My entry to the field of music...

Having shared one of my experiences now, I want to get back to what I was talking about earlier and how I relate to it.... Classical Carnatic music...

It was when I was in forth that my mother wanted me to start learning Classical Carnatic music. My admissions to one of the music classes happened even before I could understand what's happening and decide if I wanted it or not, as my parents thought I was too small to make decisions for myself, which is true. This idea might have struck my parents may be because most of my family members are trained, well-known musicians and they wished to see my reach heights in this field, which is way this decision.
It was a Thursday; I didn't even know my class started that day... before my mother reminded me today was the day... I was in my shorts; I took a book and went to my music class and a parent there told me to wear something that covered my legs properly and not shorts as it will hurt my lap when I put the taalam...

My entry to the field of Classical music started this way.... with new environment, new friends, and new experiences... and of course free advises....

The last episode of the superb experience......

A ground huge enough to hold the capacity of almost ten thousands people was over crowded with people trying to get a close glimpse of the music maestro A R Rehman and watch him perform live. Djs of fever104 tried to capture this enchanting spirit of the capital city by talking to people about how excited they were to see Rehman perform live... and the responses were on the expected line... people felt that words could not express their excitement and feeling... this voice of the enthusiastic crowd was aired live through all the fever104 stations across India.
Over 20 speakers were set up in the ground to reach out to people who gathered in such stunning number. The stage was beautifully set, light effects were as good as they could be... we stood right in front of the dais while holding our breathe to see Rehman live... without having to wait for long the event started.. and went on till 11.30... Chitra Vijayshankar, Hariharan, Kailash Kher, Sadhana Sargam, Naresh Iyer (the roobaroo singer), blaaze (the rapper, Shivamani (the drummer) and Neeti Mohan (the maiya maiya singer)were the main performers who stole our hearts that evening.

We got back to the rooms discussing and analyzing the event. We were thankful to fever104 for organizing an event, so huge, and making us a part of it. I don't think anyone of us slept that night... It was not just the excitement that was the reason for this, but also our growling stomach. But none complained. The night passed...

We were ready to leave the hotel early in the morning on Sunday when i spotted Wasim Akram (Pakistan Cricketer), Shivamani, Chitra near the reception and I didn't miss the opportunity to take there autographs.... after which we left Delhi and got back to Bangalore... As usual.. college from Monday... But the excitement continued... In college, with friends and relatives... and now I share it with you after almost four years and the excitement still continues.....

The A R Rehman's Delhi concert 2008 was a great success and the whole event of about five hours reached fans of Rehman and other people who couldn't make it to the concert themselves through television. The videos of the same are available in 8 parts....

Here are the links to those videos...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMQPU5o69XY"> - Part 1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MmD49R1pLBg&feature=related"> - Part 2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWIvAJmDdAY&feature=related "> - Part 3

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8w997DCddY&feature=related "> - Part 4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANambidoHfE "> - Part 5

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X15cI8NDCKI "> - Part 6

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CM_2A_jPDI "> - Part 7

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifs7Y4hUp-U "> - Part 8


* Spot me in one of the videos.....

Now... What is every more exciting is what happened after we reached Delhi...

We reached Delhi at around four, representatives from Fever104 team with placards had arrived to the airport to receive us by the time we took our luggage, finished all the formalities and came out. We got into the bus we were directed to and were taken to the hotel. Wow... what a nice place to be in? Amazing ambiance, beautiful scenery, pleasant crowd, super hot cars... and what not? We were received by smiling faces, offered a nice welcome drink and were taken to our rooms. My cousin sister, who is a doctor, joined us and we have a great time together.


Later, at around 5 we were invited to a tea party, organized exclusively for us. We got ready and reached. It was a huge hall, with superb light effects and all the people who won the contest from all over India, joined us. We joined a gang of people and introduced ourselves. It was quite embarrassing for me when a middle aged lady amongst the group came up to me and asked if I was the girl who said… I shall take my brother along with me only if he was nice to me for the rest of my life. It was only then, that I realized that people took things said on air, so seriously. But the fact is, my brother who is elder to me by three years, had been nice to me till then and I was confident he will continue to be so for the rest of my life, which is very true. I told it very casually on air and I explained the same to the lady. The smell of different chats,samosas,chips ans veg puff filled the air and we filled our hungry stomachs with everything we cold lay our hands on. At around 5.30 we left the hall got into the bus and reached the venue.

One of my dreams coming true......... :)

Having given a prelude about Classical Carnatic Music, I now want to share my experience which I consider fabulous and interesting.... So please read on...

It was during my first pre-university that this incident took place, formed an unforgettable beautiful memory in my mind. The festival of lights, Deepavali was nearing and we had vacation in college. It was one other normal afternoon, me in my room with the radio on, fighting my sleep after a heavy lunch, trying to study. I heard the disc jockey announcing a contest. The contest was simple, the DJ asks a question about A R Rehman with three options... and if you knew the answer sms it to the number that the DJ gave on-air. If your answer is right and if the computer picks your number from a list of hundreds of numbers you will win couple air tickets to go to Delhi, stay in a five star hotel and VIP passes to watch Rehman perform live. Generally, when we hear such contests on air, the tendency is to feel that we wont win, its pre-planned, it is given to people they know so on and so forth and with so many "ifs" I had the same feeling. But I was sure I knew the right answer so took a chance and sent the message and was praying I should win it. I forgot I had to study and was thinking if I simply wasted time and money on something I strongly felt, won’t be mine? Immediately I received a message saying my answer was right and I might be the lucky one to win. But again the same feeling of ”I wont be that lucky" continued so I saved that message and was planning how I can trick my brother with it.

