Brew February 2018

THINK. CREATE. LIVE

VOL-2 ISSUE-8 `100 I FEBRUARY 2018

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ARUNA SAIRAM

& DOMINIC VELLARD A COLLABORATION BETWEEN HEAVEN AND EARTH

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CONTRIBUTORS

Dr. RAJESH JEGANATHAN

& ADVISORY BOARD

A young and dynamic medico. He runs the prestigious Billroth Hospitals based in Chennai.

THOTA THARRANI This year we enter a bigger dimension, planning across a wider reader base with a big step forward, this was ignited with a logo designed by the one and only Thota Tharrani. Brew Lifestyle extends a heartwarming thank you note to the legend himself for his incessant contributions.

VEEJAY SAI An award-winning writer, editor and a culture critic. He has written and published extensively on Indian classical music, fashion, theatre, food and art.

ASHOK VERGHESE He is the director of Hindustan group of institutions, one of the pioneering educational groups in the country. He is a big supporter and cause for promoting young talent in art and music.

VITA DANI Passionate about grassroots development of sport in India. She co-owns Chennayin FC, Chennai’s football team in the ISL and Ultimate Table Tennis (UTT), India’s firstever professional table tennis league.

ANIL JAIN An Intensive desire to succeed and redefine the parameters of success, Anil Jain was always cut out to be an Entrepreneur, taking an active interest in Business right from an early age. He is the promoter or Refex industries Ltd; Refex Trading(s) Pvt. Ltd, and Anil Jain Investments.

G VENKET RAM A leading Indian fashion photographer who has shot principle photography stills for several notable films. He quit his engineering studies to work with cinematographers for a while, after which he joined a course in visual communications at Loyola College.

He then worked with photographer Sharad Haskar and in 1993, started his own studio.

NEERU NANDA A graduate of Delhi University and a passionate writer. She was a free-lanced feature writer for ten years before switching to publishing. Author of a collection of short stories titled “IF”, she has also worked on novels and short stories for children.

ARUNA SAIRAM A winner of the prestigious Padma Shri award. She is the vice-chairman of the Sangeet Natak Akademi which is India’s premier national institution for music and dance. Ms. Sairam is one of India’s most renowned ambassador’s for music, successfully taking Indian music to the international arena.

INTERNAL TEAM EDITOR & CEO EDITOR & CEO

EDITORIAL EDITORIAL TEAM TEAM

Sameer Bharat Sameer Bharat RamRam Sameer Bharat Ram

Akshaya Akshaya G G Akshaya G

Aishwarya Sridharan Aishwarya Aishwarya Sridharan Sridharan

Yoheswari Devaraj

DESIGNER DESIGNER DESIGNERS

FEATURE / CONTRIBUTING WRITERS FEATURE / CONTRIBUTING WRITERS FEATURE / CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Dhinesh Babu S S Dhinesh Babu

Nanditha Vijayaraghavan Janani Suri Suri Kanchi Aishwarya Kanchi Nanditha Vijayaraghavan Janani Akshay Ramesh Aishwarya Aarathi Arun

Elumalai V V Elumalai

Sadakshi Kalyanraman Keramalu Akila Sridhar Aishwarya Kanchi Sadakshi Kalyanaraman

Sadakshi KalyanramanKarthik Akila Sridhar Anagha Natraj Silambarasan Silambarasan

John PaulPaul S S John

Aarathi Arun Pavithra Babu Kavya Sreekumar

SS TT RR AA TT EE GG YY

Murugahappun Akshay Ramesh Padma

&& DD EE SS I I GG NN

Published Publishedby bySameer SameerBharat BharatRam Ram and andowned ownedby bySM SMBrandmuni BrandmuniConsulting ConsultingPvt. Pvt.Ltd. Ltd. Printed Printedby byVivek VivekSachdev Sachdev atatNPT NPTOFFSET OFFSETPRESS PRESSPvt. Pvt.Ltd. Ltd. Published Publishedfrom fromNew NewNo. No.68/Old 68/OldNo. No.63, 63, Cathedral CathedralRoad, Road,Chennai Chennai- -600 600086 086 Tel: Tel:+91 +9144 444208 42089392 9392

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2017 2018 BREW

BREWDECEMBER LIFESTYLE I FEBRUARY ER LIFESTYLE 2017 BREW LIFESTYLE NOVEMBER 2017

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CONTENTS

ISSUE-8

COVER STORY

08 Aruna Sairam and Dominic Vellard- A collaboration between Heaven and Earth.

12 Transcending to spirituality through a food calendar

THINKLIVE CREATE FROM THE ARCHIVES WHATS BREWING

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THINK

CREATE

16 Social Media 22 Why should girls have all the fun ?

28 The Unveiling-Education

34 Dream it, Capture it 40 The lonely houseboat 44 Vintage Camera

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LIVE

WHAT’S BREWING

48 Cone Appetit 53 When mayil-aadumpuram-witnessed MATIL AATAM !

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Dream it, Capture it The lonely houseboat Vintage Camera

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BREW LIFESTYLE SEPTEMBER 2017

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BREW BREW LIFESTYLE LIFESTYLEAUGUST JULY 2017 2017

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SEPTEMBER SEPTEMBER 2017 2017 BREW BREW LIFESTYLE LIFESTYLE NOVEMBER NOVEMBER 2017 2017

Beauty and Beauty and Beyond Beyond ER 2017 BREW LIFESTYLE NOVEMBER 2017

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COVER STORY

ARUNA SAIRAM

& DOMINIC VELLARD A COLLABORATION BETWEEN HEAVEN AND EARTH

Akshay Ramesh

Aruna Sairam and Dominic Vellard, two personalities who do not need any introduction at all. Aruna Sairam is a dynamic singer and vocalist, a recipient of the Padma Shri award from the Government of India, elected Vice Chariman of the Sangeet Natak Akademi (India’s premier national institution for music and dance) from the government of India. She is regarded as the Music Ambassador of India, for successfully taking Indian music to the global area. Dominique Vellard on the other hand, is a profound French tenor and specialist in medieval music. In 1979, he founded the Ensemble Gilles Binchois, a leading ensemble in the performance of Ars Nova music. He is also a very much established composer.

Aruna Sairam and Dominique Vellard have been collaborating for the past 23 years. They are veterans in their own fields and have come together again in a new collaboration called “Heaven and Earth”. The two met back then in Paris, during the summer, when one of Dominique’s friends Markhom ,who was Aruna’s student back then told Dominique that “He should listen to Aruna”. He went to a concert in paris and then came into contact. The two then met immediately thereafter. Then they worked for one at home to choose repertoriesm. After this, they have never stopped working together for the past 23 years. Dominique felt that it was a really strong experience for him to sing with Aruna as their traditions are different. He felt that his work to give life to this repertories. They were able to share a lot about the aspects in terms of music, text, spirituality, sonority etc. It was finally not so difficult for them both to find a possibility to converse about music.

As Aruna and Dominique met, kept speaking and singing together, the idea of collaboration came into thought. The first aspect was to find in Dominique’s tradition, the stronger

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point, and very deep point of the human being. That was the first step. There were more several projects, singers, instrumentalists. The last project was different, because they go into a bit of poetry of diverse languages. It was also to have the theme of love and to share lots of different songs from different cultures.

This particular project consists of two major threads.

Instead of going into the deepest manifestation of music, Aruna quotes that “We are also going out into the external manifestation of feelings, thoughts and cultures. One of them is talking about love, here called “Sringara””. It has always been a favorite theme. This project has Sringara and the spiritual aspect of Sringara. There are musical pieces and a spoken narrative, the latter threading the former together.

