One of those songs which makes me speechless.

Following are the lyrics of one song which literally made me go speechless. Sorry for the tamil and the occasional CAPS lock, people. But this song was just too beautiful to omit from being posted on my blog. Amazing tune, wonderful lyrics - (estranged lovers will love it!).

nenjE nenjE marandhu vidu..
ninaivinai kadandhu vidu..
nenjE nenjE urangi vidu
nijangaLai thurandhu vidu
kaNgaLai vitruththan Oviyamaa…
venneeril meengaL thoongumaa
kaNNeeril kaadhal vaazhumaa (nenjE nenjE)

peNNE peNNE unn vaLaiyal
yenakkoru vilangallavO
kaatrukku sirai yennavO
thanmaanaththin thalaiyai vitru
kaadhalin vaaL vaangavO
kaNmoodi naan vaazhavO..
unnai yeNNi muL viriththu
padukkavum pazhagik koNdEn
yennil yaarum kallerindhaal
sirikkavum pazhagik koNdEn
uLLaththai maraiththEn uyir vali poruththEn yen
suyaththai yedhuvO suttadhadi vandhEn….

nenjE nenjE nerungi vidu
nigazhndhadhai marandhu vidu
nenjE nenjE negizhndhu vidu
nijangaLil kalandhu vidu
kaththi vaiththa kaatrE vandhu vidu
kaigaL reNdai yEndhinEn..
kaadhal pichchai kEtkirEn…
nenjE nenjE nenjE nenjE..nenjE nenjE..

anbE anbE nee prinidhaal
kaNgaLil mazhai varumE.
kaatrenai kai vidumE
vidhai azhiththu sedi varumE
sippigaL udaiththa pinnE muththukkaL kai varumE
kaadhal raajaa.. ondrai koduththaal
innondril uyir varumE
unnai konjam vittu koduththaal
kaadhalil sugam varumE
asthamanan yellaam nirandharam alla
mErkil vidhaithaal kizhakkinil muLaikkum..


Movie : Ratchagan
Music: A.R.Rahman
Singers : Yesudas , Sadhana Sargam

If you haven't listened to it, please do. Its a gem.

Its (Y)our Life :)

This piece of writing out here took me what I would say, a lifetime in experience to explain out. Probably the best way to put it would be that I took a lifetime to realise it ( what a dumber! )

There are millions of people you come across all your life- at work, study, on the roads, or be it anywhere you are. Chances are that you may not remember 99.99% even if you see them again. The remaining 0.01% ( or even less than that if people are shy-natured ) keeps changing as you pass through different stages of life.

You go to kindergarten, make friends there - and before you know to link the name with the person you're out of it. With it goes your memory of the people there ( there might be exceptions here , take me for instance - I still remember two people from my kindergarten!! But that I would reject as a highly insignificant number) Next up comes schooling where you get to grow as you learn, and make friends with all sorts of people. The uniqueness of schooling lies in the fact that you get to gel as a unit- you identify who's who as your age has crossed that level at which you could not remember things. Day in day out, you spend eight hours in class and other events in the school. For people changing schools often, they would have experienced how different each school and the students in it are. They would know how the people in the life changed as they changed schools and got to know new individuals. School grows into college where a completely new set of comrades take over as your "buddies" and "best friends" - invariably this is where one would find his/her best friends and wellwishers who would swear by him/her. ( I'm trying to imply that i'm not gender-biased ;) ) At this age I would say you are best equipped to choose the friends you want to, and actually decide whom you want to keep in life. Boyfriends/Girlfriends normally happen at this stage, and invariably with that clause comes breakups as an add-on. Wondering why I'm beating so much around the bush? Well all these factors point to the truth that the people in your life keep changing as life takes you places. Noone is permanent, the exeunt in the play can happen anytime. I just pointed out a few key exit points in the transitions from kindergarten to school and to college. What do you do when you realise noone is permanently embossed in the pattern of your life , and ultimately it is just going to be YOU and YOU alone who would be left?

