Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else's opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation --Oscar Wilde
Marvin K Mooney, The Time Is Now
When I think of doing something daunting, big, hairy, audacious yet achievable as many before us have proved, I am reminded of the famous children's story by Dr. Seuss, Marvin K Mooney. It goes "Marvin K Mooney, the time has come, the time is now. Go by a bike, go by a Zike.....". We like to do a lot of things. We do some, we postpone some, "there is just not enough time in a day", we say.
Of course, it is easy to "Just Say It" but very hard to "Just Do It" because we are not certain if It's worth our time or we think there's plenty of time later to get to It. Sometimes we deceive ourselves by making progress, unfortunately on the wrong It that seems very relevant. How do we just do It amidst so many other things that need our attention? How do we complete what we started? How do we keep the motivation and momentum going forward and upward and not backward and downward?
In my experience the only way to move upward and forward is to dive in deep, ignore everybody else, ignore everything else until you hit that next big milestone and then listen to everybody, pay attention to everything, go crazy measuring the outcomes of previous few weeks or months and evaluate. Then adjust accordingly and dive deep again. Repeat.
That brings us to some key takeaways, first, setting goals (milestones) and second, taking a good look at the end of the milestone if we are going forward and upward or if we are stagnating or going backward and downward. Marvin K Mooney, the time has come, the time is now! Go by a Kite or go by a Flight, Go Go Go....The End!
Hope everyone is having a good holiday season as we wind up the year 2011 and look forward to starting a fresh new year 2012.
Last year has been great for RB, we have grown 100% in terms of number of visitors to the site, site reach, number of music uploads and registrations. Thanks to all for continuing to support the initiative, we are very thankful.
We hope to bring more goodies to you in 2012. Please stay tuned.
From here at raagabox, we wish you all a merry Christmas and Very Happy New Year 2012.
raagabox.com reaches (almost) every state in the United States of America according to the stats by ClustrMaps. Thanks to all the raagsters for spreading the good word.
Wonder which states are missing, the Dakotas and who else, let's share the love with them too!
Today after a break of 2 months, I started practicing basic carnatic lessons with my daughters Raaga and Mahi. It's very refreshing to sing Kamala Jadala in Kalyani, Kamala Sulochana in Ananda Bhairavi and Paduma Nabha Parama Purusha in Malahari.
Many were invited but only few chose to take up the Boston 10k challenge.
For me the reasons were plain simple, the joy of running combined with the good feeling that my back was on the road doing something. You know, some of us never get to keep up our physical workout schedule, excuses are plenty including my shoes are not cooperating, my dog ate my shoe lace etc. The 10k was a reminder, force, nudge you can call it "anything that gets your back on the road".
Talking of your back, like many youngsters, my good friend Sandeep had a back problem and was advised by his doctor not to run. What do you do with such great advice? You throw it in the trash so that you can do what you love to do.
Sandeep and I ran the Boston 10k last Sunday, the day was perfect, weather was nice, Anuradha Narayanan was kind enough to give us ride to the Boston Commons at 715 AM. The commons was bustling with cheers, chirps and runners.
We did 10 minute miles, a slooow walk by the Kenyan standards. Sandeep beat me in the race by 4 minutes and proved that he is not only younger but faster than me. Of course, we all know very well the real reason behind his speed was Shobha, yelling in his ears, "Live your life to the fullest", go go go! My wife and kids were stuck in traffic, just kidding!
Post race, we met up Minal's house. It was a wonderful time at her place as usual, Anuradha and Minal gave the runners a royal treatment even though technically we should be called the walkers. Saying thanks to these two wonderful young ladies would be kind of wrong because they are way too cool and thanks won't do. Usual suspects, Lalita and Pavan were missing among others, and were missed by all of us too.
The support I got from Kiran, Raaga and Mahi in every run I did is what keeps me going. Of course, the secret is, you don't tell them until you registered for the race!
Just run it's fun. If your dog ate your lace, run bare foot, it's more fun!
In this world today we are constantly bombarded with news stories. 24/7 news channels are working overtime to satisfy their ardent viewers' insatiable hunger for more "breaking news".
If a mother spends all her life giving all of herself to enrich the lives of her children it's not considered news. If a father guides, guards and helps you grow up in this world it's not even news within the family, forget 24/7 channels. If a teacher sacrifices his life to educate his pupil to succeed in the external world and more importantly to realize the power of the Self and the divinity within, it's absolutely not news. Then, of what use is this news, ask yourself my friend. The answer lies within, not in this writeup.
The word Faith is close to non-existent in people's lives these days. Think about one thing that you have complete Faith in, to the extent that you are ready to consider even your own existence a complete absurdity and falsehood. Is there a single thing? One aspect, or person or anything that you have complete absolute faith? Don't be alarmed if you can't think anything. Somewhere down the road we have lost sight of the meaning of faith. Jesus's disciple, Thomas was well known for his doubts and hence the name "Doubting Thomas" but he was also a genuine spiritual seeker, like any spiritual aspirant should be, without doubts one can never make progress in anything let alone spirituality. However, entertaining doubts in the face of innumerable number of proofs is not good. It would actually be considered a sin in my opinion because it's betrayal, irreverence and lack of proper understanding of one's own existence.
Friends, think about it. Doubt and Faith can never co-exist, when doubt enters from the main door, faith runs away from the backdoor. Are you a doubting thomas who keeps on asking for proofs all your life? or are you a Doubting Thomas who genuinely asked for proof of divinity and when once you experienced it everything else became irrelevant as you evidenced the Truth and not even the Truth itself can shake your Faith.
Ek Pug Aage, Do Pug Peeche
Thum Thak Kaise Aavu
Yesterday Raaga had her Piano recital. She completed 4 years of piano and it was very nice to see that she has come a long way from looking at Piano as a boring chore to an enjoyable outlet for her creative expression.
Here is the 5 minute video from her recital
Yesterday I was at my daughter Raaga's piano recital. Incidentally, my Carantic music guru Smt.Aparna Balaji was scheduled to perform as a guest artist towards the end of the recitals. Aparna took me by surprise when just minutes before she went on stage she asked me to accompany her in singing Gita Dhuniku Thillana in raaga Dhanasri.
I had sung this Thillana last year as part of Aparna's benefit concert for the Hindu Temple of New Hampshire. So it was not entirely a new song to me but I had to dig deep into my memory to get back the variations in each line (sangathis) and the tricky Solkattu (i.e. Thaka Thiku Thani....). Adding to this, we are singing standing (not the usual sitting posture), hence it was harder to keep the beat.
I was totally not prepared for this but when life gives you pleasant surprises what do you do? You grab them and so I did, here is a clip from that performance. Aparna mentioned (not in the video) that this is a gift to me, her long time (8 years) student, as we move back to India. Thank you Aparna for the gift and for being patient with me as I continue to take baby steps in the journey of Carnatic music.
