En kadhale..

	Noell James, S.P.Bala - 06. En Kaathaleh-VmusiQ.Com .mp3
	Found at bee mp3 search engine

Its been quite a while since I wrote my last post.Hectic life restricts natural flow of thoughts.Finally found time for something which i never want to give up.
This post is about one of the classics by our home grown genius ARR.We hear good music from good music directors.But the fact is that, good directors extract the best out of music directors such as K.Balachander,a.k.a,K.B.

Song: En kadhale (Tamil)
Movie : Duet
Singer : S.P.Balasubramanium , a.k.a, SPB
Lyricist:Vairamuthu

Song Background :
The vocalist/singer & the saxophonist are in love with the same girl & try to express their emotions in their respective parts on how much she means to them & why she couldnt understand that.

Song Lyrics with my interpretation:

En kadhale en kadhale ennai enna seyya pogirai
Oh my love, what are you going to do to me
naan oviyam endru therinthum nee yen kannirandai ketkirai
Knowing that I am an artist, why are you asking for my eyes

The song starts in a beautiful way when the lover calls for his love with a slow melancholy tone.This sets the mood of the song. The way the guy expresses the girl's demand of sacrificing their love by comparing it to the eyes of an artist is splendid.

siluvaigal siragukal rendil enna thara pogirai
HolyCross or bird's wing, which of those are you going to give me
killuvadhai killi vittu yen thalli nindru parkirai
After making this happen, how could you stay far and watch me

The guy wants to know if she could accept him or not.He emotes the feeling of in the mind of someone, who couldn't understand how the girl could forget those beautiful moments & yet ask him to forget their love.

The slow beats & mild piano makes the perfect blend to the lyrics & music of the song. The saxophonist starts to play the amazing pipe instrument in the lengthy high note which then falls and again raises & reaches it peak. This is a way to express the pain & longing.It is similar to how people cry out aloud to let out their pain.Then comes the instant transition from peak to sudden dip ,followed by a beautiful wavy ending of the note. This is similar to bursting out into tears after crying & calming yourself.


Kadhaley... nee poo erindhal endha malaiyum konjam kuzhayum
My Love, if you threw a flower, any mountain would blush
kadhaley nee kal erindhal endha kadalum konjam kalangum
My Love, if you threw a stone, any sea would be disturbed
ini meelvadha illai veezhvada
Should I proceed or succumb ?
uyir vaazhvadha illai povadha
Should I live or die
amudenpadha visham enbadha
Are you a nector or poison
unnai amudha-visham-enbadha
Or are you mixture of both

The next stanza starts on a mild longing sad tone, where the guy emotes his feeling of how much he loves her.He draws comparisons of how her beauty could disturb the mountains & seas.Then the voice is modulated to question whether he should live or die.The grace of this note could be observed by how SPB sings "Should i live" part with high tone (positive tone) & "Should i die" part with a sad tone(negative tone).Then the lover reaches a perplexed situation where he couldn't describe her as sweet or poison, since she makes him swing between both extremes of happy & sad emotions.

The second instrumental part is when the thoughts of his lady love comes flooding into his mind.Its carries on in a beautiful manner & gradually fuses into a happy note on sight of his love.Then it merges back into the original tone which blends perfectly .

kadhale un kaaladiyil naan vizhundhu vizhundhu thozudhen
My love,I prayed fervently at your feet
kangalai nee moodi kondal naan kulungi kulungi azudhen
You wouldn't open your eyes Hence I cried inconsolably
idhu maatrama thadu-maatrama
Is the change happening to me good or bad?
en nenjile pani mootama
is there accumulation of snow flakes in my heart?
nee thoziya illai edhiriya
Are you a friend? or a foe?
endru dhinamum porattama
Is that the conflict that is going on within me everyday?

