For music lovers.....

If you are classical music lover, this article will give you a lot of insight. read on...

Hindusthani Music and Karnatak Music systems an Analysis- by Padmasani

Before going into the study let us know the meaning of these two very Indian terminologies.
Hindu means the knowledge system that prevailed in India. Sthan means the place. So Hindusthani Music means the music of the place where the Hindu system of knowledge prevailed.
And Karnataka can be interpreted at least in two different ways. a) Karnataka means of the people and the country they inhabit. b) Karna means ear and the old. Ataka means, that of the teacher- which means the karnaparampara or the aural tradition handed down from guru to pupil as an unhindered chain.
When the western authors like Day or Popley interpreted our music they called the music of the south as that which prevailed in the Deccan plateau. Unfortunately the sons of our soil prefer to go by the western authors on our music rather than probe the simple meaning from a Sanskrit dictionary. J
Anyway if you probe History there were only two distinct writers in Indian Music who could be traced as the earliest. They were Bharata and his Natyashastra and Ilango Adigalar who wrote the Silappadikaram. Both wrote amazing details about music and dance. Ilango also relates astrology with music. It is interesting to know that a man from a Royal Kingdom from the extreme south and a man from the extreme north have thought on identical lines. To them both, music was an umbrella term encompassing drama, dance and music. Anyway that shows the Aryan and the Dravidian cultural heritages as highly evolved. By and by the Dravidian tradition of the south was swallowed by the advent of Naik and Marattha Kingdoms. The dominant Telugu and Marathi literature and art forms took sway with which the music of the south also took a tumultuous turn. The Tamil music was replaced by the Aryan form with the Kannada, Telugu and Marathi regional musical and linguistic influence.
The north was no exception to this change. The Mughals brought a fair deal of influence of their own over our music. While the classical art form remained more or less the same, there were other forms like ghazals etc. which came into vogue. North also moved from Dhrupad to Khayal over the period of time. But it retained the originals intact. The music was intact in terms of predominantly creative and not set music.
To trace the textual origin, between Bharata (Natyashastra) and Sarngadeva (Sangita Ratnakara) the music was one Indian Music. By and by the bifurcation started to take place into two different styles of music. While the North retained the original Hindu Music which is raga oriented, the south adapted itself to a confluence of more than one regional influence. Now the music of the south was more lyrically emphatic and descriptive of a theme or subject. It is because the Harikatha was a famous musico-discourse form; the Bhajana Paddati with Radha Kalyana Mahotsav was of a thematic nature. The Kriti form itself served a multipurpose of being used in the above art forms than sailing as a pure musical entity. But one can not refuse that the Kriti form has served as archives of southern raga format. The kriti pool in each raga consolidates the scope of that raga under grammatical peripheries and aesthetic exuberances.
This will be evident if you would analyse the Dhrupad and the Ragam Tanam and Pallavi forms. They are similar.
In dhrupad style the tanam singing is kept alive and the pakhavaj almost equal to our mrdangam was the percussion accompaniment. Khayal is a form with akar alap and tan developed into a more attractive form with tabla as accompaniment.

Super Singer Finalist or Not Worth It Wannabe!

The Super Singer contest is undoubtedly a fantastic event and a great platform for aspirants. Wannabes from small towns have had a never-before opportunity to showcase their talent- and that's admirable.

But what about the ones who didn't qualify or who came all the way to the finals but couldn't make it? What anguish would they be going through? How long before they stopped feeling devastated and moved on to a different stage or another audition? Having been a finalist of one such title myself, I live the pain of the rejected aspirants everytime.

That's why I was shocked to see the utterly insensitive hoarding on GN Chetty road that featured the pictures of the finalists and alongside -the rejects with HUGE RED CROSS marks over their faces.

What kind of a moron came up with this callous idea? Do these people have the faintest idea how hard it is coping with the rejection itself without having to go through the rest of their lives bearing the RED CROSS of it in their minds?

Shame on the Organizers!

Carrot Chair

Often when you are negotiating your final compensation package with the HR executive of a prospective employer, you would find him selling you dreams to help you deal with the lower package he had just doled out. He would take you through what your perks would be were you to grow in the organization and become a VP-- a swanky car, a flat on lease etc. What he may not mention, but you'll know is also part of the VP deal is a much bigger cabin with a view.

Once, after such a dream buying ( job buying too, as I had just signed my acceptance of the offer) experience, the smooth talking enthusiastic HR chappie took me along and introduced a few managers and VPs of the Company. I went around, shaking hands, remembering names and in the process making a mental note of cabins with views as well.

During my rounds, I noticed something else too. VPs of this Company besides getting the etc.s described by the glib HR guy, got to sit on huge comfortable chairs, while all other executives sat on a sorry excuse for a chair with a back rest that ended before it began and a hard-as-stone seat disguised like a cushion.

Though shocked at this disparity, I still joined the Company and got the chair reserved for lesser mortals. After a few months of sitting on the chair I finally understood the strategy behind the chair disparity- To grow in the Company, swanky cars and seven figure salaries cant push you as hard as a perennial backache can. This is the juiciest carrot HR could dangle to a new recruit.

I'm gunning for the VP's chair since day one!!