The Travails of Single South Indian men of conservative upbringing" or "Why we don't get any...

Sidin Vadukut Writes:
Sudin's subtle humor will blow your mind (see below). Sudin: I see you man.

"Our futures are shot to hell as soon as our parents bestow upon us names that are anything but alluring. I cannot imagine a more foolproof way of making sure the child remains single till classified advertisements or that maternal uncle in San Francisco thinks otherwise. Name him "Parthasarathy Venkatachalapthy" and his inherent capability to combat celibacy is obliterated before he could even talk. He will grow to be known as Partha. Before he knows, his smart, seductively named northy classmates start calling him Paratha. No woman in their right minds will go anyway near poor Parthasarathy. His investment banking job doesn't help either. His employer loves him though. He has no personal life you see. By this time the Sanjay Singhs and Bobby Khans from his class have small businesses of their own and spend 60% of their lives in discos and pubs. The remaining 40% is spent coochicooing with leather and denim clad muses in their penthouse flats on Nepean Sea Road. Business is safely in the hands of the Mallu manager. After all with a name like Blossom Babykutty he cant use his 30000 salary anywhere. Blossom gave up on society when in school they automatically enrolled him for Cookery Classes. Along with all the girls."

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Write to me: suman 'at' techwritersindia 'dot' com

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Ilayaraja: Maestro of Melody

All those who grew up in South-India during the early 80s to the late 90s are bound to have been touched by the musical magic of Ilayaraja. Enough has been said about his genius, divine touch, and the prolific number of songs he'd created. I am going to touch upon how Ilayaraja's music moves me: how Ilayaraja's music can make you fall in love. How it can make being broken hearted a trip. And how his music can connect and make you laugh or cry or reflect based on the mood of the song.

In 1988 Manirathnam's Gitanjali was released. Music Score: Ilayaraja. The music -I am pretty sure about it- probably increased the average number of people falling in love in a month, to Himalayan proportions. Everyone around me at that time was occupied in falling in love. Love was so much in the air. I can't remember anyone who'd watched that movie only once. It was like Potato chips: you just can't eat one. 'Aamani Paadave' is my all time fav Telugu song. I have fond memories of that song.

Gitanjali opened my eyes... and ears. I started collecting Raja's music. God, the more I dug the more I unearthed.

Another movie that will stay dear to me -this time it was Tamil- is Punnagai Mannan. Ilayaraja was unleashing his repertoire in electronic music at that time and yet... the music was nothing less that soul stirring.
There are 100s more... I can write all night, but I think for the uninitiated this is motivation enough.

Raja doesn't play his music. He 'writes' the score without playing a note. I don't know how amazing is that, but what's amazing is the fact that he used to 'write' score for five or six songs under a few hours.

He released two instrumental albums 'Nothing but wind' and 'How to name it'. Both albums are defacto additions to a fan's collection.

After achieving dizzying heights in movie music and making the day for so many music directors from up north (like Anand-Milind who became famous by giving hits that were lifts from Raja's compositions; 'Dak dak karne laga' from Beta is one such hit.) However, the Hindi movie makers shunned him; I don't know why. They kiss A.R. Rehman's feet now (he is also from Chennai). Countrymen ignored him but the world didn't: Raja became the first Asian to perform in the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in London. He was commissioned to write a Symphony for them. He did and from then on became 'Maestro' Ilayaraja. (...to be continued)

Links

Thiruvasakam Symphony

Guitar Great Prasanna on Raja

Raja Song List

Lessons From Raja: An analysis of Raja's music

IMDB Entry

John Scott's answer to why the first symphony is yet to be released

Write to me: suman 'at' techwritersindia 'dot' com

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Wedding Suit

Last weekend I was shopping for my wedding suit with my fiance and her sis. I learnt quite a few things during that time.
Dacoity happens in shopping malls like Shoppers' Stop as well. Suits are lousy in India (unless you buy the top-of-the-line brands). Salesmen are ill-informed. All the noise that we made about the Lakme India Fashion Week is at best self-congratulatory: we still don't have a good range of choices (wedding attire is a huge category) in the organized sector. But hey you funky fashion designer why don't you take a look at Nalli's or Kumaran's in Chennai and learn how to market and cater to your customers?
Write to me: suman 'at' techwritersindia 'dot' com

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Numb

I have been busy these days so am not posting regularly. Here a some quick updates.
1) I bought a new guitar - a Gibtone jumbo.
2) I played guitar and sang in a show at office.
3) I am struggling with the copy for my wedding invitation. Do you have any ideas for an online invitation? Buzz me.
4) My PC at home was attacked by a Trojan. The result was that my PC would shutdown within minutes of connecting to the net. I fixed it today. Please install a PC firewall on your PC. CA is giving a one-year free trial.
More later.
Write to me: suman 'at' techwritersindia 'dot' com

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