This is by far the best dance performance for the song I have seen till date. Great formations and near flawless coordination. Considering that these are kids who are doing this, its even more awesome. I just wish I can get my hands on a more professional video version of this. For now, this will do!
Recently a compeition was announced by UPA, Hyderabad. I found the announcement on Kiruba’s blog. I entered my blog link there and then forgot about it.
Today there was a mail in my inbox informing me that I was a winner. You can also check out this link to see the announcement!
I am now a “UPA – Blog Star”!
Thanks UPA! And thanks Kiruba for letting me know about the competition!
I am supposed to put up a logo on my site saying that I won this competition. It will be up in a short while! I am also going to get a certificate and a trophy!
How do you invite someone to your marriage? The problem is that it’s the first time you are getting married. And learning how to invite is not going to help you in anyway because you are not going to repeat the act! So, finally I decided that the objective of sending out an invite is to make sure that most of the people who read the invite come to the wedding and bless the couple. I know I think a lot and waste a lot of time. So, let’s get on with it!
See, it’s my marriage on 16th June 2006 at Chennai with Ms. Kirthana. And that’s what the whole noise is about. It is at Raghavendra Mandapam in Kodambakkam. Yeah, the owner’s name (owner of the mandapam) is Rajinikanth and yes that’s the Superstar! So, if you come, you might meet him! ;) And in case you also want to bless us on the muhurtham, then that’s between 8AM and 9.30AM.
And since we don’t know if Superstar will stay back till the evening, we have invited Ganesh, Kumaresh & party – the violin brothers for the reception party. I hope people come to listen to their music atleast. And if you want to wish us then that’s from 6.30PM onwards on the same day. You are invited. Gifts, though, are being accepted from much before the point this mail is being sent to eternity! ;)
It would be really nice if you could make it to my wedding, bless and wish us on an eventful day in our lives. Also, all these days I would call a wedding as a free meal and turn up at every friend’s/ relative’s wedding. I promise to provide good quality food in my wedding. Afterall, I also need to eat nah! I don’t want to sound like one of those boards in the hotels of Chennai, “We use only mineral water in all our products”. Good food and Adi are always at the same place! ;)
For all of those in Bangalore, you can experience authentic Mulaknadu food at the lunch we are hosting on Saturday, 8th July 2006, 12 Noon at Hande Hall, 10th main, 4th block, Jayanagar. You can bless us in Bangalore too. You are invited.
Will look forward to meeting you at my wedding. Chennai or Bangalore or even better – both places! Please do grace the occasion and bless us. Thanks.
Love,
Adi.
Important Dates:
16th June 2006, Raghavendra Mandapam, Kodambakkam, Chennai.
8th July 2006, Hande Hall, 10th main, 4th Block, Jayanagar, Bangalore.
I hope I have done a good job of inviting. Now, to see how many actually make it.
Hosa Varushada hardhika shubhashayagalu!Wish you a very very happy and prosperous new year! :)
[A review of the play "Hayavadhana" by my friend Anuradha (Anu)]
Last week I saw this play called Hayavadhana. It is a play written by Girish Karnad in the 1970s and was initially staged in Kannada. The play I saw was adapted to English and was performed by the Madras Players at the Museum Theatre.
It was an interesting play in terms of concept, the execution (sometimes I refer to this as the form of the play) and the performances. The story begins with a man with a horse’s head (and hence the title Hayavadhana – horse face) looking for a way to become a `complete man’. The narrative is in the form of a narrator (bhagavatha) telling the story to the audience.
But the real story is that of two friends Kapila and Devadutta. The former is a blacksmith and is known for his physical prowess, the latter is an intellectual and is known for his mastery of the sacred texts and his poetry. Devadutta falls in love with Padmini, a rich merchant’s daughter and marries her with the help of Kapila (as the go between).
Padmini while fond of her husband, his gentle handsome form and his intellect, is also attracted to Kapila’s powerful physique. On their way to Ujjain for a festival, Devadutta sensing his wife’s attraction for his friend and unable to bear it, offers his head as a sacrifice to Kali; Kapila who finds his dead friend also offers his head as a sacrifice to Godess Kali.
Padmini finds the two of them with their chopped off heads in the temple and pleads with Kali to restore them to life. Kali agrees and asks Padmini to put the heads on the bodies and offer a prayer. When they come alive, Padmini realises that she has by mistake exchanged the heads – so now Devadutta’s head is on Kapila’s body and vice versa. There ensues a brief row between the two friends as to who is Padmini’s rightful husband. It is decided that since the head is the what determines the functioning of the rest of the body, Devadutta (with Kapila’s body) is Padmini’s husband.
