Arasi (Smt. Rajee Krishnan)

ramakriya · Post by **ramakriya** » 23 Oct 2008, 22:19

arunk wrote:does it also refer to a goat like in tamil ?

Yes

it does - But in the above list I put only 'action' words!

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 24 Oct 2008, 02:22

ADU ADinAlum adu avan ATTamE!

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 24 Oct 2008, 02:48

Braindrain,
I checked with Sumitra Nitin. It is a thematic concert and with an RTP too, I do not know if she can fit in an Arasi song. I am sure she will sing one in the future. She has done that in Chennai, and of course, nATyamADO in a Bangalore concert. She has been living in Bangalore the past dozen years or so, but she is still considered a Chennai vocalist by many, I suppose. That is why you do not get to hear her that much in Bangalore. A pity...
Enjoy the concert and share it with us too...

ramakriya · Post by **ramakriya** » 24 Oct 2008, 04:28

arasi wrote:She has been living in Bangalore the past dozen years or so, but she is still considered a Chennai vocalist by many, I suppose. That is why you do not get to hear her that much in Bangalore. A pity...
Enjoy the concert and share it with us too...

arasi,

I think the situation is other way. It would be much easier someone with a Chennai label to get more and more opportunities in Bengalooru! If a performer can be termed "local" then their desirability unfortunately reduces!

Organizers in Bengalooru seem to suffer from the "hittala giDa maddalla" (plant from the backyard can't be medicinal) syndrome

-Ramakriya

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 24 Oct 2008, 05:55

Ramakriya,

ADu in tamizh can also be used with great versatility: ADu - dance, ADu - shake/move, viLaiyADu - play, ADu - play. I assumed it was 'to dance' because the pallavi starts with nATyamADO.

Is there any other language, other than sanskrit, where the word for a goat also signifies brAhmA?

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 24 Oct 2008, 06:57

unless you are confused when a shepherd shouts
Oh my goat

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 24 Oct 2008, 07:41

You are right. I do hear more Chennai musicians in BengalUru than the other way round. However, in Sumitra Nitin's case, she misses out in Chennai because she does not live there! And since she is a local in BengaLUru, strictly speaking, she is sort of 'hittala giDa'!
Some time ago, I complained on the forum about the lack of opportunities for Karnataka singers in tamizh nADu as well. Happily, the past few years, I see a new a trend. Chennai is welcoming more artistes from m Karnataka. RKS singing in more venues in Chennai (after all these years!). But for M.S. Sheela and Mysore Bros, not many karnataka artistes were known in Chennai. This year, the Academy features RKS, Rudrapatnam Bros, Dr. Satyavathi, Amruta Venkatesh and Manasi Prasad.
Hope the new trend continues...

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 24 Oct 2008, 07:43

Or, when certain gentlemen from the southern most part of India proclaim
thus...

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 18 Dec 2008, 14:26

In addition to gAna kuyil (see the thread on MSS and Radha), another of our Arasi's compositions was presented at a concert recently - nATyamADO naTarAjA in pUrvIkalyANI was presented by Smt. Sumitra Nitin this past weekend (as reviewed by the Hindu).

Here's wishing that more and more singers will take up Arasi's compositions!!

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 18 Dec 2008, 20:59

When performers get to know of the lyrical beauty, simplicity, elegance and the depth of meaning of Arasi's compositions they will automatically start singing them. First it is necessary to have them widely available in a book form or posted at this site and discussed by you (and me if possible and kannada versatiles ) with the meanings in extenso so that the bhava is captured.
In my view she is Ambujam krishna reincarnated.

Rajee (aka arasi) will rule the roost

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 18 Dec 2008, 21:26

Ravi,
Thanks for writing about nATyamADO and Sumitra's concert. She has sung it with such spirit.i Wish someone can upload it.

