instrumental aspirations

I was reminded of Dhanraj master when A.R.Rehman got his Oscars for the wonderful score of Slumdog Millionaire.

Dhanraj master was the patron saint of piano in old Madras, today’s Chennai and the seat of cinema creativity of the south,
Those days almost all south Indian films be it Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu or Kannada and even many Hindi films sprung from this springboard of cinema.
The backstreets of Mylapore T Nagar and Kodambakkam was flush with talents that contributed to this industry; there were trillions of instrumentalist’s music organizers, extra actor’s actresses, production executives light boy’s sound recordists and middlemen doing their small bits to make the magic of cinema flow without fail.
Ilayaraja and Rehman were yet to rise in the horizon and the Vishawanathan Ramamurthy duo were the shining stars of the time as far as music direction was concerned.
I was in my 8 th standard and pestered my mother that I wanted to learn guitar and I had heard that there was an old man in Luz , Mylapore called Dhanraj master who taught the same.
At that time I never knew the master as I would later.
So one day we trudged up the broken steps of a rundown lodge in the busy Luz corner and knocked on a decrepit door, it opened to reveal a shabby gaunt old man, the room was small and was messy it was almost fully occupied by a grand piano and many guitars, master called us inside.
The room had an unpleasant odor which I later realized was that of liquor.
My mother explained how I was keen on lessons and being a fatherless boy she too was keen on my whims though she could ill afford such luxuries,
That warmed master to me he said don’t worry madam I will take care of him send him to me every week twice
And that was that I became Dhanraj masters student
(A label whose worth I never realized till late in my life).
So I would lug my wooden guitar on to my shoulders and walk the two kilometers in style as I felt everyone on the streets was ogling at the famous musician walking in their midst, this would have been far from reality of course, some would have wondered what is this small fellow doing with this huge thing on his shoulders.
As I push open the creaking door and some fat rat would escape between my legs I often found master with red-hot eyes reeking of liquor but he was in his full senses and his talents were extraordinary, he would patiently ask me to start on the piano
I would pester him to teach me some tunes in the guitar so that I could show off at school but he insisted that I learn the chords in piano in the proper way and would discourage all shortcuts.
This bored me and soon I stopped going to him though I can never blame him as he tried to call my mother and tell her of my disobedience.
But then I never had the right talent and perseverance as other famous students of the master had
For all you know Elayaraja would have been there at the same time as one of the other students and later Rehman too.
Both were two of the many illustrious students of the master
Both of them had praised the master in later years for giving them the basics in western classical piano lessons.
Only then did I realize the fool I was
of course the talent was not there in me just having a good teacher gives you no guarantee of being good if one had no stuff
but the question I often asked was did I deserve such a great man even as a teacher and one who sincerely wanted to teach me ?


Moving from the master I strayed to an Anglo Indian Reggie, who was all willing to play my way as long as he got his fee,
I remember Reggie and his gang more for midnight Xmas carols in Madras and his revelry.
Once he conned me to leave my guitar in his house and promptly sold it of all persons to a politician!
The fourteen year old me would leave no stone unturned to get it back and so I went to the house of this famous DMK MLA off T Nagar and somehow got into the sanctum sanctorum of his room worming my way through red and black clad Tamil politicians of the deadly kind ,and sundry small time hnag ons in such locations who were aghast at this English speaking boy who repeatedly insisted that his guitar was with their master.

Facing the great politician I didn’t lose my nerve but asked him to return my guitar given to him by Reggie master, he stared at me and said it was sold to him and it now was his guitar,
Well Reggie would have done this and more for his daily liquid needs
I replied I can give a complaint that stolen goods were being bought by him!!an MLA
This brave reply probably amused the MLA though his chamchas gave me dangerous looks and murderous signs
After interminable delays when I was in the front seat of the drama played in all politicians house during durbar time when so many petitions were handed over to the man of the masses and he dismissing them with the arrogance of a king ,
Attending many phone calls diving into his Tamil slang and the dicatto style of his great leaders the Tamizh Manmadhan sorry MLA was in full form
I stayed put ignoring the pull and push of his goonda gang to eliminate me from the scene and finally a defeated MLA asked his man Friday to get that guitar and give it to that boy who was becoming a pain in the posterior ,
he gave me a parting shot and said I will take care of Reggie.

Bad days were ahead for poor Reggie indeed as one never crossed politicians of this class
Reggie would roll in some canal in the days ahead so I thought as I clutched my beloved guitar onto my shoulders and walked back with a smile!!