Raaga Dhanasri is a Janya of naTabhairavi Raaga, its Scale is -
Aa: N2 S G2 M1 P N2 S
Av: S N2 D1 P M1 G2 R1 S
One of the most popular compositions in this raaga is the Thillana by Maharaja Swathi Thirunal, Gita Dhuniku Thaka Dhim....Enjoy!
Last evening we watched this video of Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba, many of you asked me for a copy of the video, thought I should post it here for everyone's joy
Sri Sathya Sai Baba didn't plan for days or months to start a bhajan group, it was done in an instinct. He was 14 years old when He came back from school, threw the school books and said He had a mission to finish and that His devotees are calling for Him. In that instinct He started the Pandari Bhajan group right under a tree with a handful of followers and a simple bhajan "Manasa Bhajore Guru Charanam". He didn't wait for a Mandir to be built, He couldn't care less if it was raining or shining, if there was a bhajan prepared or not, if there were people to follow or not.
He didn't sit around and plan elaborately for the world class Educational and Healthcare institutions that are now a reality and have been for a few decades now. If He was just you or me, there couldn't be a better profile for Nike's Just Do It campaign. No single human being (set aside his Divinity for a moment) that we know of has been able to achieve so much in such short time, period. I would love to debate with anyone, anyone in the world on the previous statement, it's not hyperbolic, it's in all modesty and humility that I say this, there is no single human being that we can recall in the history of mankind that has been able to achieve what Sri Sathya Sai Baba has in such short time frame.
Outline what you want to do, now, fast. In this instinct. Do it.
"Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it." --Goethe
"Don't waste time, time wasted is life wasted" -Sri Sathya Sai Baba
One of my favorite writers Steven Pressfield has written a powerful and inspiring Manifesto that summarizes many great insights from his best seller The War Of Art.
This kindle version of this Manifesto is available for Kindle, Mac, PC, iPhone, iPad for FREE, go get your today and read and do the work, there is no other way out.
Let us say you were persistent and spent years practicing music, what is your reward for that? Is it a Grammy? an Oscar? I don't know about these as I have never won one! How about being persistent to finish that 100th practice session for a marathon. How about those late nights you pulled off to create something useful, like a wonderful painting or a product or organizing a benefit concert. Where is the reward? The Grammy would be nice to have too but isn't the real reward for your persistence internal? If only a Grammy or an Oscar could motivate artists, how did Beethoven create the 5th Symphony or Thyagaraja the Pancharatna Kritis or Tansen the Darbari Kanada!
We are taught from Kindergarten that the reward for persistence is external awards, prizes, ranks, scores etc. I think it is misleading at best and dangerous at worst.
Today more than any other time in history we are constantly doing something. We need to check the facebook updates, we got to keep up to date on HuffingtonPost highlights, we must follow people and all their ramblings on Twitter, we have got to watch that video that a good (intentioned) friend forwarded, we have to take out our touch phone every few minutes to swipe, flick and pinch, god forbid we will miss out on saving those Angry Birds from the greedy pigs. After all, this is quite a bit of stuff "getting done", isn't it?
This weekend Kiran and I were painting the house interiors and I think there was a lesson learned from painting the Swiss White walls with Ultra Pure White color. I didn't get to "touch" my phone even once during the entire weekend, I didn't have the time to kill those greedy pigs or Save the Seeds on the iPad. Why? Because the half painted walls were staring at us, the wall was a reflection of the unfinished business, there is a lot of Swiss White still peeking through those gaps! Wouldn't it be super useful if our other daily activities would guffaw at us for leaving unfinished business on the table (on the wall).
I was reading Prof. Clayton Christensen's (HBS) blog and came across this beautiful lesson he shared that he had learnt from a friend at the Church he regularly attends. "Change is instantaneous. It is "not changing" that takes so much time". If you have a chance read the entire article here
If you see a better path or option, in life or in career and you are grounded in your thinking and fundamental values, just believe and Change, don't go the "not changing" path, it's slow, boring, wrong (based on your grounded thinking and values of course) and potentially fatal.
There are two types of runners, short and long. Each has a very different mindset. I used to be a short distance runner when I was in high school, it's exhilarating, fun and the gratification is instant (usually under 15 seconds). When I started training for my first marathon, I ran the first couple of training sessions as if it were a sprint and then quickly realized that it does not scale.
Big decisions we make in life should be made wearing a Marathoner's hat and not a Sprinter's hat. Wearing the Marathoner's hat will eliminate a lot of short term confusion and clear the path for making decisions and taking on the tough choices. Anyone who has run long distance will tell you that you are really competing with yourself and you are not in a race with others.
On the other hand, we cannot wear the Marathoner's hat all the time because in the long run we are all dead, it is important to know when to switch the hats. My view is, we should think like a Marathoner but execute like a Sprinter.
My guess is that we wear the Sprinter's hat more often than we realize and the Marathoner's hat less often than we need to.
Thanks to Lalita, Subramanian for reviewing the draft of this writeup
As I mull over a book I read a few months ago, the auto biography of standup comedian and actor Steve Martin (Born Standing Up), I am intrigued about what my "Born________." is?. Is it Born Sketching Up, or is it Born Running Long? I feel comfort in knowing that I am not Born Still, that's only half the story though. What is your Born__________?
Fill in the blank and there you go, that's your life's mantra, that's your Mount Everest to climb. That's your song. Don't deprive us of that song, please sing it, fearlessly.
Last night I was trying to make Raaga understand the relationship among Taala, Jaathi and Nadai. I found that the following analogy helped her a bit -
Taala is like a ruler (scale), it is a general term that defines rhythm, speed and time cycle.
Jaathi is like the centimeter lines on the ruler, they define the number of beats in a Laghu, similar to the number of centimeters in a ruler. A small ruler could have 10 centimeters and long one could have 50 centimeters. However, the possible Jaathis are only 3, 4, 5, 7 and 9.
Finally, the Nadai is like the number of subdivisions within each centimeter (10 millimeters). However, possible Nadais are 3, 4, 5, 7 and 9.
So, now if I say Chathusra Jaathi Thriputa Taalam (Chathusra Nadai), it means it is a ruler that is 32 counts long. It has 8 beats, each beat made up of 4 counts.
The jury is out on whether she understood the relationship or she will stop coming to me for learning music concepts! LOL!
I believe in pursuing happiness by looking outward and inward for things I can work on that challenge, excite and make me a better person. I also believe in cultivating the state of mind that everything happens for a reason and external or internal "things" should not affect my happiness.
Where do you stand on this? What do you think, happiness is something you cultivate or pursue? or both or neither?
Single most important word in life after Mom is quite simple, it's just two letters and it is "DO". As my hero Seth Godin points out in one of his recent blogs, "We don't need time....we just need to decide".
If you rip apart the famous Nike slogan "Just do it". Not surprisingly, the key ingredient of this inspiring slogan is "DO" because the difference between those who live their passion and those who don't is just this one word "DO".
