AIMs with Team 1
An Inspiring Moment shared (AIMs) with Team 1 – R Vijayan
An Inspiring Moment shared (AIMs) with Team 1 – R. Vijayan.
Motto(s) in life which keeps me going:
1. An attempt can be a failure. But there should never be failure of attempt.
Something as close to me as my skin and I try to propagate this positive element to everyone whom I meet. You may not have the strength to move the mountain, but definitely you can take the few steps to reach near it.
2. Success is not measured by what you have but what you give.
The more you give the more richer you are, whether it is money, love or knowledge.
3. Keep your No till the last moment.
Once you shut the door, you do not have any options or better alternatives.
Mr. R.Vijayan – a Mechanical Engineer by profession takes care of the After Sale Service & Customer Relations at INMA- (Construction and industrial equipment Distributors) Dubai, for the past fifteen years. Prior to his arrival in the gulf, Mr. Vijayan looked after Sales & Service of Material Handling Equipment at Godrej, Chennai and Mumbai for twelve years.
He has varied interests in literature, music (of any kind), cricket, tennis, movies and anything that touches our heart or opens up a different thought process. He is a big time admirer and supporter of creative talent, believer of positive attitude and quality in every walk of life.
Mr. Vijayan, wife Ragini and their daughter Rashmi live in Sharjah and lead a normal, happy life filled with music and good friends.
An Inspiring Moment shared (AIMs) with Team 1 – Nagesh Srinivasan
My motto in life – “Help others in whatever capacity you can without aspiring for any result or appreciation in return”.
What keeps me going – My family and friends and a sense of responsibility towards them.
Mr. Nagesh Srinivasan works as a Deputy Finance Manager for a steel company, ADPICO based in Abu Dhabi. He is an MCOM, ACA, ACS, MBA and still continuing with his studies.
An Inspiring Moment shared with Team 1 – Late Kusamma Shambu Shetty
An Inspiring Moment shared (AIMs) with Team 1 – Late Kusamma Shambu Shetty.
Don’t try to make everybody happy. Try to make 10 people happy and they will in turn try to make another 10 happy and the chain will progress.
Late Kusamma Shambu Shetty is mother of Padmashri Dr. B. R. Shetty. These words of wisdom from his mother happened to be the keys of his success before he left India for Abu Dhabi seeking a prospective life and career abroad.
Excerpts from a speech by Mr. Binay Shetty and Padmashri Dr. B. R. Shetty.
With this post, I begin a new chapter. A daily inspirational quote or brief interview with those who work hard and achieve success in life. Bookmark and enjoy reading and appreciate to get your comments as this section of my blog progress.
Madhyamavati – continued
Before that let us try to work out a way how we can listen to a song, here movie song and analyse the raga which the song is based on. A tough objective, isn’t ? . The way we look at it, some people have it easy, and can directly see the patterns and recognize a raga very easily. Some others learn by going to a guru, but for a casual listener, it might take some practice and some intuitive thinking. For those with no formal education of music, then there is a really fun, good and easy way to try and learn ragas. Listen to a song and get someone to identify the raga initially for you. Learn this raga, by listening to the song and try humming along with it. Then turn off the song, and try humming along the same tune, but with variations. Some songs are already listed above. Giving it a try?
Today, let us take a look at the popular pentatonic raagams (of which the discussion now is on Madhyamavathi) that have been handled in Carnatic music and inspired several movie song sequences over the years.
As the name indicates, pentatonic ragams have a scale consisting of 5 notes in the ascent (aarohanam ) and 5 notes in the descent (avarohanam ) of the scale. These are also called AuDava – AuDava raagams, meaning 5 note – 5 note raagams. In other words, out of the usual seven possible notes, S, R, G, M, P, D and N, two notes are left out to form the scale of the raagam. Mohanam, Madhyamavati, Hindolam, Shuddha Saveri and Shuddha Dhanyasi form a family of pentatonic ragams. They are part of one pentatonic family because, each of these raagams are similar in their structure and can be derived from the other by shifting the reference of the sa note. This kind of tonic shift is called Shruti ( Pitch ) Bedam or Graha( Location ) Bedam.
The inter-relationship between these ragams can best be summarized by the following table:
Raagam Scales ( Aarohanam or Ascent )
Mohanam S R2 G3 P D2 S+ R2+ G3+ P+ D2+
Madhyamavati S R2 M1 P N2 S+ R2+ M1+ P+
Hindholam S G2 M1 D1 N2 S+ G2+ M1+
Shuddha Saveri S R2 M1 P D2 S+ R2+
Shuddha Dhanyasi S G2 M1 P N2 S+
Note that S, R, G, M, P, D, N, denotes the commonly known Sa, Ri, Ga, Ma, Pa, Dha, Ni and the number suffix is the type of that particular note. The suffix “+” represents the note in the next octave.
