ALAS!Bangalore is Marooned!!

The macrocosm was BANGALORED;
Alas!But Bangalore was Marooned.
LIke a Phoenix it arised,
From the depressions of IT,they fast cleared,
Bevy in malls & discs from dawn to dusk rocked.
Frenzied sale of contraptions that never stopped,
Little they knew things needed a break......
ALAS!Bangalore is Marooned by rain.!!

Proletarin workaholics slogged
whether day or night;
Little they knew abut the holiday powered
by Mother nature;
Never did they bode this fury,
or believe in augury.
ALAS!Bangalore is Marooned by rain.!!

Corporate ants for a day rested,
Mother nature provided a holiday unrequested.
Bangaloreans hate to see it rain
pleading to the almighty they dont lash again

ALAS!Bangalore is Marooned by rain.!!

Dedicated to the Proletarian class of Bangy!!

AR Rahman Live in BAngalore Part-2

In the confusion of finding a place I lost track of my friend & my gang .(just like in one of those Indian movies ;)).The rendition of songs I should say was impeccable and the crowd exuberant. The crowd was predominantly consisting of people in their early or late 20s, quick to identify the numbers & unrelenting in their cheers. I was standing on 2 chairs stacked one upon another dancing & cheering with a faction of ARR fans. The verve that music could trigger on a crowd I feel is quite amazing & was clearly visible among the fans.

The songs selected for the evening were really apt like “ghanan-ghanan”,”hum-dum suinyorae”,”mangal-pandey”,”azadi “from “Bose”. Songs were such that a majority of the audience could relate to it (i.e)songs that were a “HIT” in both “tamil” & “hindi”. They artists were aboveboard with the rendition of the songs.

The improvised descant from ARR for the songs were quite amazing. ”Shankar Dada” & “madhushree’ were the stars of the evening. But a person who stamped his authority was the percussion maestro, virtuoso was “SHIVAMANI”. His antiques with the various contraption out there on the stage caught the imagination of the people as they rocked to the rhythms. As a tyro percussionist I derived enough inspiration from his performance. The JUGALBANDI between shankar & arr was quite amazing.Shankar with his alaap & arr in his synthesizer. (Quite captivating )The medley of a slower tune, rap & the original tune for the “HUMMA” song showed that ingeniousness of the talent out there on the stage. I should say our country is blessed with a plethora of talented blokes. Only an iota of them break out of the cocoon & be creative.(a sudden platonic thought…;)
Another song that affected me was “AZAADI”(meaning freedom) as I could relate to it very closely.(It is that “WIP” thing you know ;)

As the same old saying goes “all things ….etc..” it was time for the epilogue & as the last lines of the song “VANDE MATARAM” was rendered the skies opened up again with all it’s fury. I felt that the rain added an additional facet to the music being played merging implicitly with the situation. At that moment there was a great feeling of national pride & conceit of being an Indian(I still dunno why!!)……..

Before I am done with the blog the musicians deserve a special mention. The orchestration & the sound effects for the evening was impeccable inspite of the impediments. The flutist & the guitarists deserve a special mention I feel.

Rain started the show….
Rain threatened to stymie the show…
Rain deferred for the show…
Rain finally played the swan song of the show….

Au revoir.....

ARRahman….Live in Bangalore…PART1 ..

Oct 8th…The day when music was the “victor” & technology was a mere façade…

It was a wonderful clement evening at the palace grounds in bangalore.I was one among those zealot fans who had gathered in the venue a good 3 hours before the show was scheduled to start. Figured out a rather vantage point in the 500 bucks area & was eagerly waiting for the show to start.I would be pharisaical if I say the event was a “Total Success”. Every venture has its’ own share of bad luck and so was this event also.

But at around 6:30PM the skies opened up with all it’s fury which was relentless for about 40 minutes. The rain dampened the arena, audience but not their verve. The maestro himself was on the stage with an umbrella to reassure the fans that they would witness an amazing show today…Excerpts from his quote “I am sorry. (quite a rare quality these days).These showers are god sent & it will wash away our sins.” The rain took it’s tool on the electronic gadgets stacked. I suppose that even the props were damaged by the rain. It was a valiant effort by the organizing team to get the things back working. The laser device(3D stuff) conked out & many other added attractions were vitiated due to the damp conditions. As the fans were urging for an early start …shivamani propitiated us with a teaser of a performance as the stage was being arranged for the show, invigorating the fans to a great extent.

At around 8:45 pm the show finally kicked off & to tell the truth it was worth the wait. ARR started with his very own number “FANAA” to get the crowd interested. The tempo was set for the evening with his song. The first two songs for the evening were not of that great sound quality as the equalizers were still coarse & were being fine tuned with evry song that was rendered.
Once the show started it was a virtual treat for the music lovers. ARR made some astute selection of songs to be rendered in accordance to the taste of the crowd which was a master stroke.

The guys in the back rows(like me!!) had a sudden windfall when the organizers allowed the people from the overflowing back rows fill up the more costlier front rows. We felt that we got more than our money worth. I was standing barely 400m from the proscenium.(Just then a platonic thought crossed my mind. ”Music transcends all divisions like class, creed.. well well..i get a bit philosophical at times..It is that P “thing you know…).In a pragmatic sense I should say “I got Lucky”.

Paradise Lost...ooty...
Of Mans First Disobedience, and the Fruit
"Paradise lost" This may not be a magnum-opus like the one from John Milton

The first town that i got to know in my life was this sleepy little hill station called "attachment"(ooty) affectionately called the "Queen of Hill stations"

Perched on the higher reaches of the western ghats it is a very picturesque place... After a hiatus of may be 15 years I decided to make a nostalgic trip down the memory lane to this sleepy town for a quiet holiday,away from the rampant life of the cities was trip to rejuvenate & connect myself to this sleepy town where I was born.

I reached this hill station expecting sylvan & rustic surroundings. But the ground realities were quite different & then I realized that it was an utopia that I had perceived. The prominent change was the "lack of forest cover".Each & every hill slope was taken over for mans' ever increasing demand for real estate trees were felled in rife that were replaced by concrete which quite never harmonize into the ecosystem & looked factitious

"TOURISM" is a double edged sword & I suppose should be handled prudently. TOURISM does bring in the money & employment opportunity for the local demography but at what cost??The cost that we pay has been in the form of exacerbated environmental conditions has taken it's toll,marring the natural beauty of the place bodies that used to cater for the potable water supply have been polluted by sewage & unfit for driking.As a result the place is facing an acute water shortage the good old days the roads used to be well maintained & clean not now the situation is quite different & apathy of the local bodies was clearly visible.The infrastructure of a town is the same that was put up for a few 1000s of people,which is nor overloaded with intermittent influx of tourists & a larger population.During the tourist season the place virtually is in a state of chaos.

I have just mentioned a few issues that are immediately visible...
But on detailed investigation I suppose we could unearth more facts.I suppose everybody can expatiate on length about pollution & conservation I suppose it would be more provident if we could "WORK the Problem".

the citizens of the place are taking some initiatives now after recognizing the fact that "TOURISM" in ooty would thrive only on natural comeliness.To sustain tourism & also the beauty of the locale it is quite clear that we need an "Conserve ooty" drive.But i suppose this should gather greater force & work for the betterment of the locale. And any person who is in love with this enchanting little town should lend his voice in support for the cause...

We need fresh ideas,innovative thoughts...in short an avant Garde that could conserve Ooty...

A paradise is still not lost...