Inspired by Aparna, I am going to get this blog back up from slumber mode, and try to post more regularly! The past weekend was simply amazing and I won’t say more than that my friends rock and that we all defy the space-time continuum. I am going through a very interesting phase in my research, where the deadlines keep hitting me like the waves on the rocky Mangalore shore in “Uyire”. But I guess busy is good.
I am going to revive the Carnatic music series. As an experimentalist, I like random distribution, and so am going to decide on my letter of the day by randomly jabbing at my keyboard! Today’s letter turned out to be “M” and hence the title. M is for :
mAyammA : I have said everything I can about Mayamma and Ahiri in this blog before. This is one of my favoritest songs ever!
mOkshamu galada : Thyagaraja ‘s anguish, in MDR’s beseeching voice – this song is a tear jerker for me. The recording I have of it, is so evocative and MDR creates a truly gut wrenching effect. sAramati in all its glory. I wonder why Illayaraja had to retune mari mari ninne for his sAramti in the movie Sindhubhairavi. But then again, I am glad Suhaasini didn’t get a chance to criticize this masterpiece with her Padariyen!
meenAkshi memudam dehi : Dikshithar’s special krithi in gamakakriyA/ purvikalyAni. On any other day, this would have been number one on my list. But I heard MDR’S mokshamu last night, and am still haunted by it. purvikalyani is one of my favorite ragas. It has such an eerie and surreal feel to it. meenAkshi is especially special, as Dikshithar chose this as the composition he wanted to listen to as he attained samAdhi. My favorite rendition is an hour and 17 min long rendition of TMK that I have, with the song in all it’s chauka kala glory, complete with a alapana, neraval and swarAs at meenalochani pAsamochani. This is a good sample of it.
mAyE tvam – This is such a delightful song where Dikshithar shows great playfullness with the lyrics and the raga itself is charming! I heard a rendition of TMK’s where he sings it the way it is notated in the SSP, but I found that version more spooky. I like the MSS’ rendition best.
mAthey – Harikesanallur Muthiah Bhagavathar’s dAru varnam in a lilting Khamas that makes a double left footed me want to spring into dance! Favorite rendition again is a Krishna version I have, but the Morning Raga version is pretty good too.
M is really a gold mine. I have several other songs that I like a lot including manavyalakin, mAkElarA, mA janaki, muralidharA gOpAlA and so many more that I am probably not thinking of right now. The favorite M is raga is definitely mAnji filled with all the pathos, closely followed by mAnd and malahari. I will leave you with varugalAmo and an ARR mAnd (pathetic video though!) which is dedicated to Uths!
P.S : Thumbs up to The Hindu! http://beta.thehindu.com/arts/music/article42675.ece
Dandilsa Delurking 
i lap up your posts like man in a desert drinks water
cliched analogy, apt nontheless.
Wow..That’s such a nice compliment. Thank you. And also, thanks for needling me to revive the series 🙂
Hi,
I am so glad that my tag surfer brought me here. Aparna’s name was a guarantee somehow!:-)
T loved TMK’s chauka meenakshi
See if you like this one by MDR
varugallmo.. I dont even know if people will believe, the best I have heard of it was for a dance recital by an unknown singer..
keep it coming D!
“Tear-jerker”
I looove your music posts, though i am a half-wit with traditional music! You should post more often! 🙂
@Sangishyam – Thanks for stopping by! I usually love MDR’s version of any song best, but on this one, I still favor TMK ‘s chauuuuuukam rendition 🙂
@Siddharth – Quite brilliant!
@DD – Thanks!
wow!!!!!! and Yes, I remembered Uths too!
🙂
I loved TMK’s Maaye & the tarangini alapana which he sang in a concert! Some of my favourites in M:
Mamava Meenakshi, Mamava Pattabhirama, TMK’s Mamava Raghuveera (3 mamavas in a row 🙂 ) & Sanjay’s manasa etulo.
@Ani – 🙂
@Aparna – I forgot about Mamava Pattabhirama, and Manasa..should probably add Manirangu and Malayamarutham to the list too..Wow too many M’s!
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Manji is a personal favourite too. But Brovavamma it is in Manji 🙂 For some reason, with script changing and other issues with Varugalamo, the composition does not appeal heavily to me.
Sathej
Welcome here! I personally prefer Brovavamma too, wrote about it in my “b” post. But I am a huge GB fan and like Desigar’s rendition of Varugalamo a lot. What is the script change? I don’t know about this.
hi friend,
i would spend time listening to those recommendations.. sure.
how have u been?
yay keep blogging and inspire others do so..
-Aiz.
Thanks!
Not sure if you have listened to MDR’s rendition of “Meenakshi Memudham”. I found it very very sublime and spiritual. I have heard KVN and MMI sing the song equally great. But MDR’s version is the best I have ever heard. Never heard TM Krishna’s rendition of this song, eager to listen. BTW 1hr long piece you are talking about and the youtube version are they one and the same.
Thanks for stopping by. Yes, there is something sublime about MDR’s music always! The TMK rendition I have is a concert recording and different from the version on Youtube.
Nice post :).
Some more to the M list – mArubalka, mEru samAna, mAnasa guruguha (the sublime Anandabhairavi), shyAmAshAstrI’s meenalOchana in a haunting dhanyAsi, … still at dhanyAsi, mAyUranAtham, marakatavallIm in kAmbhOji….. such splendid beauties all of those!
Thanks for commenting 🙂 Yeah, after I wrote the post, I remembered so many more!