VADAPALANI WEST MAMBALAM, ASHOK NAGAR, K.K. NAGAR, VADAPALANI, VIRUGAMBAKKAM NEIGHBOURHOOD NEWSPAPER Jan 10 - 16, 2010 Vol.8 No.1
A grand finale to the marathon music festival humility, the completion of 52- weeks of unbelievable, uninterrupted unforgettable weeks of classical Carnatic music, throughout the year 2009.
Starting on January 4 in the last year, the music festival was held at Sri Kanchi Kamakoti Shankara Matam in West Mambalam, who so benevolently gave their dais
(Contd...Page 12)
Wish you HAPPY PONGAL
The first Sunday of the New Times celebrate with great Year, 2010, saw Vadapalani j o y, e n t h u s i a s m a n d
VADAPALANI TIMES
Page 2
January 10 - 16, 2010
DECEMBER SEASON FLASHBACK Aruna Sairam Smt. Aruna Sairam, the magnetic crowd puller of the season, performed to a jam packed audience at the Music Academy. Rasikas who wanted to buy daily tickets thronged the gates of the Academy from 5 0’clockin the morning and the long queue was seen winding with many twists and turns ..Congratulations to the organizers for making the wait comfortable with seating arrangements, bajan music (during the long wait) and a cup of steaming hot filter coffee, in between ! Hats off to the scouts and volunteers who did a wonderful job in handling the crowd (consisting mostly of senior citizens )with respect and issuing tokens and tickets in an organized way !Needless to say, Aruna’s Kutcheri was out of the world and top class. No wonder she received a standing ovation and loud cheering, which she richly deserved, from her loyal rasikas !
Urmila Sathyanarayanan
Is it possible for Indian women especially the dancers to come to size “0” effortlessly and remain there for years…? This was the million dollar question that treads our mind when we saw Urmila Sathyanarayanan in her dance performance at Bharath Kalachar. Not only does this lady remain slim and trim for years but looks younger every year ….amazing but true. The beauty of this young dancer, sometimes distracts me from concentrating on the grace and bhava displayed in her dance...so ravishing she is. Charmingly dressed in a gorgeous white, black and red combo, she danced her way into the heart of every rasika that evening .The topic chosen was Ramaanubhava and the lyrics were from none other than Poet Arunachala Kavi’s Rama Natakam and the dancer was the petite Urmila. The rasikas were immersed in soulful rasaanubhava. Special mention has to be made of her Guha episode and her role as Anjaneya .
Sudha Ragunathan Yet another musical magnet, Smt Sudha Ragunathan, performed at the Music Academy to a full house .. Getting tickets for her show was like trying to attend a cricket match where Tandulkar was going to play!!
O. S. Arun
Being Vaikunta Ekadesi Day, she had selected quite a few krithis on Sriman Narayana. It was almost the fag end of the season and one could see the strain in her silken voice. In future we feel that Academy should book Sudha for the first week of the season. In spite of this, she delighted the audience with her special numbers and was almost mobbed by her rasikas after the show…with many children waiting in line to get her autograph…!!
Any concert of O. S. Arun is bound to be one of its kind, which will be lively, bhava laden, innovative, trendy yet traditional…His kutchery at Bharat Kalachar was no exception to this rule. From start to finish, he kept the audience in full cheer and happiness with his imaginative raagaanubhava and swaraanubhava ! His clear diction, whatever be the language of the composition adds more magic to his presentation. The master piece of the evening was a listener’s choice…the evergreen and never boring. Vishamakkara Kannan….. It was remarkable to hear the minutest twists and twirls of the swaras from his resonant voice, go up in ecstasy and glide down with ease, like the sparkles from Diwali flowerpot!
