My Season Schedule.

(Photo taken during my performance marking the book (Kirukkalgal) release function of film actor, Sri. Parthiban. In this concert the stage was shaped as a huge white lotus!)

December being the most hectic month for musicians, I am hard-pressed trying to find time and energy for little else other than my veena practice (also since typing involves hands and arms, I need to preserve them for my veena performances during the music season!). I shall start posting on informative topics from the last week of December. If I happen to find time and energy, I shall try to post something even before that.

MY SCHEDULE THIS MONTH:-

1)DECEMBER 6TH AT 6.00 P.M.

AIR&AIMA Music Festival at the AIR's multi-track studios.

2)DECEMBER 13TH FOR A WEDDING RECEPTION AT KARUR.

3)DECEMBER 16TH RECEIVING THE TITLE OF "SANGEETHA KALASARATHY" FROM SRI PARTHASARATHY SWAMI SABHA 6 TO 7 P.M AWARDS FUNCTION. PERFORMANCE FROM 7 TO 9 P.M

4)DECEMBER 20TH AT 6.00PM

BRAHMA GANA SABHA

5)DECEMBER 25TH AT 9.30 A.M.

SAMVADA BY SAMPRADAYA, IN THE PANEL OF "MUSICIANS AND CRITICS."

6)DECEMBER 25TH AT 7 P.M

SRI PARTHASARTHY TEMPLE, TRIPLICANE FOR THE MARGAZHI UTSAVAM

7)DECEMBER 29TH AT 6.30 P.M

NANGANALLUR SRI ANJANEYA TEMPLE.

My Granddaughter, Shreeya!

Little Dolly!

My Granddaughter!

Shreeya Paapooooo...............!

ENERGY BEARERS 1

(Photograph of Moonstone )

Gems are not only precious, they can be semi-precious too! Gems and crystals are terrific energy-carriers. People who believe in the benefits of gems generally tend to overlook the importance of cleansing and energising the gem or crystal they wear on their body. The open-back style (for the rays of the gems to fall on the finger related to the corresponding mount)finger rings are meant for astrological purposes. Such rings are prone to dust and fungus collection between the metal and the gem behind the ring. Bad energies gather around fungus and dust collection, blocking the positive vibrations of the stone! Consequently the gem fails to yield the expected good results and gradually may even bring negativity into the life of the wearer.

Washing the rings with ordinary soap water is recommended. To clean the insides thoroughly, keep aside a new,unused toothbrush, which will ensure that every particle of dust and fungus is removed from the open-set ring. To energise, the rings have to be immersed in a copper glass of fresh water overnight. It is also recommended to wash the same in milk (unboiled). Finally incense sticks are used to energise the rings further.

Even the most beneficial gems operate effectively when they are worn periodically. Constant and continuous wear of the same gem-ring tends to gradually slow down to zero-activity. This could happen for apparently no reason, but the fact remains the same! By using it periodically (alternate between wearing for a month, or two weeks or 10 days to keeping it aside for a week , ten days, one fortnight or even a month!) the wearer gains the added benefit of experiencing a fresh surge of positivity, boosting his morale as well as his prosperity!

In a discussion with a gem specialist, I learnt that the wearer would attain instant wealth (money in the form of a bonus, gift or even lottery) by wearing or keeping a Garnet close to his body! But using the same stone for a longer period than the required amount of time could produce ulcers in the stomach, or any other abdominal problem! He even said the required period of using the Garnet varies from one person to another and it is difficult to determine the exact duration suitable for different individuals.

I also learnt that the usage of American diamond helps in weight reduction! Pearl and Moonstone are the friends of women. These stones set in an open ring (of gold or silver) are best worn on the index finger. Even though the index finger is identified with the mount of Jupiter and recommended for usage of Jupiter related stones like Yellow Saphire or Topaz, this finger is most suited for the usage of Pearl and Moonstone essentially because certain nerves of this finger are directly connected to the brain! The lustre, coolness and tranquility of Pearl or Moonstone when worn on index finger are transmitted to the brain, the effect of which is startlingly evident within just one week of using the stone. The wearer gets sound sleep, there is an added lustre in the countenance and complexion of the wearer and a general feeling of well-being. The negative aspect of continuous usage of either Pearl or Moonstone is hyper-senstivity. It makes the wearer highly emotional and touchy to the point of breaking into tears at the drop of a hat! Moon being the karaka of mind, its stones,Pearl and Moonstone naturally influence the mind.Whenever this point of touchiness is reached, it is advisable to remove the stone and keep it aside for a while. The best way to energise Pearl or Moonstone is by immersing them in a cup of purified water (not tap water) and keeping them exposed to the rays of a full-moon. For that matter, all other gems also benefit from energising in a similar manner. Pearl and Moonstone are representatives of the Goddess Herself! Most of the slokas of Soundarya Lahari compare Goddess to the moon and Her lustre to that of a Moonstone!