So much for my instrumental aspirations.   
Dhanraj master with ilayaraja 

Shilpa annual day 2009

The twelth annual day of shilpa society for the mentally Handicapped in kochi was celebrated on February 22nd with great aplomb .

With more than 150 students Shilpa school has grown a lot over time ,with a disabled friendly building to house it and trained staff it is looking ahead to its new home in its new land of almost an acre in the heart of Kochi .

This time too the cultural programmes were done with finesse and creativity and one could understand the work behind it .

the dance drama Patabishekam was the cyanosure of all eyes directed by none other than the great malayalam drama director Dharman master .

It is just another example of how much could be done by the mentally challenged if they are given the right direction ,

It also shows the particpation of creative people ,teachers ,society members and the public at large have come to recognise the sincerity and mission behind Shilpa society .

cine actor Manoj K jayan graced his presence in the function .

It was another fruitful day for the school

somehwhere shilpa should be smiling ...

.....
visit shilpasociety.org

Dear Paresh

My Dear Friend

A few special people have found way into my blog ,this post is of a very special somebody .

We all lead a life with ups and downs and most of us ( specially me ) grumble at the end of day for getting pinpricks .

I admire people with none of the advantages we have ,but have stood against their destiny to achieve and attain ,

Tata Tetely would never have seen any of their job aspirants being carried by the persons father physically ,it did happen when Paresh Palicha an young man afflicted with cerebral palsy with physical disablitiy but excellent mental faculties came for the interview like that and he went on to get that job too on his merits .

Paresh had achieved this with grit and determination ,he plodded to appear for his SSC exams and later went on to finish BCOM and then a course in computers .

Raksha a school for children with multiple disabilities in Kochi was where Paresh was nurtured and encouraged to study and also accept his disabilities ,it is in Raksha where I also met him for the first time years back when I used to go there with my disabled daughter Shilpa .

Time has rolled ,today shilpa has left us but we remember Raksha with a fondness and so does Paresh and many like him .

Paresh was an avid reader even those days and would bury himselves in books ,which would be where he achieved his writing skills .

He later went on to do a diploma in creative writing from London based writers bureau Paresh today is well known for his articles in leading newspapers ,he writes on all topics but he is well known for his excellent movie reviews .

Reading his review one can never imagine how he went to see the movie if only people knew about this it would be more intresting more so than even the movie being reviewed !

Paresh still has to be carried physically or be pushed in a wheel chair .

With the way Indian cities are built ( forget about disabled friendly they are actually even abled unfriendly ! ) his father has to carry him from his scooter to the theatre .

I don't think there is anybody who writes reviews on movies with this much effort ,he types in the computer with a single finger and plods through it with industry .

His reviews are a treat to read of course .

Paresh has a fondness for movie making and hopes one day he would script write Arthur Haileys Final diagnosis with Mani Ratnam directing it and …. he might do just that ..

In Tata Tetley where he works sitting in his wheelchair he is the friendly neighbourhood Stephen Hawling .

Cricket is another thing Paresh is crazy about ,for years he listended to cricket commentaries in the radio intently and now he does so on the TV .

His most cherished dream of course was to become a cricketer ,though circumstances has denied him this he achieved another distinction by acting in a Malayalam movie .

For Paresh every moment is for surpassing himself where he strives to achieve the best he can by beating all the odds .

slowly and steadily he counts his achievements ,he is a born perfectionist and leaves no stone unturned to achieve his goal .

He has his moments of despair too where at times his being locked in a body that does not respond proves a bit too much ,poetry often gives him the soul search and respite during these occasions and he would pour his feelings into them and when we read these in his blog we are given a rare peep into a world unknown to us .

so that folks is Paresh Palicha !

This post is a small way of showing my love to this wonderful friend called Paresh

Please do visit his blog ……………….

http://pareshpalicha.blogspot.com/

http://pcpalicha.blogspot.com/

http://pareshpalicha.blogspot.com/

,today Pareshs dear father has left him and us
Because of  such people living in this world it is why probably the rain still falls !

Norway trip

SAS Airlines takes just an hour to fly between Stockholm and Oslo ,

check in at Aralanda was a over in a jiffy ,Scandinavian airport personell and immigration people are cool and collected and friendly to boot ,
I remembered to walk back to the immigration desk on reaching there as nobody checked my visa ,the bushy moustachioed Swede just grinned and said you got it stamped in Munich and that is enough so have a nice day,

I just walked out into the road bewildered .

