Ilaiyaraja & AR Rahman

This used to be the very subject of intense discussions, debates, fights and rivalry during my days in undergrad and engineering college. For the uninitiated, these are 2 legendary Tamil film music directors. Ilaiyaraja ruled the Tamil film world in the 1970s into the early 1990s. AR Rahman, took over from the early 1990s to where he is today.

Now, a quick look at their backgrounds. Ilaiyaraja (translated the young king/crown prince) came from a small village in Tamilnadu, from the grassroots as a performing sessions guitar artist to break into Tamil film music in 1976 and never looked back. He had strong roots in Tamil folk music, something that could be seen throughout his musical compositions. He also brought in the Western form of music, pop and instrumental into Tamil music. His music had a terrific sense of melody that draws me to him even today. That’s the biggest reason for his fan following across India.

AR Rahman, formerly Dileep, was a Chennaite by birth but came through difficult times in his youth due to family conditions. He in fact played under Ilaiyaraja before breaking into Tamil music on his own with Roja (1991). Rahman came in as the refreshing new sound of Tamil cinema and Indian cinema over the initial years. The sound of his music had immense clarity, a lot of Western influence, strong dose of technology and a modern touch.

I have had this debate/discussion about these 2 pillars of Tamil music and here are a few:
· Ilaiyaraja still holds the slight edge on melody than Rahman
· However, Rahman’s melody numbers are unbelievable and given the sign of times where popular numbers rule the charts, one hasn’t heard of them unless one had a collection of his melody numbers.
· Ilaiyaraja’s popularity is limited to Tamilnadu and South India; and across a strongly rural audience
· Rahman on the other hand has gone beyond Indian shores; he is now a global player. And that’s what amazes me. Blame it on the media and hype created by it. But you should have a reach to then promote it.
· Ilaiyaraja used almost the same group of singers for all his movies – SPB, Jesudoss, Chitra, Janaki; ARR on the other hand has introduced innumerable voices to the Indian masses – Karthik, Hariharan, Sreenivas and many more. This I think clinches it for ARR – creating and grooming the future.
· ARR brought in the culture of different singers for each song of a movie which was non-existent that time.
· Ilaiyaraja had a very mediocre group of chorus singers and never gave them credit; ARR had a brilliant bunch of prominent chorus singers and he would always name them in every album of his – Febi, Kanchana for eg.
· ARR would bring in the best instrumentalists from wherever for just one song – Kadri Gopalnath for saxophone for Duet, Vikku Vinayakram for Ghatam and many more. It was horses for courses approach. But only the best.
· ARR always comes up with something new and seems to change himself just when you think he is predictable – say from jingles to movies, from movies to non-film music, from Indian to world movies, to Broadway. Always reinventing himself.
· Ilaiyaraja was a volume player – scoring in many movies at one time; unlike ARR the perfectionist who would score for one/two movies in a year. There have been reports of him turning down film offers which demanded from him a quick film release.
· ARR has often been accused of stealing numbers from Western music; something unheard of from Ilaiyaraja.

So that’s my take on these 2 legends of Indian music. Whatever said and done, the ultimate beneficiary remains music and that’s what matters. It has to pass hands, keep the relay going, progressing from strength to strength.

A NEW CITY…A NEW LIFE…

I just completed a month of living in my rented . Umm nice…

It is a 1 BHK apartment, on the second floor with a nice balcony facing a lot of trees and is snuggled in reasonable amount of quietness (given the noisy, concrete jungles that our cities have become). There are so many pet dogs around; it made me wonder if there are more pets than humans around me!!!!!

Oh breaking news!! I have started cooking and believe me it’s an amazing feeling. Having eaten out for close to 8 years, I surely relish the taste of simple home cooked food. It also made me understand and realize at first-hand the tough and demanding life, women live in the kitchens. Look back at all the early morning running around our moms did to get us up and running to school (literally) …it all came back to me and made me feel so grateful for all those years of unconditional love.

Well coming back to my cooking - it started with breakfast stuff, milk and corn flakes, toast and stuff to poha (Indian breakfast dish). The last week saw an upswing in this department; to more full fledged lunch & dinner. The rasam and sambhar (south Indian dishes) got done and I even carried home cooked lunch to work. And like I said earlier, it just felt great!! The fact that you are self-reliant and its very much in your hands what and how much you want to eat. This is one YUMMY feeling I tell ya.

One of the best times I have had in this apartment is the piping hot cuppa coffee I have sitting in my balcony in the morning. Its one helluva feeling. Birds chirping, otherwise quiet green surroundings, the morning breeze and the strong taste of Nescafe.

So here is to my home, its coziness, my new found culinary skills and happy living out here!! Cheers!!! :):):)

FATHER'S DAY

While being online sometime last week, I came across the fact June 21 is WORLD FATHER’S DAY. I wonder many a time that fathers are surely less recognized / celebrated as compared to mothers. I am sure there was more publicity and hype around MOTHER’S DAY.

Now why this step-motherly treatment to a father (the usage sounds weird right?)…see even there mothers rule!!!! :):) kidding!!!

I do believe there is a reason for this. A mother has a biological connect to the child simply because that’s the way it is. No two ways about that. And hence the influence a mother has on her child. It’s that simple. Do a quick check: you will surely be closer to the relatives/cousins on your maternal side than the paternal side. RIGHT? That’s how strong her influence is.
I believe that dads don’t get their due as the equal half in parenting. Isn’t that so unfair? Poor men!!! They might typically not be as outwardly emotional or affectionate as the mom but come on; they have done stuff for you, cared for you as much….and hence deserve their share of receiving.

In a typical family system like in India, the father is your window to the outside world: sports, education, employment, money to name a few. These tend to gain more importance and self-realisation towards the later years compared to the early formative years where the mother exerts a huge influence and impact. That’s probably the reason that a father’s contribution seems rather intangible and hard to measure when compared to a mom’s. Importantly in the above aspects mentioned, the influence of peers and friends by then becomes as important. And hence further dilution in his perceived contribution and impact.

These were thoughts even as I sent out FATHER’S DAY greetings to my dad and spent an hour thinking of what he has done for me. What he means to me and my life.

HAPPY FATHER’S DAY!!! And I wish we could say like the Maruti Suzuki SX4 commercial – ‘’MEN ARE BACK’’!!! ;););)