Since my fireside chat with Prince Rama Varma during the summer of 2010, I have listened to more Behag than ever before. His love for Behag definitely\
inspired me and I am certain that the simple and melodious compositions in this raaga will make you fall in love as well. Enjoy a few new uploads in the raaga Behag
Recently we added a few visuals of raaga scales on the keyboard for anyone interested in playing the harmonium or keyboard. Please take a look.
Thanks to Subbu for gathering this information and putting it all together. A few songs are mislabeled and will be fixed shortly.
[source: http://www.thehindu.com/arts/article952354.ece]
As a young girl, every single music class with my father and guru Lalgudi Jayaraman was an experience to be remembered and cherished. Like his other students, I was also fed the staple diet of technical aspects in music such as korvais, poruttams, tricky eduppus and challenging pallavis. But there was much more to every learning session.
Each one was a stroll through the garden of music, taking time to reflect on every composition and raga. We were taught not only the grammar and intricacies, but also what made the compositions beautiful and soul-stirring.
Seated on a cane chair, with students around him on the floor, my guru would, for instance, render and teach a nuance in a Tyagaraja composition in a choked voice. He would pause with tears in his eyes and explain the beauty of the lyrics, overwhelmed by the composer's poetic fantasy and the ease with which the raga has carried the lyrics. In effect, my guru was visualising for the students the scene of Tyagaraja's monologues with Rama. He would often marvel at the sheer beauty of a musical phrase, the juxtaposition of two contrasting notes, and how the expression changed when a mere oscillation was handled differently.
The experience of learning music went beyond technical virtuosity or the number of compositions one learnt. The leisure with which we dwelt on each piece, and the finer aspects of music, helped us to absorb music as an elevating art than just a skill mastered to perform in public. For many years, I did not learn with the intent of participating in a competition, or performing on stage. The only pressure that I faced as a young student was to get my guru's nod or smile of approval. This rich experience has defined me as a musician, and influenced my approach to creativity in music.
Times have indeed changed now. We have made enormous strides as a nation. Technology has pervaded every aspect of our lives. Life is much faster paced and more competitive. Children are today far more informed, exposed and intelligent. They are multifaceted, and excel in academics, sport and art.
Carnatic music has also benefited from this progress. More youngsters are learning this art form now than ever before. There is a proliferation of musical institutions, sabhas, teachers and students. More people are adopting music as a full-time profession. With the aid of technology, music is more accessible and has gained much popularity overseas.
Serious compromises
While this is encouraging, there are serious compromises. Children and young adults are under intense pressure to do well in all disciplines, all at once.
The gurukula system is a thing of the past, and we can't dream of something like it now. What is of concern however is that today, much of the teaching and learning happens in crash-course mode, with both teachers and students having to ration time across multiple interests and commitments, and wanting to make the most of available time. Students are injected with complex compositions in a 5-day crash-course but have no time to ruminate over the beauty of such inspired pieces, or the greatness of the composers and their minds.
Today there is no dearth of technical virtuosity and theoretical knowledge. Many areas of expertise, hitherto the prerogative of professionals, are handled with ease even by students with only a few years of training. This is thanks to dedicated teachers, peer pressure and pressure from parents who push their children to enrol in specialised competitions. They can tackle challenges thrown at them by expert judges in front of an audience and TV viewers. With intense preparation like that for the IIT JEE or CAT, music is pressure-cooked and ready for any dissertation.
But in all this, are we not dishing out syllabus-oriented music, akin to scholastic education, and missing out on true learning? When can we find time to reflect on the beauty of music and teach students to delve deeper, beyond the immediate and the obvious?
Any art form evolves naturally only when the most important factor called time is not compressed. As my guru once said beautifully, "Though we can create the required temperature and pressure to make American diamonds, it takes time to get a real diamond, and time is simply beyond any duplication or substitution."
There is no doubt that a student with practice matures to become a seasoned performer and ripens to be an artist who would sing forgetting the audience or critics and find peace in singing for oneself. Unless the right perspective and values are imparted by teachers, parents and institutions to the students, music will be mastered as an intricate and laborious skill and not as an elevating fine art.
Music is pressure-cooked at various stages to be served as a multi-cuisine dish on the competition and concert stage. Are we forcibly exercising and expanding music for the sake of novelty? Are we running the risk of losing the soul and spirit of sangeetam and svanubhavam (self-experience)? We have a responsibility to pass on the art of pausing and absorbing the essence of music. Is it novelty or virtuosity, or the search for deeper elements in music that helped the great masters of yesteryear to breathe life into their music, and create music that has stood the test of time?
Lalgudi Vijayalakshmi is a leading violinist and the daughter and disciple of the legend Lalgudi G. Jayaraman. Her website is www.lalgudivijayalakshmi.com
by L. Vijayalakshmi, December 14th 2010 0 comments
Your comments here!
Talent Is A Multiplier Of Execution
Essay on Insanely Great generated good discussion among my friends. Based on the suggestion from Swarup that this discussion makes the essay complete, I wrote a postscript.
As I wrote the postscript, I felt that the idea of "Talent is a multiplier of execution" deserves to be on its own. Not because I love to write (which is true) but because, this perspective is very refreshing, logical and profound yet simple. So, here it goes again -
I believe that talent is a multiplier of what we do with it
AWFUL TALENT = -1
WEAK TALENT = 1
SO-SO TALENT = 5
GOOD TALENT = 10
GREAT TALENT = 15
BRILLIANT TALENT = 20
NO EXECUTION = $1
WEAK EXECUTION = $1000
SO-SO EXECUTION = $10,000
GOOD EXECUTION = $100,000
GREAT EXECUTION = $1,000,000
BRILLIANT EXECUTION = $10,000,000
I am using the $ amounts only as a way of expression. I learned the above perspective from Derek Sivers who is a good friend and a well wisher of mine (http://sivers.org/multiply)
Our results depend on multiplying TALENT and EXECUTION (TALENT * EXECUTION = RESULTS). Of course, TALENT is necessary but by itself is of much less value in this equation.
Do you agree with? Does it help you approach "becoming insanely great" any easier? I would love to hear your thoughts.
We admire and look up to insanely great Musicians, Athletes, Writers and on goes the list.
How does one get there is the question that's been on my mind lately, a lot more than ever before. I think it is fair to say that "Insanely Great" does not happen by accident nor is it planned on Excel spreadsheets.
It is actually easy to suck at something, it is not that hard to be average at something, it is kind of hard to be good at something but it truly takes a lifetime to be insanely great at something.
We can never be insanely great at everything we do in life. Some things in life must be done because they need to be done. Can we be insanely great at paying bills or driving to work every day? May be but it doesn't really matter.
