Openings and Interludes for Songs

Listening to music is one of the most popular hobbies that is quoted in many CV's and I am no exception to that list. I was wondering what are the aspects that will enthuse some one to listen to music. One might think that this is a basic and easy question, the amusing thing is, I was not able to put words to a very obvious answer. Hence, I decided to shortlist some of aspects that I love in listening to music specifically to movie songs.

Top of my mind were

1. Lyrics

2. Tune

3. Orchestration

4. Singers
Am sure there can be many more...

When I listen to some songs, apart from the quality of the song, the opening that is given to the song and the interludes that are played has created goose bumps. It is amazing that if you try singing that song you will end up humming the interludes orthe opening muisic piece of some of those. Then I went about listing some of those songs where I just fell in love with the opening and the interlude. There are many songs that can be listed, I decided to list some of the songs that cameon top of my mind. Let us see the list and please note that this list is not in any order of classification it is justfrom the top of my mind...

1. Aagaaya Gangai - Dharma Yudham

The opening for the song with the humming of S.Janaki can create instant joy to any one and if you are a Rajinikanth fan look out for his walk during the opening. Nothing needs to be said about Sridevi, it is there for all of us to see :-)

2. Mandram vandha thendralukku - Mouna Ragam

Can there be a better song to give that soothing feeling than this one, probably not.The humming with which SPB starts off will make anyone even in a deep slumber to get up and take a note of this song.

3. Ilaya Nila - Payanangal Mudivadhillai

The interlude piece for this is arguably one of the best ever. Once in an interview SPB was narrating about complication in theinterlude, apparently the guitar note is very complicated to play with the use of multiple strings. During the recording Illayaraja had got fed-up with the artists in-ability to play the note and he had picked the guitar himself and played it. This is the problem in working with geniuses, they expect others also to be at the same level what say? check this song outfor the interlude.

4. Aedho Mogam - Kozhi Koovudhu

This matter song from Kozhi Koovudhu with Viji and Suresh stands out for its sheer orchestration and the sensuous tune.Just listen you will realize, actually I do not have words to explain the quality of this song.

5. Sandhana Kaatre Sendhamizh Ootrey- Thanikkaatu Raja

Not sure how many would have noticed that guitar piece as an opening for this song. Check it out and you cant avoid saying that famous Rajinikant dialogue "IDHU EPPADI IRUKKU"

6. Poomalaye - Pagal Nilavu

Have a look at Murali running across the woods as the opening violin note of this song starts off. It will clearly express themood of a young man in love and the kind of flowing emotions. Check it out...

7. Aanandha Raagam - Panneer Pushpangal

Yesterday while I was drving back home from office radio mirchi had played this song. For the first time I paid attention toUma Ramanans voice and the hum for opening up the song. Thats when I decided that this songs should be a part of this list..

8. Aasaya Kaathula Thoodhu vittu - Jhonny

I am wondering if there is any other song that has captured the imagination of people across all ages and across generationprobably very few. S.P.Sailaja has done a tremendous job in singing this one and that folk opening along with the beats issomething that will always linger in everyone's ears.

9. Ilamai Idho Idho - Sakala Kala Vallavan

There is no better song for new year than this one. I remember waiting for this song to be played in Oliyum Oliyum for the newyear. The picturization of this song should be one of the all time best and the creative SPB with his false voice is terrific.People can definitely recall the table dance of Kamal along with the Chandelier, Tyres and what not... I guess Raja would have used all the instruments at his disposal for composing this master piece. Wonder if Raja himself can compose another song like this.Be it the opening, interludes or the song itself, if this song does not create energy in someone no other song will..

10. Idhazhil Kadhai Ezhudhum - Unnal Mudiyum Thambi

This song from the Balanchader movie will stand out for its classical touch and the rendering from Chitra and SPB. The opening of this song is nothing less than special, check out...

11. Ilamai enum Poongaatru - Pagalil Oru Iravu

Any young guys, please do not see this song. Your heart will break to see Sridevi along with some guy in a matteranski song. Restrict yourself to listening this, you will enjoy every bit of this song...

12. Sangeedha Megam thaen sindhum neram - Udhaya Geetham

The opening note of this song is something that has captured everyone's imagination. If you happen to see Mohan enacting this song you can have fun with a touch of comedy to it. Wonder if anyone will sing like the way Mohan does....