Just after two minutes the DJ called me, he said my number was picked by the computer. I was super excited and I guess I never thanked a computer so much than I did now. He asked me the same question again and I gave the same answer again and was applauded for it. My voice was filled with so much excitement that he said he could make out how excited I was through it. But this excitement did not continue for too long as I was told there was another round for me to clear to win those passes. He asked me my hobbies and when I said I am a singer he made me sing "har ghadi badal...." but trust me I was in no mood to sing, all I wanted was the COUPLE PASSES. After all this, finally he came to the point and said he would give me the names of three crackers (Deepavali time you see) and I must choose one out of the three and if it exploded saying "CONGRATULATIONS" then I win else that's the end. bijli, flower pot and atom bomb were the three crackers, I immediately said flower pot don't know why I said so. He made me wait for 2-3seconds and then I heard a load noise with lots of crackers bursting and finally heard the word that I was waiting to hear... "CONGRATULATIONS." I screamed with joy and my excitement was ten times more than what it was earlier. He asked me whom I would like to take along with me. I said it will be my brother who can join me, only if he is nice to me for the rest of my life. After all this he said he will give me a call just before he airs our conversation so that I can call all my friends and relatives and tell them to hear me on air. I started calling all my relatives, sent messages to all my friends and brought my mom and sat in front of the radio as it played in full volume. Later all my friends and relatives who were equally excited as I was, called me and told that my voice really sounded very well on air and expressed their happiness for me.

That evening was special, infact very special, not just because I won something so nice but also it was the first time I did something like this and it worked. When my dad and brother came home I shared my experience with them and could not sleep that night as questions like, how the concert might be? Who all will be a part of it? Isn’t fever 104 making a loss for itself by giving me all this? What benefits do they get from giving all this? Will I be able to meet Rehman personally and talk to him? Etc etc ran in my mind.

The next day, a fresh Friday, I with my dad left to fever104 office, on air port road, to collect whatever I won the previous day. We reached the office, my dad checked all the papers on which I had to sign, we collected everything and the lady there told me that I and my brother must reach their office on Saturday morning with our entire luggage by 8. I came home and spent the entire day thinking about what I would be doing the next day at this time. In the evening I packed our bags and made everything that we needed ready.

The dawn came, me and my brother got ready and left to fever104 office after my mother finished her instructions on how careful I must be. We reached the office and were taken to the airport with royal treatment. We placed ourselves comfortably on the seats and started familiarizing ourselves with our co-passengers. It was nice to know that three other people who won the same contest were traveling with us. One couple, two sisters and two colleagues joined me and my brother in our journey from Bangalore to Delhi. We became friends with them and started chit chatting and in no time reached Delhi

Classical Carnatic Music

Classical Carnatic Music has a very rich heritage and cultural background and its existence can be traced down to centuries now. It is a system of music mostly associated with the southern states of India; Karnataka, Andra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Unlike Hindustani music, Carnatic music mainly focuses on the "Sahithya" aspect that is, the meaning and the words used to convey that meaning in a "Kriti." A kriti is a format in which a musical composition is made. A kriti can be split into three parts Pallavi, Anupallavi and Charanam.
                          Pallavi (equivalent to refrain in western music) is the thematic line of the song, that is, it is the first few main lines of the song. It is generally four short lines, but is repeated twice in order for the percussionists(people who support that vocalist with instruments) to get an idea of the "taalam" (rhythmic patter in which a composition is set, meter in western music) that is chosen and also for the audience to familiarize themselves with the song that's being sung. Anupallavi comes after the Pallavi and is usually the second section of any composition. It is optional and is followed by two or more Charanams.Charanam which means foot is the last part of a composition and is sung after the anupallavi.There may be multiple charanams to a composition which make up different stanzas, but in compositions that do not have an anupallavi, there exists a Samsthi Charanam which combines both the anupallavi and charanam of the composition which follows the pallavi. Some kritis also contain what is called the Mukthayi Swaram or Chitte Swaram which is a  combination of Swaram (the basic elements of music as a whole, Sa, Re, Ga, Ma, Pa, Da, Ni) placed after an anupallavi to enhance the beauty of the composition. This blending of different swaram is done by placing swaram that give a nice sound next to one another and sounds good when heard.     

The whole range of music available today can be broadly categorised into Classical music and Western music. Indian Classical Music is one of the oldest musical traditions in the world. In India, Classical music is well acknowledged than Western music, however,  the latter is gaining popularity from the past three to four decades. Classical music is further classified into Carnatic and Hindustani music forms. Carnatic music is widely practised in Southern parts of India and Hindustani music in Northern parts.
                           

A JOURNEY IN THE WORLD OF MUSIC

Music is an art which infuses happiness in every soul. It is an universal art form which retains its popularity from generations, surpassing the changes in every stage of its journey till today. It is regarded and acclaimed throughout the world since time immemorial. 
                       Although it has been influenced by the cultural and religious forces, it has retained its originality and appeals to all strata of society.  People listen to music, with the objective of deriving solace and enjoyment at the same time. Music gives a deviation from the normal, mundane work and for some it heals mind when they are in a disturbed state of anxiety, anger and frustration. The fact that it is an universally well accepted art and everyone relates to it in one form or the other becomes the reason for me to choose "MUSIC" as my theme as I make attempt to start a blog of my own.