The song continues & the singer expresses how deeply he loved her & how he couldn't control his tears due to her absence in his life.S.P.B sings this part brilliantly with complete feel & he emotes the actual feeling of crying while singing the lines.The singer couldn't understand if her absence is good or bad.Everything is hazy& desperately wants to know if she is a friend or foe, if she could ever understand the reason for the current happenings.

The song ends with the same longing for the answer from his love,whether she would accept him or not.

The above masterpiece is so memorable & i tried my best to describe my interpretations.In all i felt the song has a perfect balance between lyrics & music.Hats off to Vairamuthu for his amazing lines & ARR for ...Need i say that?

Imagine

	John Lennon - Imagine .mp3
	Found at bee mp3 search engine

This blog is about one of the classics from the legendary John lennon(The Beatles). I have been addicted to this song for a long time.The first love with the song was when i saw it in my keyboard book. I used to hear a lot about John lennon.But only after hearing this , i could sense his greatness.

There was a reason for me to write about this song now. Few days back the tragedy struck again. The Mumbai blasts.It was lingering in my mind time and again on why people don't realise the importance of this life.So many beautiful things around, yet why this gruesome killing and fighting.There are no answers. I mean you dont know whom to question, when the so called educated turn out to be terrorists these days. Also, the movie Lakshya which beautifully portrays the lives of Jawans.Though there maybe reasons for the fighting, all of us long for the Peace.

The song is given a simple, melodious and very soothing texture with the sound of piano and the singer gets to emphasize with his elegant words .This song was written ages ago, describes how a peaceful life would be enjoyable.This time, more than the musicality, I would love to write about the words which is the soul of the song.

The song flows like this:

Imagine there's no Heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today

Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace

You may say that I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world

You may say that I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one

The author starts off in a feel-good way of expression, Imagine of a life where we needn't think about what will happen to us after death, if our actions should be directed based on going to heaven or hell. Instead if we choose to live for today , you get to enjoy it more. Its so true that life should always about how we enjoy today rather than worrying about the past/future.

The second stanza is comes with my favourite lyrics. Imagine a life without countries!! Nothing to kill/die for . No religion. These lines according to me exactly portrays many of our desire of a peaceful world. No country/relegion, there surely wont be so many loss of living beings on this earth.When there are so many natural factors like earthquake/volcanos which can take away our lives, people should stop fighting amongst ourselves and taking away the much needed peace.

Then comes the essence of the song, when the poet says everyone will think he is a dreamer when he knows there are many like him including me longing for the same things as he does.He hopes everyone on earth realises and fights to get to this beautiful motive.

The third stanze, has another beautiful message. Imagine of a life, when people don't posess anything. Everything that grows can be shared by everyone.Everyone living as a brotherhood.There wont be poverty.It cant be better said i feel.The poverty prevalent throughout the world is some other thing many of us wish it vanishes.The message you can take from this on how we should help others and share everything so that we can make the world a better place to live in.

A song can teach you many things. I strongly agree with this.This is one of the ways you get to realise the greatness of life.I might be exaggerating as some people might think, upon reading this. But no matter,Life is beautiful.Lets enjoy it .Live it and make it worthy for everyone around too :)

Divine Start..

Divinity is something which I would like to start off with.God is someone who is Almighty,the omniscient,the omnipresent.I am not going to argue upon whether he exists or not.That is something beyond human’s reach.Being one among the millions who believe in him,I would like a write something which relates to him.God can be felt through Love.Love is around everywhere.I love Music.So I feel God can be felt best through music.Rather music is a great art which takes you to God.When I refer to music, I also refer to its core ingredient-Words/Lyrics.

I would like to discuss about the following song which is the first divine one which comes to my mind,something I relish & will cherish forever:

Song: Janani Janani (Listen to it in the Mp3 player attached)

Language : Tamil

Composer & Singer : Maestro Ilayaraja

Lyricist : Vaali

Lyrics essence:

An ardent devotee praising the almighty Lord Janani/Parvathi/Durga (All forms of her J)

I am not so great in translating each and every line,so I am skipping the basic translation part.Also for people who are not fond of this lord(As it happens in many cases :D ) can enjoy the soul of it by just replacing the goddess name with any other form of God.

