Feb 26

ಏಕೆ ಬಾರದಿಹನೆ ಸಖಿ ಮಾಧವನು …?

ಏಕೆ ಬಾರದಿಹನೆ ಸಖಿ ಮಾಧವನು?
ಎನ್ನ ವಿರಹ ತಿಳಿಯನೇನೆ ಪ್ರಿಯ ಸಖನು?

ಪೂರ್ಣ ಚಂದ್ರನಿರುವಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಕೊಳಲನೂದಿ ಕರೆದನಿಲ್ಲಿ
ಎನ್ನ ಉಸಿರ ಬಿಸಿಯ ತಾಪಕವನ ಉಸಿರ ಬೆರೆಸಲಿಲ್ಲಿ
ಮರವ ಬಳಸಿ ಬೆಳೆವ ಬಳ್ಳಿ ಸುಮವ ಬಿರಿವ ಚಂದದಲ್ಲಿ
ತನುಗಲೆರಡು ಬೆರೆತು ದಿವ್ಯ ಪ್ರೇಮವರಳಲೆಂದ ಕೃಷ್ಣ

ತಿರೆಯ ತಣಿಸೆ ವರ್ಷ ಧಾರೆ ಮುಗಿಲ ಸೀಳಿ ಸುರಿಯುವಂತೆ
ತನ್ನ ಅಧರ ಸುಧೆಯ ಸುರಿಸಿ ಎನ್ನ ಮನವ ತಣಿಪನಂತೆ
ಬಿಗಿದ ರವಿಕೆ ಸಡಿಲಗೊಳಿಸಿ ರಾಧೆ ನಿನ್ನ ಕೇಶ ಬಿಡಿಸಿ
ನಾಚೆ ಮೊಗದ ರಂಗು ನೋಡೆ ಬರುವೆನೆಂದು ನುಡಿದ ಕೃಷ್ಣ

ಭ್ರಮರ ತಾನು ಸುಮವ ಕಂಡು ಮಧುವ ಹೀರಿ ನಲಿಯುವಂತೆ
ರವಿಯ ಕಿರಣ ಸೋಕೆ ಅದರಹೊನಲ ಬೆಳಕಿನಲ್ಲಿ
ಎನ್ನ ವದನ ಕಂಡು ನಿನ್ನ ಮೊಗದ ಕಾಂತಿ ಹೊಳೆಯೆ
ಅದರ ಹೊನಲ ಬೆಳಕಿನಲ್ಲಿ ರಮಿಸೆ ಬರುವೆನೆಂದ ಕೃಷ್ಣ

ನಲಿವ ಯಮುನೆ ತೀರದಲ್ಲಿ ಚಂದ್ರನಿಣುಕಿ ನೋಡದಲ್ಲಿ
ಮೇಘಶ್ಯಾಮನೆದೆಗೆ ಎನ್ನ ಹಣೆಯ ಕೆಂಪೆ ರಂಗವಲ್ಲಿ
ಇಂಥ ನಮ್ಮ ಮಿಲನ ಕಂಡು ಪ್ರಕೃತಿ ತಾನು ಮೋದಗೊಂಡು
ನವ್ಯ ಸೃಷ್ಟಿ ಸೃಜಿಪ ದಿವ್ಯ ನೋಟ ಕಾಣಲೆಂದು ಕೃಷ್ಣ

-ಪ್ರವೀಣ

Jan 30

ಓ ಬಾ ಅತಿಥಿ …..