At this stage, the pessimist would say - Since noone is permanent in your life, why make friends at all ?

The optimist would say - Since you know that noone is going to be around for you all your life, take your chances- have fun, optimize on every opportunity to be around for them- and most importantly, LIVE YOUR LIFE. Live this moment, and this second as though it is the last time they would be there with you.

Whether you choose to be the pessimist or optimist, lies in your hands.

Yuvvraaj Music Review -A.R.Rahman Strikes!

The music release of the oncoming Subhash Ghai movie - Yuvvraaj , happened recently. I had reason to be excited- A.R.R scored the movie's songs.

To start off this brief review, a general look at the album first up and you realise that the film is an out and out musical. Talk about conveying things through music, Gulzar has done justice to Rahman's tunes by penning apt lyrics which create a sense of anticipation to the listener about the situation at hand in the movie when the song is on. Another observation - a lot of orchestration has been used- and almost all the songs have been seamlessly blended with one another on the BGM front (maybe for the flashback effect? who knows - Subhash Ghai and his fantasies !!)

Shano Shano -

A typical party track- gets you into the groove and dancing - I actually went to the extent of trying out karaoke for this song! Addictive and an instant hit for sure.

Shano Shano Remix-

A slower version of the same song remixed with some hiphop style lyrics-not as impressive as the original I would say. Sometimes certain songs are best left to their original version, or better, remixed by A.R.R. himself and not others. Hope he is listening:)

Main Hoon Yuvvraaj -

Unsure why they included this in the album, but this brief dialogue style song-wannabe with Salman Khan on the vocals is ok - passable. Subhash Ghai-ish again.

Zindagi Zindagi-

Sung mellifluously by Srinivas, here is where the album starts getting a bit hi-fi. Carnatic based composition which more than impressed me - will turn out to be one of the best hits of the year.

(has some common notes with Narumugaiye from Iruvar, Manam Virumbudhey Unnai from a movie's name I forgot, and more noticeably a common note with Luka Chuppi from Rang De Basanti)

Tu Meri Dost Hai-

This song is where the Yuvvraaj theme music kicks in - ARR has included it in almost all the songs, and infused life beautifully into it. A different duet, the music and vocals deliver bigtime- transports you to dreamland. Defines friendship beautifully with its lyrics, and surprise as A.R.R comes in towards the end to render a few lines by himself! Sureshot bigtime hit. (Found some common notes with "Aao Na.."of kyun ho gaya na)

Dil Ka Rishta-

One of my favourites of this album too - plenty of orchestra, vocals, and a totally refreshing tune. Never before heard this type of a rendition. Seven and a half minutes of absolute enjoyment, a peppy song ( supposedly emotional ) and one which has apt English lyrics to go with good verses in Hindi. A.R.R. does an Alaap in the end- don't miss out on it!

Mastam Mastam -

Another peppy track , with cues from Corrs' BGM ( and of course that means it has resemblances to Nenjodu Kalandhidu from Kaadhal Konden) but the similarity kind of ends there. One song which shoots up your energy levels, with nice little instrumentals accompanying it. Cute number.

Tu Muskura -

Bigtime hit. No words to describe how wonderfully this song has been sung. I think A.R.R. must have composed the tune and set the lyrics to it., but anyways it fits in so wonderfully that there is no way noone could not like it. Hear it to feel it - all I can say :) No comments :)

Manmohini Morey -

If Sonu Nigam was an everpresent phenomenon in this album who must have impressed you in all the numbers, here's one person who takes everything away - Vijay Prakash. A hindustani based composition, which requires a lot of training for performance on such a high scale- Vijay has pulled it off with ease. Remember him as the person who sung "Poovasam.." from Anbe Sivam - this is by far the best song in this album but by a slender margin( as far as I gauge this one impressed me the most). Don't miss the alaap interludes.

Overall, Yuvvraaj gets an 9.0/10 from me and a thumbs up to A.R.R. for having the guts to venturing on such territory and actually managing to pull it off.