In Oslo dusk settles fast and the sky was overcast with a definite chill in the air as we sauntered down the spacious lobby to our waiting cousin couple .
After the intial warm up of meeting them we cruised in their sleek vehicle to Riechstag a drive of more than two hours from the airport .

The roads were neat and pristine ,empty with a few cars zipping past ,
having come from a country where such emptiness was rare this was a treat for us .
The scenic landscape was mind blowing , farms with undulating green hillocks delicate as a damsels waist , intermittent mounds of grey hay clusters like the peeping wisps of a an ageing woman ,
cottages with coloured roofs smoking chimneys of warmth , lights glowing in their souls ,the twilight sky burnished by the setting sun ,meandering streams like shivas locks ,pines and ferns growing tall like shy teenagers ,the hush of nature ,the twitter of birds and the secrets of the earth all along the way .
We stopped often to click and glimpse at these gifts of the divine .

Soon we crossed the Glomus a famous river of the country ,it was broad and flowing and we could feel the chill of its waters
We went under a Moose bridge covered by green ( these are bridges built over highways for moose to cross to reach the forest on the other side )
Moose crossing by road could turn dangerous as there was considerable damage when a speeding car hit them more to man than moose .
Moose incidentally the national animal was a something between a reindeer and a cow and was huge with big horns
moose meat was a known delicacy in the these parts and was said to be tasty though a bit stringy and hard

The towns were small with one stop restaurants bars ,schools and offices ,
cottages and villas neatly painted with box gardens ,trees ,and flowers punctuating the place .
Everything was well organized and neat but people were hard to find ,either there was mass hibernation or they went to bed early !
Even petrol bunks are unmanned so are parking slots creating an eerie sense of the Salems lot ( Stephen kings famous novel )
We reached the clinic of Andreas our brother in law from Norway ,went inside and discussed the ergonomics of a Norwegian medical practioner ,with three doctors and a teacher the subject should have been boring only to one ! you know who !

Home and to a sumptuous dinner lovingly prepared by the couple with both Norwegian and Indian flavours tickling our palates .

The huge cottage with an internal swimming pool was homely with wooden floors ,wide verandahs and soft cushions ,bathrooms had floor heating which was a first for me ,their warmth and that of our hosts spread into our hearts as we slumbered like babies in the cosy bed for an undisturbed sleep .
Morning was bright and sparkling and with a cuppa of warmth we went under the apple tree in the compound which rained juicy apples and walked over the mushy apple strewn ground plucking ripe ones and crunching their sweet delights .
A walk into the town made us see more empty roads and lovely picture postcard cottages
One lingering thought we had of Norway was its emptiness .
Of course Oslo city where we went later in the day dispelled these notions as it was as crowded as any modern city could be .
Norway had a checkered history being under several countries over the times ,the early vikings were known for being fierce seafarers and Norway even today has retained its romance with the sea ,some of the best sailors and naval men are from this country and it is known for ship building and navigation .

The Viking museum in Oslo is just the place one needs to visit to dip into the fable of the great Vikings ,bearded and tall these brave men of the past strode tall in their exqusite boats which were as sturdy and powerful as them ,the boats were huge and were buried along with their statesmen and have been unearthed now to be housed in the museum ,every boat had the essentials needed for the nobleman and even his servants were buried with them ,the museum could take one back to those ages when the wildness of the earth was dared by the strength of the men who inhabited it
One bounces back to the present after leaving the museum to drive along the roads of the city ,climbing up a hilly road lead one to the famous ski jump where many have skimmed down into fluffy snow for the winter Olympics ,the jump has a park around it with benches for picnickers and this is when Andreas our Norwegian doctor brother in law joined us for an indian lunch eaten with hands
this evoked considerable curiousity for the locals as they saw one of their own sitting with two Indian women and an Indian guy comfortably tucking in with fingers ,spicy concoctions with ease !
There was a statue of the Norwegian king gazing at us benignly as he retuned from sking with all his dogs ,it is said he died of frostbite after one such unfortunate excursion .
Down the hill and into downtown Oslo we saw the heritage buildings like the parliament the Nobel hall where the Nobel peace prize is given ( only peace prize is given in Norway and all the others are given in Sweden )
We went tinto the cruise harbour and almost into a huge cruise ship getting ready to embark to Germany ,we did stop before getting into its bowels and into probably an unwelcoming Germany !
The opera house is a recent landmark to the city with its sloping roof touching the floor one could walk up the roof and gaze the skyline .
And suddenly it was all over as it was time for us to return
our Norwegian romance ended there but then we had fallen in love with the country and its people for ever
Night saw us flying back to Stockholm after fond farewells

I have been an admirer of His highness Sheikh Mohamoud Bin Rashid al Maktoum the ruler of Dubai and vice president of U.A.E since I came here .