ಬಹಳ ದಿನಗಳ ಬಯಕೆ ಇವತ್ತು ಪೂರೈಸ್ತು…. ನನ್ನ ಮೊಟ್ಟಮೊದಲ ಕನ್ನಡ ಬ್ಲಾಗ್ ಇವತ್ತು ತೆರೆ ಕಂಡಿದೆ. ಎಷ್ಟೋ ವರ್ಷಗಳಾದ ಮೇಲೆ ಮತ್ತೆ ಬರವಣಿಗೆ ಶುರುವಾಗಿದೆ. ಏನ್ ಬರೀಬೇಕು ಅಂತ ಇನ್ನು ತಿಳಿದಿಲ್ಲ… ಆದರೆ ಅದರ ಚಿಂತೆ ಏನಿಲ್ಲ ಬಿಡಿ… ಮನಸ್ಸಿನ ಮಾತುಗಳಿಗೆನು ಕೊರತೆ ಇಲ್ಲ… ಕಥೆಗಳ ರೂಪದಲ್ಲೋ… ಕವನಗಳ ರೂಪದಲ್ಲೋ… ಹರಟೆ ಆಗಿನೋ… ಕೇಳೋರು ಇರ್ಲಿ.. ಇಲ್ದೆ ಇರ್ಲಿ.. “ಹಾಡುವುದು ಅನಿವಾರ್ಯ ಕರ್ಮ ನನಗೆ” ಅಂತ ಮಾತು ಹೊರಡ್ತಾನೆ ಇರುತ್ತೆ.


ಹೀಗೆ ಹೋಗಿ ಬರ್ತಾ… ಒಮ್ಮೊಮ್ಮೆ ಇಣಿಕಿ ನೋಡಿ, ಹಿಡಿಸೋ ಮಾತುಗಳಿದ್ರೆ ಬನ್ನಿ, ಸ್ವಲ್ಪ ಹೊತ್ತು ಸಮಯ ಕಳೆಯೋಣ. ಸಂವಾದದಲ್ಲಿ … ಹಾಗೆ “ಸಂ”ವಾದಗಳೂ ಆಗಬಹುದೇನೋ!! 😉 ಆಗಲೀ! ಅದಕ್ಕೇನಂತೆ? ಅಲ್ವಾ?! ಮುಖ್ಯವಾಗಿ “ಸ್ಫಟಿಕದ ಸಲಾಕೆಯಂತಿರಬೇಕು”, “ಮುತ್ತಿನ ಹಾರದಂತಿರಬೇಕು”.


ಯಾವುದರ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಹರಟೆ ಹೊಡೆಯೋಣ ಅಂತ ಕೇಳ್ತೀರಾ? ಹರಟೆಗೆ ಎಂತದ್ರೀ ವಿಷಯ ಅಲ್ವೇ? ಮನಸ್ಸಿಗೆ ಹಿಡಿಸಿದ ಹಾಡುಗಳಿಂದ ಹಿಡಿದು… ಹಿಡಿಸದ ವಿಷಯಗಳ ಬಗ್ಗೆ, ರವಿ ಮುಟ್ಟಿದ್ದು.. ಕವಿ ಕಂಡಿದ್ದರ ಬಗ್ಗೆ, ಒಂದೆ ಎರಡೇ… “ಈ ಸಂಭಾಷಣೆ … ನಮ್ಮಇ-ಸಂಭಾಷಣೆ .. ಅತಿ ನವ್ಯ … ರಸ ಕಾವ್ಯ.. ಮಧುರ.. ಮಧುರ .. ಮಧುರ”ವಾಗಿರಲಿ ಅನ್ನೋದೇ ಉದ್ದೇಶ.

ಮನೆ ತೆರೆದಿದೆ… ಅತಿಥಿಗಳಾಗಿ ಒಳಗೆ ಬನ್ನಿ… ಮನೆಯವರಾಗಿ ಇಲ್ಲೇ ಉಳೀತೀರ ಅನ್ನೋ ಆಸೆಯಿಂದ ಬಾಗಿಲನ್ನ ತೆರೆದಿದ್ದೇನೆ. 🙂

Jan 24

Mamma Mia! – Much Ado about….

