By Priya Das

Margazhi Raagam, the “concert in cinema”, is many things packaged as a movie…It’s a kutcheri/ concert featuring two very popular artistes Bombay Jayashri and T. M. Krishna. It’s a film on digital steroids, with uncompressed six-track sound, audiographed by H. Sridhar, and captured on Red 4K cameras, cinematographed by P.C. Sreeram.  It’s a dream of director Jayendra Panchapakesan come to life- of bringing an evocative, mass appeal to Carnatik music.

Margazhi Raagam is a concert on film, even though an actual concert was not filmed. Seven cameras were used as silent conspirators to capture every nuance as the music was acted out, so to speak. Every expression on the faces of the two main artistes is visible, making the viewing of the movie an intimate dialog between the audience and the musicians. The acoustics are brilliant; all the subtle cadences in T.M. Krishna’s rich voice are brought out in its full glory. Hearing Bombay Jayashri sing is like listening to the breaking of dawn.

I fell in conversation with T. M. Krishna at a press meet recently-

Didn’t the retakes kill the spontaneity of the performances?
T.M.K.: The entire shooting for the film was done in 2 days. Almost every performance was shot uninterrupted, except for one of mine, which we had to shoot in 2 parts because the lights went out! We wound up shooting till 2am that first day.

Have Bombay Jayashri and you performed together before?
T.M.K.:Certainly not for a full-fledged kutcheri. How we first sang together is an interesting story. Jayashri and I were collaborating on a coffee-table book on Carnatic music. We approached the then President of India, Abdul Kalam Azad for the unveiling. He agreed, on the condition that we sing together. It was then that we realized that we hadn’t ever sung together before! So we performed together for an invited audience at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. (The book is called Voices Within, published by Matrka, founded by TM Krishna and Bombay Jayashri, “to create a new platform to present Carnatic music.”)

How did the two of you prepare for Margazhi Raagam?
We didn’t prepare together as such. Jayashri and I have been friends for many years now, and are comfortable in giving each other the space required. We have only 2 duets, incidentally, one of them is without any music, just the two of us singing. Jayendra wanted the music to sound fresh, and gave us a free hand when it came to improvisation. In any case, preparation doesn’t work for me. I like to give in to the mood of the moment and raaga. Jayashri is more organized, on the other hand, and makes for a very appealing contrast in the movie.

Was it difficult to not have an audience during the shoot?
T.M.K.:Singing for Margazhi Raagam was like jamming with friends at home. We did have an audience about a 100, that’s the crew. The set was readied for us beforehand, and then there was a pindrop silence. It was a very intimate setting, very conducive to singing.

How was it to see yourself on film?
T.M.K.:Scary!! (laughs) When Jayashri and I saw the rough cut, I looked at her, nonplussed. I had never before seen myself sing, and this is in close-up! I wasn’t sure how the audience would like it.

And how did the audience like it- how has it been received in India?
T.M.K.:It has been received well. Of course there have been comments all over the spectrum, but I remember one particular incident. I was in Trichy. On a whim, I decided to see Margazhi Raagam in a theater there. When the owner heard that I was in the audience, he called me aside and said to me, “I am in my 70s. I would’ve died never having known the beauty in Carnatic music were it not for this movie, thanks for making it!”

Sarvamangala Mangalye and Jagadodhara are fairly accessible songs- Who selected the content?
T.M.K.:Jayendra, Jayashri and I unanimously selected the songs. Jayendra wanted this to be a common man’s music-movie. So the songs were selected first based on popular appeal, then on composition. We also wanted to choose different composers for each. The choice of the last song was particularly difficult- we felt it needed to hit the right resonance with the common man…our violinist came up with that one- Bharthiyar’s Vande Mataram. You can make the most commonplace song sound exotic and vice versa. It also depends on the rasika and the mood s/he is in- the same music can be enjoyed at 25 different levels.