The spoken narrative are from Tamil Texts like “Thirukkural, Sangam Poetry etc.” They are also from the bible texts of Dominique and the song of the songs and from poets like Juan De Ma Soeur. There are many things happening at the same time, example being literature, and musical, spiritual and romantic love.

This year is a very special year for the “Bonjour India” French-Indian Collaboration. Pier Immanuel had told Aruna that he was very interested to do a re-commemoration of their musical conversational concert. He has stated that out of all the so many concerts that they did over the last twenty years, this is what has stayed in his memory for a long time.

So when Aruna was asked to pitch in on it, she casually told about the Tamil texts and also the similarities between her and Dominique’s culture, which contains similar home truths, proverbs and maxims. Aruna later jokingly remarks that she never expected them to be seriously working upon it together, as one thing had led to another in this case.

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Whenever they work together, they always try to find the similarity of the elements of culture, tradition, music sequences, the ragas, with the theme sometimes to have a lot of different aspects. It was only a few days after the started doing that, that felt a connection. One picked up from the other and with practice, they started picking up more from each other, from the lyrics or the aspect and then they continue with the project. The one thing they make sure is that they make sure they do not ever go against their tradition. They go into our tradition deep enough and find the connection between the other traditions and work with that in mind.

The meeting and discussing on this project has been lucky for them, because Dominque and their team had come twice last year, each time ten days each. They had two residences over which they developed this kind of thing. Aruna remarks saying “An Organic strength takes time”. The first piece that Aruna and Dominique worked together was back in 1996, called “Sources”. The idea then was to go deep into the beginning of these cultures and how they express themselves musically and lyrically. They were both astonished and quite surprised to see how similar they were. The human being has some universal commonality that was very strong. It was the similarity in the spirit that reached out to the people.

The idea of “Heaven and Earth”, came from Anmari. Then after we chose the text, we were trying to show the link between human love and spiritual love, that is why Heaven and Earth. Aruna explains further by saying

“We are all the same. Like there is one earthy way of looking at Sringara and there is an ethereal way of looking at Sringara, as a love between Jeev-atma and Para-atma. He reads the same thing from the bible, it being an erotic poem, of the Jeev-atma yearning for the paramatma”.

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When asked as to how they are going to make it reach out to a larger audience, Dominique says that it is not their work to make it reach out to the public. He feels that it is his duty to make it work, compose and make one and it is the duty of the political people and actors to make this known about people. Aruna agreed with Dominique saying that

“It is such an alloy of the words melody, feeling and the vibration.

There is something that you get in a live experience that you never get in a represented experience, be it audio or video. Having said that, we will continue to sing the way we do and we cannot change anything. And if, only if we were to find a very sensitive filmmaker to capture this or the essence of this in a piece or two, that videographer should be an equally sensitive artist, to be able to capture this. If we find one, I think you would agree with us and we would be happy to record this on that medium. We would just do what we do and it would be well recorded. If it gets done, it would be a very good thing.”

They feel that they need to find the right person to support it, fund it and make it. They weren’t able to find a right way to sell it to the people in the past work.

Even three minutes of a very good recording of what Aruna and Dominque do would make a difference. They finally agreed that they would be very happy to do it with the famous director “Gautham Menon” if he agrees to do it.

Two artists, have combined together and have made together something good, that would make people more interested about their culture and their own tradition through music.

As they say, music is the way to a person’s soul.

Or at least one of the ways to the soul.

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TRANSCENDING TO

SPIRITUALITY

THROUGH A FOOD CALENDAR Aishwarya Kanchi

VIKRAM COTAH The 2018 calender is the effort of long research of our chefs who worked with the temples to get authentic temple prasadams which were offered as the food calender theme. As you are aware we connect all the major temple towns in South india with our hotel’s and we are curating a temple culinery experience for our guests. The calender is just a teaser !

Having been working on food calendars for four years now, Chandra Prakash and GRT have brought their fifth one, this time focusing on religious places and the food associated with them. By experimenting with things like lighting, props and utensils, he has photographed the traditional, time-honoured prasadams of temples, mosques and churches in an attempt to transform mere pictures to ones carrying a spiritual connect with them. Soul Food Chronicles 2018, this year’s calendar, sure does have many layers of depth in its photographs.

Before collaborating with GRT, Chandra Prakash used to do his shoots with Sitaram Prasad, and it was he who had recommended him as the photographer for a food calendar to Vikram Khota. And from there on started their journey.

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From Tirunelveli in Tamil Nadu to Hyderabad in Telangana, Soul Food Chronicles 2018 is filled with food and places rooted in history. With a multitude of options to choose from, in terms of food, places, months, props, etc., they were spoilt for choice as to what places having their own specialities should be shortlisted for the final twelve. And added to this was the problem of assigning them to suitable months to finally culminate. After arduous attempts of trial-and-error and exploring with various backgrounds and effects, the team narrowed down on the current list. It starts with Panchamrutham from Tiruttani Murugan Kovil for January, wherein the picture contains the dish in a brass utensil and there is a beautifully sculpted lamp beside it, and ends with macaroons in a jar from the area around Our Lady of Snows Shrine Basilica in Tuticorin with candles behind. The rest of the months were interspersed with Kanchipuram Idli, Tirunelveli Halwa, Satvik Thali, and Chennai’s very own Dadhiyonnam, among other heavenly dishes. Amongst the list of the twelve dishes depicted in the calendar, Chandra Prakash specifically likes the Perumal Dosai (Madurai), Sheer Khurma (Hyderabad) and Langar (Bengaluru).

Since the food shown are actually from the place itself, the team wanted to make sure that they do a perfect job. A test shoot was planned for a start in which they e x perimented with lighting using flashlights and angles and props like flowers, utensils, small statues and lamps. And a month or so of constant research it took for them to start narrowing down on the final combinations. This desk calendar has that warm charm around it and every tiny aspect of photography and choosing props has been taken into account to bring about that warm feeling. For example, even though it is the Kanchipuram idli in focus, the antique spoon and the cropped coffee in the ‘tumbler and davara’ only augment the photograph. The usage of a small Nandi statue beside the Dadhiyonam in an earthen container, of a kalash and flowers that are carefully placed, of kolams and threads - it all enhances the intensity of the photographs in terms of the spiritual connection that can be felt.

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Chandra Prakash credits his three gurus for his growth - working with Shashikant in Chennai, with Israr Qureshi in Mumbai (for two and a half years) and with Satyajit in Chennai again. All three of them handle models, fashion and products; and he was able to gain experience while working with them and handling those areas. Today, he has gained expertise in all kinds of photography with the exception of aerial photography, in which if given an opportunity he would definitely like to venture out. He has a studio in Chennai called Actinic Light Photography; a lot of his personal shoots are centred on conveying a message to the society. And in one such attempt he has shot a photograph of water getting contaminated with black ink. The message being conveyed is there is very little potable water left, and even that is getting polluted by the day. Another one depicts the gradually declining greenery from trees, wherein a single tree devoid of any life is losing away its last few leaves.

Going away from food and the environment, he also shoots automobiles and jewellery, and numerous other things as mentioned before. He particularly likes to experiment with water and smoke and is constantly on the lookout for new concepts. As someone who is so eveready to try out new things and even has the perseverance it takes, he is on a roll all set to reach some whole new levels. Sure enough, when I will visit the Kapaleeshwarar Temple later this month, I’m sure to get reminded of Dadhiyonnam in a bright red earthen pot that is so striking thanks to Chandra Prakash’s deftness in photography.

