MWC_Edition124

March 17_AM

Today's MWC is a Tribute to ARR by the Students of Berklee College of Music. The Evergreen, Mesmerizing & Incredibly Beautiful “Yeh Jo Des Hai Tera” From the Movie Swades has been so beautifully presented that it is sure to tug your heart strings. 

With not much of introduction needed for this popular song, Go ahead & watch this near perfect
version, You are sure to shed that Patriotic Tear!

Lyrics & Meaning:

yeh jo des hai tera swades hai tera
tujhe hai pukaara
ye wo bandhan hai jo kabhi toot nahi sakta

This country of yours, your motherland
calls out to you..
this is a bond which can never break

mitti ki hai jo khushboo tu kaise bhulaayega
tu chaahe kahin jaaye tu laut ke aayega
nayi nayi raahon mein dabi dabi aahon mein
khoye khoye dil se tere koi ye kahega

how can you ever forget the scent of the earth (of your homeland)
wherever you go, you will come back.
in new paths (that you take), in quiet sighs
to your lost heart, someone will say
[the someone here is nothing but an inner voice of himself.]

ye jo des hai tera swades hai tera
tujhe hai pukaara....
ye wo bandhan hai jo kabhi toot nahi sakta..

tujh se zindagi
hai ye kah rahi
sab to paa liya
ab hai kya kami

Your life is saying to you,
you have achieved everything,
what's there that is still missing then?

yoon to saare sukh hain barse
par door tu hai apne ghar se
aa laut chal tu ab deewane
jahaan koi to tujhe apna maane
aawaaz de tujhe bulaaye wahi des

as such, all comforts are there for you,
but you're far from your home
come, let's go back, O crazy one
where at least someone will call you their own
that country of yours calls you..

yeh jo des hai tera....

ye pal hai wahi,
jis mein hai chhupi
poori ek sadi
saari zindagi

It's this very moment,
in which there is hidden,
an complete century,
an entire lifetime.

tu na poochh raaste mein kaahe
aaye hain is tarah doraahe
tu hi to hai raah sujhaaye
tu hi to hai ab jo ye bataaye
jaaye to kis disha mein jaaye, wahi des..

Don't you ask why there is
a two-way fork on the road..
[this represents a dilemma]
you are the one who should suggest the path
you are the one who would tell
in which direction to take, that country..

ye jo des hai tera....

Song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GWWcwpGosw

MWC_Edition123

March 16_SDN

Schiller, is a trance electronic German band. I clearly remember how i bumped into this band. Around some 11years back i got introduced to this kind of music through some German acquaintances in the Himalayas and loved them instantly. It was on the banks of Ganges that i first listened to this around 2003. 

Its transcendental and soothing.i still listen to this band every time I'm out for a walk or when I'm cleaning the room.

Ein schöner Tag (English: A beautiful day) is the first single from the 2001 Schiller gold album Weltreise with vocals by German singer Isgaard.

https://youtu.be/BErqWHLTrEA

MWC_Edition122

March 15_SV

Last week, I met my Aunt, my mom’s cousin from Nagerkoil. It had been years since I met her last and she is a couple years shy of becoming a ‘senior citizen’. She and my mom were talking about their childhood and about how life had changed for each of them, they were also meeting after a long time.

Most people from my mother’s family appreciate, sing or play Carnatic music. So, it was no surprise for me when my Aunt kept singing along to all the songs my daughter sang to her. My mom did the same too, only she was beaming as she showed off her granddaughter’s musical prowess to her cousin. Typical grandmotherly pride smile emoticon

After my daughter finished singing, my Aunt asked me if I ever went to college to learn music. I said no. It was my mom’s dream for me to do a B.A in Music but I did not have it in me. My Aunt told me how she had really wanted to go to Trivandrum College to take Music as her degree but fate had something else in store for her.

She suddenly started singing “Que sara sara” and asked me if I knew it. I said, Yes and I joined in to sing it fully with her. It surprised me that a small town girl, my Aunt, knew the song and sang it very well. She went on to tell me how she sang this song on stage a few decades ago when some dignitary visited Nagerkoil. Apparently she heard an earful from the organizers for singing an English song smile emoticon.

I don’t know what prompted her to sing that song at that particular moment but I thought it was really poignant because, life does not always turn out the way we want it to. We can work towards making our life better but not by dwelling in the past but looking toward the future.