Yuvvraaj - I'm hooked to it !

One Warrior Departs :(

I dont know how to put the Ganguly retirement across in exact words but I have just written what I feel in this blog entry... It is like you have lived your entire life seeing these players play and now when its time to depart , even one leaves and u feel its a part of your soul ripped away. im telling this cos ever since i started watching cricket in 1992, kapil dev retired first, then came the era of azhar jadeja robin javagal venkatesh manoj manjrekar and the like., and then when the heat was on and i got into cricket and started playing it on the roads came the likes of tendulkar-, then dravid and ganguly burst onto the stage with dominating fashion- indian cricket seemed in good hands., .. there came the era of change-- cricket went from being a test sport to a one day sport majorly- we played more one days than tests.. precisely i must say it was the 1997-1998-1999 period when this change came into effect. the likes of agarkar and mohanty came onto the scene... but none seemed effective enough to support the batting weight of the team. by this time sachin and ganguly had formed a formidable opening pair - which later on went on to become the best in one day history by a large margin. match after match, day in day out, these guys slogged in the middle to get the runs and pile up the hundreds. our middle order stood tall in the presence of rahul dravid, azharuddin, nayan mongia, navjot singh sidhu, with the bowling still having problems apart from javagal srinath and anil kumble. prasad was beginning to become repetitive. and then laxman came to the fore in a rare find for indian cricket. he filled the void of a patient strokemaker who was willing to bat with the top order as well as the bottom order. under this influence, we marched ahead with a few losses and fewer wins. we lost azhar and jadeja and a few others to the match fixing scandal that rocked indian cricket- when all thought it was curtains for indian cricket, dada scripted a captaincy spectacle in the australia series of 2001. (notable is the way tendulkar smashed the aussies to smithereens in the 1998 home series also!)


He started what i will call the renaissance of indian cricket - where we went from being just a team to a force, a power in the cricketing world none can avoid. Thanks to the media and more than that, the performances of the four people who were now the crux of the indian batting lineup - laxman, sachin, dravid, and ganguly- they came to be known as the Fab 4. As they reached their peak together , other teams buckled under the constant pressure of their batting prowess. Ganguly grew from being a player to a captain nonpareil- tendulkar a master from being a stroke of genius- dravid from the master of dot balls to an all season player- laxman from a young irresponsible chap to a big innings player. Time and again, australia was the target they aimed at. Now, as they reach the end of what i will call the best ever era of indian batting, one warrior needs to depart. A god in his own terms as everyone else in the fab 4 is, he was what one can describe as the best enigma. noone could understand him, but he made sure he could understand everyone and make them gel as a unit. Only after he called quits did I realise the magnitude of the decision. one person i had grown up seeing him play, would no more be on tv smashing those bowlers for towering sixes and those gentle pushes on the offside. The fab 4 would no more be the fab 4.- they would soon be three., and two and eventually fade away. Time is the cruellest thing I would say- despite feeling really sad and down for the past few hours about this announcement, i should say ganguly did the best he can to indian cricket, as everyone else in the fab 4 did. he is a genius who lost his way somehow in the between and became a leader instead of the way tendulkar went. in my terms , losing his way meant his path to unending fame and glory as the best captain india had ever had. He would be remembered by one and all as a player who never said quits. As his swansong begins, let us all cheer him every moment in this series. He deserves more than just a tear from our eye.

Des Ki Mitti- by A.R.R.