CML,
I am filled with gratitude hearing your words which are generated from the heart of a friend. Ah! The magic of MAS! Though I am no equal to AK, she would have been as happy to hear your words as I am...

rajeshnat · Post by **rajeshnat** » 18 Dec 2008, 22:16

Mods
Can we merge this thread with the other thread in http://rasikas.org/forums/viewtopic.php? ... shnan.html

vasanthakokilam · Post by **vasanthakokilam** » 19 Dec 2008, 04:38

Here is a link to Sumitra singing nATyamADO. Excellent rendition. Enjoy.

http://www.sendspace.com/file/0xea80

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 19 Dec 2008, 07:06

Here is the lyric. (Somebody provide the lines for the viruttham too!)

nATyamADO naTarAja. rAgA: pUrvikalyaNi . Adi tALA

P: naATyamADO, naTarAja nI mada matsara mEl kuNidADuta nI
A: shakti jyoteyali ADO parama bhaktara uttama baLi tOrO
attittenadE akhilavella tadIngiNatOm tOm tOm endADO
C: tale mEle gangeyu candra prabheyu hoLeva celuvu nanagAgali
maleya magaLu ninnoDane ADalu maruLu kaLeva mahAdEva
ninnAnandadi kuNitenagAgalu kuNitenagAgalu, enagAgalu

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 18 Jan 2009, 21:39

Had not noticed that VK had posted a recent rendering of the song by Sumitra Nitin a month ago! Of course, access to the internet was not that easy in Chennai for me. Strangely enough, I heard this clip for the first time this afternoon from another source! Sumitra sings it beautifully I feel, in her concert at BVB early December. I went to Chennai much later. This concert was reviewed in the Hindu and the song gained compliments both for Sumitra Nitin and the composer

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 19 Jan 2009, 01:34

No doubt!
Sumitra should sing more of the songs to gain credit for herself and the vaggeyakara!

PUNARVASU · Post by **PUNARVASU** » 19 Jan 2009, 05:53

arasi,
a nice song by the composer, embellished by the singer-as in 'brOchEvarevaru'-Mysore VAsudEvAchAr and M.S.S.

svkashyap · Post by **svkashyap** » 19 Jan 2009, 15:21

Thank you very much vasanthakokilam for the link. Great composition Arasiji and ofcourse wonderful rendering.

vasanthakokilam · Post by **vasanthakokilam** » 26 Apr 2009, 12:05

Bumping this thread up. srinivasrgvn enquired about nATyamADO naTarAja in another thread.

rajeshnat · Post by **rajeshnat** » 27 Apr 2009, 13:37

Mods: Can we merge this thread with the other thread in http://rasikas.org/forums/viewtopic.php? ... shnan.html

There is a mention by me about nATyamADO

vasanthakokilam · Post by **vasanthakokilam** » 27 Apr 2009, 22:25

Rajesh, done.

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 05 Sep 2009, 09:27

I just came to know that Amazon.com is selling my Arasi CDs. Downloads are also available. For a few of you who asked me where one could get the CD in the US, here is the answer.

rajeshnat · Post by **rajeshnat** » 05 Sep 2009, 09:32

Wow
I just search amazon.com and found that even song by song it is available. Of course arasi's cd is not of the type where you feel that you have to buy only few songs . All are excellent, quite a few outstanding ones.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss?url=s ... si&x=0&y=0

gn.sn42 · Post by **gn.sn42** » 05 Sep 2009, 13:04

Thanks, arasi!

Here's a direct link: Arasi - Compositions of Rajee Krishnan - Sumithra Nitin at amazon.com

It looks like this is the work of Swathi Soft, who have made a number of CDs available on amazon, and also have made the Arasi CD available on the Kalakendra web site.

Good work, Kalakendra!

gnaanam · Post by **gnaanam** » 07 Sep 2009, 08:49

Dear Friends, i am happy to tell you all that I am notating all the songs of our ,Arasi ammaiyar, and making all arrangements to publish a book so that all musicians and students of music can learn all the songs and sing .Shortly you can hear all the songs sung by all the vidwans and vidhushis.

srinivasrgvn · Post by **srinivasrgvn** » 07 Sep 2009, 14:15

rajeshnat · Post by **rajeshnat** » 07 Sep 2009, 21:28

gnaanam
Very very good initiative. She has written close to 500 songs , out of which only 14 have hit in kutcheris. There is just 2 or 3 vidwans/vidushis who are singing it. Keep giving few samples , I prefer apart from notations , I am assuming if you are in US call arasi and ask her the meaning. DONT MAKE HER DRIFT , I HAVE BEEN TELLING THIS FROM THE BEGINNING OF THE THREAD, BUT SHE ALWAYS DOES NOT FOLLOW UP.I suggest you also use arunk's editor, possibly take that expert's advice.

Arasi,
All I can say now is all the best , please recollect every one of those krithis and work with gnanam , if possible reduce few postings here for a few weeks or months as this may be a distraction for us to lose your continuity(This is the advice I am getting it from my house for years , I will atleast pass it to you)

Lakshman · Post by **Lakshman** » 08 Sep 2009, 01:36

I have also been urging her for a long time to provide me with the list/lyrics of her songs so that they could be publicized. I guess she has to find the time to do this. There is always hope.