13. Pothi Vecha Malligai Mottu - Man Vaasanai

Check out for Pandian pulling our Revathi from a pit using a rope and the background opening note for this song. Bharathiraja has done complete justice to the opening of this song, may be Pandian was a misfit :-)

14. Oru kili urugudhu urimayil - Aanandha Gummi

I have always seen this song being enacted in a funny manner in many variety entertainment programs and recently in Kalakka Povadhu Yaaru of Vijay TV. Even those things cannot overshadow the quality of opening given to this song, check out this very popular number..

15. Andhi Mazhai - Raaja Paarvai

By now one must be wondering, how can this song cannot be a part of this. This is magical number rendered by SPB and Janaki, check out for the hums in the interlude (I guess that was sung by TV. Gopalakirshnan - not sure though)

16. Vaan Nila Nila Alla - Pattina Pravesam

I guess this is the only song in the list that is not composed by Illayaraja, I just love this song for violin. One of the best, check out. Also, you can see Sivachandran in this song if you get to see the video...

There can be many more added to this list, this is just from the top of my mind.

Management Mantra's from Rajnikanth

Mantra 1

Rajni’s punch
“ Khanna naan yosikama sollrathile, sollittu yosikrithile’

Management Lesson
Planning is absolutely important and having planned there is no need for any re confirmation in the attainment of the objective.

Mantra 2

Rajni’s Dialogue ( in 16 vayathinile )
" Ithu eppadi iruku”

Management Mantra
Getting the opinion of the downline is very important for any top management. This makes an organisation very democratic”

Mantra 3

Rajni’s punch: ( in Dharmathin Thalaivan)
" Nan thatti kaetpaen, aana, kotti kudupaen”

Management mantra
The top management can demand and at the same time reward probably thru Incentives and ESOPs.

Mantra 4

Rajni’s Punch: ( in Arunachalam )
“Sollraan, seiraan”

Management Mantra
üThese two words just are good enough to understand the importance of Delegation and Implementation….both are very important to any professionally managed company.

Mantra 5

Rajni’s Punch: ( In Baasha )
" Naan oru thadavai sonna, nooru vaati sonna mathuri “

This is a peculiar statement which may even put Peter Drucker to feel small.

Management Mantra
In less than 10 words, he narrates the importance of proper communication skills and listening skills. There should always be clarity and authority in what the management says and the there should be no room for any misinterpretation. Also if the listening skill is well established, we can avoid waste of time and efforts in communicating the same subject thru phone, mails, memos

Mantra 6

Rajni’s punch: ( in Baba )
“ Naan lateaa vandalum, latestaa varuven”

Management Mantra
Even if there is delay in rolling out a product or service, we need to ensure that we deploy the latest methods and technology. This is important to all industries.

Mantra 7

Rajni’s Punch: ( in Baba )
“ Asantha adikirathu unga style. Asarama adikirathu Baba style”

Management Mantra
It is very important to be pro active than reactive. This is particularly important for Telecom and Credit card companies. You need to be launching pleasant surprises to the consumers before the competitor knows about them.

Mantra 8

Rajni’s Punch: ( in Padaiyappa)
“en vazhi thanee vazhi”

Management mantra
“ You need to be different to succeed. Don’t choose a me too line of business.

Mantra 9

Rajni’s Punch: ( in Engeyo kaeta kural )
“ Kai alavu kasu iruntha athu namma kappathum, athuve kazuthu iruntha atha namma kappathunum”

Management Lesson
Here he clearly talks about treasury operations and wealth management services. The management should focus on their core business. Investment advice should be left to the wealth management companies or experts. In fact Mutual Funds should use this punch to multiply their clientele.

Mantra 10

Rajni’s Punch: ( in Baba )
Baba counting starts now 1,2,3,…

Management mantra
Here he just narrates the importance of timelines….

Shane Warne - The best ever

This morning I was reading an article in Hindu written by Nirmal Shekar paying tribute to a Legend who just announced his retirement from international cricket. He is none other than the one who answers to the name of Shane Warne. Over the years I have read quite a few articles of Nirmal Shekar and one can see a poetic flow in all his articles. His creativity has always amused me, particularly his articles on Roger Federer are of top quality. This has now inspired me to attempt an article on Shane Warne, here we go….

It was sometime in early 1992 during a Sydney test match when Shane Warne made his debut and got butchered by Indian batsmen Ravi Shastri and Sachin Tendulkar. Not sure the number of people who had thought that this man would go on to become one of the greatest ever to have stepped into the cricket field. 14 years down the line, one can feel privileged to have lived in an era when this legend has lived. Mr. Venkatraghavan once said that he could hear a fizz when Shane releases the ball that goes on to bamboozle the batsmen. The kind of variety and control that Shane possesses in his art is just unmatched by any of them who ever practiced the art of leg spin bowling.