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THINK - MUSING

SOCIAL MEDIA Kavya Sreekumar

Social media is a fun platform we engage with to pass time, keep ourselves entertained and catch up with what our friends are upto when we are not around. With applications that can give you live information of what’s happening anywhere like Twitter, Facebook live streaming, Snapchat and Instagram stories it is extremely tempting to want to be updated at all times. Working adults above 25 years of age may not have as much time to check social media in a day as compared to teenagers and young adults who look to this medium as an active source of information, communication and entertainment. This automatically makes this group more vulnerable to mental health issues because of this platform which is dangerous given that studies show that this age group are the maximum users of social media.

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According to a study conducted by the Royal Society for Public Health called #StatusOfMind which aimed to study the positive and negative impacts of social media on the mental health of young people Instagram and Snapchat was rated as the worst social media platform for mental health. The survey questioned around 1,500 young adults within the age group of 14-24 years of age. The survey helped rank social media websites according to the effect they have on mental health from most negative to most positive, and the order goes as follows; Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Among the 14 problems listed regarding mental health and wellbeing were Depression, Loneliness, Body Image, Anxiety and FoMO, also known as ‘Fear of Missing Out’.

Instagram and Snapchat can be classified under the same category of social networking sites as they revolve on a pictorial feed that the users can access. The phrase ‘A picture speaks a thousand words,’ comes to mind considering this subject because when a user sees pictures of another individual travelling or at an event it is more likely that will spark a reaction than simply reading someone’s experience on a status update on either Facebook or Twitter. But it was interesting to note that 162 youngsters out of 200 who were questioned in Chennai chose to give up Facebook and Twitter as opposed to Instagram and Snapchat.

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Previous studies also suggested that young people who tend to spend more than two hours on social networking sites in a day are more likely to report feelings of depression and anxiety.

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Social media impacts the impressionable minds and the mental health of these youngsters because it sets unrealistic standards and expectations of oneself and one’s life. It creates a feeling of inadequacy and low esteem in this age group by promoting an attitude which can be called as ‘compare and despair’. This attitude is driven by how these youngsters compare their lives based on how it appears on social media to other people they are friends with who project their life a certain way. According to the study#StatusOfMind 68% of young people support the recommendation that social media websites should highlight when a picture has been digitally manipulated, in efforts to help those who are struggling with body image issues.

“I did feel negative when I was on Instagram because I have self esteem issues and Instagram didn’t help with everybody posting amazing pictures, going out and traveling to places. I was addicted to Instagram, I kept refreshing the page every second which wasn’t healthy.” said a source who wishes to remain anonymous. “It made me feel bad about myself for some reason and after a point it became about how many likes you get, how many followers you have. So I deleted my account and I do feel a good change and I don’t miss the application at all,” the source concluded. But it is not just Instagram that makes people feel negative, the other forums although rated more positively on the scale do have negative implications on people as well such as bullying, body image issues, ‘FoMO’ and ruins sleep quality. “I have felt like quitting Facebook because it has too much name calling and you receive many unwanted messages,” said Pooja Rohra.

Despite all these negative effects of social media it has said to improve sense of self identity, self expression, community building and emotional support. But the looming negative impacts shadow the positive impacts greatly, therefore researchers went on to see whether social media can be used as a medium to help identify depression and anxiety amongst its users.

‘Predicting Depression via Social Media’ a research article by Munmun De Choudhury, Michael Gamon, Scott Counts and Eric Horvitz concluded through various experiments that Twitter has the highest potential to help identify these danger signs. In their study individuals with depression showed lower social activity, greater negative emotion and increased expression of religious thoughts among other tell signs.

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When the same 200 set of youngsters from Chennai were asked if they would like it if social media would monitor activity online and look out for danger signs and offer help to users that fall under the category a staggering 180 individuals said yes. “Just like how social media woos us into shopping and other activities it definitely should be a responsibility of these websites to take it upon themselves and find a way to make this happen especially with concerns like Blue Whale lurking,” said Maragatham R S, assistant professor at the department of applied psychology at JBAS College, Chennai. “In a country

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like India, where going to a psychologist clinic is considered off beat, these social networking sites could definitely take it as a responsibility and be vigilant. Those who are disturbed on social media will probably not come forth on their own and if the signs are being noted first on these sites, I think it becomes their duty to do something about it,” she adds.

Social media’s addictive nature makes it more difficult for individuals to pull away from the negative stimuli they are receiving, therefore an innovative solution would be to ask these websites to send a notification to the users when they appear

to be over-using the application. 159 youngsters support such a scheme and feel it would help with reducing addiction to a large extent.

The government can also help by educating the people and young adults on the various implications of social media and train them ways to spot danger signs in fellow users in order to give the help that they need in time. Such efforts will make a drastic change in how the society uses social and can improve mental wellbeing to a large extent. Social media is clearly here to stay and we must tune ourselves to handle it wisely.

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September 2017

culturama

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craft cafe by

Poompuhar’s Craft café is a first of its kind craftthemed café located at the iconic Anna Salai of Chennai.

Enjoy a fine dining experience and treat your taste buds to healthy and authentic South Indian cuisines, going back to our roots. Here, long-forgotten ingredients such as millets and palm sugar are used to reinvent and create new varieties of dishes!

What stands out at the Café is the ambiance. With exquisite bronze and wooden sculptures, bamboo furniture and the vintage statues around will immerse you in a divine setting.

The Craft café is also a fantastic venue to host corporate meetings, birthday parties, anniversary functions, kitty groups, farewells, get-togethers etc.

Poompuhar, No. 108, Anna Salai, Chennai - 600 002

Contact: 044 42111338, 044 28511338 Email:craftsrestaurant@gmail.com

Website:www.tnhdcltd.com | Shopping site:www.poompuhar.org | Artisan portal:www.tnartisaan.com

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THINK - OPINION

WHY SHOULD

GIRLS HAVE ALL

THE FUN Akshaya G

A history on men’s fashion in India and men’s role in the fashion industry .Gender stereotyping is prevalent in all forms, but one of the major factors it is associated with is ‘clothing’. Starting from generic things like colour, where pink coloured clothes are for girls and blue are for the boys, to patterns where plain T.shirts were for the men and printed ones were for the ladies.

But does the fashion industry look past these factors?

Men’s clothing go way back in time, when men wore Sherwanis, Bandhgalas, Lungis, Angharkas, Jamas and Dhotis. After the western influence in our country, even shirts and pants are now accepted by our Indian Government as a traditional Indian dress.

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Dhoti and Lungi A dhoti is a six feet long white or coloured strip of cotton traditionally worn by men in villages. Generally, they wrap the dhoti around their waist and sometimes style it with a belt. Over the dhoti, the men wear shirt.

In Tamil, it’s called a veshti! Dhoti has many other names like Mundu, Pancha, Panche. Great leaders like Mahatma Gandhi wore this which reflected our Indian culture and his simplicity. A lungi is the same as a Dhoti except that Dhotis are always white.

People of Bangladesh, Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mayanmar and Somalia also wear lungi because of heat and humidity.

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Achkan/Sherwani Sherwani is a popularly known Indian outfit that is generally worn for weddings.

It is a jacket that’s of knee length with exposed buttons. A s herwani also has a Nehru collar, a standing collar thatcannotbefolded.Itisusually worn with a tight fitting pant called churidhar that is loose around the hips but is tight and has a gathering at the bottom of the pant.

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Bandhgala This has its origin from Jodhpur. It is also called as a Jodhpuri, a formal evening suit from India. This has a western touch to it with an Indian hand-embroidery, western cut coat, pant and sometimes even a vest. Became very popular in Rajasthan and it is generally suitable for weddings and formal occasions.