Is this movie like a much-awaited democratization of Carnatica?
T.M.K.:I think so. I believe that for many centuries, music in South India belonged to the masses. It was during the British Raj that it got closeted into an auditorium, and ticketed, leaving out the common man. In Kerala during the temple season, right to this day, music is sung among the people, in temples, and anybody can come close and ask for requests. I remember a few years ago, there was this drunk rickshaw driver sitting right up front, smoking a beedi. I thought he was in a stupor, and had dismissed him as a serious rasika. Suddenly he gets up and says, “Saami, Todi padangey”! So you see, there is a rasika in every common man.

Margazhi Raagam is set to be released in the US in April and May this year. It was first released in India during the month of Margazhi or the winter month in the Hindu calendar, the time between Dec 15 and Jan 15. Margazhi is the time the Chennai music season is held every year, a time when tens of Carnatic concerts run concurrently, and every concert receives a critique by veteran rasikas and the layman masses. That the movie is named after this season and released first during this time is a gentle nudge to all rasikas to sit up and take notice of this new medium on the block.

Bay Area Dates –

Friday, April 24th at 7 pm, Dolby Labs Theater, 100 Potrero Avenue, San Francisco.  Tickets are $25 and $40.

Sunday, May 31st at 3 pm, IMC6, The Alameda, San Jose.  Tickets are $12 each or $10 if purchased in groups of 4 or more.  For tickets and info contact Aruna Peri : 408.718.5261 | aruna.peri@gmail.com

The trailer can be seen at marghaziraagam.com

By Lehkikaa

The poet Yeats wrote,
“O body swayed to music, O brightening glance,
How can we know the dancer from the dance?”

Bay Area dance rasikas had a similar experience when four gurus of Kuchipudi and Bharatanatyam danced at the YuvaBharati concert at the Mission City Center in Santa Clara on Apr 12, 2009. Presented as a tribute in bells to Oothukkadu Venkata Subayyar and Maharaja Swathi Thirunal, it was a heady experience to see four stalwarts on stage together for the first piece: Himabindu Challa, artistic director Nrityananda (Kuchipudi), Jyothi Lakkaraju, artistic director of Natyalaya (Kuchipudi), Shreelata Suresh artistic director of Vishwa Shanthi (Bharatanatyam), and Vidhya Subramanian, artistic director of Lasya (Bharatanatyam).

It was very refreshing to see the oft-presented Pushpanjali in conjunction with Sri Vighna Rajam Bhaje. Along with the dancers, the highlight of this piece was the poses of Ganesha in duplicate. Getting the artistes of similar styles to dance concurrently was a great idea; it brought out the differences in the two art forms.

For her first solo presentation, Vidhya strung together 3 distinct pieces; Kaliya Nartana, Swagatham Krishna and Taye Yashoda. It would have been such a treat for Vidhya to have danced any one of these for the entire length of her solo. The pieces felt hurried, kind of like watching sunrays dimpled through the clouds, now here, now gone. Certainly, there were flashes of brilliance, both in the dancing (Kasturi tilakam, shame while complaining about Krishna’s kiss to Yashoda) and the vocals (the part in tandem by Asha Ramesh and Madhavi Cheruvu lent a dramatic effect for Kaliya Nartana), but one longed for a long stretch of warm light which Vidhya is otherwise so good at infusing.

Jyothi brought out the nuances of ‘Mani Nupura Dhari’ well. Her left half seemed to be in an engaging conversation with her right half as she danced, she brings a lilting quality to Kuchipudi. At times, the jathis were danced to just music, and it seemed as if the nritta was also doing abhinaya. Jyothi is a treat to watch. Madhavi’s sollukattu here was fire power, she should explore a career in nattuvangam.

Shreelata’s ‘Ati Nirupama Sundarakara’ was a serenade to Delhi Krishnamoorthy’s nattuvangam/sollukattu…or was it the other way around? The recluse in the poet Subbayar would’ve been pleasantly surprised by teasing/ breath-suspending (in a good sense) quality of the vocals; the bhakta in him would’ve been happy with the familiarity which the nayika showed to Krishna. It was intensely diverting for the audience, and one was alternately tapping to the nattuvangam and involuntarily grinning at the sheer joy pulsating in the voice of the singer. Bay Area was fortunate to unexpectedly experience Delhi Krishnamoorthy.