Perhaps the question to ask is not "How to be insanely great at everything we do?" but "What do I want to be insanely great at?". Identifying that one thing is the first step, followed up with
Putting in the effort: as much as we look up to Mozart for his amazing abilities to compose at a very young age, it apparently took him 3 hours of music practice every day for 7 years or so to actually compose great master pieces [The Myth Of Prodigy].
Being prepared to fail: It took Michael Jordan ten thousand missed shots before he became the basketball legend [Michael Jordan]
Being relentlessly resourceful: It took many sleepless nights and performances at little known comedy clubs, (sometimes) with no audience, before Steve Martin became one of the world's finest comedians [Born Standing Up]
What do YOU want to be Insanely Great at? Not an easy question but worth asking repeatedly until the answer emerges!
Postscript (based on wonderful discussions with my good friends)
----------------------------------------------------------------
I believe that talent is a multiplier of what we do with it
AWFUL TALENT = -1
WEAK TALENT = 1
SO-SO TALENT = 5
GOOD TALENT = 10
GREAT TALENT = 15
BRILLIANT TALENT = 20
NO EXECUTION = $1
WEAK EXECUTION = $1000
SO-SO EXECUTION = $10,000
GOOD EXECUTION = $100,000
GREAT EXECUTION = $1,000,000
BRILLIANT EXECUTION = $10,000,000
I am using the $ amounts only as a way of expression. I learned the above perspective from Derek Sivers who is a good friend and a well wisher of mine (http://sivers.org/multiply)
Our results depend on multiplying TALENT and EXECUTION (TALENT * EXECUTION = RESULTS). Of course, TALENT is necessary but by itself is of much less value in this equation.
--------------------------------------------------
Thanks Kiran Kodakandla, Anu Narayanan, Subbu Sankaran, Swarup Swaminathan for reading a draft of this essay
We entered the tiny record store, there were two girls at the counter.
SG: "Do you have quarter inch Guitar cable?"
BullMooseGirl: "Quarter inch....Guitar cable, hmm, we don't carry those"
SS walks towards the back of the store, stops briefly and quips "Hey, do you smell vibhuthi here?"
SG and MS: "Yeah they have agarbathi at the front desk"
SG: "Hey, here is a quarter inch guitar cable. It's the last one"
SS: "Oh man, this is unbelievable and we are going to kill it tonight"
SS: "We want to check this cable with the Amp to make sure the problem is with our cable and not the Amp or the Mando"
Bull Moose Dude: (who by the way just appeared out of nowhere) "Hey the cables are good man, no need to test them"
SG: "No, it's not that, we have a Mando, old Cable and the Amp and we don't know where the problem is, so we want to test with this new cable to make sure it's our cable that is bad"
BullMooseDude: "Oh, got it. (swtches on the Amp). Hey I can tell you the Amp is gone."
SS, SG, MS: "Huh ????"
BullMooseDude: "Oh no wait, it's the speaker. Oh no wait, actually it's the wire to the speaker, you don't have it connected"
SS, SG, MS: Duh! You are awesome, can we take a picture with you"
Bull Moose Dude: "Sure man"
The journey of 1000 miles started with 1 step, little did we know that we were embarking on a long road trip in search of a quarter inch guitar cable on a Saturday evening (actually it's kind of night, 11 pm). We went from a Walmart nearby, to another Walmart in a neighboring state and finally to Bull Moose Music store, supposedly a record store.
Setting step in the tax-free state for the first time was an unforgettable event for SS and SG.
Plan to meet for a music jam session. Meet. Jam. Go to bed. That's kind of normal.
Plan to meet for a music jam session. Meet. Mando not working, something is wrong. Get in the car and drive to many stores at 11 PM, cross state borders. Go to Bull Moose Music store. A Miracle happens. Finally it's all working. Jam. Go to bed. Now that's worth remembering and writing about. LOL.
All is well that ends well.
This weekend devotees from the Sri Sathya Sai Baba centers all over the world will undertake an enormous endeavor as in every year for the past 30+ years, to sing bhajans as a group for 24 full hours non-stop (Akhanda Bhajan).
What's the "Why" of Akhanda Bhajan -
Is it an opportunity to show off our musical talents?
Is it a once in a year chance to be a full-time devotee event?
Is it to hang out with friends and family?
Is it to feel good imagining we are making the world a better place?
Sri Sathya Sai Baba says -
"Kirtan is 'singing aloud the glory of God'. Samkirtan is the process of singing that originates in the heart, not from the lips or tongue. It does not seek the admiration or appreciation of the listeners. It is sung for one's own joy, one's own satisfaction, one's own delight."
"Singing this intense yearning for God and enjoying the experience of adoring Him helps to purify the atmosphere. Today, man is forced to breathe the air polluted by sounds that denote violence, hatred, cruelty, and wickedness. Therefore, he is fast losing the high attainments that are in store for him. The vibrations resulting from singing the glory of God can cleanse the atmosphere and render it pure, calm, and ennobling. It is with this high purpose in view that this program of global singing aloud the glory of God (samkirtan) was designed." - Sri Sathya Sai Baba, 14th November 1976
"Do bhajans with faith and enthusiasm. Let the whole city shake with the devotion you put into every Name that you sing. The Name promotes comradeship and establishes concord; it stills all storms and grants peace." - Sri Sathya Sai Baba, 10th July 1959
Now let's rise to the challenge, let's go shake up the city (and the world ) with devotion as Sai Baba challenges us to do!
Often we have discussions as a team or group towards a common goal. There will be many conflicts along the way, conflicts are inevitable. One thing I learnt from Scott McNealy (former CEO of Sun, heard from a talk by Greg Ballard, CEO of Glu Mobile) is "Agree and Commit, Disagree and Commit".
If you agree, you are golden, you commit to the goal and move on. You disagree, commit towards the goal and move on. More often than not, we don't commit, we don't move on, we continue to disagree and continue to discuss it among the group members. This is not a good practice as it simply corrodes the group culture and eventually brings the group down to a screeching halt.
No matter how many times I read the Hare and Tortoise story, the damn Tortoise always wins! Time and again we all need to be reminded of this counter-intuitive aspect. Intelligence can take you only so far, Intelligence alone cannot get you to your goal. Determination to succeed, to complete that last mile of the marathon, to give a final finishing touch to that unfinished oil on canvas painting project, to stay away from things that don't add value to your life, to look fear in the eye and tell it take a hike because you don't care, to ask and not be afraid of rejection, to try and not be paralyzed by fear of failure and we can go on is paramount.
"DETERMINATION"
Everything that is worth doing comes at a price, sometimes the price is not measurable, at least not immediately, especially when it comes to travelling the unchartered territories of our lives. Steven Pressfield says this very beautifully in his book "The War of Art" that we all have two lives, the one we live and the one that we don't. Remembering that every turn of the fly wheel is getting us closer to that flight path albeit slowly but steadily and knowing that determination to stay in the game for however long and hard the road may be is the biggest differentiator between those who finish and those who are finished.