The blank cell in the table after the S in each row represents the note in that position is not being used for that particular raagam. (However, due to space constraints – I was unable to project the note spacing correctly here).
For example, the scale ( Aarohanam ) for Madhyamavati is attained by shifting the Sa of Mohanam to its R2 position and playing the other notes in the scale successively. Similarly, when you shift the reference Sa along G3, P, D2 of Mohanam, you get the other raagams in the family, namely Hindholam, Shuddha Saveri and Shuddha Dhanyasi respectively. There are also many other raagams based on the pentatonic scale other than the ones mentioned above.
As we slide one step over from Mohanam’s AarohaNam (ascent ) by performing a tonic shift ( Graha Bedam or Shruti Bedam ), we land on the second raagam in our pentatonic family, Madhyamavati. This implies that the R2 of Mohanam is taken as the Sa of Madhyamavati. Being an Audava – Audava raagam, Madhyamavati’s AarohaNam is Sa Ri2 Ma1 Pa Ni2 Sa and the AvarohaNam (descent ) is Sa Ni2 Pa Ma1 Ri2 Sa. This raagam is unique in that it is the only raagam in this pentatonc family that is very gamakam (oscillation) oriented and it requires to be performed by accurately oscillating the Ri2 and the Ni2 notes above their respective base frequencies.
Sruti/Graha Bedham is the technique in which a new raga can be derived from the original raga, by changing the sruti (shadjam) . For example, if a singer is singing the raga mohanam (aro: S R2 G3 P D2) and he/she makes the rishabam (R2) of mohanam as the shadjam, then we get the madhyamavati raga (aro : S R2 M1 P N2 ). This is because (R2 G3 P D2 S) is equivalent to (S R2 M P N2) when R2 is assumed to be s. This is the essence of graha bedham.
There is also another theory involved. If raga B can be derived from A and raga C can be derived from B then raga C can be derived from A. That is, A*I–>B and B*J–> C implies A*K–>C for some swara K. For example, madhyamavati can be derived from mohanam (by letting R of mohanam be the S) and hindolam can be derived from madhyamavati (by letting the R of madhyamavati be the S). This implies that hindolam can be derived from mohanam — this is true. (by letting G of mohanam be the S).
As I wrote earlier yesterday, Madhyamavati is the janya (child) raagam of the 22nd Melakartha (parent) raagam Karaharapriya. It is said to be a Suraagam – an auspicious raagam or Shubhakaram – that which brings goodness. Performing the raagam is said to ward off sins (doshams) caused by singing other raagams at inappropriate times. It is well suited to be rendered in virutthams, raagamaalikaas and shlokams usually performed close to the end of the concert. Arunachala Kavi has employed this raagam for many songs in his RamanaTakam. This raagam is capable of portraying Bhakti and KaruNa rasam. Madhyamavati aalaapanai is traditionally performed after the concluding number called the Mangalam (auspicious) number – Pavamaana Sudutu Pattu in Saurashtram raagam. Hindustani raagams Madhyamaadi or Madhyamaditi Sarang of the Kafi thaat have the same scale as Madhyamavati and hence form able counterparts. Madhyamavati is suitable to be performed in the late evenings.Carnatic music composers have zestfully fancied utilizing Madhyamavati in their compositions probably due to its natural ability to lend a propitious aura to their devotional lyrics.
Popular Carnatic compositions include:
Palinthsu kamakshi pavani (Shyama Shastri),
Venkatesha Ninnu, Alakalalla lADaga, Nadupai Balikeru, Ramakatha Sudha (Thyagaraja),
Dharmasamvardhini, Pannaga Shayana Padmanabha (Muthuswami Dikshitar),
Karpagame KaN Paaraai, SharavaNabhava Guhane (Papanasam Sivan),
Shankari Shri Rajarajeshwari, AaDaadu Asangaadu Vaa (Ootthukadu Venkata Subbaiyer),
Parthasarathi Nannu (Ramanathapuram Shrinivasa Iyengar ),
Vandaan Vandaan Bharatan (Arunachala Kavi),
Saarasamukha Sarasijanaabha, Shri Padmanabha Kalayitum (Swati Tirunal),
Nannu brova raada, Raamabhiraama (Mysore Vasudevachar),
Shri Parameshwara, Shrimad Tripura Sundari (Mutthaiah Bhagavatar),
the ever popular Bhagyada Lakshmi Baaramma (Purandaradasar) to name a few.
The aesthetic elegance of Madhyamavati has apparently fascinated film music directors from all over India, especially the ones in the south. Particularly in the 60s and 70s the popular tamil movie songs tuned in Madhyamavati :-
Pon Ondru Kanden (Paditthaal mattum podhuma, 1962, Viswanathan-Ramamurthy), Aagaaya Pandalile (Pon Oonjal, 70s), MutthukkaLo KaNgaL (Nenjirukkum Varai, 1967, MSV) are still unforgettable.