It would’ve been nice to have live orchestra for ‘Marakatha Mani’ by Himabindu. It was an interesting piece that Asha and the Narayanans would’ve brought so totally to life. Himabindu’s use of repeated patterns of nritta served well to punctuate the lyrics. Her finish with the dancing on the plate was ofcourse arresting.

The conclusion at the end of the first half was: The similarities between Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi are only in attire; the former seeks to electrify, the latter to enchant. If one were to comment on the style of love each dancer has for her art, Vidhya’s can be defined as a Veera Shringara, she approaches her dance as an equal, with respectful pride. Shreelatha’s is a lover’s shringara, she does not even need reciprocation, she’s enraptured, enamored. Jyothi’s is a mature and masterful Shringara, her path is sure, complete, and transcendental. Himabindu approaches her art with bhakti, willing to be led rather than make a statement.

With such varying styles, the second half was eagerly awaited. True to her bhakti path, Himabindu’s rendition of ‘Paripaahi Ganaadhipa’ was humble and pure. Her use of the Kuchipudi poses highlighted the poetry well. With ‘Paanagendra Shayana’, Shreelata continued her private state of rapture. Keeping a lookout for Padumanabha through the night with her was delightful. She redefines the Araimandi in her nritta, and brings out the drama in her poses. Shreelatha brings in an Ashtapadi-esque emotion to every line of poetry, and commands one’s attention at all times.

Vidhya’s ‘Chaliye Kunjan Mo’ was finally true to her style, and she drew the audience in line by line. The opening was sensual, never has a woman detangling her hair looked so alluring. Krishna one guesses, doesn’t stand a chance from the get go. The lengths she goes to get him into the bower- Water-laden hugs, bird/ feather caresses, the don’t-mistake-the-hold on his arm!

Jyothi’s ‘Sri Ramana Vibho’ was in a word, powerful. She totally mesmerizes the audience, it’s a ticket to the sublime when you watch her. There is an instant resonance in your own heart with each emotion. Her defining take on Putana got one to sympathize with this she-villain for the first time.

The finale with Dhanasri Thillana was good. It was thrilling to watch them share the stage, and one didn’t know who to look at. The choreography was balanced, but again, not path-breaking and the synchronization slipped in some places. However, one wants to give a long rope to the gurus, it must have been extremely difficult to juggle the schedules and approaches. Thanks though to all of them for seeing it through, the audience appreciates it!

Kudos to Yuva Bharati on this one. Getting 4 gurus together is no mean feat, and whoever made this possible deserves an applause. One hopes that we will get similarly lucky again soon. The only change I’d like to see is that instead of a lengthy intro to each artist at the beginning, they could’ve introduced the orchestra at first, and each dancer before her solo. And ofcourse, if 4 gurus are dancing, then please do get a bigger auditorium next time!

Lehkikaa is a Bay Area dance and drama critic.

By Geeta Padmanabhan

The media have been calling it the Election Festival. What we saw yesterday, the first phase of polling, was far from one. Naxal attacks left 17 dead in the polling areas.

Of course, Indian elections are a huge, enviable exercise in democracy with a mind-boggling 700 million official voters on the rolls. That should come as a lesson for a lot of countries. But it has several serious shortcomings in the very nature of its party system, its parliamentary form of governance. Ironically, the glimmer of hope comes from these very ills that seem to pull the system into a morass.

Take the case of the “party leaper“. There are some who have sided with every shade of ideology over the years that it is impossible to vote for them on the basis of party affiliation. For the first time, you hear “We will align with like-minded candidates after the elections” being said openly.

There are charge-sheeted criminals who have been given tickets under the argument that their claim can be rejected only when they are finally convicted. In India that is 25 years into the future, if at all.

When there is a proliferation of political parties, how is the voter supposed to keep track of their performance overall? Since ideology has been safely dropped in the rubbish bin (ideology has no place when aligning with regional parties to form a government in the centre), how is he expected to vote a party because of what it stands for, in some abstract terms?

