Meeting Lakshmanji on Jan13th

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 14 Jan 2008, 07:15

vs_m
I spoke to mr parthasarathy for 30 mts thinking it was vs manjunath !!(since i arrived late).
realised it only when we started the formal introductions and parthasarathy introduced himself.
then i thought it could be the quiet couple in the corner (who ended up being the chennai hosts of Lji)
whatever happened to your plans !!!

vageyakara · Post by **vageyakara** » 14 Jan 2008, 07:37

hallo Cools JI,
Mr.Manjunath had to cancel his trip due to sudden indisposition ,Other wise he planned to join me the previous morning itself and had plans to stay with me , to attend the grand function . I am sory I forgot to tell u about this.
Ramaraj

ram · Post by **ram** » 14 Jan 2008, 08:55

Meeting Lakshman ji was a great experience, nicely captured in words by sbala. Thanks to Coolji for organizing this. It was great getting to meet with so many members of the forum.

rbharath · Post by **rbharath** » 14 Jan 2008, 10:57

It was indeed amazing to have to met such a great man.
I am short of words to express my feelings this opportunity i got.

unfortunately, i had to excuse myself earlier coz of some prior commitments.

gobilalitha · Post by **gobilalitha** » 14 Jan 2008, 12:01

dictionary is ignorant of superlatives to describe the calm and intellectual face of lakshman , as seen from the snaps of him and his wife. any multinational company will be proud to feature mr and mrs lakshman , as the made for each other couple , a very beautiful snap of the couple . kanden lakshmananai photovil even though i got up at 5.30 and saw the snaps , jananee has stolen a march over me to see the snaps ,as she is2.30 hrs ahead of me at singapore gobilalitha

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 14 Jan 2008, 16:20

A lovely morning it was, and what a pleasure, cheering the AdarSa (ideal) couple along with friends from the forum! We had spent a great afternoon with the Ragdes last July when they visited us in the US.
It was great to meet Mrs. Cool this time (last year we had met her mother, bro and family in Bangalore with Cool, but not her!). Rajani and Ranjani were there too, to add merriment.
Suji, you were here just for a couple of days during the season and we missed seeing you, what with all your trips within your short stay...
VK, it was the same place where, after the Arasi CD release, Rajesh, you and yours joined us for dinner. Ravi and Meena, we missed you along with CML, of course. Arun, you were here for the Dec meet. Missed you this time. So too, prashant and his dad. All the others too whom we got to meet at the concerts--from Bangalore, Bombay , Singapore and Chennai. Uday, we missed you, and yours, and Ignoramus (from Chennai??)
Nageswaran and Subramaiam were there. Govindan joined us late (Mrs. G and Mrs. Ramaraj were not there this time).
It was lovely to see all the young brigade--Rajesh, Ram, Bharath, Sbala, Vainika, rajumds and 'SivAji' (erstwhile kalingA warrior heading for MaharAshtrA)--the glowing group of choice rasikAs of today and of the future.
From N.America, besides the honorees, there were skrimech, venkatpv, Ashok Madhav (the composer) and us. From somewhere midway, Nick, from the UK--who may call himself a madrAsi. His jarigai (gold laced) vEshti was distinctive and he wore it with panache.You have to hear him imitate the cawing of Chennai crows--the subtle differences between the urban and almost countryside ones!
From the look of it, the next season's meet might need a pandal (shAmiAnA, tent)! We were all over the place, being in the way of servers with trays and other customers that they finally escorted us out of the restaurant to carry on with our spirited chatter...

uday_shankar · Post by **uday_shankar** » 14 Jan 2008, 20:34

Yes Arasi, seems like we missed out on a real nice get together and an opportunity to meet the great Shri Lakshman. Our little one is sick and I've caught the bug too.

Surprised to see my friend from Pittsburgh Ashok Madhav (if you're still in town we could meet, Ashokji ?).

vageyakara · Post by **vageyakara** » 14 Jan 2008, 20:41

Hallo Uday , Ashok Madhav ji is very much here. His CD release function is scheduled for the 22nd instant at the Shastri Hall.

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 14 Jan 2008, 21:39

Arasi
You have become a point of reference for most of us along with coolkarni. The heart-warming pictures of many of you in the distinguished companly of Mr and Mrs Lakshman will always be cherished by us as a memento of our extended family. It would be nice if we can have the names to all the faces in the group and perhaps Rajesh can oblige!

vijay · Post by **vijay** » 14 Jan 2008, 21:48

Govindanji/Vainika thanks for the pics....will do my bit soon...been a busy Monday

Suji Ram · Post by **Suji Ram** » 14 Jan 2008, 23:55

Arasi,
It is so nice to see you in the forum crowd. I really wish I was there for all the rasikas meeting. I had a good 2 day visit to Chennai. A MSG/Narmada concert and a visit to Music Academy for OST concert. Above all, a visit to Shri Lalgudi Jayaraman's house.