VK RAMAN · Post by **VK RAMAN** » 08 Sep 2009, 02:36

I strongly encourage all those professional artists who are part of rasikas.org to sing "arasi" composed songs.

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 08 Sep 2009, 02:38

Excellent idea! I am sure Arasi will collaborate with gnaanam. This will benefit CM singers immensely who always ask for the notations. We all look forward to hearing more of her compositions in Concerts in the future.

... and Thanks gnaanam for the magnificent offer. Do get in touch with her.

gn.sn42 · Post by **gn.sn42** » 08 Sep 2009, 06:40

cmlover wrote:Excellent idea! I am sure Arasi will collaborate with gnaanam. This will benefit CM singers immensely who always ask for the notations. We all look forward to hearing more of her compositions in Concerts in the future.

... and Thanks gnaanam for the magnificent offer. Do get in touch with her.

Am I to understand that gnaanam has not gotten in touch with arasi?

??

Such an initiative must have the permission (and possibly the active support) of the composer. While I encourage and even implore arasi to publish her songs, the copyright for these works rests with arasi, and the decisions on whether to publish them, in what format, with which collaborators, etc. are arasi's alone. An announcement such as gnaanam's implies that arasi's approval has been obtained.

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 08 Sep 2009, 11:05

gn. sn,
Thank you for your support and sound advice on copyright.
I was a bit puzzled too at first when I read gnaanam's post. I came to know just now that it is none other than vidushi Neela Ramgopal! When I was in India, she had kindly offered to notate the songs and she says she has already finished notating the fourteen songs in the CD. Hopefully, the book will be ready by March.
My songs are in very good hands, indeed!

Rajesh,
Your 'anbup paDuttal' is always appreciated. What a card you are, and an ace when it comes to me and my songs!

Lakshman,
Thanks for caring. I will heed your words

Srinivasaraghavan, VKRaman,
Thanks for your kind words.

CML,
Forever my champion, merci mille fois

gn.sn42 · Post by **gn.sn42** » 08 Sep 2009, 11:28

arasi wrote: I was a bit puzzled too at first when I read gnaanam's post. I came to know just now that it is none other than vidushi Neela Ramgopal! ...
My songs are in very good hands, indeed!

Excellent! We can all look forward to the publication. Do let us know when it's out.

It will be nice if CM composers can receive fair royalties for all uses of their work, both from performers and recording companies, just as it will be nice for artists to earn fair royalties from their recordings. Taking control of one's work is an important part of this, and when it is combined with wide availability, everyone gains.

rajeshnat · Post by **rajeshnat** » 08 Sep 2009, 11:52

Arasi/Smt neela (gnaanam)
Nice to hear both will be working.Just curious to know whether all songs of arasi are going to be notated.

Arasi
14 is done , roughly how many more is remaining , can you let us all know about it. Also it would make a lot of sense for you to go with any groupings like songs on Lord Venkateshwara, murugan etc... That way any one who refers can take few mumbers out of arasi and they can have a thematic concert.

cienu · Post by **cienu** » 09 Sep 2009, 11:55

gnaanam wrote:Dear Friends, i am happy to tell you all that I am notating all the songs of our Arasi and making all arrangements to publish a book so that all musicians and students of music can learn all the songs and sing .Shortly you can hear all the songs sung by all the vidwans and vidhushis.

That is so nice to hear and we look forward to the book.

vganesh · Post by **vganesh** » 10 Sep 2009, 15:22

Dear Arasi mam,
500 + songs. You must be a genius. I also look forward to the book... BTW creating notations for all songs must be tough I think. isn't? All the best to the team

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 10 Sep 2009, 21:40

Thank you Ganesh! Genius? If I am one, then there are millions upon millions of them! No. Far from it. I just happen to scribble a lot on the back of envelopes and the sheer number doesn't mean anything (Rajesh, hope you are listening). How many of those will make the grade, I don't know. For all that I have written in prose and poetry, I have not been published the way many prolific (and genius?!) authors have been.
As you say, notating is not an easy process. Though I am aware of notations (Bilahari, hope you are listening too