Our young voters – 10 crores – are not swayed by the “We fought for freedom” spiel. They are definitely not bothered about hindutva and the Ram temple. What is one more or less temple? After the Supreme Court’s embarrassing questions on the issue, they are disgusted with the reservation policy. The ground reality is reservation does not necessarily fetch them jobs or promotions. Merit does.

Increasingly elections – even national ones – are about local issues. People want roads, safety in the streets, uninterrupted electricity and water supply, a good transport system, schools and jobs. They want to be alive and working and raising families and traveling in reasonable comfort.

A lot of them are also thinking how politicians manage to amass wealth. I get asked this question often in my classes.

So whom will the votes go to?

At the lowest level, to those who can give them cash, biryani and liquor. One of the homes in Thirumangalam (elected an MLA) had a board saying “12 votes here”.

Second, to an extent, the party. “The party gives me contracts, turns its head away when I quarry sand illegally, awards me precious broadband citing some long-lost rule. My family has always voted this party in. It is smart enough to win.”

Third, the candidate.

[a] The candidate is a movie God. Every voter asked in Thirupati said he would vote Chiranjeevi.

[b] The candidate has won from this constituency for ever, his/her name is associated with this place. They have brought in changes, have poured money for improving facilities, never mind where it came from or what they did as union ministers responsible for the entire country. Which is why Sharad Pawar need not campaign in his constituency of Baramati in Maharashtra though the Vidharba region saw all those farmers’ deaths while he was union agri minister. That is why Renuka Choudhry is confident of winning her Khammam seat though safety of women and children has never been so bad as it is now. She was union minister for Women and Child welfare. That is why Arjun Singh won again and again while national education levels have remained abysmally low. That is why. … Their constituencies are safe, even if the country is not.

Then come the independents, dismissed as “spoilers” by Dr. Manmohan Singh in his new aggressive avatar. He may have a point. Independents stand for elections for nefarious reasons. But he should have gone through the list this time.

The current list includes: Meera Sanyal, Captain Gopinath, Sarath Babu, NS Venkatraman, Dr Tirumala Raya Halemane, Dr Mona Shah (Professionals Party)…  This augers well. Good, solid citizens may now feel emboldened to try to clear the murky waters of Indian politics and governance. If the campaigning styles are any indication, what these candidates say sounds like a blessing. Not having to please the party bosses, not having to wait for the high-command must make them free to do what they have set out to.

What do they want? As Meera Sanyal said, “I am not standing against Milind or Rawale. I am standing for Mumbai. All I say is demand the same standards of our political leaders that we are demanding of leaders in other fields… corporate, sports or films.”

These “spoilers” hope to provide that leadership.

By Piya Mitra

Some of my most cherished childhood memories are those of my grandmother’s tea estates, in the Dooars (foothills of Darjeeling) region of W.Bengal, sipping tea on the porch of the beautiful bungalow with a picture postcard view. Lush green tea shrubs cover the landscape, dotted with women workers picking tea leaves“ two leaves, a bud” with their nimble fingers and tossing them into the basket on their backs. I consider myself very lucky to have had the opportunity of tasting the freshness of that tea, and breathing that beautiful aroma.

Another unforgettable memory is of a cold winter night, waking up to the jolt of the train stopping at a small non-descript train station and to the ever familiar strain of “Chai Chai, Chai Chai.” Sipping hot chai out of an earthen cup on a cold winter night was pure delight.

Lastly I remember myself as a preteen, peeking into our drawing room(Living room or parlor) to admire all the lovely ladies in their chiffon sarees  playing taash     (cards)/mahjong and sipping  tea in my mother’s fine bone china cups, the teapot covered in a tea cozy to keep the tea warm. The servants served cucumber and mint sandwiches, fresh baked Nankhatai biscuits(cookies), pastries and other mouthwatering snacks. Oh how I wished to grow up and take their place one day.

Chai is an intergral part of our Indian identity like, dal, chawal  roti or Bollywood. After all the   rags to riches story of the life of a poor “Slumdog” chai wala in a Mumbai call center just won an Oscar!