Ilayaraja seems to have been so mesmerized by this raagam that he has atleast a couple of dozen songs tuned in Madhyamavati. Significant ones in his compositions are En Kalyana Vaibhogam (Azhage Unnai Aaraadhikkiren, 1979), Nee Daane Endan Pon Vasantham (Ninaivellam Nithya, 1982), Aagaaya Gangai (Dharma yuddham, 1979), Thaazham Poove (Kai Kodukkum Kai, mid 80s), Aananda Ten Sindum (MaN Vaasanai, 80s), Malargalil aadum (Kalyana Raman 1979) , Thulli Thulli (Chippikkul Muthu, 80s), Solai Kuyile (Ponnu Oorukku Pudusu, 80s), Kavidai Paadu Kuyile (Thendrale Ennai thodu, 1985, partially Brindavana Saaranga) and Nila Kayudu (Sakalakalaa vallavan, 1982, partially SriRaagam).
There are indeed several compositions influenced by Madhyamavati, in Kannada, Telugu, Malayalam films and even Punjabi Bhangda. Perhaps the auspicious, joyous and peaceful nature of Madhyamavati makes it such a sought-after raagam in the field of music.
Let us also try to discuss Madhyamavati (of 22 Mela Kartha) and it’s equivalent Hindustani Ragas:
Hindustani Raga That
Chanchaldas Malhar 10
Madhumad Sarang 10
Madhyamadi Sarang 10
There are some more interesting information on this auspicious raga:
Madhyamavati is one of the select twenty eight Ragas in which there is at least one composition by each member of the Trinity. The distribution of the total twenty two is as follows:
Tyagaraja – 15, Dikshitar – 4, Shyama Shastri – 3
The composition suited for rendition at the conduct of “Nalangu” (Nalangu is a tradition that dates back to times when marriages used to occur at a younger age) is: “Nagumomu Galavari” by Tyagaraja.
The composition that link Devi, Madhyamavati and Tyagaraja is “Vinayakuni Valenu”.
The Mangala-Kriti in Raga Madhyamavati, specifically composed as a Mangala Kriti is “Kamakshi Lokasakshini” by Shyama Shastri.
Too much of theory and history, so let us enjoy some great Madhyamavati songs.
More on Madhyamavati Raga:
More on Madhyamavati Raga:
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I believe a lot in nimitham and the raga which came to me to begin this thread happened to be Madhyamavathi. This is a very auspicious raga. Even though it can be sung at all times ,morning 9-12 is considered to be the most appropriate time for singing this raga. Being a mangala raga mostly concerts are concluded with a piece in this raga. There is a belief that all the ill efects of any mistakes made in the concert is nullfied by singing this raga.
More on the theory part of this Raga:
Madhyamavati is a janya raga derived from 22nd melakartha kharaharapriya. Audava raga (5swaras in arohana and avarohana). The swaras taken are shadjam, chatusruti rishabham, sudha madhyamam, panchamam and kaisiki nishadam. ri ma and ni are the raga chaya swaras. This is a sampurna murchanakaraka ragam. The swaras ri, ma, pa and ni when taken as tonic note give the ragas hindolam, sudha saveri, sudhadhanyasi and mohanam.
Some compositions in this raga are:
Ramakadha suta- adi- Tyagaraja
Naadupai- khanda chapu- Tyagaraja
Kosalenda- adi- Swati thirunal
Palimsu kamakshi- adi- Syamasyastri
Sharavanabhava-adi- Papanasam sivan
More later and would definitely include a summary each time so that anyone interested can keep it as a reference.
Madhyamavathi – basics
Raga : Madhyamavathi
Mela: Kharaharapriya, 22
Arohana : S R 2 M 2 P N 1 S S Ri Ma Pa Ni S
Avarohana : S N 1 P M 2 R 2 S S Ni Pa Ma Ri S
Rasa : devotion
Jeeva Swaras : R, N
Special Considerations: Allows janta swaras and dattu swaras. Can be sung in madhyamakala.
Usually sung at the end of kutcheries. Srutibhedam of this raga results in Hindolam, Sudha dhanyasi, Mohanam, Udayaravichandrika etc..
Famous Kriths and compositions: sadaram ha bhajare – varnam, Vinayakuni, Rama Kadhasuta etc.
Sancharas: ni..pa.. pa.ma.ni.pa….pa.ma.ri….sa.ri.ma.pa.ni…ma.pa.ni.SA. RI. SA.
You may find more about this raga by visiting these links:
http://www.esnips.com/_t_/madhyamavathi
Another, more interesting fact is this is the raga in which the famous ayyappa slokam Harivarasanam is set:
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