He has not only metamorphised the city from a desert town into a modern gleaming metropolis where the world confers and things happen .

His vision has been futuristic and tempered by reason ,clarity, concern for the needy and to his subjects .

He is also a great sportsman and presents an image of a dashing head of the state

recently he won the endurance riding championship a gruelling 120 km horse ride

( wish our laloos /pinarayis do that !! )

20/20 and Ghajini : review

Malayalam movies post Prem nazir and Madhu era were of two types ,the arty ones which picked up awards in film festivals

(Adoor Gopalakrishnan type )but poor returns in theatres ,there were certain exeptional movies made in this genre but some were pains in the P ,

the other type were commercial hits with popular stories made very well with good actors and great directors like Padmarajan ,Siby malayil ,Lohitadas and Bharatan ,

This period also produced soft porn flicks of Shakeela and Reshma fame ,all this ended with the sex flicks dying a natural death ,but the good movies also ended .

The present creations are poor imitations of tamil and hindi masala ,the ageing superstars resuscitated in thier familiar roles filled with item dances anathema to malayalam film grammar .

AMMA the movie artistes forum created a multistarrer recently called Twenty Twenty which had almost everyone known in the industry ,

Although Mohanlal ,Mamooty ,Dileep and Suresh Gopi did thier roles responsibly it the poor story line and pitiful direction by Joshi made it a mess .

Benny ignatius lacklustre music contributed to its failure to a large extent .

Though the intial half was a bit intresting the movie literally died after that ,meandering into confusion and chaos breathing its last in the cimax ,

I for one sighed with relief when it did .

what a great oppurtunity AMMA lost with such talented stars and artistes in its fold ?

it should have made a film true to its roots instead of this facade ,

( it might have made its millions of course )

Hindi movies strangely have got out of the strightjacket of commercialism to a certain extent with the advent of multiplexes and consequent increase in a refined audience .

Ghajini the recent Aamir remake of a tamil film of same name is a fine example of this .

Directed by the director of the original ,A.R Murugadoss ,with music by the incomparable genius A.R.Rahman ( my favourite )..listen .

http://hhide.com/Albums/Ghajini/04%20Ghajini%20-%20Behka%20[Bollym4u.com].mp3

The movie has Asin as heroine who has shown that south actresses will continue to excel in the norht by her intelligent acting ,she was a delight to watch though seen only in half the movie .


Aamir as Sanjay Singhania the tycoon who turns into a closely shaven one man revenge machine burdened by a fifteen minute memory ,his eight pack body and superb acting skills make the film ,the stunts and choreography are made with professionalism and is a delight to watch .

Though many who have seen the tamil original with Surya feel it was better originals are always a class apart but among remakes Ghajini is a well made one .

So Please dont miss ghajini and please do miss Twenty Twenty !

Mayyathu

Thursday evening Emirates road in Dubai was like a python gone to sleep .vehicles were barely moving in the eight track huge road ,

there should have been an accident somewhere for this to happen thought Muneer ,he was fidgety and in edge ,it was imperative he be in Sharjah by 7pm or else he would miss his flight he looked at Altaf

Altaf whats happening ? think we are stuck is any exit possible from here ?

This is the best bet ,going into the city would be worser .it will clear some accident mebbe

ah there it is he said as the cars ahead were diverting a big crash and a huge crane was trying to lift an upturned van ,the police were efficient and traffic moved sluggishly .

Muneer heaved a sigh of relief ,so it was possible he would get into his flight and at dawn he would be speeding to Patttambi from the airport .

two years and he hadnt even seen his little one Aysha poor Fatima she was bearing all the seperation it was just another gulf malayalees life

hard work and homesickness and the looking forwards to that day of homecoming

Altaf janta hun it is yrs since we came here, how time flies

Altaf nodded ,they both worked in the same company and Altaf moonlighted trips to the airport with his second hand Nissan

hailing from Pakistans multan Altaf was Muneers best friend and roomate along with Jinan

the car speeded up as the road cleared ,both friends were happy and rhymed along with the gazal belted out from FM Dubai and then it happened with just a deafening sound and flash

the car rolled and turned over itself bursting into flames as the big truck hit it with incredible force

Muneer felt a searing pain scalding his face ,he saw his child so closely .