Moonstone brings out psychic abilities in people. Moonstone helps in heightening intuition and also fulfills wishes. For people suffering from insomnia, Moonstone is ideal. Even if it is not worn on the index finger, it could be held in the palm of the hand or kept under the pillow to drift into a dreamless slumber!

For anybody into gardening, they would see miraculous results by watering plants wearing a Moonstone pendant or carrying the stone close to the body. It is even better if the water runs down over the Moonstone and onto the plants for abundant growth and fertility!

It is highly recommended to carry a Moonstone in the shirt pocket to one's own business venue or for meetings to ensure maximum productivity!

The Moon Dasa (Chandra Dasa) and natives who belong to Kataka Rasi (Punarvasu 4th Padam, Pushyami, all the 4 Padams and Aslesha, all the four Padams) are generally advised to wear Pearl or Moonstone. This is a safe stone that can be used by anybody!

For people who believe in idealistic stuff, here is the method for wish fulfillment through Moonstone: Place a Moonstone on the palm of your hand and whisper your wish to it.Keep it exposed to the rays of a full moon and let it remain there till the next full moon, the moon will ensure that your wish gets fulfilled!

Diamonds and Blue Saphires are extremely potent stones capable of yielding remarkably good or bad results. It is always advisable to test them before buying them, like placing them under the pillow during night time and holding them close to the body during daytime. Princess Diana lost her precious life within hours of wearing a Diamond Solitaire gifted by Dodi Fayed.

(To be continued.........)

His Excellency!

I landed in Delhi for a concert on the day Dr. A.P.J.Abdul Kalam was sworn in as President of India.The streets of Delhi were decorated with hoardings announcing in colourful letters-"SALAM KALAM!" I liked the sound of it! Like the rest of the country, I was tremendously drawn to his intellectual personality. His informal and simple behaviour was an added attraction, not to mention his vegetarianism! I have this soft corner for anybody who is a vegetarian, more so when it is chosen as an option. His knowledge of Hindu scriptures touched me further. As though all that was not enough he also knew how to play the veena!!!!!!!!!!! I told myself, now this is somebody I've gotta meet!!

I was glued to the TV in my hotel room in Delhi, watching the swearing-in ceremony. To my delight, the President quoted "Endaro Mahanubhavulu..."(the famous pancharathnam of Sri Thyagaraja Swami). I was fascinated!
I wondered if our paths would ever cross, and YES, they did! Rashtrapathi Bhavan called me to perform for the President on International Women's day in March 2003. I was ecstatic that I would be meeting Dr. Kalam finally!

At some point I had to ring up Rashtrapathi Bhavan to inform them of our travel arrangements, and while my call was being connected to the concerned person, I was taken aback to listen to my own veena playing on the phone. Later, as requested by the concerned officials in Rashtrapathi Bhavan, I had presented all my latest CDs.

Sri Madirimangalam Swaminathan (mridangam), late Sri. Kovai Viswnathan (ghatam) and I arrived in Delhi a day prior to the concert. We were accomodated in Rashtrapathi Bhavan itself. We were taken around the Bhavan. We also toured the Moghul Gardens and within the identical wing of the President's living quarters. We were impressed by the size of the rooms and the grandeur of the place.

As per our appointment the three of us reached the President's office next morning. After a short wait we were shown inside the office. To our utter shock and delight, the President of India himself walked all the way from his chair to the doorway to welcome us, his personal security following him closely. The three of us felt a little flustered by his gesture. He spoke in chaste tamil and put us at ease. His courteous and humble manners swept us off our feet.

He gently asked Sri. Swaminathan, "Where do you stay in Chennai?"

"Tiruvanmiyur"

The President was keen to know where in Tiruvanmiyur.

"Near the bus terminus Sir."

President looked very interested, "Is your house anywhere near Hotel Bharani?"