So, here is Doris Day singing ‘Que sara Sara’ for all of you.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZbKHDPPrrc

MWC_Edition121

March 14_GS

Today being the Pi day, I dedicate this MWC post to Pi.

From Wiki: In the year 2015, Pi Day will have special significance on 3/14/15 at 9:26:53 a.m. and p.m., with the date and time representing the first 10 digits of π.

So having a special Pi day today, let's listen to what the magical sequence of Pi sounds like here: http://youtu.be/Bri_-x-ZMMA

Also, Life of Pi is a favorite book and movie for many. I want to include this wonderful Pi's lullaby sung by Bombay Jayashree, from the movie, which took her to Oscar nomination and got her an Academy award too.
Listen: http://youtu.be/8vbxdqCi_AQ

And, a quote from the book -
“You must take life the way it comes at you and make the best of it.”
- Yann Martel, Life of Pi

Have a Happy Pi day, enjoy it with a slice of your favorite Pie!

MWC_Edition120

March 13_AM

I had the opportunity to hear Pandit Shiv Kumar at Music Academy. Saw people with tears flowing down their eyes. Is this a state happiness, a state of peace or attaining enlightenment? I amm sure we can understand this only when we experience it. It was a moment I would cherish for life.

When I was back home went to this great performers website. Every word spoken looked like a commitment made and delivered.

"According to me Indian Classical Music is not only for Entertainment, it is much more beyond that. Spirituality and Indian Classical Music are two sides of the same coin. In India the origin of Indian Classical Music was in the spiritual traditions of the Country. Music that creates Spiritual Bliss, for the Performer and is shared by the Listeners is the essence of this Art Form even today. It was my life long dream to play such kind of music which will make the listeners forget to clap; which will make them silent. My dream came true, once, I played one raga, while the listeners immersed deep into meditation and I experienced a state of thoughtlessness. This silence was so nourishing, so fulfilling, there was no need to play anything else.” - Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma

This is so easily said but how it is achieved is still a mystery in my mind. Dedicate todays mwc to this great musician - Padmashri Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma.

https://youtu.be/1JJOAYwov_E

MWC_Edition119

March 11_MM

Ever felt like switching off the world and getting into a place deep into your head? Ever thought of those strange and beautiful places that exist only in our dreamscapes? To me, Vashti Bunyan's music is all that and more.Heralded the mother of freak folk her story is even more poignant than her music...she makes music in the 60s..albums bomb...she goes off the map riding a gypsy caravan to Ireland with her boyfriend. decades later, she does some idle googling of her name to see a cult following for all that music...

This track - you might've heard snatches of it in commercials ( Samsung LED tv) and some TV series. Here is the original-Haunting, Pure and highly hummable :-) 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0AGD78mWcss

MWC_Edition118

March 11_PM

Music Composer Saint from Nerur Sri Sadashiva Brahmendra

Remember the song "Manasa Sancharare" which Vikram hums in the movie Anniyan and the whole train compartment starts to follow...
Here's the fascinating life story of the Advaithic Saint who composed the song among many others...
OVER 300 years ago, Somanath Avadhani and his wife Parvati Devi migrated from Andhra Pradesh and settled down in Madurai. Somanath was known as Yogi on account of his austere life. Though he married Parvati Devi in deference to his parental wish, his mind and heart were totally absorbed in yogic discipline. Parvati for her part did not want married life to be a distraction to his yogic way of life. At the same time, she expressed her desire to have a son. Yielding to her entreaty, Somanath initiated her into Rama Japa and advised her to repeat it to the tune of crores so that every cell in her body would be charged with divinity and she would be purified in body, mind and spirit. A child born of her then would be an extraordinary child and grow up to be a saviour of the world. Parvati accordingly threw herself heart and soul in the repetition of the sacred name. They went to Rameswaram where in a dream they were assured of an ideal son — a satputra — who would fill them with pride. The dream came true. They named the child Sivaramakrishnan in memory of their visit to Rameswaram where Sri Rama worshipped Lord Siva.

Even at an early age, Sivaramakrishnan mastered the scriptures. He was sent to Tiruvisanallur to study at the feet of Sridhara Venkatesa Aiyaval. As per the then prevailing custom, Sivaramakrishnan, a boy of twelve, married a girl of five. But he was not allured by wealth and the pleasures of married life. His phenomenal capacity for intuitive absorption of spiritual knowledge and wisdom astounded his Guru. Paramasivendral of Yogendra, a scholar and a man of wisdom was quick to recognise Sivaramakrishnan's depth of knowledge and spiritual experience.