Music Review by Ms. Rajeemani
Ranjani and Gayathri It was indeed a scintillating music performance by Ranjani and Gayathri at the Kamaraj Memorial hall. Starting brightly with a traditional varnam in Sahana, the honey-voiced sisters had the crowd in a receptive mood. Saveri raga alapana climaxing with the lovely “Durusuga.. was elevating. Rasikas like me who waited for their viruthams ,were not disappointed ; as the duo sang Katra kalviyum…. which was strung as a garland of ragamalikas. It was followed by the soul-stirring rendering of Nambikkettavar evaraiyaa…? in Hindolam by Papanasam Sivan on the city’s favourite deity, Sri Kapaleeshwarar in the ancient temple at Thiru Mylai ! Then came another Ragamalika in Subramania Bharathi’s Pahaivanukkarulvai…, may be the right choice for today’s world. They concluded their kutchery with a popular abhang of Santh Namdev in the raga Maand. And even after returning, their bhathi laden music was ringing in my ears.
For more photos visit :
www.vadapalanitimes.com
VADAPALANI TIMES
January 10 - 16, 2010
Page 3
NEWS
Tree walk today
I am diabetic for the past two years and have been taking medicines regularly. I do blood tests once in a month and the blood sugar is always under control. My problem is that I feel palpitation and tremors whenever my lunch is delayed. How can I avoid this problem? I congratulate you for keeping your blood sugar under control. This type of palpitation and tremors when the lunch is delayed occur particularly to those maintaining blood sugar under control. This is due to low sugar level during that particular time. To avoid that you should have some mid-morning snacks at around 11 am. Tea or coffee without sugar, butter milk, milk, vegetable soup, vegetable salad, vegetable sandwich, fruit salad, sugar free biscuits and wheat bread slices – any of these can be taken as midmorning snacks around 11am. The diabetic medicines will work for 24 hours and bring down your blood sugar in 24 hrs. A diabetes patient has to take food at prescribed timings to avoid low sugar. If you follow timely food with regular medication the complications can be avoided.
Nizhal, an NGO to promote tree culture, is organising Tree Walks along selected streets and parks in the city. The objectives of the Tree Walks are to appreciate the b e a u t y, d i v e r s i t y a n d usefulness of trees alongside roads and parks; to empathise with the problems faced by the trees in cities and to find relevant
Oratorical competition Shri Ram group is celebrating the 128th birthday of Mahakavi Bharathiyar with Tamil oratorical competitions. The contests will be held on 31st January. The competitions will be om
s.c it me Vis niti a l t a isi ap
ww
d
Va w.
ww
conducted at Shri Ramakrishna Vidyalaya School, 134, Usman Road, T.Nagar, near Panagal Park. Interested students, contact: 43418700 / 9444175069.
I wish to highlight a major problem faced by the residents of Chinmaya Nagar, Stage-2. After the recent road laying work by the Corporation, the drainage lid at the centre of the road gave way and the manhole became widely open, causing danger to pedestrians, school children, motorists and cyclists. Besides, the residents of adjoining house find it difficult to park or take out their vehicles. We immediately lodged a written complaint on the Website of the Chennai Corporation, on two occasions; they forwarded the complaint for initiating action to Division 65 office. However, so far no action has been taken by them to repair and close the manhole in Aani street, Chinmaya Nagar, Stage-2. Recently, we learnt that Metro Water and Drainage Board is (CMWSSB) responsible to do rectify the problem. Though we have spoken to CMWSSB persons, no action has been taken to close the lid. Not only that, similar problems are there in some adjoining streets (Natesan Nagar area), and all the roads are in the same poor condition, creating a major risk to the residents as well as road users. K.S. KRISHNAMOORTHY Old No: 143 (Plot), New No: 43, Viswas Chedus Flat, Chinmaya Nagar, Stage-2.
om
.c es
it m Vis niti m a .co l s a e ap Visit itim
d
Va w.
m
.co
es
itim
V n ala ap
d .Va
w
ww
For details, contact : CHENDUR DIABETES #72, 7th Avenue, Ashok Nagar, Chennai - 83. Ph : 9444484351.
solutions to issues of tree abuse and take necessary action regarding it. The tree walk for the month of January will take place on January 10 at Sivan Park, KK Nagar. The walk will start at 7 AM and people are requested to report at the venue by 6.45 am. For details, call 9445258328.