Please Note:- Spoilers ahead! (T)read carefully!! (Not that it really matters ya know! 😉)
3 middle age … well not really, rather…… post middle age women, and 3 similar men, a young couple who believe that they are the wonderland Atlantians prancing around in a Greek Land and a whole cohort of similar Greeks! Add to this concoction a whole range of ABBA numbers from their famous musicals and pronto – you’ve got MAMMA MIA! So what went wrong with it? Just one small fact that the movie has come nearly a decade or two late! And that is only the beginning!
ABBA has been my favorite music band ever since childhood. Growing up listening to “Dancing Queen“, “Chiquitita“, “SOS“, and craving for “Money Money Money” has become such an integral part of my identification with my childhood. So when Universal Studios teamed up with couple of other productions and came up with the idea to bring their world-famous musical to screen, with a conglomeration of Producers which has Tom Hanks (My Favorite) in them too and a star cast that includes the fabulous Meryl Streep (Another of my top favorites) in the lead, that was too awesome for me to resist! Eagerly had I waited for it to hit the screens. Nagging reviews not withstanding, I rushed forth and sure enough obtained my share of disappointments. Comeon Hollywood!! Even a Bollywood dishout wouldn’t have been so! (Or then again….maybe they’d have screwed it up even worse!) Sigh!
Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) is about to get married to her boyfriend (Dominic Cooper). But she has a long standing dream of hers to have her father give her away. The problem with this? She doesn’t know who her father is! Momma Donna (Meryl Streep..as sweet as ever) apparently was rather playful one spring!! But the snoopy lil creatures that teenage girls usually are, she discovers that there are 3 possible men who could’ve fathered her, and so sends out letters to all three inviting them for her wedding. Whatever happened to decency, I wonder?!! And sure enough the 3 males land in the island of Kalokairi – Pierce Brosnan, Stellan Skarsgard and Colin Firth! Along with them land the girls of Sophie and Donna! You have to see to believe their team cheer! Well what follows along is a typical chick-fare replete with songs, yells, shrill cries, and the usual ‘girl moments’ (whatever that is supposed to be) talking about true love!!! errrrm…..yeah in case u didn’t know Kalokairi is the place where anyone who wants true love should go and drink water from!! (Now u tell me!! After spending a decade looking for one! Sheesh!! Why is it that I always come to know it when I have outgrown it!). Like they say the best (or in this case the worst) was indeed saved for the last! I had a is-this-really-happening look on my face for when the movie ends (or so we think) we have the lead casts strutting back on screen in pink bell bottoms and hay-wire attires singing “Waterloo” and “Dancing Queen” once again!
In all fairness to the movie, you can really feel the vibe amongst the actors! I mean, comeon guys (and gals) its ABBA music we are talking about! Who wouldn’t wanna dance and tap their feet to them! But err… you know… all said and done, to watch oldie Julie Waters and Christine Baranski cracking slapstick jokes about nights with men and sticking protrusions in btw their pants… errrr… its just not what I’m built up to watch! Sure the songs have been tweaked around.. “Does your mother know” isn’t about a girl but a guy here hitting on Christine Baranski! To have the leads and the characters sing out the numbers was probably the biggest disappointment! At this age, well, they really cannot do justice for the zest and vigor that the numbers of ABBA call for!

Meryl Streep is as fresh and full of life as ever! Here is one talented actress who can bring down a whole legion of actresses to their feet in front of her! The diva as always! Some numbers rendered by her is quite good! Though sometimes, in some numbers such as Mamma Mia she does seem a lil over-doing it… but she does eventually add her own charm into the whole movie! She’s the only reason I went ahead and bought the VCD. Julie Waters is absolutely forgettable (she gets to sing Take a chance on me) and Christine Baranski did a passable job on “Does your mother you”. The crew could’ve certainly done a better job in covering the island’s beauty. A movie completely shot on a Greek island had totally raised my expectations on the camera work. But it was majorly focussed on the wedding cast.. than the wedding place.
Well all said and done, I can’t deny one thing. I was all smiles throughout the movie. And no not because of the way it was, but having realized that the movie wasn’t really worth paying attention to, my mind had already drifted back to the days of the yore – when wearing shorts was something that nobody really cared about! Well.. if you are as die-hard fan of ABBA and Meryl Streep as I am…. guess it wouldn’t hurt to watch this movie! 🙂

And before I leave.. buddies.. take care of one more thing.. no matter of expensive it may be…. buy a DVD or VCD that is not BIG Home Video in the make. Watching the movie on the Reliance made VCD is a pain! oh yeah! BIG Home Video –> you suck! Please don’t produce movie VCDs! Thank you!
Overall Rating: 3.0/5.0