Sri. Swaminathan was clearly flustered, "Yes Sir."

His Excellency went on to tell us that he used to frequent Hotel Bharani on Lattice Bridge Road, Adyar while was teaching in Anna University. He said he liked the tiffin there.

His Excellency asked me about my family and when I told him that my second daughter, Haritha was doing her Electrical and Electronic Engineering (she was in second year of the course in 2003) in Anna University, he looked very happy and spoke very highly of Anna University.

I presented him a copy of my research on veena and he promised to go through it. While we were conversing, he abruptly got up from his chair, saying, "Please come with me". The three of us got up uncertainly. He turned and walked towards the wooden (or was it glass?)wall lining behind his table. He pushed at a panel which opened slowly to reveal a garden. We almost gasped, not realising all the while that it was a door, and that too a private access to the Moghul Gardens!

"Please come", the President repeated and we moved behind him slowly. The security man inside the office leapt into attention, quickly picking up his walkie talkie or whatever, issuing crisp orders in hushed tones, all the while pinning us with his sharp gaze. Obviously the security never expected the President to lead us to the garden, as though we were all sashaying out for some fresh air! Since the garden was open to public view, we could even spot many tourists at a little distance. We were flabbergasted and terribly concerned that His Excellency was walking nonchalantly into the gardens !

In no time atleast 20 or 25 armed guards rushed to surround us, walking cautiously and closely behind us. The three of us felt uneasy, but we walked respectfully behind the President. After a reasonably long walk, he stopped near a jasmine creeper and described how he had stamped it accidentally during his morning walk. His Excellency narrated a poem (which he had written on the creeper). I was not sure if Sri.Swaminathan and late Sri. Viswanathan were able concentrate on the poem, as for me, I was totally keyed up by the situation and by the presence of alert security men surrounding us. I felt a great sense of relief as we walked back towards the President's office.

While taking leave of His Excellency, I told him that my mother was a great admirer of his, but could not come as she was not keeping well. What he said took my breath away, "No, no, don't worry, I myself will go to her house to see her."

On our way out I ran into the President's private musicians (most of them spoke malayalam). They were a friendly lot. They played their musical instruments to show us a song composed by the President.
Instantly it struck me that I should learn the song and present it in my evening concert. I sat with the musicians and learnt the entire song. In the evening, I started my concert with "Endaro Mahanubhavulu" as it happens to be the President's favourite pancharathnam ( I am sure by now all the artists from South would have performed the same pancharathnam in his presence!).

The President looked very relaxed and happy, enjoying our music by shaking his head. Towards the end when I announced and played the song composed by him, he lifted his eyebrows, a look of surprise and delight on his face. The song was a roaring success and the audience gave a long ovation, to show their appreciation of His Excellency's composition.

After the concert, a surprised President asked me in tamil,"When did you manage to learn it ?" In the buffet, His Excellency mingled with us like one of us and strongly recommended the masala vadai,"I told them how to do it!"

The President enquired casually,"Can I find a good veena teacher in Delhi?" I almost choked on my masala vadai not believing it was the President of India who was enquiring about a veena teacher!

The entire day had a surreal quality to it. A rare treat indeed, to be in the company of simplicity capsuled in aristocracy!

God's will!

Last year, as I sat by the shore of Holy Ganges in Haridwar, rejecting all offers that came my way for the music season in 2008, I never dreamt this would happen within just one year!!!!!!!!

http://www.hindu.com/fr/2009/11/20/stories/2009112050930200.htm

Homage/Mahesh and making of "Butterfly"

http://www.musicindiaonline.com/p/x/z4I0N1bRP9.As1NMvHdW/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtMJB_T3UxY

A friend mailed the above links to me. The first one has the audio version of my veena solo from the album, Butterfly, brilliantly mixed by Mahesh in 3 tracks, the concluding lines are breathtaking with the base-octave veena overtaking the top-octave veena.

The second link is the youtube clipping of myself singing/playing veena for the same album. Mahesh was the music director of the album, Butterfly. He died of cancer in 2002, at the age of 47.

