
I led the team to the Kottakkal bus stand on foot, since there were no other means. The Kerala State bus that goes on to our destination came on the dot at 9:00 AM and the ride was good and all of us were comfortable seated since from those days the local populace preferred private owned buses. The reason for the bias to private buses was that they stopped wherever one wanted to get on or get off. Not so with the state buses which followed a strict set of designated bus stops and charged as per stage fares.
I was seated next to the conductor and inquired about the fares and took tickets to the closest village bus stop thinking that it would suffice. We reached that stop after a ride of about one hour. The conductor demanded that we get down. When I insisted that we want to get down at the next stop, for which the incremental fare by private buses was just 10 Paise per adult and 5 Paise for children below 12, the state bus conductor insisted that we need to cough out 40 Paise per adult and 20 Paise per child. I refused, and we all had to get down.
I was not very sure of the actual distance from Thrithala, the place where we got down, to Mezhathur, the actual bus stop where we should have got down. The sun was already burning down harshly and the road sides were barren. I was leading the small band of disheartened women and children towards the destination. There were a few ups, downs and bends on the way. Every time we used go around one bend, I was hopeful of seeing Mezhathur bus stop. After a few bends the older women were tired and the smaller children were refusing to walk. The youngest had to be carried by her mother after some time. I used to lead them saying that the destination is just around the next bend.
After about 45 minutes walk in the sun, we reached my grandfather's place. All the people whom we met there sympathised with the women and children I got some good natured scolding and advice on "Out of place thrift". None of them took away my credit of having brought the group there and did not make me feel ashamed of the episode.
The return trip went off as planned. We got a bus from Mezhathur to Kuttippuram, where we got another bus to Kottakkal.
The sense of elation for having completed the given task was a little dampened but still very sweet.
What I learned from this episode was that, when given a duty of leading a group of people, one should strive to complete it fully without causing any suffering to the team or group - as far as possible. I learned to lead people from the front. These lessons helped me while I served the Indian Navy.
As regards thrift, I still spend judiciously, but is more open minded.
Thursday, March 3, 2011
One flew over the Cuckoo's Nest
I am aware that the title has been plagiarised from the famous movie with the same title, but the contents of this Blog is no "Cuckoo" story of that type.
On a cool Sunday morning in November 2010, I spotted a young new bird sitting on the "Muringa" tree visible from our kitchen balcony. Couple of dark crows swooped in and I thought that this was the end of the young bird. I tried chasing away the crows by shouting aloud. To my surprise, one of the crows started feeding the young bird. The young bird followed the crows from tree to tree. At a later date, I found that there are two young Cuckoos.
I got assistance from a friend of Mithun in identifying the bird as Indian Cuckoo. Details about this bird can be seen by clicking the link given below.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Cuckoo
A few photographs of the young birds and their real parents amplifies the above mentioned entry in Wikipedia.
This was a learning session for me. Hope that you also enjoyed it.
Monday, January 10, 2011
Margazhi Music Festival Musings
So many "Margazhi" music festivals have gone by. I had gone to a few of the "Sabhas" to enjoy the cuisine there. Hari, alias Harishankar Varmaraja was the catalyst who provided the impetus to go for a few of the concerts during the last two years.
The first one that we attended together was a free programme named "Panchvaadyam", not the traditional Kerala style, but a combination of Mridangam, Thavil, Chenda, Pakwaj and Tabla; played by renowned artistes in their own genres of percussion. I have taken video of the same and will upload it separately.
The second edition came recently, on 07 Jan 2011. TM Krishna was the vocalist with a good set of accompanying artists. The attempt to gain entry into the Sabha at Mylapore started off dismally. We had reached the Parthasarathy Sabha about an hour in advance, only to be told that all the tickets are sold out. We said that we were even willing to stand and listen, but the gate controller was not interested. We decided to stick around for some more time and were thinking of various tactics to get to hear the concert.
The aroma of fresh "Mysore Bondas" and "Rava roast" lead us to the canteen side of the Sabha. We decided to refresh ourselves and ordered a few goodies and topped it with excellent coffee. The cost of the fare was on the higher side, but the tastes and the behaviour of the serving crew were exemplary. While wolfing down the "Dosa", "Thavala vada" and "Mysore Bonda", we noticed that the cashier was dishing out some sort of coupons. On Inquiry, she told that tickets were being sold in the entrance foyer. By the time we reached there, a long queue had formed up by the ticket holders for entering the auditorium and we did not sight the table where tickets were being sold.
As all the ticket holders went inside, we sighted the table with some turmoil around it. People were crowding with Rs 1000 and 500 notes and demanding one or two tickets costing Rs 100 each. I took out two Rs 100 notes and the cashier there noticed the change and dished out two tickets to me before many others who were there before us. Thus we were inside.
Plain plastic chairs, a rickety wooden staging, dirty and shabby buntings brought about some apprehension on the quality of the programme. We were seated in the last but one row, but with a fair view of the stage. Hearing was more important, hence that did not trouble us. The last minute gate crashers like us kept pouring in and even were standing all over by the time the concert got underway.
There was a short delay in in the starting of the concert, probably because of the Ghatam artist not turning up. Ghatam was missing from the ensemble, as the screen opened, showing stage. With the seating being so close, it was very difficult no to listen to others. We had a couple of "Mamis" sitting behind us discussing all sorts of things within and outside India, There were a lot of family confidential matters being discussed in public. It did not matter to us since we did not know the protagonists nor cared to know more. We feared that the conversation may not cease at all and may disturb us through the concert, but once the stage came alive, the conversations just stopped.