Devadutta and Padmini return to their home, while Kapila goes to the forest in shame and anger. While initially Padmini is very happy that her desires are fulfilled – Devadutta’s beautiful and intelligent head with Kapila’s virile physique-, soon Devadutta’s inclination towards the intellectual pursuits lead to the deterioration of his physical prowess. Padmini is once more discontent.
She sends Devadutta to Ujjain to buy new dolls for their child and goes to the forest looking for Kapila. Though initially bitter, Kapila has regained his strength and Padmini offers him her love. Devadutta too turns up here and in an ensuing duel, the two friends kill each other. Padmini then offers herself up to the Godess Kali.
The story is narrated in a completely matter-of-fact form, no moral overtones whatsoever and with some excellent humour. The exploration of the relationships is also extremely natural. Not one of the three main characters is bothered by the morality of the issue, they only look at how they themselves feel.
n.aditya@gmail.com> wrote:
> ———- Forwarded message ———-
> From: Ganesan, Aravind (CBGI)
> Aravind.Ganesan@morganstanley.com>
> Date: Dec 2, 2005 8:40 PM
“,1] ); //–>The play also has some moments of insight , for instance when Kali says to Padmini – `those who are selfish are likely to be the most honest and make no pretensions towards nobility. You are one of them and hence I grant you your wish.’ or when Hayavadhana who gets transformed into a horse, says `Oh, there is no point being a horse who can talk like a man. There is no completeness here you see, I am still neither one nor the other.’ Also there are no signs of any class conflicts in the play – neither between Devadutta (a Brahmin) and Kapila (a blacksmith) nor between Devadutta and Padmini (a merchant’s daughter).
The form of the play too was excellent. Though adapted to English, the play retained the original form of execution interspersed with music in Kannada and a very well choreographed folk dance. So one got a fairly vernacular experience even though the dialogues were in English. There were also some nice touches like Kali with a convent accent and Wodehousian sense of humour. And the brilliant thought of using two dolls(Katputlis) to tell the story of the deteriorating relationship between Padmini and `Devadutta with Kapila’s body’. That was especially humurous and very, very well told.
The best credit for the excellent play lay in the very well chosen cast and the brilliant performances of the actors. Each one of the players performed effortlessly, naturally and completely in sync with the character they were playing. I was specially impressed with Padmini who played the role very naturally, while subtly displaying the shades of selfishness in the character as well as the sweet and natural charm which attracts the two friends.
A lovely experience on the whole. Kudos to Madras Players and great to see the Chennai play scene improving!
According to Swami Harshananda, the definition of culture is:
‘Culture’ is the equivalent of the sanskrit word “samskriti“, it is better to study this word first, its connotations and implications. The verbal root ‘kr‘ (to do) can give rise to several nouns when associated with certain prefixes. Out of these, three words have a direct bearing on our subject: prakrti (basic matter or condition), samskrti(refined matter or condition) and vikrti (modified or decayed matter or condition).
These can be explained further with suitable examples:
A block of stone is ‘prakrti‘, the basic raw material. When it is sculptured into a beautiful image, it becomes ‘samskrti‘.
A lump of gold is ‘prakrti‘. An elegant ornament made out of it is ‘samskrti‘.
Raw food articles like rice and sugar are ‘prakrti‘, whereas a delicious pudding prepared out of them is ‘samskrti‘.On the other hand, if the block of stone is broken into chips or the gold lump is reduced to powder or the food articles get putrefied, they become ‘vikrti‘.
The English word ‘culture’ is derived from the Latin term cult or cultus, meaning, ’tilling, care, and refining a thing to such an extent that its end-product evokes our admiration and respect. This is practically the same as ‘samskrti‘ of the Sanskrit language.
The word ‘cultivation’, also derived from the same Latin root, as generally applied to the cultivation of crops from the earth, involves several processes such as tilling and preparing the ground, sowing the seeds, watering and manuring as also removing the weeds and destroying harmful insects. This will ultimately resultin reaping a good crop.
This word also fits in very well with the concept of samskrti. Another expression current in the Sanskrit language is ‘samskara‘. It refers to the process of cultivating, preparing or refining. The abstract quality in the end product is called ‘samskrti‘. But very often, the two words are used as if they are identical.
Tomorrow: Right or Practical?
The Hindu Business Line article quotes me:
In fact, some IT professionals are not big spenders on electronic goods. Take, for instance, Aditya, Business Development Manager at Novatium Solutions, a computer hardware company, “Upgrades for TV/VCD players cost a bomb! I always buy with a vision of the future.” He prefers to unwind with a Discman and a couple of books.
Shouts