Musings that Amuse Me.....

After sleeping over my interest in music for 35 years of my life, I decided to give myself some sense of 'pursuing my interest' by sigining up for vocal classes this october. I should say my Guru [Shri. Ponnani S Ananthanarayanan] would now be thinking his happier days are behind him. His efforts to make me synchronize my 'sruthi', akshara and talam have so far met with lesser success than he would have liked. Still, he was so tolerant of my mistakes and in fact had enough confidence in me to ask me render the Dhaatu Varisai - For those who think I m trying to parade some jargons, Dhaatu varisai is a combination of zig zag 'notes' . Instead of the gradual and regular Sa, Re , Ga , Ma , Pa , Da, Ni the Dhatu varisai goes like Sa Ma Ga Ma Re Ga Sa Re Sa Ga Re Ga Sa Re Ga Ma.... The purpose is to learn the movement from one note to another and become an expert in the twists and the turns. Though performing on stage is nothing new for me, the difference this time wa...

What is my latest fascination ? I was listening to K J Yesudas s rendition of 'Kannanai Kandaayoo Malli Kodiye.... '. Few singers can make the listener feel the emotion like KJY does. Specially when he sings devotional. Krishna is one of the most fascinating God in Hindu Mythology. He lived his life to the fullest. As a child, he was naughty and full of pranks. When he grew up to be a shepherd, he showered love on cattle. He mesmerized everyone when he played the flute. He killed his evil uncle and set his real parents free. Rising to become the King of Dwaraka , he was a true knight in shining armour who stole the heart of Rukmini, the princess of Vidharbha . He was a friend and mentor to his cousin Arjuna. The pranks and naughtiness of childhood blossomed and transformed to unmatched intelligence . As he approached middle age, his intelligence evolved and matured into wisdom, culminating in the Bhagavad Gita. His life was his message - He played all his roles to perfection - ...

We all have our own - Our Heroes, idols, icons ... Our parents are usually our first idols - I remember trying to imitate my dad - he was my first hero. My elder brothers were my heroes too - they always seemed to do everything easier. When my brother taught me to play chess, I enjoyed learning the game, but hated loosing the game to him. He was just too good. He seemed to find his way out of any position and win the game. What makes them our heroes ? It is different traits with different that attracts us to our heroes - In my younger days, Sunil Gavaskar was one of my heroes. So was Rajnikanth [ he is still someone I admire and respect - my hero]. My Mom, of course was my icon - there was nothing she could not do for me. What is the common trait that made them all my heroes ? They all did things that I could not - and they did it so well and so easily that thy occupied a special admiration in my heart, whatever may be the situation. I have fought with my brother many times, bu...

It happens to each of us - No exceptions. We all fail at some point. A lot of books and thinkers repeat the cliche ' Failure is the stepping stone for success' , 'Learn from your failures and move on'..... They are all easier said than experienced. We will find these cliches easy to dole out to others, but hard to receive ourselves, just like how the Australian cricket team finds it easy to talk nasty to their opponents, but chicken out when the opponents give it back to them. Coming back to the topic, to me, failure is nature s way of letting you know that you need to take a different approach. Many of us find this the most painful part of failure and are very often in a denial mode - we try the same approach again, only to see the same result. That brings us to a completely new discussion - Is the result an indication of whether we succeeded or failed ? For sure, the world measures us by results. Noone cares how much research you put in and what approach you took...

Travelling by flight in India is so affordable these days. Good for millions of Indians who thought, not long ago, that flying is a previlege that comes only to the rich and super rich. Yet, it doesn t really replace the antique mode of travel - the train. There was a bit of charm and a laid back feeling about a train journey that used to fascinate me. A journey from Chennai to Delhi, usually during vacations was a two day sojourn in the train. Often, food was packed for the entire journey and formed a substantial portion of the luggage. The waiting at the station, anticipating the train, was fun and so was the awe at which I looked at the trolleys and coolies . I used to looked forward to the journey, specially for tasting snacks and tea that is sold inside the train. A trip in the train opened new doors of friendship and often proved to be the idle time for family members to gossip. What a lovely way to spend a day - no deadlines, no phone calls from Boss, no emails -just plain relax...