Well, this blog has been musically over-inclined and I guess given the madness of music in me, it will be that way for the rest of the future also.. And straightaway coming to the topic this time, I was listening to that old beaten track of A.R.Rahman that most miss out on - infact the entire album I should say is one of his very best.- Bose-The Forgotten Hero. Quite aptly to the title of the movie, the music was forgotten without any trace. Probably because it was a documentary? Lets chuck that out- for you guys and girls who're reading this blog out there- I strongly advise you to listen to this track - "Des Ki Mitti" from the album. I reckon it's instrumental version is what I listen to normally., and this piece leaves me stunned everytime I listen to it. Sometimes there are little tears forming in the eye- out of love for the nation. I mean, this guy knows his patriotism. There is a difference between those Lord Of The Rings'ish type of music which causes you goosebumps and such kind of music.. There is simply something extra in Des Ki Mitti which tugs at those gentle strings on which you tend to get a little bit emotional. The tune starts off as you can expect with any good instrumental, and then suddenly takes a turn towards the heavens - in reverence of the great Mother India. Listen to it and you'll know what I have been writing this blog about.

P.S.- For people from my Raga Discussing Group- I find a lot of Des Ki Mitti in ARR's Saawariya Sanwariya from Swades- especially in the beginning of "Sanwariya.." and also some of "Des Ki Mitti.." in "Vaazhga Vazhgave .." from Kadhal Virus - the Tamil movie - also of ARR's. Is it the familiar feeling of patriotism in the first two songs that is driving me crazy over them, or has it got something to do with raga bases being similar for all the three? Also - Des Ki Mitti seems to have tinges of the Instrumental bit which comes in between the 2nd and 3rd minute of "En Kaadhalae." from Duet- also an ARR masterpiece.

Cheers,
Sreenath!

Wrenching the soul out..

Not so recently (but definitely relevant), I attended a special screening of Rang De Basanti - on Independence day. As the movie rolled on , there were invisible fangs poking into my skin- that feeling of your guts at rock bottom ( the feeling when you go up in a lift? ) and a lot lot more. Every moment of the movie brought back memories of people who had been there when I watched the movie first-up at Ega theatre in Chennai- but now, aren't there to see what and where I am. Little tears rolled down my cheeks and I could not hold back from being little emotionally overcharged( thankfully some death scene was going on in the movie too - I escaped notice by others) Subconsciously, my mind was pressing onto me the fact that I may have committed some sin in my previous janma- or life as they say it in Hindu Vedas. The yearning human mind searches for a multitude of reasons about what may have been the "kartha" or doer of this deed- in the end it ends up with too many things negatively pointed towards yourself. Inevitable I say- for the person that I'm- I keep telling myself something went wrong with me.

Perhaps I did commit some sin? Who knows- but I very well know that what is gone is gone and irretrievable., death of a person (be it in the body and soul) is all but the same- the latter I would say is more excruciating infact. I know many will concur with me on this. Its just the irony of life.

You know the value of someone only when they're gone and will never, ever, be with you again.

That Place - That Beauty... Called Home.!

There are different ways in which people may perceive the tag "home" in this world.. Some hate going back there, some love it- some never want to leave it and some others do not even have one. So what makes home so special?

The very fact that its a place where you, and only you rule the roost.. Noone to disturb your routine and none at all to feel uncomfortable with.

The thought that it is YOUR home- the responsibility of having to maintain it as yours and feel comfortable in it.

That fact that whatever you do, it is all within the limit... those little walks to the grocery shop, beautiful times on the terrace chatting your way to glory on 10 paise calls with friends.. those get togethers where nothing seemed to matter except making fun.. Those moments when you think train journeys to college should never end...
those quirky moments when you looked back at a girl to see her look back.. and laughed to yourself..
those gully cricket matches you played in dead ends..
those eatouts when you literally didn't have more than 20 rupees in the pocket..
those moments when you cried because you ate too much of tasty homecooked food...
those times when you lied to friends to go out with your girl/guy..

all these will keep lingering on in my mind forever..


And I know everyone will know this- but yet again, this is the single largest reason for us to hate or love home.( In mycase, love of course).. Relationships. They are the single most reason we have such a close bond with our home.. we tend to associate home with cordial people who love you, who care for you, and who will go out of their way to make sure you have the best life possible.

For all those who have done that for me, are doing it and will hopefully continue to do so in the future , thanking them will forever be an understatement. Need I say more about why I miss that heaven on earth called home so much.

Its Cos I Love You All!