Jan 14

Life… In a Metro – 1

This new year I revived myself to get back into the writing habits that I had given up on most of my external domains. I had always maintained that compared to the idle musings that I write, this music spot has remained neglected. It doesn’t come to bear that I haven’t been hearing music at all. Well moving from place to place and not having access to the web, surely has cut down on my splurges into music, but I have been hearing so many songs and albums that I could write about them for years to come. But I know, I haven’t been doing that! I don’t know to what extent I shall be able to rectify my shortcomings in this regard. But yeah, I would love to be able to post more often here. As I sat brooding over what to write about to kick start the year, the first and foremost thing that came to my mind was the album of the movie – Life…. In a Metro. I had watched the movie a long time ago, and some songs instantly had captured my attention. But it wasn’t until a few months ago, when I got myself the collection (which is really tough to find surprisingly!!) that I came in full realization of the beauty of this album. Its composition, its music, the singers have done such a magnificent job that I was stunned at my audacity to have ignored it for so long!!
The album boasts of a cohort of lyricists, and singers. Syed Quadri, Sandeep Srivastava and Amitabh verma are the formers while KK, James, Soham, Suhail, Adnan Sami and Pritam belong to the latter category. The music is by Pritam, who has literally brought in a fresh wave into the industry through his talent.
The movie is directed by Anurag Basu. The movie by itself was brilliant ofcourse. So nicely intertwining the lives of seemingly different people living in the same Metro roof! Seamlessly blending into the life of one person and the other, there was never a moment of disconnection. It surely is a challenge to handle such scripts and Basu has done an amply wonderful job.
The purpose ofcourse would be to talk of music, and songs. And here, I have chosen my favorite 4 numbers. I wouldn’t rate them based on the way I post them. For me they are all equally brilliant and amazing. They are all so to say, different in their situations, but the brilliance of the words, and the magnificence of music is overflowing through each one distinctively!
It has many of the songs repeated in the album having been remixed. To start with…

In Dino – lyrics by Syed Quadri and sung by Soham.


In Dino dil mera
mujh se hai keh raha
Tu…. khwaab saja..
Tu… jee le zara
hai tujhe bhi ijaazat, kar le tu bhi muhabbat. (2)
In Dino….

Be rang si hai badi zindagi
kuch rang to bharoon
main apni tanhaayi ke waaste
ab kuch toh karoon (2)

Jab mile koi phursat..(2)
khud se karle muhobbat…

hai tujhe bhi ijaazat, kar le tu bhi muhobbat

Usko chupakar mein sabse kabhie
le chaloon kahin door
aankhon ke pyaale se peeta rahoon
uske chehre ka noor (2)

is zamaane se chupkar (2)
poori karloon mein hasrat

hai tujhe bhi ijaazat kar le tu bhi muhobbat

In dino….
The Rock music seems to have finally found its foray into the Bollywood realm. There used to be a time when ears shattering melee was called music – thanks to the clan of Anu Maliks who seemed as if they had all fallen on their heads on birth. Though some of them can surely be discounted. Anyways, this particular song has a soft rock music well strummed on the Guitar, soft drums and keyboard. Soham’s voice provides the right blend of melancholy and romance that go hand in hand that is so important for the lyrics to hold your attention and render them effective.
The guarded happiness of a heart that has finally come to experience Love, that it had so far craved, and finally wants to accept is well expressed in the Quadri’s words. The second para that speaks of the loving moments with the dear one stolen from the eyes of the world is absolutely astounding for its simplicty. The lines that express the desire to spend the eternity just by gazing into the loving eyes of the sweetheart, and drinking through them the brilliance of her face is sheer visual poetry. A love that indeed has to be hidden from the world, lest someone cast an evil eye!! Beautiful… just beautiful!!

Jan 11

Aaaam….coming up!