Letters to the Editor
n
ala
p da
Va
. ww
w
Free meditation camp today A free two day programme on Pranahuti aided meditation will be conducted by the Institute of Sri Ramachandra consciousness at IIT, Adayar today.
The key topics to be covered in the camp include spiritual way of living, meditation practices, Pranahuti and stages of spiritual progress. The free programme in
English, will be followed by four practical sessions in guided meditation. Only 15 people in the age group of 18 to 59 are allowed. For details, contact 4206 7603.
For Advertisements to contact : 99620 56677 / 866 77
January 10 - 16, 2010
VADAPALANI TIMES
Note of appreciation
Page 5
VADAPALANI TIMES
Page 6
January 10 - 16, 2010
Winning Smiles The winners of the Vadapalani Times & Eltech Corporation's Margazhi Mega Kolam contest
Photos : V. Rajesh
For more photos visit :
www.vadapalanitimes.com
VADAPALANI TIMES
Page 8
January 10 - 16, 2010
Bhajans, a way of worship
Bhajan Ravi and party performed a bhajan concert, which was a variety fare that provoked divinity. As part of Kanchi Sri Jayendra Saraswathy Swamigal's platinum jubilee celebrations, Asthana Vidwan of Sri Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam, 'Bhajan Ravi' alias P S S Ravichandran and party sang bhajan songs on Sri Jayendrar's birth star
Avittam at Sri Sankara Vinayagar temple at AGS Colony, Kottivakkam. The group sang many scintillating Namavalis including Prabho Ganapathey, Om Ganpathi Jaya, Hey Gananatha, Sankara Guro', Karunai mazhai pozhivaai, Sankara Guru jaya Sankara Guru, Jagatguru kanchi kamakoti peetam vazhum Gurunatha etc followed by slokas in
virutham style. They also sand a composition on Goddess Saraswathi, Yakundhendhu . . .. They melodiously sang 'Aarya Navakam on Goddess Mookambikai - a very beautiful and meaningful nine slokas and a palasruthi, written by Sri Adi Sankarar. At the beginning of the Arya Navakam they efficiently chose two slokas from Shyamala Dhandakam in Kalyani raga and started the Arya Navakam set to Ragamalika. Bhajan Ravi has tuned it in ragas Kalyani, Bhageswari, Durga, Basanth, Brindavana Saranga, Neelambari, Revathi, Ranjani, Sindhu Bhairavi and the palasruthi in the raga Surutti. The Bhajan included slokas from Lalitha Sahasranamam and Soundarya Lahari too. They
offered prayers for Shiva by rendering Kolaru padhigam and Bolonatha Umapathey sambo Sankara pasupathe and other songs with the accompaniment of the violin by Kalpana Venkat and the mridangam by Thanjavur Subramanian. Ethiraj on the kanjira and the morsing player were excellent. Vocal support was given by Lata Natarajan, Lalitha Ravi and P. S . K a n n a n . S r i Jayendrar's brother Ramakrishnan was present throughout the programme. Devotees were provided with prasadams. The highlight was that the bhajan group sang songs on all the deities - Sri V i n a y a g a r, S r i D a k s h i n a m u r t h y, S r i Vishnu, Sri Durgai, Sri Viswarupa Anjaneyar and Sri Ayyappan - whose sannadhis are there in the temple.
Rich with sahithyaanubhav
Tirumala Tirupathi Devasthanam Music College lecturer Challa Prabhavathi’s disciple V. S o w m y a s r e e ’s performance at Vidhya Bharathi, on the occasion of Sri Parthasarathy Swamy Sabha’s 109th December Music Festival, revealed the combination of voice culture, melody and
sahithyaanubhav. She commenced her concert with Harikesanallur Muthaiah Bhagavathar’s Daru Varnam – Mathe in Khamas set to Adi, which was a good start and scored good response for a beginning with variety. Annamacharya`s keerthanas were given preference in the concert.