It must have been in the year 1999 (or was it 1998?), as an artiste who was heavily into experimentation of almost all subjects on veena, I was keen to combine my voice with veena. Super Recording Company was equally interested and to my utter delight, they roped in none other than the genius, Mahesh to compose the music for this album. At that time, he was a rage owing to the runaway success of his telugu film,"Preminchukundam Raa". I was very happy to work with him and in our discussion (between myself, Mahesh and Navin, Head of Super Recording), I told them that I wanted to only 'hum' in the background of my veena, simply because I AIN'T NO SINGER!!!!!!! But with a giant like Mahesh on the project, things started taking a different shape of awesome proportions, requiring me to 'sing'! I was initially diffident and nervous. Mahesh would laugh at my shyness and discomfort,"Ok,we (the sound engineer and himself) will close our eyes, you start singing now", as though to a child. He even suggested switching off lights in the voice room to make me feel confident, but that made me more nervous. Finally I decided to take the plunge and 'sang', trying to ignore the hostile mike staring into my face.

Despite acute pain and suffering due to cancer, Mahesh would always be cheerful, his smile as radiant as ever. Only his gaunt face and pain-filled eyes bore the tell-tale marks of what he was battling. His loving wife, Chitra and daughter Manasi were courageous and cheerful for the sake of Mahesh. After every session of our recording or rehearsals, I would go home with a heavy heart with the knowledge of destiny.

H.Sridhar, the sound engineer of the album had also passed away in 2008 due to massive heart attack at the age of 50. He was an ace sound engineer working with Media Artistes (where the album was recorded). He had pioneered the DTS format in India. He was the right hand man of A.R.Rahman in almost all his films.

In this album, I had the pleasure of working with Sri.Srinivas (playback singer) and Sri. Sukhwinder Singh (of Chainya Chainya fame).

The making of Butterfly was more bitter than sweet!

Ascent of Kundalini

When the Sringeri Jagathguru gave me the title of "Asthana Vidushi" of Sringeri Mutt in the year 2003, my joy knew no bounds! Sringeri and Sarada Kshetram are close to my heart. I feel there is a special sanctity attached to Sringeri Mutt and all the branches of Sringeri Mutt, wherever they are in India. The temples are maintained extremely well and there is immense dignity and discipline in the way the temple priests conduct the poojas in the temple.
His Holiness, Sri Bharathi Theertha Swamiji was born in Narasaraopet, Andhra Pradesh in 1951. As I am already attached to Sri Vidyaranya Swami's ashram in Narasaropet, I was overjoyed to learn that His Holiness, Sri Bharathi Theertha Swamiji also hailed from the same place!
The Jagadguru's Guru, Sri Sri Abhinava Vidyatheertha Mahaswamiji in His interview with Sri R.M.Umesh (in the book titled "Yoga, Enlightenment and Perfection") has described the ascent of 'kundalini' in detail.
Paramacharya of Sringeri states that one morning He sat in 'siddhasana' and did four pranayamas with 'jalandhara', 'uddiyaana', and 'moola-bandhas'. He began His meditation by directing His gaze to the middle of His eyebrows while mentally chanting "OM". Gradually a blue hue had manifested and He could not see any particular form. Suddenly He felt an electric shock at the middle of His soles. He felt intense heat and His body jerked sharply as the sensation moved upwards. His breathing stopped abruptly as the sensation continued to travel upwards and into His head. At that moment, He went deep into "savikalpa-samadhi".
The Acharya lost all sensation of His feet and legs and the lower portion of His body.The movement of the heat from the soles of His feet to His back had been swift and sudden, but from the base of His back to a little below the navel, the ascent was slower at the same time swift. From the navel to upwards, the heat moved with the speed of an ant.
The Acharya declared that when the heat reached the base of His back, He was able to momentarily view the lotus of the Mooladhara Chakra in full bloom. after that, He had a brief view of the Swadhishtana Chakra. As the sensation ascended His back to the level of His navel, He could clearly have a glimpse of the lotus of the manipooraka chakra facing downwards, with the petals fully closed. When the senstaion touched the chakra, the lotus instantly blossomed. The same pattern was repeated when the sensation reached the levels of Anahatha, Vishuddhi and Agna Chakras.
After the Acharya had briefly witnessed the Agna Chakra in full bloom, He experienced a bright flash of light like that of a lightning. Next He witnessed a beautiful, luminous, tiny blue orb. His attention became glued to this tiny blue orb and gradually its smallness became inapparent. Thereafter the Acharya apprehended the forms of Shiva and Parvathi within the blue orb. Acharya describes that moment as His "savikalpa-samadhi".