While the British may have their prim and proper “High Tea” we Indians have our version too and it’s a lot more fun and informal.

Alas! The Indian tea or chai party is a lost art here in the US. Our busy lives hardly permit us the luxury of sipping a cup of leisurely tea with our friends.

If you are a tea lover like me, why not throw a tea party? It’s a lot easier than cooking an elaborate dinner or lunch. A ladies tea and gossip session may be a fun way to relax and catch up with your friends, or a Karaoke and chai party promises to be a lot of fun.

There are two basic ways of serving chai. The Masala Chai  or elachi  Chai  is served on informal occasions. It is prepared in a pan with milk added while cooking  and poured directly into cups or mugs. The more formal tea is brewed in a tea pot and served along with sugar and milk.

Masala Chai
Ingredients:

* 2 tsp loose CTC tea
* 1 piece of dry ginger
* 3 cardamom pods, crushed
* 3 whole cloves
* 1 piece of cinnamon stick
* Milk and sugar to taste
* 2 cups of water

Method:
Chop up ginger into fine pieces, and break up the cinnamon stick. Bring 2 cups of water to a boil and then add tea leaves and all the spices. Let everything brew at boiling for 30 to 45 seconds. Remove from heat, then let steep at room temperature for another minute.

Strain out the tea and pieces of spice. Serve hot and fragrant, with only a touch of milk or sugar.

This kind of chai goes very well with Samosas, Pakodas, Chaats, Jalebis  etc.

Hot Darjeeling Tea

The best Darjeeling tea according to me is Makaibari http://www.makaibari.org. So try it if you can find it. Of course any other brand will do too.

Take fresh water from the cold tap and boil preferably in a kettle, (electric kettles are really convenient as they boil water really fast and to the right temperature). Warm the teapot by rinsing out with hot water. Put one teaspoonful of tea leaf for each cup into teapot. Pour boiling water into it. Cover and wait for three minutes. Pour liquid tea from the teapot into cup through a strainer. Add milk / sugar to taste

Here are some recipes from my mother’s tea parties that go perfectly with the Darjeeling tea.
Nan Khatai biscuits (egg less Indian cookies)

Ingredients:

All purpose flour 1 cup
Baking powder 1 tsp
Vanilla essence 1/4 tsp
Ghee/butter 1/2 cup
Powdered sugar 1/2 cup
Chopped cashews 2 tsps
Cardamom powder 1 tsp
Saffron 1/4 tsp ( soaked in 1 tbsp hot ) (optional)

Method:
Sieve flour and baking powder together. Add vanilla essence. Mix ghee and sugar till creamy. Add the flour mixture, the saffron and cardamom . Knead well and make into small balls. Flatten and place on greased tray. Dip a fingertip in water and dab on the centre of each ball of dough. Now press a few cashew bits on top of each circle of dough. Bake in a preheated oven for about 20-25 mins at 375 degrees.

Veg Club Sandwich

Ingredients:
3 Sandwich Bread Slices
1tbsp butter
1tbsp mint chutney
1tbsp mustard
1tbsp tomato ketchup
Few cucumbers and tomato rounds
Few lettuce leaves
One potato boiled and cut into slices
Salt and pepper to taste
1 cheese slice or grated cheese
Shredded cabbage and beetroot for garnishing

Method:
Bread slices can be lightly toasted or used as it is. Spread butter and mint chutney on two slices. On another slice, spread mustard on one side and tomato ketchup on the other. On the bread and mint chutney slice arrange lettuce leaves and over it arrange tomato, potato and cucumber slices. Sprinkle salt and pepper. Over this place the mustard/ketchup bread slice. Over this place the cheese slice and arrange lettuce leaves over it and sprinkle salt and pepper. Cover this with the other butter/mint slice. Press the sandwich and cut the brown edges and cut into desired shapes. Arrange the sandwich in a serving plate and garnish with cabbage and beetroot shreds.