Srimannarayana in Bowli with swaram scored good impression from the audience. Samayamide Nanu Brova in Kedaram set to Rupakam was an a p p e a l i n g o n e . Shanmugapriya raga was selected as sub-main and brief alapana was made to depict its lakshanas. P a r a m a p u r u s h a Nirupamaana in Shanmugapriya set to rupakam along with swaram made the audience immerse in the concert. Papanasam Sivan`s Enna thavam saidane in Kapi raga was a treat for Tamil audience. Bilahari was selected as the main raga of the concert. The detailed alapana has enthralled the audience. Thiagaraja`s Dorukunaa Ituvanti Seva conveyed the thought of
gratitude in the Vaggeyakarar. N a r a y a n a Te e r t h a r ’ s Tarangam – Pahi Pahi Jaganmohan Krishna in Nada Nama Kriya raga inspired devotional feeling. She presented Lalgudi Jayaraman`s Misra Sivaranjani raga thillana as the concluding piece. A CA & MCA candidate, the vocalist`s passion for music is appreciable. S.V.Sudarsan, brother of the vocalist supported her on the violin with dedication. The brother-sister combination was an enjoyable one. The violinist’s and mrudanga vidwan Madurai B.Sundar’s talent came to light at the time of alapana, wwaram and taniavardhanam. - Sarma
VADAPALANI TIMES
January 10 - 16, 2010
Page 9
NEWS
Anupama's journey through music
Book fair in the park
A book fair in the park mixing leisure with knowledge- attracted a lot of people. The book fair was held at the 12th Avenue park in the 122nd division of Ashok Nagar, was opened by Corporation councilor Ko.Su.Mani. A joint venture between the Ashok Nagar local library, Pudhur branch and the new century book house attracted quite a few book
lovers as well as residents and passersby. Raghunathan, a senior citizen and a regular walker in the park, welcomed the initiative and said that such book fairs will be of good use to people like him. He also said that he wish such fairs is held once in a month on a regular basis. Uma, a young walker said that these initiatives will go down well in this age of
Novel initiative by SBI
The State Bank of India started a novel initiative by adopting four girl children, studying in the Government Higher Secondary School, MGR Nagar. Each child was given a banker's cheque for Rs. 5000 to meet their cost
television where people had no time to enjoy the beauty of a good book. She said that this will help improve our reading culture. The organizers informed that the book fairs will be held in the parks at 1 Avenue and 12 Avenue in Ashok nagar. The Chennai district library staff S.Jeevaratnam and P.Chellamuthu also took part in the function.
Anupama's musical classes, Kodambakkam, iscelebrating its 15 years in the field of music teaching. The institute has well developed infrastructure facilities and parking space and offers classes in
flexible timings, throughout the week. The institute's well-qualified and competent teachers handle classes for keyboard, piano, guitar, veena, violin and Hawaiian guitar; in various genres like western
Delicious savouries Sri Ramana kai murruku centre,( 18/4, station road, West mambalam), experts in the preparation of kai murukku, offers sweets and savouries.
The outlet upholds the standard of their products by using pure sunflower oil, butter and other good quality materials. Customers are of the
of education. The cheque was disbursed at a small function held at the bank's branch premises. The function was attended by Mathialagan, chief manager, the staff members and customers.
Workshop for children A workshop on ‘Value Based Life for children’ will be conducted by Virtuous Vidya Vision Research Academy to guide children
to achieve personal goals. There will be 14 batches from January 1. For details, contact : 92836 64145
Drawing competition Aaditya Kamaraja Eye Hospital is conducting a drawing competition for school children studying in
standard I to XII at St. John's Mat.Hr .Sec. School, Alwarthirunagar today. For details ct: 23772829,
Bhajans and meditation “Om Sri Mahamayi Sarvatma Ratshagi Satsangam Bhajan Mandali” is conducting regular Bhajans, Pooja, Homam, Atma Gyana Pooja, Divine Healing,
and Carnatic. It also offers coaching for eight grades of Trinity grade exams. The new courses in tabla and mridangam will start from Jan 2010. For details, contact: 98402 49380/2472 5152.