I am totally Carnatic music illiterate, but enjoy listening to good vocal numbers. TM Krishna started off slowly, but as the show progressed, the tonal variations, shifting from high frequency to low frequency notes, high energy singing to barely audible sounds filled the atmosphere. Krishna's body language complemented his singing. His wonderful chemistry with the violinist, mridangam artist and the youngster on ganjira was very evident through out the concert. The main Kirtanas were dealt with so much mastery and variations that the audience were observing pin drop silence, broken only by the applause for some of the master strokes by each of the artists.
TM Krishna was so good that there were hardly anyone moving out of the auditorium for a mid concert snack, although mouthwatering aroma of freshly cooked bondas and strong filter coffee kept wafting in.
The nuances of "Raga vistaram", "Avarthanam", "Thani aavarthanam" etc in the main kirtanas brought out the great depth of Krishna's capabilities and the best out the accompanying artists. The violinist was excellent in mimicking Krishna's vocal rendering and the youngster on Ganjira matched beat by beat with the senior artist on Mridangam.
As the final "Mangalam" was being rendered, people started moving out; TM Krishna rebuked the truant audience, very correctly and the audience took it in the right spirits.
Though the hall looked shabbily decorated, the sound quality was excellent and well managed.
Ringing cell phones and animated conversations were another conspicuous absentee. There were hardly any disturbances in that front except for very few quick rings and muted but short conversations.
Over all, it was an excellent audio visual treat put up by TM Krishna and his troupe for the day. I will definitely make more trips to the Sabhas in every coming season, not only as a foodie, but to listen to good music.
The first one that we attended together was a free programme named "Panchvaadyam", not the traditional Kerala style, but a combination of Mridangam, Thavil, Chenda, Pakwaj and Tabla; played by renowned artistes in their own genres of percussion. I have taken video of the same and will upload it separately.
The second edition came recently, on 07 Jan 2011. TM Krishna was the vocalist with a good set of accompanying artists. The attempt to gain entry into the Sabha at Mylapore started off dismally. We had reached the Parthasarathy Sabha about an hour in advance, only to be told that all the tickets are sold out. We said that we were even willing to stand and listen, but the gate controller was not interested. We decided to stick around for some more time and were thinking of various tactics to get to hear the concert. The aroma of fresh "Mysore Bondas" and "Rava roast" lead us to the canteen side of the Sabha. We decided to refresh ourselves and ordered a few goodies and topped it with excellent coffee. The cost of the fare was on the higher side, but the tastes and the behaviour of the serving crew were exemplary. While wolfing down the "Dosa", "Thavala vada" and "Mysore Bonda", we noticed that the cashier was dishing out some sort of coupons. On Inquiry, she told that tickets were being sold in the entrance foyer. By the time we reached there, a long queue had formed up by the ticket holders for entering the auditorium and we did not sight the table where tickets were being sold.
As all the ticket holders went inside, we sighted the table with some turmoil around it. People were crowding with Rs 1000 and 500 notes and demanding one or two tickets costing Rs 100 each. I took out two Rs 100 notes and the cashier there noticed the change and dished out two tickets to me before many others who were there before us. Thus we were inside.
Plain plastic chairs, a rickety wooden staging, dirty and shabby buntings brought about some apprehension on the quality of the programme. We were seated in the last but one row, but with a fair view of the stage. Hearing was more important, hence that did not trouble us. The last minute gate crashers like us kept pouring in and even were standing all over by the time the concert got underway.
There was a short delay in in the starting of the concert, probably because of the Ghatam artist not turning up. Ghatam was missing from the ensemble, as the screen opened, showing stage. With the seating being so close, it was very difficult no to listen to others. We had a couple of "Mamis" sitting behind us discussing all sorts of things within and outside India, There were a lot of family confidential matters being discussed in public. It did not matter to us since we did not know the protagonists nor cared to know more. We feared that the conversation may not cease at all and may disturb us through the concert, but once the stage came alive, the conversations just stopped.
I am totally Carnatic music illiterate, but enjoy listening to good vocal numbers. TM Krishna started off slowly, but as the show progressed, the tonal variations, shifting from high frequency to low frequency notes, high energy singing to barely audible sounds filled the atmosphere. Krishna's body language complemented his singing. His wonderful chemistry with the violinist, mridangam artist and the youngster on ganjira was very evident through out the concert. The main Kirtanas were dealt with so much mastery and variations that the audience were observing pin drop silence, broken only by the applause for some of the master strokes by each of the artists.
TM Krishna was so good that there were hardly anyone moving out of the auditorium for a mid concert snack, although mouthwatering aroma of freshly cooked bondas and strong filter coffee kept wafting in.
The nuances of "Raga vistaram", "Avarthanam", "Thani aavarthanam" etc in the main kirtanas brought out the great depth of Krishna's capabilities and the best out the accompanying artists. The violinist was excellent in mimicking Krishna's vocal rendering and the youngster on Ganjira matched beat by beat with the senior artist on Mridangam.
As the final "Mangalam" was being rendered, people started moving out; TM Krishna rebuked the truant audience, very correctly and the audience took it in the right spirits.
Though the hall looked shabbily decorated, the sound quality was excellent and well managed.
Ringing cell phones and animated conversations were another conspicuous absentee. There were hardly any disturbances in that front except for very few quick rings and muted but short conversations.
Over all, it was an excellent audio visual treat put up by TM Krishna and his troupe for the day. I will definitely make more trips to the Sabhas in every coming season, not only as a foodie, but to listen to good music.
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