Fatima was beckoning to him and he floated into her arms and then into blessed oblivion

Altaf died on the spot

the truck too lost balance and toppled on to a van totally .

It was a big mess with many injured and a score dead

the mayhem was like a battle scene

police arrived with effort finding way to reach the place ,helicopters hovered above pulling the injured up into thier safety and to the nearby Dubai hospital

it was confusion all over

" Eda Nasser and Altaf accident ,eda vem vaa "the mobile woke up Ashraf and Jinan after midnight ,it was hours before somebody could trace thier numbers and the police called thier friend chako from the number in muneers shatered mobile

oh no Jinan sobbed in the motuary poor Muneer oh lord look at Altaf I cant see him ,both were beyond recognition and scarred , smell of burnt flesh brought revulsion to him and he rushed out

what can Ido oh my God how can I call them in Pattambi ? They will be waiting for his arrival

Abdul Azeez was doing that for 2 years

His son was getting back

His mind raced into the past as the car drove swiftly in the darkness of dawn to the airport

Muneer was always his favourite ,he took special care of his bappa he had always been like that concerned and loving and Fatima was such a good wife for him poor thing he could feel her pain when she read his letters or called her .

Today she was awake when Azeez left

" molle go to sleep it is midninght I will be back with him in the morning ."

"illa bappa urakkamvarunilla ."

he just laughed

after Muneers mother died last year it was Fatima who looked after the big house and its affairs leaving nothing undone it was a blessing to have her as a daughter in law thought Abdul azeez

Allah karim ........

And then the moblie rung incessantly Azeez had some intution when he answered it ,It was unexplainable and uncomfortable feel of something gone wrong

" baapa Jinanannu Altafinde friendu jinan "

"Aa jina flight vitto ? "

"Ayyo Baapa chadichu avan namalevittu poyi "Jinan sobbed

"Entha entha nee parayinadhu ? "

Azeez gripped the mobile his kncukles turing white

"monne jinna enthadanee paruyunnu "

Ellam poi accidentanu both of them Muneer and Altaf gone , on way to airport

Azeez was sweating and had a searing pain in his head

it cant be true Iam dreaming

the taxi driver looked at his ashen face "saare enthupatti ?"

"ayyo ayyo nirthu nirthu enthina ponnu avan varulla !! "

Muneers brother sitting behind woke up hearing this

"bappa bappa what are you saying ?"

"poyada ellam poyi avan poyada ente mon poyi kondupoyi avanne ayyo njaan enthu cheyum

entha paraya avente penninodu ? "

Salam grabbed the phone and dialled jinans number

"jina entha entha ?"

" Salamme seriya bappaa paranjadhu serriya big accident thier car got burnt I saw the body could not recognise even the face I mean "

"vandi thrikku shanmugna chetta veetilekku vekkam "

Events moved like slow motion after that

the taxi entering the house and an eager Fatima rushing with her child

she was surprised at their retun so fast

but what happened ?

is bappa not well ?

why is he leaning on Salam ?

Salam entha ?

parayam parayam

The news landed on her like thunder she was shellshocked not a tear no crying just silence as she clutched her baby to her chest she would not give the baby to anyone however much they asked she just sat with the baby motionless .

the house was full of poeple

silent sobs reverberated from its wall mingling with verses of koran being chanted

Sulaiman MLA was there

"Azeez ikka karyangaloke nengalu nokkikola bejaravenda ,ministerku vilichitindu ,avaruayakkum thamasikade

ividithe orukam athraye illu

"ente ponnune enthinanu konduvarunathu ? "sobbed Azeez

"Hai ingalanda parayunnu karyangolake nadakente ? " musaliyar boomed

the house was full of doers

the green coffin was ready too

evening fell as mobiles rung on and off to give the latest on the body and then jinaan called

someone thrust the mobile to Azeez

"bappa njananu Muneer ,onumpatilla baapa enikku onnum patitilla "

Muneer talked wheezingly

"Azeeez saare azeez saare avan undu .undu

thetiyadha he is alive alle thetiyadha " from jinan

what had happened was that the police had taken many to a nearby hospital and some to the mortuary

identification wad difficult and when jinnan was taken by police to see the body with Altaf he was sure it was Muneer .

Muneer later called from the hospital as soon as he regained consciousness asking for Altaf

he still didnt know

the house shook away its gloom as people talked of this miracle

Fatima broke into hysterical laughter

but somwhere in another house in distant Multan someone cried ...........

( I got this story outline from a true incident which I heard in the hospital today the injured malayalee is in the hospital even now ,

characters and events are my imagination of course )