Meditation, Family Guidance Workshops and Spiritual Discourses for all members. These are free programmes. For participation contact: 9941548551.
Visit : www.vadapalanitimes.com
opinion that the sweets and savouries are of the finest quality and is very tasty. The outlet works from Monday to Saturday, 9 am to 9 pm.
VADAPALANI TIMES
January 10 - 16, 2010
Page 11
NEWS
Vadapalani Times and Eltech join hands to conduct Margazhi kolam contest
In our culture, the art of Rangoli or Kolams is an inseperable aspect of Margazhi. Va d a p a l a n i Ti m e s organized a kolam competition (for the 2nd year in succession) in order to revive this slowly dying art form, so special to south Indian villages. The competition was held on January 3 in the morning at
the Kasi Viswanather Koil complex and was judged by Mr Rao, Mrs Lalitha Subramanian and Mrs. Rajee Mani. The prizes were distributed in the evening on the occasion of the valedictory of the music festival. There were 56 entries and loads of prizes to win. Expensive prizes, which included watches, silk saris,
non-stick pans and pearl sets, were given to 15 top scorers of the contest. The prizes were sponsored by Eltech Corporation, West Mambalam and Deivam Silks, T Nagar. As he was handing over the prizes, Mr. Ramesh Praba, congratulated Vadapalani Times for their contribution to the enrichment of our
Live telecast from channels
As is the custom of today, the television played a vital role in creating that spiritual atmosphere, so special to Vaikunda Ekadesi. Jaya TV, Raj TV and DDPodhigai vied with each other to contribute their best in this direction. Sri Srikavi of
Arul Neram fame had directed all his resources to bring to our drawing rooms, the sorgavasal thirappu at the Sri Ranganathar Koil at Srirangam. This spiritual o c c u r r e n c e i n Vaishnavism, which has no parallel anywhere else in
the world, was telecast live from 3am to 5.30 am for the convenience of bhakthas, who could not make it to the temples. Raj TV too did an excellent job as far as relay quality and commentaries were concerned. DD Podhigai went one step further ‌ O n e s a w l i v e transmission of Srirangam temple festival and Sri Parthasarathy Perumal temple, Triplicane, side by side..sometimes simultaneously ! It was indeed a magnificent spiritual treat for the bhakthas .Hats off to all the technicians, producers and sponsors who made the event possible and with all its grandeur.
culture in this direction also. Every single person associated with the newspaper in general and the music festival and kolam competition in particular were then honoured by the editor and publisher Vijayakumar. Mrs Lalitha Subramanian, in her address assured that the same feat will surely be repeated in the next year
too, with added flavour and fervour ..of course with the grace of Kanchi Kamakshi. What followed was a treat for the ears and music for the soul. Yes! Young girls and boys who are students of Sri Harish Ragavendra School of Music in West Mambalam gave a neat, flawless programme of instrumental and vocal music for the next
one hour. When even senior musicians refer to a notebook or laptop on stage, it was amazing that the children could play the Pancharatna kruti, Entharo Mahanubhavulu without a piece of paper in front, adhering to shruthi and laya with ease !! - VP team
Vaikunda Ekadesi celebrations Bharath Kalachar
December 28 of 2009 saw the divine celebrations of the most auspicious Ekadesi of the year. This is the time of the year when the Sorgavasal in the Vishnu temples are thrown open in the early hours of the morning (at about 5 a.m.). First it is the turn of Perumal, dressed and decorated in all splendour, to go through these symbolic gateways of heaven and then the devotees who have gathered there from 3o’clock in the morning to follow suit. A bhaktha who has traversed through the Sorgavasal on this Ekadesi day is said to have got a guaranteed ticket to enter Rajee Mani the actual Vaikunda vaasal
on attaining mukthi. So it was celebration time in all Vishnu temples. Other than the temples, Bharath Kalachar had put up a huge picture of Sri Ve n k a t e s a P e r u m a l ,
decorated beautifully, near the Temple in the Sabha premises. Early in the morning on that day, devotees had gathered there and participated in the special aradhanas.