Nirmal Shekar, in his article dwelled into the aspect of the kind of symphony that his hands create along with the leather sphere and had made comparisons to Van Goh and Pandit Ravishankar. It is the body language that Shane exhibits on the cricket field distinguishes him from the other lesser mortals. Historically, it is believed that fast bowlers are aggressive and one can recollect many names to validate this right from Jeff Thomson till Allan Donald. Imagine a man taking just four steps for his delivery stride with his left foot landing on the crease, shoulder, elbow and wrist in perfect position to release the ball to do exactly the same thing that his mind wants to do exhibiting the aggression that will make the batsmen scared. It is often said that Illayaraja writes his musical notes that when played will be exactly the same as what he had in his mind. An equivalent of that will be Shane’s control over the delivery, be it flipper, leg break, googly etc. the consistency with which he delivers them the way he wants to is just unparalleled, may be Kumble, McGrath and Murali will be the closest challengers.

Everyone knows about the ball of the century that was sent down to Mike Gatting in an Ashes test match, the trajectory of the delivery starting outside off stump, making that parabolic descent to outside leg stump, hitting the pitch and taking a turn to clip the off stump bails. My heart goes to Mike Gatting, for once he would have thought that there is very little that he could have done to not getting out for such a delivery. I can recollect another incident in a Sydney test match against Pakistan with the last ball of the day to be delivered by Shane and Basit Ali was taking guard to face the ball. It is actually interesting to notice how Basit Ali was set-up to get out in that over. Continuous chat with Ian Healy on subjects that was as irrelevant as to which beer to have in the evening to challenging whether Basit will be able survive that over, it was an intriguing battle between mind of the batsmen and this great bowler. Just before the last ball was delivered Shane had made some fielding changes that left the batsmen wonder on what will be thrown at him. History will say that Shane delivered the ball with the same trajectory as it was sent to Mike Gatting and Basit was confused whether to use the bat / legs and ends up making a big front foot stride and the balls passes through the legs to hit the stumps. If anyone gets to see that video you can hear Richie Benaud saying “He has done him between the legs” in the commentary box. Now that was a special moment.

It is not that this champion bowler was never challenged, no one apart from Sachin, Lara and Sidhu has played him better, even the great Rahul Dravid had his measure of struggle against this great man. Sachin’s battle against Shane will be etched in everyone’s memory, with a special mention on the Chennai test where Sachin hit Shane for a six over midwicket playing against the spin, that was genius v/s genius. However, there is this special moment between Lara and Shane in a one day match where West Indies required nearly 100 runs in the last 10 overs to win the match. Lara was woefully out of form and he had just scratched to a 50 in 99 balls in that match, the defining moment came when Lara took strike against Shane and ended up scoring more than 30 runs in the last two overs of Shane and when Lara was out, he had made 90 runs of 110 balls and West Indies went on to win that match.

If someone has to take the risk of summarizing on what makes Shane a legend, it has to be his aggression, natrural talent, passion, spirit and above all his control over the art of leg spin bowling that has allowed him to reach this scale. There will be a huge hollow after he leaves, one wishes to see him associated with cricket for the years to come and be successful in all his endeavors.

Welcome back...Dada!!

Friends,
Not being a creative person did not help my cause in choosing the subject for my first posting. After a long hard thought I decided to play it safe by picking an article from cricinfo on my favourite Dada. This was written by Jamie Alter on his return to the team India with a gutsy 83. With all the words around, realistically speaking Dada still has more work to be done before he can consider that he is fully back. My best wishes will always be with him and so will be the prayers of all his supporters... Come on Dada.. Come on...

Exorcising the demons
Jamie Alter

Sourav Ganguly played with confidence and an air of calmness

Straight off the bat, this is not just about the runs he scored. This is about a man who came, saw and conquered - if only for the moment - the demons in his head, the ghosts in his past. This is about a man with so much to prove, recalled to his country's cause not so much because he was in form but because the so called 'marquee' players had all but lost themselves to the Indian management's faith; a former captain let down by his own board, yet who had done little to suggest over the past ten months that he had the cojones to play Test cricket again.