The biggest surprise of my stay in Chennai was when Lalgudi Krishnan handed me his cell phone to talk to Coolkarni!!

I'm not sure in how many years I will be back in Chennai.... may a job -doing business in India/Chennai. Would include a visit to Chennai in December in the business plan..

vijay · Post by **vijay** » 15 Jan 2008, 23:17

Here are my photos finally!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/12389180@N05

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 16 Jan 2008, 00:25

Thanks
That capture of the differeent expresions of Lakshman as well as the "casual look" of coolkarni is worth a million!

jananee · Post by **jananee** » 16 Jan 2008, 06:22

Couple of days back while i was in Serangoon Road..i almost thought a person whom i saw alighting from a bus looked like Lakshmanji!!! I wondered if he was transiting thru SIngapore

I guess it is the effect of reading all the posts and seeing all the snaps and missing out on meeting him!

ramakriya · Post by **ramakriya** » 16 Jan 2008, 08:27

And I thought Sri Lakshman looks a lot like my father

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 16 Jan 2008, 22:27

Tell us some more about LakShman that he confided with you! Where is he from? What is his musical background? Does he sing too? And what about that power house behind him with that beatific smile?

srkris · Post by **srkris** » 16 Jan 2008, 22:46

Wow, how I regret missing this meeting (not that i was able to attend the others), but atleast to catch a sight (darshana) of the great Lakshmanji

Is he still in Chennai?

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 17 Jan 2008, 06:49

Tell us some more about LakShman

Let us leave it to Arasi.
In a week or two I will put up the recording of the proceedings - speeches drowned in the clatter of 25 sets of idlis , dosas, Masala dosas , Coffes - all in 15ft by 15 ft dining hall.

vageyakara · Post by **vageyakara** » 17 Jan 2008, 07:04

Srkris,
Lakshmanji left Chennai the very next day.
Ramaraj

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 17 Jan 2008, 09:43

Not that I know that much more about this rather shy individual who has come to personify the act of collecting and sharing of what he has assiduously accumulated in the course of so many years. A remarkable individual who has been serving CM in the area of sAhityAs, as no one else has. He grew up in Luz Church Road, in a konkani speaking family in Tamizh NADu, taking in the beauty of CM, though the appreciation for HM was very much there too, in that household. His siblings had training in CM, if I am not mistaken,
He has lived in Canada (Toronto) for several decades. Retired, after teaching (giving, imparting knowledge seems to be his way). His wife Shantha is an artiste. Has been part of several art shows. This ideal couple have children and grandchildren living not very far from them...

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 17 Jan 2008, 09:54

srkris,
Good to hear from you. Wish I could some day say, 'good to see you', too:)

rajeshnat · Post by **rajeshnat** » 17 Jan 2008, 10:20

LJi's interest in Carnatic Music was mainly kindled by his mom and his grandfather (maternal) when he was staying at luzchurch road . LJi has also learnt sitar for few months .(He shared this info in his short speech).

To me personally when he said I was initiated by my grandfather , just brought in lot of vivid memories . Grandfather(?mother) - grandson(?daughter) bondage is very critical for all of us to take the first big step to like CM .

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 17 Jan 2008, 10:39

Very true Rajesh! Musical interest runs in families. I had the feeling that Lakshman has strong interest in HM and even FM (gleaned from some of his posts in other Fora..). We should also know his contributions to HM so that we can appreciate him fully!

Rajani · Post by **Rajani** » 17 Jan 2008, 19:01

Lji also said (in his speech) that he used to accompany his sister to her dance lessons (in Katcheri Road ?) and, not allowed to come in, used to sit outside and learnt all the songs by heart and once when the need arose, even sang for a her dance program.

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 26 Jan 2008, 09:56

Download-Link #1: http://rapidshare.com/files/86671951/Sh ... s.mp3.html

Lakshman · Post by **Lakshman** » 29 Jan 2008, 17:00

I got back home from India just last night.
I wanted to to express my deep appreciation to all of you who interacted with me and my wife on the 13th. It was such a pleasure meeting you all and to get to know you a little bit better. Hope to keep in touch with you through rasikas site as well as through email/phone. My sincere and special thanks to Coolkarni for organizing the event and to Rajee, Krishnan and Coolkarni for the delicious breakfast. I will remember all of this for a long time to come.

meena · Post by **meena** » 30 Jan 2008, 02:31

Lji welcome back

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 30 Jan 2008, 06:18

Nice to have you back! We enjoyed your party as much as you did through the pictures and descriptions from our members. No dobt you have captured the hearts of many of our membership who were not present through your ingenuous charm and commitment to serving CM. We too wish to thank coolkarni for making this cybermeet possible and I personally wish you a very warm welcome into the frigid but finest homeland of ours!