The Maharaja of Mysore invited Sivaramakrishnan to be the asthana vidwan. Scholars visited the court to display their knowledge and receive gifts. They were examined and worsted by Sivaramakrishnan in his argument.

The payment stipulated by him was paid to the scholars who lost in the argument. Invariably it fell short of what they expected and this left them embittered. One of them told Paramasivendral that Sivaramakrishnan suffered from a touch of intellectual pride and superiority. He had to be cured of it to promote his further evolution. Paramasivendral sent for him and admonished him. "You know how to silence others. But you have not learnt to hold your tongue under control." This was the turning point in his life. He considered his Guru's admonishment itself as `upadesa' and resolved to observe the vow of silence from that very moment. His Guru initiated him into sanyasa and gave him the deeksha name Sadasiva.

A new phase in his life started. We know from Srimad Bhagavatham that mystics like Suka Brahmam and Jata Bharata moved about without body consciousness. Palace or cottage, food or no food, cushioned bed or sand or stone made no difference to them. They transcended all human limitations and abided in the Self, enjoying eternal bliss. Sadasiva was cast in the same mould. He went from place to place and reached Nerur near the Cauvery and found it congenial for his yoga practice. Sadasiva used to sit on a rock in the middle of the Cauvery for meditation. On one occasion, the waters of the river swept him away when he was in deep trance. He got buried under the sand. After six months, when cart men dug the soil, their axe struck against Sadasiva's head, drawing out blood. It was brought to the notice of the village headman. Fruit juice and gruel were rubbed over his body. Sadasiva woke up from sleep and walked away. Since then he was called Sadasiva Brahmam.

Mahapurushas shed their grace in mysterious ways. Once while wandering in the forest in Tiruvarankulam in the former Pudukottai state, Sadasiva Brahmendra fell between two bundles of straw. Not noticing it, farmers piled more and more bundles. When after nearly a year, the bundles were cleared, Brahmendra got up and moved on as if nothing had happened.

Maharaja Vijaya Ragunatha Thondaiman, the then ruler (1730-68) hearing about this, rushed to bring Brahmendra to the palace to be honoured. Brahmendra did not break his silence.

The ruler pitched a camp in Tiruvarankulam and served the sage. Brahmendra answered his prayer by writing Sri Dakshinamoorthi Mantra on sand. Ragunatha Thondaiman gathered the sand in his angavastram and took it to his palace. Worship to the sanctified sand is offered to this day at Pudukottai.

A Muslim king, seeing Brahmendra without clothes, mistook him for a mad man and chopped off one of his hands. Brahmendra was unconcerned. The king repented and sought forgiveness. Brahmendra placed the severed hand near the shoulder and it was back in its position. The Muslim king underwent a transformation, and giving up his kingdom, went on a pilgrimage. Many such instances of Brahmendra's miracles, compassion and grace have come down.

Returning to Nerur, Brahmendra resolved to shed his body. By his yogic power, he communicated his decision to the rulers of Mysore, Thanjavur and Pudukottai. On their arrival, he gave directions as to how his Samadhi should be raised.

On the appointed day, he sat in the pit in he yogic posture. It was filled with sacred ash, camphor, salt, turmeric powder and powdered brick and covered. As per Brahmendra's prediction, a bilva shoot sprouted on the ninth day and a Banalinga arrived from Banaras on the twelfth day.

The linga, instead of being placed on the samadhi, was installed twelve feet away from it. The bilva tree was left exposed to the sky. It is said that, at the same time, two devotees, one a Muslim, and the other a Brahmin, saw Brahmendra entering the Samadhi in Karachi and Manamadurai respectively.

This year, the aradhana, a three-day celebration, is at Nerur on April 28th.

Brahmendra, like Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and Ramana Maharishi was a living embodiment of transcendental experience.

The texts he composed include Brahma Tatva Prakasika, Yoga Sudhakaram, Atma Vidya Vilasam and Siva Manasa Puja. Sadasiva Brahmendra at once belongs to the avadhuta tradition that can be traced back to Dattathreya and which emphasises ghana and namasiddhanta tradition in which the focus is on bhakti, the chanting of the Lord's name. Jivan Muktas, though physically absent, are waiting to shed their grace and compassion on all those who invoke them with faith and devotion.

Story courtesy: the Hindu

Some of his compositions by rendered by M. Balamuralikrishna.

http://surasa.net/music/sadasiva/