To put this elegantly, I will quote Calvin Cooldige, "The world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent"
What does it mean when we say someone's singing is "besur?" It means that they are not singing in pitch.
This pitch is called sruti in the south (the word sruti is translated in different ways, this is one of them) or sur/ swar in the North.
Finding and maintaining one's pitch is of fundamental importance. The instrument that helps a classical musician do this is the Tanpura, or as it is known in the South, the Tambura.
The Tanpura is the instrument that is tuned to a singer's pitch (instrumentalists use them too) and that provides a constant reference point that helps the musician stay in pitch.
Well tuned Tanpuras are a pathway to heaven, the heaven inside yourself, because they help you find your pitch, your frequency.
In the video below we have some really well tuned Tanpuras. They are the long instruments with fat bottoms behind the singer, who is Ustad H. Sayeeduddin Dagar. He sings a Sanskrit chant in the Raga Bhoopali.
How do you find your pitch?
Your pitch can be found against a keyboard, a harmonium or against a Tanpura, although it is advisable to carry on your practice against the Tanpura and not the keyboard.
Finding one's pitch is basically finding one's base "Sa" (Shadja).
As we noted earlier, the seven notes of Indian music are Sa, Re (or Ri), Ga, Ma, Pa, Dha, Ni and Sa. We do not count the last Sa, because Sa repeats itself at the end of the scale. Sa's frequency at the end of the scale is exactly double that of the fist Sa at the beginning of the scale and sounds "higher."
It is the first "Sa" that constitutes one's basic pitch or adhara shadja/adhara swara.
If you take the example of a keyboard, in theory, your Sa can start anywhere on the keyboard, depending on where you comfortable singing it.
"Sa" then becomes the fixed or tonic note (adhara shadja/sruti/swara).
All other notes are in relation to and relative to Sa.
My "Sa," is different from my teacher's "Sa", as he is a male and has a lower pitch.
Tanpuras/Tamburas usually have four or five strings. The first string is tuned to Pa, the two middle ones are tuned to the higher Sa and the last, to the tonic Sa (i.e. your fundamental Sa), an octave lower. So what a Tanpura does is to provide a constant tonal reference point.
The tuning of the first string (Pa) may change, depending on the raga (e.g. there may be a raga without Pa) or an extra string that plays the seventh note, i.e Ni, can be added (the adding of strings is usually done by Hindustani musicians), or the Pa string may be tuned to Ma.
Nowadays one gets electronic "sruti boxes" and electronic tamburas that are much easier to carry around, that look like small radios. Though these are very good and have reached high standards, some people (including yours truly) feel that the traditional Tanpuras and Tamburas provide a richer sound and should not be done away with.
Learning to tune a Tanpura to one's pitch is considered essential in perfecting one's pitch or sur or shruti. More on Tanpuras here.
Sadly, some teachers are doing away with the practice of teaching their students to tune Tanpuras.
Here is a podcast by the Carnatic musician Vidya Subramanian explaining the concept of pitch. Since she is a Carnatic musician and from the South, she calls pitch "sruti."
And here is a podcast by Vidya on Tamburas.
Want to try singing and finding your Sa yourself? There are some online Tanpura recordings here. If you are female, you will probably find a pitch between 4 and 6 that is comfortable and if you are male try between 0.5 to 2 (some manage even higher).
Just sing Saaaaaaaaaaaaaa in your normal voice and hold it steady.
You can vary it by just singing "aaaaaaaaaaaaaa." Singing "aaaaa" is known as aakaara saadhana in the South and singing in aalaap/aakaar in the North.
Here is a free aalaap/aakaaram lesson, that you can try singing along with and is good for generally toning your voice! Click in the top right hand box to listen.
Read more: http://www.likhati.com/2010/04/29/introducing-yourself-to-indian-classical-music-13-whats-your-frequency-the-tanpuratambura-and-finding-your-sur-shruti-or-pitch-1/#ixzz12oIq2Mqt
Past Sunday I had the good fortune to run one of the most prestigious half marathons in the world, the Boston Half. Here is a long account of what happened, if you don't have time to read all of it, here are a couple of lines. I am so happy that my good friends Gauri Shankar and Vidyanand took the leap and joined me in the 13.1 mile run. Gauri completed the run a good 10 minutes ahead of me and looked fresher than ever. Gauri had a severe lower back pain all through his practice sessions and still went ahead and completed the run, kudos to his wife Vanitha for encouraging him to do the run and hats off to Gauri for showing us the way to do it.
The run was on Oct 10, 2010 at 8:30 AM in Franklin Park, Boston. Subbu Sankaran was kind enough to give me a ride to Gauri's place on Saturday evening. Gauri and I drove to Vidyanand's home in Newton, MA and reached around 10 PM. Vidyanand made Olive Garden style pasta for all of us to get us all loaded up for the next morning. We chatted until 1130 in the night about the run and went to bed (Gauri went to bed later as he was caught up watching Redsox game, a true sox fan :-) from New York.)
Next morning Sandeep Menon came knocking at 630 to give us a ride to the run location. Thanks to Sandeep, we got to the Franklin Park by 7 AM and had plenty of time to stretch, hit the restrooms, take group picture with our other Dana-Farber team members and stretch again. It was 835 and the gun shot was heard, the rustle and hustle of freshly printed bibs with RFID chips tracked everyone as they passed the start line.
The run was along the Emerald Necklace, a set of beautiful parks in Boston. Until the 7th mile the run was not that hard, however, the elevation rises from 0 to 160 feet between the 6th and 7th mile. From 7th mile the elevation (above sea level) remains between 100 and 160 feet and it feels as if we are running up and up and beyond, it felt like climbing the seven hills in Tirupati, India to have the darshan of Lord Sri. Venkateshwara, for those of you who drove up the seven hills.
We finished our run around 1045 AM and were awarded the medals, all the goodies like t-shirt, chips, burgers, drinks, chips, banana (yeah for salts and potassium). However, the real goodies were waiting when Gauri and I stepped out of the stadium where we were greeted by our families and friends. Gauri's son Siddharth was ecstatic to see his dad with the medal and so was Vanitha. My wife Kiran, daughters Raaga and Mahi were delighted as well to see me, raaga promptly claimed the medal from me. Our good friends Lalitha Gunturi, Anil Ranganath, Malathi aunty, Ramgopal uncle, Anasuya Desibhatla, Mukund, Keshav were there to give us hi-fives and cheers for completing the run. We waited for a few minutes for Vidyanand to arrive and were very happy to see him walk out of the stadium shortly before 1130 AM. Vidyanand had a cramps in the calf muscle and had to walk the last couple of miles but he still made a pretty good time. It was a happy ending for all as we took some pictures and headed back home.
I owe a lot to Subbu for patiently waiting to bring us back home. Subbu drove us back to his house where super delicious lunch awaited us, thanks to Girija aunty and Raji for the morekolambu, made me want more and more of it.