So you better get this party started!!!
And why would it be any different this time around you ask?! Well… yeah I know! I’ve been that elusive guy who never kept his promises! But then, love is blind! Or so I’d like to believe! 😉 But then more practically speaking, this time is a bit different because, I’ve finally managed to get a net connection at home! Not that its absence was the only reason for me not having to post.. mind you! But well, atleast something to cover me up. I’ll say! 🙂
A few updates from my end!
I am no more in Coimbatore! The journey has moved on to a new destination. I am now in Chennai!! Sigh… the nomadic existence just doesn’t seem to let go of me! And I have turned a new leaf! Mostly I used to blog in my corporate blog space, but then I’ve always loved the anonymity on the big WWW! So here i am back, with my rants, my happiness and my nothings! How many of my old crowd is still around, its tough to say. Maybe there shall be some new ones coming around too? Well thatz for time to show, but for now… I am back! And I shall be writing… 🙂

Jun 01

Lokada kannige raadheyu kooda – Idealism of Love

Time and again I have faulted, and time and again, reverted to set right the flaws of abstaining from writing. Much as one is wont to express, there are I guess moments that deprive them of the ability. Best writers may suffer from moments of depravity of talents, loss of words! I am but a normal penman!! J So must I ask that the absences be treated kindly!

My readers, and by which I mean YOU have been as benevolent as ever! Prodding me, requesting me and threatening me to get back to writing! And here I am! Finally getting around to finding my voice! These bouts of silences, I have been told does much good to a writer, in that, they probably help him assimilate the thoughts, let them simmer in the cauldron of the mind, and cook – eventually giving out a good aroma that precludes a delicious meal to be served!
And so it is today, that I bring to you all music lovers a gem of a song written by Kannada poet – H S Venkatesh Murthy. This song has been immortalized by the voice of Sunitha Anathaswamy and set to tune by the maestro himself – Sri Mysore Ananthaswamy. By much popular request since many months, I am finally writing to you all about – “LOkada kaNNige raadheyu kooDa” – a poem that extols the immense love that Radha had for Krishna and the spiritual aspect of it. The lyrics for the same follows:

lOkada kaNNige raadheyu kooDa ellaraMte oMdu heNNu pa
nanagO aake kRuShNana tOruva preetiyu neeDida kaNNu anu. pa

To the eyes of the world, Radha is a woman just like the others! But for me, she is the eyes of love that will show the vision of Krishna. (The poet refers to the love of Radha which when followed likewise, reveals to us the supreme spiritual manifestation of the Almighty! And thus love can act as the spiritual means towards attainment of the divine)

tiMgaLa raatri toreya sameepa (2) uridare yaavudO deepa (2)
yaarO mOhana yaava raadhego(2) paDutiruvanu paritaapa (2)
lOkada

During the full moon night, near the banks of the flowing stream, if you find a lamp burning, be assured that some Krishna is burning in the pangs of love and aching for some Radha! (The universality of love is such that it transforms every guy into Krishna and every girl into Radha, every stream, rivulet becomes a Yamuna!!)

Naanu nannadu nannavarennuva (2) halavu toDakugaLa meeri (2)
Dhaavisi sEralu bRuMdaavanava (2) raadhe tOruvaLu daari (2)
lOkada

Amidst the myriad obstacles of selfishness, ego and pride, Radha is the one path that leads us past these obstacles quickly into the domain of Krishna – the Brindavan! (True spiritual realization arises when the sense of I, Me & Mine is lost! The ego manifests itself in the form of our binding to our possessions, our relations and everything that is directly or indirectly related to us! These obstacles not only prevent us from God realization, but also take us farther away from Him. A selfless love – as that of Radha is the leading light that always guides us towards the supreme realization that God and Love are but one and the same!)

Maha pravaaha (3) taDeyuvarilla paatravirada tore preeti (2)
Toredaru tanna toreyadu priyana (2) raadheya preetiya reeti.. idu… (3)
lOkada

Love is like a flooding river – one that is not bound by any limitations! Even though it may sacrifice the self, the lover is never given up! Such is the love of Radha! (Radha’s love was not obsessive! It was never a hindrance to the life of Krishna. More so, she did ofcourse sacrifice her interests for his will! But never for once did she give up on her love or trust in Krishna. True Love is such too! Easier said than done! Our ego always prevents us from completely trusting any person, let alone sacrificing one’s self for them! How then can we truly love God?!! It is only through the path shown by Radha’s love that we can realize this too! No matter what God gives us, or treats us like – true faith, true devotion and love never questions it. It trusts, because it is cognizant of Him.)