Cyclone Laila and after

The recent cyclone across the eastern coast of the Indian continent has brought some rains to Tamil Nadu. There was damage to some extent in Andhra Pradesh though.

But, this Cyclone Laila meant different things to different people.For some it was the name. (Read the article on The New Indian Express - Indulge below)

For the Tamil Nadu Govt., it was the wind that produced more energy so that they could announce less power cuts.
For the ordinary residents of Chennai it was just a day of respite but raising mercury to 41 degree celcius.

But for this group - Reclaim Our Beaches (ROB), it was a lot of garbage they found near the broken bridge, Adyar, washed in from the Adyar river estuary after the cyclone Laila hit the coast.
They say that, with a lot of plastic, thermocol, glass etc. it needs a huge cleanup with more volunteers for at least 2 hours.
They have roped in the Students Sea Turtle Conservation Network (SSTCN) to be part of the cleaning up as part of the Network's International Turtle Day campaign.
Still they need more hands.
If you are free join them at Broken Bridge, Besant Nagar beach (walk towards the Urur kuppam side and walk towards the broken bridge)
On May 30, 2010 between 4 pm and 6 pm.
Walk with free hands, the group will provide gloves, trashcans and water.

If you want to join the group in all its future projects sign up with their Google Group.

Chennai Kids Directory on Expresso

It was one of the nicest moments when YOCee released the first Chennai Kids Directory.
Planned in a short time, the official launch of the directory was another chance for me to meet the kid reporters of YOCee informally.

When I sent out invites to YOCee's young reporters, I had mentioned, "Please be with us on this important occasion, as you are our proud reporter who keeps the website busy and buzzing!"

Expresso captured it right. This is the piece that appeared in today's Chennai supplement.
Click on the image to view and read in the actual size text.

Adhikara Nandi at Sri kapaleeswarar Temple

A few pictures of Adhikara Nandi in slideshow

Kapaleeswarar and the English note

It was a wee bit early in the morning. 4.30 am is not a time I dare to take my bike out.

And when I had decided the previous night that I would go to see the gods the next morning, I had to do a little bit of preparation. To leave home at 4.30 am I had set alarm to get up at 4, take bath and of course have the earning morning filter coffee!

All for capturing a glimpse of the Rishabha vahanam procession of Sri Kapaleeswara. Rishabha Vahanam starts off at late night around 11.30 pm and after going around the Mada street, the procession reaches the temple the next day morning.

Then why go at 4.30 am, why not the previous night? That was for the special part of the procession when Kapali dances to the tunes of the English Note (Harikesanallur Muthiah Bhagavathar's) followed by 'For he is a jolly good fellow' both played on the band and not on the nadaswaram!

Yes, it is a special occasion. You need to wait once the Gods reach the 16 pillar mandapam in front of the eastern gopuram of Kapali temple. The five 'Sivan Kovil Samis' - pillaiyar, swami, ambal, subramanyar and chandikeswarar - assemble at the mandapam. Siva (Kapali) at the centre, the other gods do a pradakshinam (clockwise around the deity) and get back to the temple after special arti and upacharam - welcome rituals.

Kapaleeswara stays back. The muscled men who carry the god on their shoulders arrive after a tea break. The band troupe is signalled to take position in front of the God.
The music begins. The English note floats. The men sway to the tunes. Kapali enjoys the dance.
Then He is carried inside the temple in a fast pace, as though a child runs back home after a long tour!
Here is the short video clip.
Perhaps the men were too tired, as it was already hot in March. This year the song and dance did not have the vigour of merriment but were carried out as a ritual.
Still it was special and now enjoy the clip!

Tribute to S. Rajam

On Jan. 29, S. Rajam, musican, musicologist, guru and artist passed away after 91 years of graceful living and serving arts in various forms.

I have been to S.Rajam's place on the Nadu Street, Mylapore on three occasions, on various assignments. I have seen him giving a touch to one of his old paintings, of which we wanted a picture for the Kutcheribuzz dance guide book. I had been to his talks on a few occasions. I have listened to his Naganandini raga kriti 'Sathaleni dinamulu' at a lec-dem session.
All this after a piece I wrote for Mylapore Times in 2005. Those were times I enjoyed writing occasionally for the weekly tabloid on my own and of no assignments.

Earlier, I had known him as a good musician and a good painter, through my mother who looked for classy music legends and listened to them in her times of learning and singing music. She passed on the 'sangeetha gnanam' (which is beyond singing and practising) to us.
Later living in Madras, I had the opportunities to listen to many finer artistes including S. Rajam. At the Painting Exhibition organised by The Prakriti Foundation (2005), I saw much more than his usual paintings and listened to him with my mouth wide open, the stories behind each of his paintings.

His life in his own words, as captured by Lalitha Ram is here.

The scanned copy of my article in Mylapore Times is below. The issue carried a cover picture and a big story inside. It was one of the happy moments in my life.
I dedicate those moments to the grand man of music and arts as a tribute.

Season's special

If you refer to 'season' in Madras (Chennai), it is the December Music Season.

After a decade of only music concerts during the December season, classical dance was added to the calendar and now it is a huge 'season' of everything related to arts!

I look forward to December every year in Madras. Even when I was living outside Madras due to the career I was in, I missed a very few December seasons. The process of planning 'leave application' and travel used to begin in October and after a rejuvenating season, I went back to work towards the financial year end.

This year the season was more special to me.
Apart from listening to concerts, I filed reviews and reports for The Hindu, the newspaper which covers the season extensively.

Here are a few links to my reviews published in The Hindu:

http://www.hindu.com/ms/2009/12/15/stories/2009121550070500.htm

http://www.hindu.com/ms/2009/12/16/stories/2009121650020200.htm

http://www.hindu.com/ms/2009/12/16/stories/2009121650090500.htm

http://www.hindu.com/ms/2009/12/22/stories/2009122250090600.htm

http://www.hindu.com/ms/2009/12/23/stories/2009122350150800.htm

http://www.hindu.com/ms/2009/12/25/stories/2009122550110600.htm

http://www.hindu.com/ms/2009/12/30/stories/2009123050190800.htm

http://www.thehindu.com/fr/2009/12/25/stories/2009122551140200.htm

http://www.hindu.com/fr/2010/01/22/stories/2010012250990900.htm

http://beta.thehindu.com/arts/music/article75801.ece

A set of photographs of concerts I attended during the concert are uploaded here

Additionally, I enjoyed contributing to a website dedicated to Chennai's December season - www.chennaidecemberseason.com .

Read my posts for this website here - http://www.chennaidecemberseason.com/search/label/R.%20Revathi