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Angarkha and Jama Angarkha is derived from the Sanskrit word ‘Angaraksaka’, which means protection of the body.

Angarakha is a traditional upper garment which overlaps and is tied to the left or right shoulder.

Some styles fall to below the knees. During the historic times, Angrakha used to be a court outfit.

Angarkha is wrapped around oneself, with flexible ease with the knots and ties. The basic cuts were the same, but different patterns and prints were used in various regions. In simpler terms, an angarkha is the costume that Ranveer Singh wore in Goliyon Ki Rasleela Ram-Leela.

The jama is a long coat which was popular during the Mughal period. However, men in parts of Kutch still wear the jama also known as the angarkha.

After the western influence, India welcomed pants and shirts. Starting from bell bottoms to longline waterfall hoodies, the industry has been booming.

Coming back to stereotyping when a mini poll was conducted, although we are in a forward thinking generation, surprisingly not many men were willing to wear pink. When asked Dinesh Kumar Pancharia, a Chennai based model, if he prefers wearing pink, he said, “Models do not have a say in what to wear but personally, I think pink suits me. But, so many people have looked down on me for choosing to wear pink. Although, we say that the fashion industry is not just for women there is a bit of bias. Female models get paid more than

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male models and for male models, what we wear matters only ten percent the other ninety percent entirely depends on how we maintain our body. Also, the opportunities for women in this industry are more compared to us. There are many male fashion designers and choreographers but not many male models.”

insulted by many people because I chose this field. They called tailoring and fashion designing a woman’s job. But the fashion field did not show any such gender bias towards me. In fact, all leading designers all over the world mostly are men like Ralph Lauren, Karl Lagerfield, Sabya Saachi and many more.”

When asked Dilip Choyal, a leading fashion designer and CEO/Founder of the boutique, Fashone, about gender stereotyping he said, “Gender stereotyping is absolutely not prevalent in this industry. We fashion designers do not have any bias towards gender. If we think that a particular dress or colour suits that person we ask them to model for it irrespective of their gender. But from the outside, I was

Although, clothing is a common thing, and as a matter of fact, there are more men in the line of fashion, even then, if men choose to be a part of this industry they are frowned upon in the society to some extent. But in the context of trends, the men’s fashion industry has come a long way.

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THINK - INNOVATION

THE UNVEILING

EDUCATION Aarthi Arun

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Many scholars and learned men have quoted quite wisely on education, knowing its power and how one can influence a positive change in the world by using education in the right way. With such a powerful tool at hand, our country is well known for implementing the process of educating the young from centuries ago. The ‘Gurukuls’ or ‘Patasalas’ where kids as young as 7 or 8 started their search for knowledge and lived detached from their dependant family life inculcated a lot of positive qualities in them. This system was followed until the colonial era which brought about a dec l i n e i n t h e s ystem itself. H owever, having education as a primary part of one’s childhood and adolescence, cultured the Indian youth and prepared them to seek the future promisingly.

With a culture and history in education dating back to centuries like this in our country, the systems we follow today may well be a distant dream from the past practices, but definitely a strained hope for the future. The various educational systems today boast of a systematic learning process and tend to confuse the modern parent if their choice

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for their child is the best and right one. Being a parent myself and a proud believer and ardent fan of our nation’s rich heritage, I do yearn for the bygone advantages and practices. But end up compromising and reassuring myself that I have tried and given the best possible for my children to help them sustain and survive independently in the future.

Many people have different opinions and ideas when we say the term education. It is their individual perspective, and none to blame. Educating a child is the primary duty of a parent and the best foundation we can give to them. By educating I merely do not single out the option of sending them to a school. Children need to be taught good manners, human values, respect, courage, compassion and coexistence. They need to learn that it is our world and we need to take care of it if we need to survive in it. All this and more come under educating a child.

What we teach today to our younger ones is what will get passed on to their future generations to come. Hence this much an effort.

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Whilst dealing with all these complexities, and running a family household, not every parent would probably find the time to sit down and teach all of this and more to their child first hand. So came the idea of sending them to schools where they get to learn in the company of peers and grow in that process.

Schooling, forms the most important and memorable phase of every person’s life; of all those who had the opportunity of experiencing it. In such a phase we come across, meet, befriend, learn, ignore and move on from so many humans who will in one way or the other teach us something valuable. As grown ups and adults dealing with life matters, we may tend to forget a lot of things from our past, but never can you hear anyone saying that about their school life.

Here, we speak about all those people who were a part of our most cherished memories. As we took our first steps into our school campuses along with the thousand other kids, I can bet that not every kid paused to look at the man by the gate. His duty was to ensure that every kid, uniform-clad entered the campus safely and none left out. We would have been aware that there stood a human, but not made an effort to know his name even. ‘WATCHMAN ANNA’ as he was popularly known, spent years by the gates, counting all the numerous kids who might become the next trendsetters, governors and so on in the future.

He never knew to differentiate. His loyalty was only to the school and none could convince him even if we were a minute late. You could tell the time the bell will ring just by following him walk briskly towards the gate to get it ready to close and shut the late comers out. Sometimes I used to wonder as a kid myself, if indeed he found some kind of profound joy in making us stay out, waiting for the principal to swing by and then watch us get punished. But no. He was just simply indebted to the school that helped him feed his family and pay his bills. A truly devoted employee of the school community, the gatekeeper, literally.

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Some of us would have been the ‘starboard’ makers, the top listers whilst the rest wouldn’t have. Whether our names were lucky enough to make it to the boards or not, all of us would have definitely paid a visit to the Principal’s office under some pretext. Asking us to wait in line, enquiring the reason for the visit, and doing all the other chores at odd, the PEON ANNA is another person we forget going back to.

Starting from distributing the class attendance registers, carrying the confidential information between offices and doing every other work that no one else but him could do, he was one of the go-to guys on campus that we could rely on. He was the perfect balance between the student community and the teachers’. He made them believe that he was their confidante, both the students and staff alike. This harmony chord that he struck in perfection made a lot of things that much easier in school, every single day. But, despite all this sweetness and genuine care, I bet not the majority of us remembered to thank him when we all finally got out of school to face world unarmed.

From being the gardeners and ensuring that the school campus looks like a little postcard kind of place, from being the cleaners and ensuring that all the classrooms and hallways are spic and span all the time and from being many other things, the AAYAMAS are the sweetest and soft-spoken souls on campus. How harder it gets each day at work never mattered to them and their motherly instincts were always at play. One could just go to them with the most personal of matters and they were always ready to help. They are next on the list of the ‘forgotten few’.

As the grades got higher and we started seeing in Greek and Latin with the subjects like physics and chemistry to deal with, every time we

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had to pay a visit to the laboratories were a typical teenage nightmare, especially during the examinations. The LAB ASSISTANTS who were in charge would try to sneak in and help those who weren’t prepared enough or ended up with the toughest experiments to prove, get through the practical tests with ease. They were truly the angels in disguise as many of us believed them to be. Most of us, me included, did not make an effort to say even a decent thank you before leaving the campus for good. But none of this negligence deterred them from being their helpful selves. They continued to do their part, batch after batch, year after year.

As we speak and discuss all these people who were a part of our lives and forgotten now, there is another group of very important people who have somehow invested their most valuable asset- their time, in making us who we are today. As young adults, kind of lost in the transition, when we aimlessly studied everything that was taught, these enlightened and caring people took our hands, and showed us where to look and not what to see. Their guidance encouraged and motivated the faith in us and helped build our self-confidence. Whenever I speak about a group of people, I take and pay attention in focussing my opinions to the positive sect of the same. Those are the ones who matter; those are the ones who strive to be a part of a change to the global phenomenon that makes the world a better place. They are our TEACHERS. Apart from teaching the prescribed subjects, they pay attention to every single student personally, helping them out with not only the academics but any other issue that might hinder their performance academically. I am sure they must be super brained and trained in mental peace and stability to handle varied bunches of kids periodically.