This song starts with a beautiful sloka, slowly recited with careful attention to the words and without music.It reminds me of the Vedas recitation.The actual song starts (in the form of Pallavi) with a strong note by calling the God’s name and saying “Janani ,janani,jagam nee ,agam nee”(Meaning - You are the world,you are everywhere) blended well with the Mridangam’s (Percussion instrument) beat.Then comes the Veena’s(String instrument) part which adds to the divinity thereby setting the tempo of the song.

The song continues with the Bhajan genre coming into play from first stanza(Charanam)with chorus adding to the beauty of the song by repeating every line which praises the almighty.We can also notice that ,first the devotee starts with a mild tone increasing in a gradual manner.This compliments the lyrics very well which needs the smooth transition of the lighter qualities of God to the tougher ones.When the devotee says “Jaganmohini Nee,SimhaVaagini nee” (Jaganmohini & Simhavaagini-represent Goddess Kali/Durga who is known as a fiery/strong God who destroys the evil), he emotes the peak of his praise of the Lord,the repetition of which gradually fades down thereby referring his admiration to something he cannot describe through words.

The second major instrumental piece starts and continues with the Flute’s magic which ends with a perfect blend of Veena.This is something which engrosses in the song.The song continues with the second stanza of praise of the God which keeps the momentum going along.Then comes the third soothening instrumental Veena/Flute piece which starts in a different fast paced manner that gathers the attention of listener .The third stanza continues with the bhajan and reaches a beautiful vocal part when the Aalap follows the lyrics “Shakthi peetamum Nee” followed by increasing vocals & Shruthi(Also called as Chords) which says“Sarva mokshamum nee”(Meaning Reaching you are is the ultimate destiny in Life).The song ends perfectly chanting the God’s Name.

The above description is my way of interpreting the whole song.Forgive me incase of any mistakes.I hope I did’nt change the essence of the song.There are so many other songs in different languages namely kwaja mere kwaja,Noor e khuda,Meherbaan,Anbendra mazhaiyile.. which praises the almighty.I feel we can enjoy essence of any kind of divine song by accepting the universal truth “There might be different forms of God.GOD refers to the same Ultimate controller of all of us.”

All the World's a stage

The famous shakespeare monologue.. 'All the world's a stage..'I hardly understood the inner meaning when i learnt those lines during my schooldays.I never thought those words had experience dwelled with values and philosophies which are so true to the core.Something that's been pricking my heart for a long time.The world's just a stage where we are mere actors!! Its hard to digest this thought, but why do we have to be a dummy throughout our life.Even dog's,cats,animals out in the jungle,birds,trees everything seems to live the life of their own.But why should we "the so-called civilised" humans have to put up with this world which does'nt forgive anyone.I used to wonder it would have been better if we were'nt born civilized.

Many might be wondering the cause which leads to the tone i have used in this blog.I can't name ONE cause which makes me feel this way.It is something which is a aggregation of so many things which i have not only experienced but also having seen others experience that made me pen down these feelings.

Right from childhood where we have to get used to customs which are very tough to be be followed practically.The kids forced to study,slog,work hard for the whole school life to ensure that they do the their final exams exceptionally well just to get an admit to another school(the college)!!! The cycle follows..The routine liked by hardly few thereby forces everyone into the same situation.Now comes the question.Where does the protagonist's part come into picture? He/She doesn't.The childhood defines them as incompetent and incapable of making decisions that they are forced to like/act as if they like whatever they do.Being this way instead of making their own life,they are given a preplanned life.In rare cases,the child gets exceptionally gifted parents who afford and help them making them their life rather than giving them what they wanted to become.In any case I am not blaming any parent for this mishap but its the way most of the normal homo sapiens are.

