The voice of Maharjapuram Santhanam and Bharathiyar's songs.

I have always been fascinated by his 'kavidaigal'.
I think it all started with 'Manathil Urudhi Vendum....'
Its a pleasure to listen to this one...There are millions of feelings that you go through you when you observe these lines.I simply admire the vision this man would have had when he wrote these lines decades back,
It goes like 'Pen Vidudhalai Vendum..Periya Kadavul Kaka vendum '.
Translation can do no justice to these.
No wonder Illayaraja used it to give life and soul for his music.
Speaking of this album, Its sung by 'Maharajapuram Santhanam' it has all those lovely tunes to Bharathiyar's famous verses.
'Chinnan chiru Kiliye' , 'Vellai Thamarai' , 'Suttum Vizhi Chudar' , 'mogathai kondre vide' and more...
These lines have been sung many a times by lots of people. The best part about his album is the carnatic touch here.
I love the way he says 'Chellama...' , 'Cholu', extremely soothing.
Im sure most of us must have heard 'Chinnan chiru Kiliye'.
Its the cutest song on planet earth. There is a line which goes like
'kannattil muttamiTTAl uLLam tAn kaL veri koLLudaDi'
You could easily picture a small cute kid giving you a peck on your cheek! :) . Too cool!!
There is a majesty in the voice which does absolute justice to the lyrics and the way it needs to be sung well in tune with the raagas.
My all time favourite of Bharathiyar's songs.....Its a mesmerising one! If you are a Barathi fan, you just should listen to this one!
'Ninnaiye Rathiyendru Ninaikirenadi Kannamma....'
You could easily find it on you tube.
Its been a effort for a quasi-tamil like me, to read and understand the true meaning of his lyrics. Having said all this, its an effort that i thoroughly enjoy !

Come the season of yellow and red, Cometh brightness and sunshine ahead!

This pic is taken by diyosa . check - http://www.flickr.com/photos/diyosa/151926774/in/set-72157594553959632/

Its the time when i wake up to the early tender rays knocking my eyelids,
when i walk out and see the huge smile of sun god.
Not because i belong to the land where this is the only season, or because i am sick of the pricking chillness and cold clothes there are more reasons that i say 'I love summers!' :)
Early morning wake up is no more a pain, i made friends with the sun and so i wait!
The splendid colours around me, its time when the bright salwars and pretty looks are at its best while the sweaters and jackets take rest.
The big huge trees shed their leaves shed, are ready for the new green shoots.
The flowers are yellow all over the roads the fruits are red cause 'melons' rule.
Food, Work, people, Skin, Bright and Beautiful!!!
The dawn of the mornings, the warmth of the afternoons and the yellow twitlight all make me believe that i am alive and kicking :)
I love the Sun!!

Trivial but significant realizations - 2

I am a volunteer. I believe in making a contribution that focuses on making a small change at least in one person's life. I go to a government school on Saturdays to teach the kids there. These are kids who already come to school and we go there to enhance their level of education and also to provide them better exposure to things in whatever way we could. Well, through the years that I have been going there I realized change is something that is extremely tough to bring about. The kind of change I am talking here is change in attitude, change in the way they approach things, change in their opinion towards education, school and teachers, change in the way they lead life and change in their expectation of future. It looks a little bleak at this time and I only hope that all this takes us somewhere. I am a droplet in the ocean of people who are rising towards making this change. Even a step ahead from here is victory.

Everyday when I walk to and from office, I have to go past a series of huts. I normally just wiz pass that lane. I always had a feeling that people living in these kinds of houses aren’t normal and they might harm me if it’s a little dark. Yesterday, in my regular attempt to just speed up that lane I did not notice 3 small kids playing in front of their huts. Just when I was rushing the smallest one among them came and pulled my hand. He said “aunty” and gave me a huge smile. He looked beautiful. A naughty look in his eyes teeth all over his face and little hand pulling me; he was dirty and wore torn clothes and so were the two others with him. I gently bend down and asked his name for which he said something which sounded like “ajith” to me. I spent a couple of minutes there and left. It stuck me that we have work right from home. Whoever bothered if ajith went to school or not, I am sure his parents are poor and earn just enough to feed him or may be not even that? These children grow up doing nothing and then become either child laborers or continue to do what their dads did. Unless the parents get aware and send them to schools they would probably not go to one ever in their lives. Apart from catering to kids in govt schools, labor camps, ashrams, NGO’s we have to start looking at children in the streets and slums. They exist and have no idea where to go.