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There definitely was a naughty kid who reigned a rouge clique in almost every class, while there was also a super studious kid who knew nothing but studies and worked their best to impress all the teachers just to get the best student title. In a time when our own parents lose their patience and temper in dealing with their own kid/kids, the way the teachers handle a class of anywhere between 15-50 students with that much control is simply outstanding. This shows their capability and knowledge over the kids. They are the secret ingredient in sculpting every single student, inculcating the best of human values apart from pouring some sense into their heads on the subjects of their choice.

How ever old we may grow, how ever far and wide we may go, we cannot forget these teachers who helped us become us. As being a part of the noblest professional cult, these lucky few who chose teaching as their

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jobs, did choose wise because we would not be here doing what we do unless for them.

Thus, bringing us to the end of the UNVEILING series, where I was blessed to speak about the many forgotten folks in a few professional fields that I could, during this series over the past five editions. Our lives are always in a whirlwind, never having time to pause and stare even for a second. Life is short my dear friend, very short indeed that you never know when it might actually stop. Nothing is permanent, not even our thoughts. I might not have lived long enough to preach philosophy like a pro, but that again depends on who I am comparing myself and my life to. Everyone has their own cup of coffee to sip. So why not take a break and look at yourself, cherish your life, count your blessings and stop complaining before we become one of the FORGOTTEN FEW!

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CREATE - ARTIST

DREAM IT, CAPTURE IT. PICTURE IT, VENTURE INTO IT.

Akila Sridhar

DON’T CALL IT A DREAM, CALL IT A PLAN. “Don’t just exist - Live.

Don’t just follow your dreams- Chase it.

Don’t look for a ladder to climb- jump over the fence, do it.”

Arjun Narasimhamurthy- He, who practices the art of time management.

He is one who has come about and given his near and dear ones looking out, a wake-up call that ‘TIME MANAGEMENT’ isn’t merely a myth. It was said that he was a kid ‘dreaming’, like any other, when he proclaimed that he wanted to pursue photography amidst his Chartered Accountancy (CA). He silently proved them wrong. He said a lot with his silence- he worked.

Life threw challenges at him at every step and he scathed, never gave up. Infamous for having aspirations different from his lot, he didn’t give up on either of what he wanted.

Chirpy son, ever-ready singer, photographer, Chartered accountant, traveller and sports enthusiast- in short, a small human having huge dreams. He is one of us. Jack of all trades honing hand-picked ones.

“Photography is the beauty of life captured” - Tara Chisholm

Aakhyana -the Photography venture-“Every picture has a story to tell” Founded along with Amrutha Ananth at 25, with over 25 people working with him while maintaining his desk job at a Fortune 500 company- he was just doing what he was supposed to. The reason he stands out is Entirely because in his every step he did do, what was necessary and not call in lazy. In the present, doing what is required by itself in definition becomes perfection or sufficient.

Akhyana literally means to tell or narrate in Sanskrit. Ever ready to help pictures narrate a tale, they aptly named their venture into the lives of several thankful souls- Aakhyana.

“It gives us immense joy in seeing what this tiny venture has taken shape of in 2018. We hope to expand out in terms of event coverage and painting with colours of joy. We believe in the foundation saying that people might change, times might change but memories don’t. ” - Arjun 5 year old Aakhyana venture which primarily focuses at giving elite candid photography services at affordable prices. It was solely started to make candid photography available to the people at large, in a pocket friendly fashion. The team is about 16 of us now with its studio set up at Kodambakkam.

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Over 50+ weddings shot across multiple cultures, we at Aakhyana love to shoot dance and music gigs as well. Baby photography and other events also covered. He can be reached through all the social media handles- ready with a camera at every angle. Now we know which affordable neighbourhood chap to call in for a hand during major events. “This is the happiest I have looked in years” said a gushing bride at one of his shoots. Her better half quickly chipped in and quoted “ Aakhyana team put in personally efforts with their creative ideas to keep the sparkle in our eyes among great pressure and work during the wedding”. The highlight of the interview was when the parents of the bride were enthusiastic in contributing their suggestion for Aakhyana and said that they never imagined such a personal and warm group of photographers socialising while aptly capturing the beautiful moments. Handful are the number of times we hear the parents of the wedding party satisfied with the rates and the results of such groups. This speaks volumes about the team and the timely execution. To stand out in the field where merely possessing a camera makes you accomplished- says it all.

Aakhyana Photography are a team of wedding photographers who offer traditional and candid photography and videography services at affordable prices under one roof. They also design and print wedding albums. They believe every picture has an ‘Aakhyana’ - a tale to tell. They are here to tell your tale through their lens.

Work life balance He took upon himself the saying “Choose a job that you like, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” -Confucius” a little too seriously and made his passion, his work. He started finding time between this schedule to develop his plan B and C. He slowly made A, B and C his revised plan A. Maybe this chap doesn’t know how to say No or give up.

He juggles between the extremes- an adrenalin junkie by nature conquered his fears for a mundane life and much to his satisfaction, continues to do so.

He is a Chartered accountant by the day and photographer who has a bug for traveling, by night. Everyone has a dream- he is one who monetises them/ makes them real.

When quizzed on what he enjoys that isn’t hard core, he laughs and comes back with choosing to be an über driver for his friends and family. He says several times that has helped him make his friends his family. This could be a cue to all his ones out there- your presence has been marked/ parked.

This is not a puff piece about an achiever who is a star in the media industry - but a write up on those lesser known gems of Namma Chennai. We’re here searching for the unsearched, finding the unfindable, looking at this easily over looked and lending a ladder to those deprived of one.

Appreciation for the cream of the industry / those born with a silver spoon, is just another day at work. For those hard working humans who try earning their place while pursuing education and pursue their dreams are the ones who in real deserve applause/ such applause is their life’s worth.

“You don’t take a photograph. You make it.”

Travel plans- when dreams materialise At 27, he has developed the Projekt 1.95. This initiated on a demo basis is based on the idea to popularize the lesser known places in the world, instead of merely focusing on the capital town or the financial sectors. His future plan for the next 20 years is to travel to 195 countries- living their lifestyle, eating their cuisine and adding another feather to his hat. You love many times a day but you live only once. ‘If travel was free, you’d never see me again’ is the ever ringing tone to all our brains. He, here is trying to learn and teach something from that. He is aiming at making trips at economical rates to cover maximum ground with limited time to capitalise on the exposure.

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He has already trekked thrice ranging from 10,000-14,500 feet and tried out various sorts of adventure sports as a part of his Projekt 1.95 to cover the treasures the world has to offer the common man out there. He has covered most of India and some of the Asian countries. One has to learn the art of management and financial planning from the youngsters climbing the ladder. He has lived through the Bungee jumping of 250 feet heights, skied, dived and flown more heights than a group could do in a lifetime. He segregates a part of every month salary into the various country funds and starts a month by planning ahead.

The plan primarily is to venture out into the unknown as exciting as that sounds- It requires hours of planning and patience to see it through. The challenge is definitely not the travelling but the part of enjoying itself. We constantly need to remember to keep our heads high and stay low instead of succumbing to the pressure to merely stand out. Being unique is no longer unique. But being yourself, is all that counts.

How is he different?