I have no expertise or experience in doing this. Neela Ramgopal with all her vidvat offering to do this for me is a boon indeed.
Don't forget the other member of this team. Sumitra Nitin. Not only has she given life to my songs, she is very good at choosing the songs too. And her grandmother Ananthalakshmi Sadagopan. Her enthusiasm in all this has to be seen to be believed.
Hopefully with Neela Ramgopal's help, we can bring out the first volume of about 50 songs in the near future and then work on the rest. In the CM world inundated with old and new songs, I would be happy if a hundred of mine get to see the print.
Besides Sumitra Nitin, Jayalakshmi Santhanam, Padma Srinivasan (well, family circle!) and our own Suryaprakash have sung my compositions.
I felt honored when Radha Viswanathan and Aishwarya sang 'gAnak kuyil onRu', the song about MS in Chennai at the release of the book MS & Radha.

s_hari · Post by **s_hari** » 10 Sep 2009, 22:01

Arasi - i knew your reaction to ganesh's post(;- Didn't Radha vishwanathan sing your composition gana kuyil, last year in MA? Hope to hear the song again next week in Bangalore function...

-hari

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 10 Sep 2009, 23:45

Yes, they did, Hari. Thanks for bringing it up. I went to my post and realized the ommission! This is what happens when you are thinking of many things and amid household distractions you assume that you have said all that you wanted to! Blame it on my age too

vganesh · Post by **vganesh** » 11 Sep 2009, 10:21

Mam; Aridhu aridhu mandurai pirathal aridhu ( I do not know the notation

). I am also not denying that there are millions of such people in the world. Being in IT side, I know the amount of happiness I get when my program is running / being used by somebody to solve their issues. So I am not flattering to say that when somebody is appreciating one's talent and that too singing in Music Academy/ bringing out notations......... Music is more close to Soul. For me it is like muslims going to Mecca and Christians to jerusalem. You are very humble. Thats all. Once agin all the very best to you and your team. Looking forward for the book during the December season.

bilahari · Post by **bilahari** » 11 Sep 2009, 10:35

Yes, Arasi, I am listening

Gnaanam - Smt Neela Ramgopal - a big thank you to you for this effort! I had badgered Arasi for a notation of her bilahari krithi once and to my utter surprise, she said she doesn't notate her own compositions! It would be really very helpful for notations of her excellent compositions to be published.

Arasi - there aren't millions of people like you, I can assure you!

srinivasrgvn · Post by **srinivasrgvn** » 23 Sep 2009, 09:29

ramakriya · Post by **ramakriya** » 23 Sep 2009, 22:09

bilahari wrote:
Arasi - there aren't millions of people like you, I can assure you!

I second you, Bilahari!

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 23 Sep 2009, 22:35

I would rather say:
Arasi - there is no one like you, I can assure you!

VK RAMAN · Post by **VK RAMAN** » 23 Sep 2009, 22:37

What a wonderful feeling to hear and see our living legend is getting much deserved glory by the publication of this CD.

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 23 Sep 2009, 23:28

Thanks all! To Srini for the billboard

Ramakriya, CML and VKR.
Let's not get carried away with undeserving words like genius and legend--then I have to 'live up' to those unattainable states!
CML,
Being something unique, having some good and hopefully not too many undesirable qualities is something which all of us humans share--but to be called unique by such a friend who has many more qualities which make him a one of a kind person is really satisfying.

Raman,
The Sumitra Nitin--Arasi CD has been around for nearly two years. If you want to hear an ode to MS, gAnak kuyil onRu, find it in the Concerts Section (which s_hari has posted). Radha Viswanathan and Aishwarya sang it at MS's birthday celebrations in BengaLUru at the gayana samaja.

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 24 Sep 2009, 00:10

I simply said you are you! No hyperbole!
I am glad that folks are ready to buy your CD and listen. That is a good sign.
Your remaining two hundred and odd kritis are not even in a book or electronic form. You should start publishing them or atleast post some of them here so that we can review them. We may even get somebody to render them!

What is the use of lighting a lamp and hide it under a bushel!

VK RAMAN · Post by **VK RAMAN** » 24 Sep 2009, 00:38

Thanks Arasi for teaching how to be humble and still be a legend. You can get out of legend, but legend will not get out of you.

srinivasrgvn · Post by **srinivasrgvn** » 24 Sep 2009, 17:52

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 24 Sep 2009, 18:22

Just do that srinivasrgvn!
I am curious to see how a well-informed Rasika like you enjoys the kritis of a modern vaggeyakara.
Especially identify the musical pearls in the kritis .