Hope I have inspired you to have a few friends over for some hot chai (Hot tea). The teapot is starting to whistle I am off to sip my next cup of tea.
Piya Mitra is a Bay Area event organizer. She can be reached at emailpiya@gmail.com or through her website Elegant Eventz . She also blogs her favorite recipes and party ideas at http://celebratingeveryday.blogspot.com/

By Geeta Padmanabhan

If there’s one thing that is predictable about the 15th Lok Sabha elections, it is that it is unpredictable. Even those psephologists who consider their analyses incontestable are talking in terms of “if”.
The bookies are of course making a lot of hay in the unpredictable sunshine. The ruling coalition UPA is expected to get 150-160 seats and so the odds are 1: 70 paise. That is, if you put Re. 1 on UPA (led by Congress), you’ll get 70 paise if it bags 150-160 seats. If NDA (led by BJP) gets 110-120 seats your share will be Re. 1.50.
If the Third Front gets 100 seats, your return will jump to Re. 3/-
No one is betting on that. The odds will keep changing as the polls get near, and that is the charm of the game. Note that no one is sure either of the two groups will have enough seats to form the government. Is that a hung parliament? Not necessarily.

As alliances are made and unmade, one figure is emerging as the eventual tipper of the scale. It is the Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati. I would have said “Kingmaker” but Mayawati may not be satisfied with that. But her caveat in the early stages of negotiations that she be declared the potential PM did not find many takers (imagine the Tamil Amma accepting that!) among the members of the Third Front. So she changed the rules of the game.

Look at this scenario: In the event of either UPA or the NDA falling short of a majority (which is quite likely), and Mayawati getting around 50 seats, all roads will lead to her door, post election. Which is exactly why she has ruled out seat adjustment with any party in the Lok Sabha polls. She has also declared that the issue of the prime ministerial candidate of the Third Front would be decided after the elections. Mayawati’s BSP is contesting 80 seats.

At a dinner she hosted for members of the Third Front she said, “All our allies are contesting the elections separately and after the elections, together we will prevent the UPA and NDA from coming to power,” adding that the way the Front was being targeted showed that its detractors were “panicky.” It was the “heartfelt desire” of party founder Kanshi Ram that BSP captured power at the Centre and in all the states.

What does she promise the voters? Security? Jobs? Infrastructure? Water and Electricity? Runaway prices? Mayawati released the BSP’s “appeal” for the elections in which she says, if her party came to power at the Centre, her government would provide reservation for upper castes. “My party’s policy is not confined to the welfare of Dalits alone,” she said.

Mayawati says her party is the only alternative to the two biggies. National ambition is ok, but how this will work is to be seen. She is in a coalition that will become one only after the elections.
Asked about her becoming PM in the event of a big win for her candidates, Cho Ramaswamy said, “That is a joke.”
Still, the fortunes of the BSP and Mayawati will be interesting to follow.

Highlights and Sidelights
Now everyone’s sort of resigned to the fact that the election will be won – not on ideology, performance, popularity of the contestant or his clean record. It will be the freebies offered pre and post elections. Free or low-priced rice is the major attraction now. Bharatiya Janata Party is promising free cell phones to the people and cheap laptops to the students,

Check out the manifestos. Congress is offering rice at Rs. 3 a kilo. This with the other freebies is giving economists a scare. In a poor economy how is this expected to be fulfilled? Why isn’t anyone learning from DMK’s 2-rupees-a-kilo rice fiasco? Large quantities of this ration rice were routinely transported to neighbouring Kerala. The rice could be used only for idlis and dosas and people had to buy rice in the open market for regular use. Another freebie, the colour television sets is another unpalatable story. A girl in my apartment building earning around 15 k a month has one of those. She said she got it from her grandmother who lives in a small town in Tamil Nadu. A couple of village workers told me that they have bought these TV sets at a cheap price from the villagers. They already own better sets and were selling these free ones off.

A developing story is the one about Varun Gandhi. A murder charge has been slapped on him. The case is getting curiouser and curiouser. BJP first tried to distance itself from his alleged fiery speech against Muslims, but now has decided to back his candidature. Is that how they understand the voters’ mood? As things stand, it looks like he may not be able to campaign at all. If he wins his Philibit seat, it will not be the first time a candidate wins sitting in a prison cell.