He is, but really isn’t. Thanks to his family, he found his passion in his early age. Even the atheist and realist in him leans forward to thank the Almighty force ( Destiny maybe) up there which has taken him in the path he is in- filled with lessons he learnt and chose to skip for this exam he calls Life. He is one of those lucky ones who knows what their goals are and it automatically becomes a habit to try to achieve them. We’ve all been given the same exposure but it ends up defining who we are depending on what we keep our ears open to.

Entrepreneurship is living a few years of your life like most people won’t so you can spend the rest of your life like most people can’t.

Wishing the budding traveller, young entrepreneur and financial consultant all the luck from the others similarly aspiring to conquer our fears and achieve our dreams- People like him make the rest want to be better version of ourselves. The lesser found gems are the most precious- People who stand up for themselves are the gems and people who don’t settle for less are ones tough to find.

”As long as you’re going to be thinking anyway, think big.” -- Donald Trump

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CREATE

THE LONELY HOUSEBOAT

Wikimedia Commons

Aishwarya Kanchi

“It’s easy to deal with numbers, but emotions are complicated,” says Jude, the protagonist of the Malayalam film Hey Jude that released early this month. From movies like this and My Name Is Khan, which talk about mental disorders like Asperger’s syndrome, to books by Daniel Goleman on emotional intelligence, there is widespread talk about one’s mental health, its causes and solutions. True to Jude’s statement, emotions are hard to deal with and things can go awfully wrong if not looked at in the right way.

Mental health, or emotional stability, or emotional intelligence, can be said to be the ability to recognise, understand and manage emotions of one’s own and others’. Along with being able to smoothly go over other aspects of life - things like meeting deadlines at work, exercising regularly, buying groceries - being able to handle and take reign of emotions is very important. So much that they drive our behaviour in both positive and negative ways that have powerful, long-lasting effects on our physical health, thought processes and all subsequent decisions. And most people are not able to do it effectively. Which is why it is becoming increasingly more relevant to keep a lookout for any kind of changes in thinking patterns, both within ourselves and others.

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Pranav Iyer

When one is suffering from conflicting emotions that are hard to manage, and when it slowly starts going out of control, mental health starts to deteriorate and whatever be the initial causes or contributing factors, the person starts to feel lonely, of low self-esteem, and a general sadness develops. The extent, intensity and rate at which this sadness grows differs; one can get shrivelled up quite early and never open up, while for another it might take time for the mental instability to manifest itself into behaviour.

Yet, at one point, the victim experiences something like a gloomy state of being deep within that persists and stays, until investigated upon in detail.

One instance among others is clinical depression. One in every three people suffer from it. Termed as a mood disorder by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) - one of the institutes of the United States’ Federal agency for medical research, National Institutes of Health (NIH) - there are many types of clinical depression. From celebrities like Lady Gaga and Deepika Padukone to the normal, working-class citizens of any country, it is known to affect all kinds of people worldwide. There are campaigns like Heads Together, led by the Royal Foundation, and organisations like The Live Love Laugh Foundation (TLLLF) founded by Deepika Padukone, and numerous other groups that aim to change the way people look at mental health and form a means by which victims can seek help.

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The existence and awareness of such platforms is crucial and empowering, considering the consequences of depression. While physical health is obviously affected due to neglect, victims can take to substance abuse in the hope of escaping from the reality, although they know that it is temporary, whereas it actually worsens the situation and in some cases aggravates it. The extreme cases are when the victims feel helpless and worthless and start having suicidal thoughts. If not told soon enough and in the right way, that there is a solution and ending one’s life can be absolutely avoided, they don’t see any way out and take that final step.

People around the victim - family, friends, colleagues and the like - play a significant role in shaping the victim’s experience, both for the good and bad. And most cases of depression and other mental illnesses can be made better if these people are a little more vigilant. And willing to listen. For that is the first step they can take towards helping the victim. Talking one’s problems to someone they feel would understand, confiding in such a person, reduces the load on their shoulders and opens up new pathways of thinking for them, unlike the confined way in which they (victims) think if handling the situation all by themselves. One of the videos on TLLLF’s YouTube channel has its title as ‘DobaraPoocho’, meaning ‘ask again’. It serves as an immense relief for the victim if their ‘I’m fine’ is not taken at face value and family members or friends or the people they generally spend time with look more closely at them if and when any unusual behaviour is come across.

There are numerous causes to the mental health issues faced by people today, and no certain factors can be determined as the causes of so-and-so mental illness. And there are also numerous ways to tackle these problems and bring the victims out of their shell. They can be viewed as lonely houseboats floating in the waterways, withering away in silence inside. All they need is a helping hand ready to pull them ashore. So let’s take a step towards it, going beyond any stigmas or uncertainties, and try to make someone’s life better.

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CREATE

VINTAGE CAMERA

A Nostalgic piece that hits home perfectly

Akshay Ramesh

Why have I taken this topic? What is so interesting about a vintage camera that needs a film to work? Films that are not made any more or rarely sold anywhere across the country anymore. Well, you see, there is nothing like the vintage stuff. They say that “Old is Gold” but I have a newer proverb - “Old has become the new of the era”. You may ask me as to why I make that statement, but give it a thought.

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This generation grabs its hands on whatever is new and exciting. They do not care as to what the new thing does or is capable of. If it is interesting, exciting and affordable, they make sure it is in their hands. But, there are a lot of people now also trying to get their hands on old stuff. By old stuff, old stuff that didn’t exist when they were born or growing up but were of their parents or ancestors generation. For example, you’ll see a few people practising their typing on a typewriter instead of a keyboard. To them, the typewriter is the new-old “stuff”. Similarly, the young generation is trying to get their hands on the old vintage cameras. The ones where we have to insert films, click a picture, actually process it and get it.

But then again, you may ask to go through a tedious setup and process of getting an image when you have the latest technology to get a picture instantly. The answer is very simple. When you click a picture in a dslr, you can immediately view and take a print. You can also edit and also make a few corrections if you would like to. That way you ensure that the picture remains perfect and does not have any kind of errors.

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Now here comes the good part, in a vintage camera or a film camera, it is not so easy. First, you have to load the film after you make sure it not damaged due to harsh sunlight. Then position the film correctly, that is you roll the film correctly such the first “blank space” of the film is in the correct position. The position should be correct so that the picture falls on the blank space and not on the adjacent blank space. Next, you have to position the camera on the tripod. Using the range-finder and the focus rings you will focus the object through the range-finder. We then, look through the range-finder and click the picture. Now, once the picture has been clicked you cannot see what it looks like, unlike a dslr. Once you have clicked the pictures required, you give it for processing. The processing, depending on the process takes usually from 3-5 days. Once the process is done, the picture comes out and we can finally see how it looks like.

You guys will for sure ask where the good part in this is. The good part is that, after all the hard work, nothing satisfies us more than seeing the picture come out great and perfect, just the way we wanted it to be. Nothing more gives us the satisfaction of the success that we get after hard work. Nothing gives us more happiness than in working figuring and working a thing that used to exist before we were born. This is the kind of thing that makes youngsters so eager and so nostalgic. This is the reason as to why vintage cameras still have a peak of interest amongst the youngsters.

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LIVE- FOOD

CONE

Apetit

Sadakshi Kalyanraman

The fast paced, virtual world has left us with nothing but stress, mental irritation and exhaustion. But would it sound completely absurd if I told you that your favourite cornetto or chocobar would actually relieve you of these issues when consumed as a part of the breakfast?. The Japanese, have yet again managed to surprise the world with their clinical results which state how eating ice-cream immediately after waking up can induce high-frequency alpha waves, or simply put, make people have elevated levels of alertness and reduced mental stress. In fact, ice-creams help in overcoming depression and they also help augment creativity.