Next Sunday Lalitha and Anil are running the Bay State Half in Lowell, let's wish them all the best!
I will make the same request to you as I did last year after my Boston Marathon, please don't think it's beyond you. I am sure Gauri and Vidyanand will agree that it's one of the best things they did in their lives, supporting a good cause (Dana Farber Cancer Research) through their run.
Each raga evokes different emotions when it's played/heard. Here is a small list of ragas associated with appropriate emotions. This is quite interesting to me because each raga although has its own emotion tied to it in a generic sense, to a large degree, I think it also depends on the listener's mental state. For example, is it possible for a song in Ahirbhairavi or Shubhapanthuvarali to evoke a happy feeling although the raga may evoke melancholic emotions?
Courage:
Bilahari, Begada, Atanaa, Gambheera Nattai
Karuna
Sahana, Varali, Kaanada, Naadanamakriyaa
Bhakthi:
Revati, Karaharapriya, Kapi, Kedaragowla
Shringara(romance devotion and adornment)
Bhairavi, Asaaveri, Kalyani, Kamaas
Joy and Happiness:
Hamsadhwani, Kedaaram, Mohanam, Sankarabharanam
Adhbuta:
Saaranga, Behaag
Pride:
Devagandhari
Pathos:
Saveri, Mukhari, Shubhapanthuvarali
Vathsalya:
Neelambhari
The names of the seven notes (or swaras) that form the basis of Indian music are commonly known. We know them as Sa, Ri (or Re), Ga, Ma, Pa, Dha, Ni, Sa
The syllables are not the full names of the notes. They are shortened versions
Their full names are as follows:
Sa=Shadja
Ri (or Re) =Rishabha
Ga=Gandhara
Ma=Madhyama
Pa=Panchama
Dha=Dhaivata
Ni=Nishadha
The shortened syllabic names (Sa, Ri, Ga etc) of the notes or swaras are sometimes called "solfege syllables" or "solfa syllables."
The seven basic notes are referred to as the saptaswaras (seven notes) or collectively as the saptak in the Northern Hindustani system.
The notes are categorised in increasing order of pitch.
We say there are seven notes and not eight, because Sa repeats itself at the end of the scale. Sa's frequency at the end of the scale is exactly double that of the fist Sa at the beginning of the scale.
When the frequency of any note is exactly doubled,the same tone is heard, except that this sounds higher.
The interval between the original note and the higher note is called an Octave.
When the frequency of any note is exactly halved we hear it as lower. The interval between these two notes is also called an octave.
In Indian music, a range of three octaves is generally used.
In Carnatic music, the three octaves are called the Mandra, Madhya and Tara Sthayi, referring to the lower, middle and higher octaves respectively. The tara sthayi is sometimes also referred to as the melsthayi.
In Hindustani music the three different octaves are called the Mandra, Madhya and Tar Saptak.
Sthayi (in the south) and Saptak (in the north) refer to the octave.
The octave one is most comfortable singing in is the middle octave, or Madhya sthayi or Madhya saptak.
Most competent musicians are expected to reach the swara Pa in the higher and lower octaves. There are some who can traverse the entire range of notes in all three octaves and go even beyond them.
There are various ways of depicting the notes in the various octaves, if writing them down. Sometimes the notes in the higher octave are depicted with a dot on top and notes in the lower octave are depicted with a dot at the bottom. However, one does not always follow notation in Indian music, and we often just have to learn by listening. Notation can provide only a mere skeletal framework.
Each note, except Sa and Pa, has more than one position or variety. Sa and Pa are constant and are referred to as prakriti swaras. There is more than one type of Re, Ga, Ma, Dha and Ni. More on this in the next posts.
Read more at likhati
When you think of a raaga do you right away think of a song or bhajan? It happens to me all the time, I think of Hamsadhwani and even before I complete the thought the bhajan Maha Ganapathe Namosthuthe pops up in my mind. The moment Sindhubhairavi passes my mind, I think of Jaya Panduranga Prabho or Venkatachala Nilayam. What is this mapping? Does the raaga need a song more than the song needs a raaga to stand out in one's mind?
Recently I posted several songs in the raaga NattaKurinji, little did I know that there are a couple of "popular" songs in this raaga that were not included in the uploads and a few raagsters have mentioned to me that adding those songs would complete the NattaKurinji collection. I am intrigued by this request and hence this blog post, I wonder if this is true of any raaga in general. There is tight correlation between raaga and a song.
Most of the stuff we see on TV, hear on radio or read online are distractions from what we should be working on. I don't watch TV, not even sports, actually especially sports. They all take away the most precious resource we have in our life, TIME. I was a cricket buff, I used to hold off going to the bathroom until the drinks break, God forbid I may miss out on that one delivery that may result in a wicket or a sixer. However, when I came to the US I deliberately chose not to get sucked in to this sports watching business. Don't get me wrong, I love sports, I am a big fan of Cricket, Chess, Caroms, Ping Pong, Hiking and Running Marathons. I prefer to do them instead of watch someone else do them for me. People ask me, where do you get the time to work on raagabox, my answer -
DON'T watch more than 1 hour of TV a WEEK
DON'T scoot around Facebook and other social sites without a clear purpose
DON'T fall trap to Web browsing, going from one youtube video to the "can't miss it" next video
DON'T go random shopping, I don't know what I need but I will know when I see it in the store!
DON'T while away hours on end yakking with people, it's quality not quantity that matters
I would much rather
DO spend time with family and friends
DO activities that help me grow (spiritual, reading books, service, pondering on hard but important Life questions)
DO something that gives joy to others i.e. raagabox and others like it
In my view there should be more DON'T in our life than DO.
A few people have asked me to share how raagabox started. It's just a small short story, I write it here for anyone curious or looking for inspiration -
One day an young man, Akash, sang a beautiful bhajan Hey Krishna at the Boston Sai Center that I attend frequently. Akash and I had known each other but until then we had never met. After the bhajans were over, I mentioned to Akash that his bhajan was very beautiful and that he should sing it again so I can record it this time. He said "That would be awesome but I am leaving to Los Angeles this evening for good, I am done with my college here". That was a bummer, I felt at that moment that no one ever should miss out on a beautiful bhajan or a piece of good music. Shortly thereafter, I created raagabox.com, started the website with a handful of songs, a single web page and 2 initial users. The site has now grown into thousands of bhajans and songs, thousands of listeners from over 50 countries using it on a regular basis.
Thanks to all who have been extremely supportive of this project, it is only getting started, we understand that the site is nowhere near perfect. There are many quirks, small annoyances. The good news is that we are constantly working on the site to improve it. We have been adding small features, taking some features out because no one was using them, we want the site to be simple to use. You come to the site to enjoy music and our goal is to get you that music in one click if possible.
Your feedback, suggestions and critique to improve the usability of the site is much appreciated. Please write back to us feedback@raagabox.com.