This is about Sourav Ganguly and his 141-ball, 224-minute 83 against the Rest of South Africa at Potchefstroom, as strong a statement of intent as there can be. When he walked in, the Indians had lost Wasim Jaffer, Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar with just 37 on the board. When Ganguly left, they had crossed 200, 115 splendid runs had been added with Irfan Pathan, and had taken a huge step towards securing a morale-boosting tour win.

And a man with reason to feel embittered had done enough to show his detractors that he belonged there at that very moment. This was an innings of so many dimensions and emotions. He was wary about the balls he played, he arched his back, he watched his back lift, he cover drove, he edged, he was dropped, and he copped a nasty Nantie Hayward lifter smack above the right ear.

Given all that had transpired over the past year, given the conditions of his selection, and given the situation the Indians were in, Ganguly walked out to the middle at Potchefstroom on December 7 with a fathomable amount of pressure on his shoulders.

Countless television channels in India filled the airwaves with images of Ganguly batting for hours at the nets, running laps around the Eden Gardens, and stressing on how serious he was about making a comeback. For those who chuckled at the footage and Ganguly's quotes about sorting out technical difficulties, it is important to raise here the issue of his technique. After the first day's play, Ganguly revealed what had been noticed in his innings: "In India, I take a leg-stump guard. Here, I decided to take a middle-stump guard. When you are out of the team, you get a lot more time to analyse your batting, otherwise you're just going from one series to another and you don't get much of a chance. I've had time on my hands and I've worked on certain things."

Too true. He was no longer flip-flopping with a tentative front foot shuffle or just plain stuck in expectancy of the short ball. Rather, he played with upright balance, distributing his body weight better, his shortened backlift allowing him to play much straighter. And his head was still. Absolutely still. Where Jaffer misread the movement of the ball, Sehwag the pace and length, and Tendulkar and Laxman were drawn into tame prods outside off stump, Ganguly got right behind the line, played with a full face of the bat, and soft hands, and kept the ball as close to the ground as he could.

His first boundary was a glance down to third man, the second a four to the point fence via a misfield but, once in the 20s, he produced two shots that revived memories of the greatness he used to perch upon. First, Morne Morkel, the day's wrecker-in-chief, pitched ever so slightly on a full length and was driven through cover and mid-off. Hayward served up a half-volley outside off stump and was square-driven through point.

There was a moment of worry, and I'm sure scoffing in some corners, when he ducked into Hayward's next ball and had the medical staff out for an examination. But in the bowler's next over, Ganguly slapped consecutive fours through point and extra cover, one back-foot, the other elegantly off the front, to indicate that he was not in South Africa to be intimidated. The bouncers, ducking, and cover driving - and the odd word from Hayward - continued between Ganguly and the South African pacers all morning and afternoon, until he finally departed, edging an attempted cut off Friedel de Wet to the 'keeper.

What thoughts rested or raged in his head as he stepped over the ropes and made his way to the crease, only Ganguly will know. What he felt when he mistimed a drive to midwicket and picked up a single to get to 50, we can assume. What he felt when he walked back into the Indian dressing room, with 83 hard-earned runs to his name, the knowledge that he had done what a famed top-order hadn't, should not be surmised. Therein lies the beautiful complexity of an estranged individual. There was a bittersweet touch to his contribution following a second-innings duck, but for his unwavering focus, judicious shot selection, and resolve to get into perfect position, Ganguly's 83 should merit automatic selection for the first Test at Johannesburg.

He said - on his recall"They [critics] told me that I had achieved everything in any case, played for the team for 11 years, been captain for five - what else did I want to get out of the game? But I just felt I still had it in me to play at the highest level for longer. At some level, I felt my career will be incomplete if I simply give up now."

They said - Greg Chappell on Ganguly's move to take middle-stump guard"It was a smart move. It showed that he had applied his mind and come up with the right method to overcome the conditions. He looks calm, relaxed, very fit. He looks like he's worked hard on aspects of his game. He's applying both mind and method and that's showing."

Chappell speaks, in praise again, of Ganguly's footwork"That was very important too [play off the front foot as much as possible]. It allowed him to take his decision just that much time later. By leaning forward, he was able to judge the length of the ball accurately, which also allowed him to leave the right balls. That's why he could also play his shots without too much of a problem."

From the inside - Dilip Vengsarkar, India's chairman of selectors"It's good to score runs in the first match of a tour and it will stand him in good stead for the Tests, which are the ultimate. I hope he performs, I think he has it in him to score runs and it is good to see him back."