What makes ice-creams more interesting is the fact that they have been around since the 5th century

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B.C. The Greeks ate snow mixed with honey and fruits and ironically they were grouped under the ‘medicine’ banner. Hippocrates, “The Father of Medicine” had encouraged his patients to eat ice-creams, or back then, just ‘ice’ , “as it livens the life-juices and increases the well-being.”

This frozen dessert is so complex and interesting and it has evolved into the present day “ice-cream” as a result of the constant experimentation and toil by many cuisines and countries. Biblical references also show that King Solomon was fond of iced drinks during harvesting. During the Roman Empire, Nero Claudius Caesar frequently sent runners into the mountains for snow, which was then flavoured with fruits and juice.

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Catherine de’ Medici, a Duchess from Italy is said to have brought the tradition of making sorbets to France after her wedding and over a hundred years later Charles I of England was very much delighted that he kept the secret of ice-creams as a Royal Secret.

Legend has it that he killed his own ice-cream chef for revealing the secret recipe. With such nobility fuelling its production, innovators, technicians and cooks all put their best efforts into developing the rise of ice cream popularity and availability across the world.

North American street vendors started selling ice cream only few decades after France and England. After the second World War, the ice-cream industry received such massive expansion, ergo enabling the creation of new and exotic flavour profiles, both natural and artificial. How lively would history classes have been if we had lessons on ice-cream origins and makings.

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Each country has its own spin on the classic treat and they vary by a huge margin. The Gelato, from Italy is probably the best-known varieties of ice-cream known for its lesser calorie count that naturally attracts the youth of today. Mochi balls from Japan are known for their cute appeal and they are nothing but ice-cream covered in sticky rice pudding, making it Japanese-authentic. The classic Falooda and Kulfi from India are rich and creamy, topped with pistachios and other dried fruits , which make it all the more yummy and exciting. If you probably like both cheese and ice-creams, the go-to dessert would be the Philippines Sorbetes. It is a cheese flavoured ice-cream specially crafted with coconut milk , served in a bread bun to add more fun and drama.

India, being a hub of experiments and an amalgamation of different cuisines, has recently caught the fever of the rolled ice-creams.

This ice-cream type has become a trending fad that almost all food blogs put up articles about this unique preparation method. It has become a viral vogue on almost all social networking platforms like Instragram and YouTube.

The rolled ice-cream, originally called the “I Tim Pad� is a handmade dessert from Thailand where the cream or the milk is poured on an iced grill, which then solidifies after constantly flattening the mix on the grill. Metal paddles are used to quickly chop and smash the ingredients together and spread into a thin layer. In less than two minutes, the ice-cream firms up and is ready to be scraped into chubby rolls.

With summer just around the corner, it is absolutely paramount to know all the different types of ice-creams and their flavours. They range from nutty, fruity, minty to very specially and almost weird-tasting flavours like bubblegum , wasabi and lobster. We all scream ice-cream from time to time and this sunny season, jump out of the comfort zone and try these strange-yet-real ice-cream flavours.

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LIVE- CULTURE

WHEN MAYIL-AADUM-PURAM

WITNESSED

MAYIL AATAM! Anagha Natraj

It is that time of the year when the city is at its best.

The heart and soul of the city comes alive with the sound of perfectly tuned ragas, the tintinnabulation of the dancing bells, and the steady beats that lend support to the artistes. As one wafts around Mylapore through the smell of freshly fried paniyaram and bajjis, one can only be filled with awe and a sense of deep emotional connect with the city. mylaporefestival.com

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The Annual Mylapore festival is truly one of its kind. Usually held in the first week of the New Year, this festival which is organised by Sundaram Finance sees a plethora of traditional and cultural activities of Tamil Nadu. Mylapore, being one of the oldest and most vibrant parts of the city, brings together tens and thousands of people to participate in and witness the heritage and culture of South India.

Held between 4th and 7th of January this year, the festival played host to Classical and folk music, dance and theatre in the 16 pillar mandapam located inside the Kapaleeshwarar Temple. The east end of North Mada Street was blocked to vehicles to conduct a Kolam competition where close to 200 people participated in a span of two days. Featuring over 200 artistes and more than 30 cultural events, the Mylapore festival also included a lot of art and craft workshops, chess tournaments, traditional games and story- telling sessions- all for children. This festival is taken up as a window of opportunity for parents to ensure that their kids are in touch with their heritage and traditions.

An important part of the festival is the heritage tours which include food walks where a few eateries in the area are explored.

Also part of this, are temple tours where the sculptures, architecture, history and inscriptions are explained. The heritage tours conducted this year included one on the saints of Mylapore as well as vintage houses in the area. This gives the people a chance to understand various facets of their daily life that many a times go unnoticed.

“This festival began as a Kolam contest organised by Mylapore Times, many years ago. My attendance at a series of workshops on curating and holding cultural festivals opened my eyes to the potential of using a heritage precinct space like the Sri Kapali Temple zone for a cul-fest. Street cultural festivals have a life of their own. I believe that live events curated innovatively will most definitely get young people interested in history and heritage and culture. They excite people who choose to be at the event and we witness it at every edition of the Mylapore Festival, no matter how distracting and irritating the movement of the traffic is! This is why other neighbourhoods, especially those with histories and heritage are ideal spaces to also have street cultural festivals,” says Vincent D’Souza, Editor, Mylapore Times. Speaking about other cultural hubs in the city and the grit and determination it takes to conduct an event of this magnitude, he said, “A few people of West Mambalam seem to be excited, having soaked in the spirit of Mylapore last week. It needs a dozen people of that zone to put their hands together, network and curate to make a festival happen.”

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As an event that is based on the culmination of various traditions of Tamil Nadu, the Mylapore festival can be seen as an important occasion to keep the traditional knowledge intact and the cultural vibrancy booming. “As a person who was born in the heart of Mylapore and grew up there, this festival is one of the best events of the year. An already colourful Mylapore becomes even more colourful. There is something called the Mayil Aatam (Peacock Dance) which is performed by artistes in front of the temple. Now this dance is very famous in the interior parts of the state and in villages but most of us in the city would not have even heard of it,” says Badrinath Vasudevan, a resident of Mylapore.

This festival is a good chance for people to get in touch with the way their ancestors lived. A lot of people nowadays do not have the time to draw elaborate kolams and welcome their guests with a full -fledged traditional lunch. The festival is the perfect opportunity to remember and cherish the past as well as trying to stay rooted in our practices in this day of development and globalisation.

Similar to this festival in Chennai are many such events that happen all over the country. The Avareka Mela of Bengaluru is one such occasion that is just around the corner. In the Avereka Mela, an entire street in Malleswaram is lined with over 100 chefs preparing more than 50 different varieties of delicious delicacies made out of Avereka (Flat beans). This Mela is primarily conducted to celebrate the harvest of the seasonal Flat beans crop. Along with the food, there are many cultural events like music and dance that take place in the Mela.

Mylapore or Malleswaram, Tamil Nadu or Karnataka, the idea behind cultural celebrations is the same. To protect, preserve and cherish ones roots. A strong cultural identity can lead to astrong national identity. After all, as Hiphop Tamizha rightfully says, “If we lose our heritage, we become refugees in our own country.”

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FROM THE ARCHIVES

musIc

Kala Ramnath B B VeeJAy SAI

Veejay Sai

eing eing born born and and brought up up in a brought familyinof musicians has its own a family of musicians advantages no one can ever has itswhich own advantages discredit from any musician. While there which no one can ever have been several examples of how many discredit from any a noted maestro have the bad luck of no musician.