At the moment I am taking baby steps in Manodharma Sangeetham (MDS). Thanks to my guru Smt. Aparna Balaji, I have some wonderful guidance getting started.
First of all, what is MDS. In a broad sense it is a way of self-expression just as a collection of strokes on a canvas by an Artist. The Artist works a bit more freely with the strokes, however, in Carnatic Music, the singer must follow a few basic rules when exploring MDS. MDS is intrinsically tied to a particular Raaga, we only talk about MDS in the context of a specific Raaga or Raagas. Here are some tips for MDS aspirants (as I understood from my guru)
1. Singer must stick to the Raaga's scale
2. Singer must express the Raaga (For more discussion on difference between Raaga and scale of Raaga, listen to T.M. Krishna's Lecdem on Allied Raagas )
3. Manodharma is an umbrella term for Neraval, Kalpana Swara, Raaga Alapana, Viruttam, Brigu
4. Kalpana Swara always goes with a specific line in a Krithi (song)
5. You should know the starting note for that line
6. Kalpana Swaras must end on a note that is one note above or one note below the starting note
7. At first, it may help to practice a specific set of Swaras as the ending notes for an entire cycle, e.g. You may choose P,PMGR as the phrase that fills 6 counts in a Rupaka Talam and will always be the last phrase in the Kalpana
8. First start with sequential notes and slowly go into Daatu (skipping notes), Jaaru (sliding between notes) etc
9. Finally, totally enjoy doing it. Think of MDS as way for you to connect with the Raaga and it will be out of the world, I promise!
Thanks to Aparna Balaji for reading drafts of this.
Listening To Music Should Be A Beautiful Experience
It is funny what people put up with to listen to good music. If you visit some music sites on the web, I won't call out names, I am sure you will know as you read further, your music experience is down the gutter just listening to the calling card promos and transferring money to your loved ones in a far off country! Come on, isn't listening music supposed to be a wonderful experience?
At raagabox we believe that music can make one really enjoy themselves and forget the world. We believe music when delivered with right ambiance can elevate the listener to ecstasy and give joy that's out of the world. Interrupted by unnecessary advertisements is no way to experience music.
raagabox is ad-free, user supported. We like it that way and we will strive to keep it that way.
Abhangs are a popular form of devotional poetry in the Indian language Marathi, and are often set to music. While they are often sung by bhajan singers, they are quite often sung by classical singers both from the North and the South and it is not uncommon to hear an abhang in a classical concert.
Abhang: literally,
1. Absolute; eternal, immutable, ceaseless, unbroken; impeccable, etc
2. Immortal, primordial; another name for Brahman; inviolable, etc
3. a Marathi metre; also, any metrical compostion in this metre
The abhang is the favourite metre of all Varkari poets since the thirteenth century and unlike classical Sanskrit-based metres it is native to Marathi speech and its colloquial forms. It is extremely flexible. It consists of four lines and each line contains three to eight syllables. It has a fluid symmetry maintained by internal or end rhymes and often designed to be sung. It originates most probably in oral folk poetry. Poets such as Jnanadev, Namdeo and Tukaram have given it a classic status in Marathi poetry.
Some time ago, someone gave me a cd “Thaanam” of Rama Varma playing the Veena, which, has among other things, a very beautiful Behag. The cd isn’t available commercially, so it’s nice to see his Behag on youtube (and some Kapi and Mishra Pilu). A meeting of Hindustani and Carnatic music:
We all got a crayon box in kindergarten, life has it that most of us dropped our crayons and embraced the far more lucrative sciences and mathematics (the left brain activities). The most wonderful things in this universe are mysterious, if everything were as black and white as 1+1 = 2, life would be quite boring. Suddenly someone says, I can prove to you that 1+1 = 0, things get interesting, absurd at times but interesting. So, why not embrace the mysterious, the boundless joy of creating something new from nothing that we are all capable of, in Math or in Science or in Art or in Music, medium does not matter.
What matters is the willingness to bring back those crayons and use them, metaphorically or not.
The raaga Sindhubhairavi evokes very happy and pleasant emotions. I didn't know about this raaga until a few years ago, however, my mom used to sing a couple of beautiful devotional songs that were haunting me long after she passed away and one day I recollected a few lines of one of the songs and hummed them to my guru Smt. Aparna Balaji. She right away said that the raaga is Sindhubhairavi, ever since this raaga has become my favorite raaga.
The scale of this raaga is as follows
S R1 G1 M1 P D1 N2 S
S N2 D1 P M1 G1 R1 S
There are plenty of beautiful krithis, bhajans, movie songs in this raaga. I found a good collection of Illayaraja's Sindhubhairavi compositions
Wonder which states are missing, the Dakotas and who else, let's share the love with them too!
Sandeep and I ran the Boston 10k last Sunday, the day was perfect, weather was nice, Anuradha Narayanan was kind enough to give us ride to the Boston Commons at 715 AM. The commons was bustling with cheers, chirps and runners.
We did 10 minute miles, a slooow walk by the Kenyan standards. Sandeep beat me in the race by 4 minutes and proved that he is not only younger but faster than me. Of course, we all know very well the real reason behind his speed was Shobha, yelling in his ears, "Live your life to the fullest", go go go! My wife and kids were stuck in traffic, just kidding!
Post race, we met up Minal's house. It was a wonderful time at her place as usual, Anuradha and Minal gave the runners a royal treatment even though technically we should be called the walkers. Saying thanks to these two wonderful young ladies would be kind of wrong because they are way too cool and thanks won't do. Usual suspects, Lalita and Pavan were missing among others, and were missed by all of us too.
The support I got from Kiran, Raaga and Mahi in every run I did is what keeps me going. Of course, the secret is, you don't tell them until you registered for the race!
Just run it's fun. If your dog ate your lace, run bare foot, it's more fun!
Where do you stand on this? What do you think, happiness is something you cultivate or pursue? or both or neither?
![](\"http://www.raagabox.com/media/images/visual_raagas.jpg\")
Visual Guide To Raagas
Thanks to Subbu for gathering this information and putting it all together. A few songs are mislabeled and will be fixed shortly.
[source: http://www.thehindu.com/arts/article952354.ece]
As a young girl, every single music class with my father and guru Lalgudi Jayaraman was an experience to be remembered and cherished. Like his other students, I was also fed the staple diet of technical aspects in music such as korvais, poruttams, tricky eduppus and challenging pallavis. But there was much more to every learning session.
Each one was a stroll through the garden of music, taking time to reflect on every composition and raga. We were taught not only the grammar and intricacies, but also what made the compositions beautiful and soul-stirring.