VADAPALANI TIMES
Page 12
Regd. with RNI under Regn.No.TNBIL/2002/10963 R.Dis.No.349/09
January 10 - 16, 2010
NEWS (A grand finale... Contd. Page 1) for the noble cause. Vadapalani Times was ably assisted by Rasigapriya school of music in orgasnising 52 kutcheris by up and coming young musicians , every Sunday. No mean achievement this is and no wonder that the valedictory function organised on January 3 at the Matam premises between 7 p.m and 9 p.m was very well attended by the proud residents of the neighborhood and all rasikas of saasthriya sangeetham !! The chief guest of the evening was Mr. Ramesh Prabha, a management graduate from a top business school of the country and the M.D. of the successful and popular Galaxy Communications that has left its footprints in the world of Television and advertisements, and no wonder, every one gathered there that day thought ….. “yehi hai right choice, baby…” The guest of honour was M.V. Chandrasekar of Kanchi Matam. The function started at 7 pm sharp with a prayer song on Sri Ganesha, the remover of all obstacles, by Sree
Chitra, an established young musician and multitalented daughter of Mr . V i j a y k u m a r, e d i t o r publisher of Vadapalani Times. Chandrasekar, with the abundant blessings of the Acharyas of Kanchi Madam, had played the role of an anchor by so graciously providing the stage for 52 weeks for this Sangeetha Yagnya. In his opening speech, he congratulated Vadapalani Times for this novel idea which is sure to spin Kalaimamanis and Sangeetha Kalanidhis into the music world of tomorrow. “Rain or storm, there was music every Sunday at the Kanchi Matam….” he said and gave full marks to Vadapalani Times and Rasigapriya for spotting young talents and motivating them in this direction. “By this, they ensured a bright future for the national treasure of our country,” he said. Then, it was now Mrs Rajee Mani's turn to felicitate Mr. Vijaykumar, Mrs Lalitha Subramanian of Rasigapriya School of Music and Chandrasekar
for the trend-setting marathon musical pilgrimage... the first one ever in the history of n e i g h b o u r h o o d newspapers in Chennai!! She also congratulated the starlets who had participated and successfully sprinkled the powerful, positive vibrations of the sapthaswaras into the ether of our city leaving behind the eternal fragrance of cosmic music. The much awaited special address by the chief guest, Mr. Ramesh Praba, was indeed inspiring, motivating, encouraging, informative and humorous. Being a highly qualified person, he could advise the younger generation on the absolute importance of extra curricular activities in addition to high marks in school and college. Being a successful man in the field of advertisements, he could convey convincingly the great openings musical talents can give to the individual, in these modern days. “Musical talents not only boost your future but can be highly remunerative even during student days,” he said. As a responsible citizen, he
rightly pointed out the social dangers behind the single child family. He was all praise for every one who contributed towards the tremendous success of the 52-week music festival and wished Vadapalani Times more laurels in the years to come. And the hundreds of audience listened to him in rapt attention. The beautiful, casual thread of humour that entwined his very meaningful presentation drew repeated applause from the elite audience, which had thoroughly enjoyed every minute of the proceedings that evening. One cannot conclude the commentary on this function without mentioning the chic, confident compeering by the all rounder Sree Chitra. Rajeemani
Happy Pongal
email : vadapalanitimes@gmail.com Owned & Published by K.P. Vijayakumar from 37/5, Arya Gowda Road, West Mambalam, Chennai - 33. Printed by S. Ramachandra Bhat at Jayanthi Printers, New No.5, Govindarajan Street, Pulliyurpuram, Kodambakkam, Chennai - 24. Editor : K.P. Vijayakumar