Then comes the most beautiful part of life (for atleast 99% of the people appox.) .The period of transition from an immature teenager to a sophisticated Professional.The life that gives us the freedom of what we want to be.Love and hate happens frequently and yet in a transparent way.We never hide our feelings which helps us to create great friends(even life partners for some).We shape our career & love life.For some it would be a smooth curve and for others its a torus knot unwounded gradually.When this stage comes to an end, we are back to the actual world(Scary!!)This phase of life makes most of us understand the pragmatism of life.When we realise that, we are referred as matured.

You may as well say-"Gimme a Break!!..Whats the big deal about being matured?".Maturity according to me is the origin of injecting the acting skills inside everyone in a gradual way.It teaches you to accept the world as it is which is actually the most difficult part.We are taught to act responsible which restrains the freedom to do anything at anytime.Basically maturity leads us to take up responsibilities which bases upon formalities(the word i hate the most!!).The word which has been an integral part in lives of many and would always be."What can you do about that!??" - Absolutely nothing..Blame it on life(Or God-whichever suits you).To site some practical difficulties on being practical,we have loads of formal friends around us.Damn!..Who the hell found such a thing..What's the point in knowing someone whom you are not interested to know well? Why are some hypocritical when thy are friends with others??Does life fail to give enough time to explore different people!??..The other irony of life is the wise minds who have realised their mistake are unable to be informal with these actors who are be formal!!Fake relationships hardly last longer.When we realise that, we will be happy for being what we actually like to be. Its like one guy can't change the corrupt nation if he enters politics.People should mutually think of an alternative.I am not goin to provide a solution for this as nothing exists as of now..After all this I am gonna conclude "At the end of the day,Grapes are sour and I am hungry!!"

The State of Confusion

Confusion-The dictionary defines it as "A mental state characterized by a lack of clear and orderly thought and behavior".Is this good or bad?

People get confused about a lot of things.Its quite natural in many cases.For instance a music composer will get confused on various occasions on what notes should follow a particular rhythm.That is when he/she produces a bad song though it wasn't meant to be that way.A story writer gets confused with the story line that he goes askew and finally that part of story goes to trash.Then he thinks afresh and starts from scratch.

In my journey of life I had faced many confusions right from picking the course for high school,college , on and on..As a matter of fact picking your career path or deciding your future is one of the toughest task.Some people plan well in advance,some leave it to god's will, others to the saints who are supposed to be "knowing everything!!!" .Some cases are very interesting.There are these few who go behind their desire and passion...PAUSE..."Wait.I am confused. I have more than one passion.What am I supposed to do now??".. Assuming all ends well they do FINALLY decide upon their career path something comes next "Can I succeed in this or should I stick on to my existing plan?".I had been one among these few and I am wondering if I had lost my brains in the past.Then came the core confusion. "Being confused is not going to help you or not !!! ?" :P

Do I look confused while writing this blog ?? :P .. Maybe I haven't recovered from it fully.But should I? Here is the deal.Being confused is definitely not a disorder.Its just that your mind takes a long time to make decisions.Of course you can ask me 'So you take such a long time to decide and you don't visualize that as something abnormal ??' .The answer is quite trivial. 'I like being unique'.That's because it is not necessary that you have to be clearer on what is to be done next.Then you lose the possibility of thinking over something which is basically getting confused.The satisfaction you get after a long confusion is something you don't get on making quick decisions.But not for petty matters.That case its a BIG problem!! Beware.

So ready to get confused within your limits :P ??

Music-My Breath!

MUSIC-The Magic five letter word which keeps me alive and agile.Its not just something i love but i actually live with it .You may ask me "What is so special/unique about this?"- Music is a form of art which originated across the world,amongst various cultures,passed through many generations and something which would never die and live amongst humans till the world ends (Hopefully not 2012 :P).Its just a union of vocals and instruments which can express all kinds of emotions/situations and what not.It can range from being purely divine to highly profane.It has no sub-classing based on region/religion/caste and unites humans across the globe.Something without which dance wouldn't have even existed!!