Seated on a cane chair, with students around him on the floor, my guru would, for instance, render and teach a nuance in a Tyagaraja composition in a choked voice. He would pause with tears in his eyes and explain the beauty of the lyrics, overwhelmed by the composer's poetic fantasy and the ease with which the raga has carried the lyrics. In effect, my guru was visualising for the students the scene of Tyagaraja's monologues with Rama. He would often marvel at the sheer beauty of a musical phrase, the juxtaposition of two contrasting notes, and how the expression changed when a mere oscillation was handled differently.
The experience of learning music went beyond technical virtuosity or the number of compositions one learnt. The leisure with which we dwelt on each piece, and the finer aspects of music, helped us to absorb music as an elevating art than just a skill mastered to perform in public. For many years, I did not learn with the intent of participating in a competition, or performing on stage. The only pressure that I faced as a young student was to get my guru's nod or smile of approval. This rich experience has defined me as a musician, and influenced my approach to creativity in music.
Times have indeed changed now. We have made enormous strides as a nation. Technology has pervaded every aspect of our lives. Life is much faster paced and more competitive. Children are today far more informed, exposed and intelligent. They are multifaceted, and excel in academics, sport and art.
Carnatic music has also benefited from this progress. More youngsters are learning this art form now than ever before. There is a proliferation of musical institutions, sabhas, teachers and students. More people are adopting music as a full-time profession. With the aid of technology, music is more accessible and has gained much popularity overseas.
Serious compromises
While this is encouraging, there are serious compromises. Children and young adults are under intense pressure to do well in all disciplines, all at once.
The gurukula system is a thing of the past, and we can't dream of something like it now. What is of concern however is that today, much of the teaching and learning happens in crash-course mode, with both teachers and students having to ration time across multiple interests and commitments, and wanting to make the most of available time. Students are injected with complex compositions in a 5-day crash-course but have no time to ruminate over the beauty of such inspired pieces, or the greatness of the composers and their minds.
Today there is no dearth of technical virtuosity and theoretical knowledge. Many areas of expertise, hitherto the prerogative of professionals, are handled with ease even by students with only a few years of training. This is thanks to dedicated teachers, peer pressure and pressure from parents who push their children to enrol in specialised competitions. They can tackle challenges thrown at them by expert judges in front of an audience and TV viewers. With intense preparation like that for the IIT JEE or CAT, music is pressure-cooked and ready for any dissertation.
But in all this, are we not dishing out syllabus-oriented music, akin to scholastic education, and missing out on true learning? When can we find time to reflect on the beauty of music and teach students to delve deeper, beyond the immediate and the obvious?
Any art form evolves naturally only when the most important factor called time is not compressed. As my guru once said beautifully, "Though we can create the required temperature and pressure to make American diamonds, it takes time to get a real diamond, and time is simply beyond any duplication or substitution."
There is no doubt that a student with practice matures to become a seasoned performer and ripens to be an artist who would sing forgetting the audience or critics and find peace in singing for oneself. Unless the right perspective and values are imparted by teachers, parents and institutions to the students, music will be mastered as an intricate and laborious skill and not as an elevating fine art.
Music is pressure-cooked at various stages to be served as a multi-cuisine dish on the competition and concert stage. Are we forcibly exercising and expanding music for the sake of novelty? Are we running the risk of losing the soul and spirit of sangeetam and svanubhavam (self-experience)? We have a responsibility to pass on the art of pausing and absorbing the essence of music. Is it novelty or virtuosity, or the search for deeper elements in music that helped the great masters of yesteryear to breathe life into their music, and create music that has stood the test of time?
Lalgudi Vijayalakshmi is a leading violinist and the daughter and disciple of the legend Lalgudi G. Jayaraman. Her website is www.lalgudivijayalakshmi.com
The journey of 1000 miles started with 1 step, little did we know that we were embarking on a long road trip in search of a quarter inch guitar cable on a Saturday evening (actually it's kind of night, 11 pm). We went from a Walmart nearby, to another Walmart in a neighboring state and finally to Bull Moose Music store, supposedly a record store.
Setting step in the tax-free state for the first time was an unforgettable event for SS and SG.
Plan to meet for a music jam session. Meet. Jam. Go to bed. That's kind of normal.
Plan to meet for a music jam session. Meet. Mando not working, something is wrong. Get in the car and drive to many stores at 11 PM, cross state borders. Go to Bull Moose Music store. A Miracle happens. Finally it's all working. Jam. Go to bed. Now that's worth remembering and writing about. LOL.
All is well that ends well.
The run was on Oct 10, 2010 at 8:30 AM in Franklin Park, Boston. Subbu Sankaran was kind enough to give me a ride to Gauri's place on Saturday evening. Gauri and I drove to Vidyanand's home in Newton, MA and reached around 10 PM. Vidyanand made Olive Garden style pasta for all of us to get us all loaded up for the next morning. We chatted until 1130 in the night about the run and went to bed (Gauri went to bed later as he was caught up watching Redsox game, a true sox fan :-) from New York.)
Next morning Sandeep Menon came knocking at 630 to give us a ride to the run location. Thanks to Sandeep, we got to the Franklin Park by 7 AM and had plenty of time to stretch, hit the restrooms, take group picture with our other Dana-Farber team members and stretch again. It was 835 and the gun shot was heard, the rustle and hustle of freshly printed bibs with RFID chips tracked everyone as they passed the start line.
The run was along the Emerald Necklace, a set of beautiful parks in Boston. Until the 7th mile the run was not that hard, however, the elevation rises from 0 to 160 feet between the 6th and 7th mile. From 7th mile the elevation (above sea level) remains between 100 and 160 feet and it feels as if we are running up and up and beyond, it felt like climbing the seven hills in Tirupati, India to have the darshan of Lord Sri. Venkateshwara, for those of you who drove up the seven hills.
We finished our run around 1045 AM and were awarded the medals, all the goodies like t-shirt, chips, burgers, drinks, chips, banana (yeah for salts and potassium). However, the real goodies were waiting when Gauri and I stepped out of the stadium where we were greeted by our families and friends. Gauri's son Siddharth was ecstatic to see his dad with the medal and so was Vanitha. My wife Kiran, daughters Raaga and Mahi were delighted as well to see me, raaga promptly claimed the medal from me. Our good friends Lalitha Gunturi, Anil Ranganath, Malathi aunty, Ramgopal uncle, Anasuya Desibhatla, Mukund, Keshav were there to give us hi-fives and cheers for completing the run. We waited for a few minutes for Vidyanand to arrive and were very happy to see him walk out of the stadium shortly before 1130 AM. Vidyanand had a cramps in the calf muscle and had to walk the last couple of miles but he still made a pretty good time. It was a happy ending for all as we took some pictures and headed back home.
I owe a lot to Subbu for patiently waiting to bring us back home. Subbu drove us back to his house where super delicious lunch awaited us, thanks to Girija aunty and Raji for the morekolambu, made me want more and more of it.
Next Sunday Lalitha and Anil are running the Bay State Half in Lowell, let's wish them all the best!
I will make the same request to you as I did last year after 