While have been one, least their there own children, inheriting several examples of artists how many noted their art, there are who a not only maestro badbut luck of break no one, inheritedhave theirthe music also new ground theirchildren, own careers.

If there is least theirinown inheriting one art, of the bestare living examples of such their there artists who not only a successful it isalso the break one and inherited their model, music but only Kala Ramnath. The famous niece new ground in their own careers. If of violinist N.Rajam and sangeetha there is oneprof. of the best living examples Kalanidhi T.N.Krishnan, Kala has ofproved such atosuccessful model, it isofthe be more than the chip all the one and only Kala Ramnath.

The illustrious old blocks put together.

famous niece of violinist N.Rajam Having born into a musical family Kala and sangeetha Kalanidhi prof. started her training early.to‘Ibewas T.N.Krishnan, Kala hasvery proved introduced tochip the ofviolin when I was more than the all the illustrious two years old. My grandfather Vidwan old blocks put together.

Narayan iyer was my first guru. He was a very strict disciplinarian and none of Having born a musical family Kala us dared to into disobey him at any cost,’ she started her training very early. ‘I was says. Vidwan Narayan

introduced to the violin when I was Iyer was old. a legend in his timesVidwan who not two years My grandfather only mastered but also Narayan iyer wasthe myviolin first guru.

He the gotuvadyam anddisciplinarian veena. While he was a was a very strict and purist when it came to classical music, none of us dared to disobey him at he was not averse to modern music any cost,’ she says. Vidwan Narayan 56

other histimes contemporaries.

Iyerunlike was amany legend inof his who even scored the the violin background music notHe only mastered but also ‘sakkubai’ and a feature made in thefor gotuvadyam veena. film While 1935. Having her initial training under he was a purist when it came to such a genius, violin came as naturally classical music, he was not averse to as the alphabets of any language would modern music unlike of come to little Kala.many Thisother studentship his continued contemporaries.

He mentoring even scored under the of her theaunt background music ‘sakkubai’ Dr.N.Rajam for for a long time. ‘My aunt would gently in remind if we did a feature film made 1935. us Having touch the violin a week.

Even hernot initial training underforsuch a after violin repeated reminders, if weasdid not genius, came as naturally practice one could rest assured that hell the alphabets of any language would would break loose on us very soon. If my come to little Kala.

Thisthe studentship grandfather gave me technique then continued under the mentoring of her it was my aunt who honed it to perfection aunt Dr.N.Rajam for afirst longintroduction time. ‘My to and gave me my aunt would gently remind us if we didthe audiences in India’, she adds.

Under her aunt, Kala blossomed notguidance touch theofviolin for a week.

Even into an independent full fledged artist. after repeated reminders, if we did not practice one could rest assured Other than these gurus, she has had that hell would break loose on us very immense musical influences in her life. soon. my grandfather gave meclassical the HerIfaunt introduced her to the technique then it was my aunt who vocalist Pandit Jasraj of the mewati honed it to perfection meKala’s gharana, early in and her gave career. was so addictive that she not my violin first introduction to audiences in only accompanied maestro in 99% of all India’, she adds.the Under the guidance his aunt, concerts butblossomed also became one of her Kala into anof the flag bearersfull of his gharana in a very short independent fledged artist. span, considering his own children didn’t inherit his music. Senior music critics

Other than these gurus, she has

10 | OCtOber 2010 | Cinema, musiC & art with the Brew

often commented how it wasin Kala’s had immense musical influences violinHer thataunt oftenintroduced upheld an entire her life. her toconcert which would have otherwise been boring the classical vocalist Pandit Jasraj and repetitive because Panditji had long of the mewati gharana, early in her stopped giving pure classical music career.

Kala’sand violin wastososinging addictive concerts stuck bhajans that or sheplaying not onlytoaccompanied themusical galleries. ‘My maestro in 99%have of allbeen his concerts but influences my grandfather, also my became onePandit of the Jasraj flag bearers aunt and ji. I also love Kishori of hisVidushi gharana in aAmonkar’s very shortmusic span,and the complete musicianship of Ustad Zakir considering his own children didn’t Hussain.

As aSenior woman, I would like to inherit his music. music critics conduct myself like my aunt, I want my often commented how it was Kala’s music to be laden with emotions like violinPandit that often analmighty. entire I would ji and upheld reach the concert which would have otherwise like to show uncharted paths hitherto beenunknown boring and repetitive because to everyone when, I explore Panditji had long stopped giving pure classical music concerts and stuck to singing bhajans or playing to galleries.

‘My musical influences have been my grandfather, my aunt and Pandit Jasraj ji. I also love Vidushi Kishori Amonkar’s music and the complete musicianship of Ustad Zakir Hussain.

As a woman, I would like to conduct myself like my aunt, I want my music to be laden with emotions like Pandit ji and reach the almighty. I would like to show uncharted paths hitherto unknown to everyone when, I explore

BREW LIFESTYLE I FEBRUARY 2018

a raga like Kishori ji does and be a complete musician like Zakir bhai as far as musicality, technicality and presentation goes. And above all, be a person with goodness and a clean heart.

As a renowned artist in her own field, Kala laments over the current state of Indian classical music. ‘Indian classical music’s greatest problem is how it’s becoming popular today and facing the onslaught of all the reality shows which trivialise what music really is,’ she says.

‘Music is as difficult as any other profession, like becoming a doctor or an engineer. It needs a lot of dedication and hard work to be a professional.

But this vocation is also very creative and enjoyable. So you can enjoy what you do if you take this up as a profession.

Yes! Music is a wonderful profession if you are talented and hardworking’, assures Kala to the next generation of aspiring musicians.

Kala’s work, unlike many other artists has taken Indian classical music to new audiences across the world.

Her musical collaborations with internationally renowned artists like jazz saxophonist George Brooks, rock musician Ray Manzarek of The Doors, Latin percussionist Giovanni Hidalgo and renowned drummer Terry Bozzio have rated her to be the new generation flag bearer of world music from India. Her project ‘Raga Afrika’ won her several awards. ‘Raga Afrika’ and ‘Global Conversations’ are both wonderful projects that are very close to my heart. Raga Afrika happened when I went to SA in 2000 with my good friend Nisaar Pangarkar. We came up with the idea of fusing Indian and Afro Jazz which had never happened ever and that’s how ‘Raga Afrika’ was born.

Similarly Global Conversations is a musical blend of Raga influenced by American Jazz and Jazz inflected Raga’, she says. In fact, as recent as this year, when the world music academy did a rating of the top notch Indian artists who have contributed to world music in the last century, Kala’s name stands amongst the top five after the likes of

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Cinema, musiC & art with the Brew | OCtOber 2010 | 11

Pandit Ravi Shankar and Ustad Zakir Hussain. She has been rated as one of the 50 world’s greatest instrumentalists of this century. Now that speaks volumes for her contribution to music.

at all the prestigious music festivals, her performances have acquired her several awards. Amongst them is the coveted president’s award for being the best young classical musician. With artists like Kala, one can be sure that Indian classical music is in safe hands and does not have the supposed threat of an early

‘If Mozart had been transported to the South Asian subcontinent this is what he and improvised Western classical music might have sounded like. The comparison is not thrown in to befuddle or impress. Kala Ramnath is a musician of giant - like qualities’ reads a citation from the famous Jazzwise Review. Point noted. Kala’s music albums are highly wanted all over and sell out like hot cakes and there are several music companies laughing their way to the banks, after bringing out multiple editions. Having toured over fifty countries and performed

extinction.

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