Part 1 - Music had always been a part of my life right since i was a baby, my mother used to sing a lullaby to make me sleep.There are no words to express my gratitude to my mom for taking the gamble of sending me to music classes when I was about 6 years old.That is when I started understanding music and picked up the art pretty decently.Those were the years when cassettes and walkmans ruled the world of music.Like any other music freak i badly wanted them. I used to await for every new tamil movie song release and would never miss anything.From Ilayaraja's evergreen melodies to ARR's mind-blowing masterpieces,from TNB,MSS to Nithyashree,Sudha Ragunathan,from MJ to Back street boys music from various cultures boggled my mind and kept me afresh.I had even tried my luck with other classical instruments.First it was violin-I dropped out of it immediately and then mridangam-did a good job.But my teacher bullied me to a great extent that i decided to call it a day.(Injustice to things we learn :P).Later i had to forgo my classical music classes for unavoidable reasons but still some things i learnt can never be erased.Such was the impact.

Part2-College-My theatre of dreams.A place i can never forget not only for the amazing friends/fun but also because if not for it i wouldn't have got the freedom to access various songs not only in tamil but also introduced me to the world of English and Hindi music(other than Rahmans.. :)). I still feel envious about guys at our pilani campus who have an amazing Music club unlike my college during that time."Give me some sunshine...Wanna grow up once again .! :) " .Cant forget the day when my friends were irresistibly patient in the Tyagaraja utsav-classical music concert only because i was singing :D .And the prayer songs which i used to sing, well ahead of college function beginning, with very few audience( yeah u guessed it right.Bunch of old people -"The so called guests" and my poor friends :P ) .The numerous group songs and male duet with Nitin.The memories will remain with me forever. @College friends - Thanks a ton guys.Without your support i wouldnt have been what I am now! :)

Part3-Present-The journey continues.My music database has increased vastly,now with my techy gadgets-( ipod and Sony W-series) i am even more happier.The best part i like about my job is that i will be able to hear music and work at the same time :D .I want to learn keyboard through which i could reproduce the strange flow of music which occurs in my mind at times.Waiting for that to happen soon. There is one crazy impossible wish - "To enjoy all the best songs on earth ":) . I know its silly but i will keep trying till i die ;) ..

My Prayers - "Dear God,Please don't make me deaf & dumb.Instead you can take away my life!!"

For all fellow Music freaks- Please don't miss hearing the best ones since its in a different language.Coz Music is a language by itself :)..

The Child in Me

There are few people who might have wondered if he/she is doing something child-like.There are others who don't even realize that and continue doing the same.Its something which gives them a temporary delight or a sadistic pleasure.I am no exception and I belong to the former category. The very thought of owning something excites me,right from a small pen ,tees to laptops & bikes.The day i was told that my viao laptop order was confirmed, brought out the child in me.I felt sad that i couldn't get hold of it the next moment and I had to wait for 1 more month to meddle with it.There were nights I had dreamnt about it, as in how will it look like and how far it would suit my taste.I was hazy about those since I had ordered online. I told myself "Stop being a kid!! Its just a lappy .There is nothing to get excited about.Just let it go..".It went into deaf ears.I was very much disturbed whether it would reach me safely or not.Amidst of all this perturbation, i heard stories that my lappy went on a road trip (courtesy-caring friend R..! :)).And finally on Jan3(Cant possibly forget the date.I had been counting that for the past one month!!) my cute little baby reached me.Ya thats how i felt when i first touched it.A dad who was worried all along if he would get his baby safely from the other side of the world.When i took him in my hand ,my heart was bouncing with joy :) .The child in me was very much alive and was all over me.Is there anything wrong in letting it out?? Of course not.Why would i want to worry about something, no matter however silly it is, makes me forget all my worries and feel like a kid?