Kshetradam - III
Continuing from the previous post. Phew...I guess seeing the temples was faster - writing a blog takes so much time!!!
Where was I??? Kumbakonam. Ok, at Kumbakonam we went to a relatives' place. Who said it is not good to have relatives. I thoroughly enjoyed the Idlis and Thakkali(Tomato) Chutney at their house. It was so much more better than going to a hotel. What more, my Manni (Uncle's wife) had also packed some Chappatis for us for our journey. I also met their neighbours who were very much eager to meet us. What a contrast - I don't know my neighbours here in the city! We only stayed for half an hour at their place. Why, pray tell me, do we have the recent trends like - relatives are bad (we just follow a mass feeling like that). Friends alone are best. I'm not downplaying friendship - but why this unnecessary animosity without any thought. Why, in Indian society (and its numerous soap operas), DILs, MILs & SILs should only plot against each other??? Why, again, in the city, do people NOT want anybody visiting them. Feeding an athithi is a nithyakarma - something to be performed everyday, says not me - Paramacharyar of Kanchi. Better still if the person is unknown to you. 'Athithi Devo bhava' (Guest is God!).
Hmmm....
Anyways - we left Kumbakonam and took a bus to Tanjore. This time the roads were good. Just that the bus was playing some sizzling Tamil Numbers such as Shivarathiri (of Michael Madana Kama Rajan fame) at 4:00 in the evening!!! I was amused to watch the completely Manjal bathed woman (a lady who had smeared turmeric and hence her face hands etc were yellow - indicates someone very religious) tap her feet to the song!!! :-) This was thankfully followed by some other melodies of Ilayaraja which were not as sizzling! I happened to be very privileged for I got a seat just next to the driver. The only thing in front of me was the front glass. Occasionally, I was given an option to break through it and land at the bus in front of me. But, I couldn't muster enough strength although the bus ahead was pretty close! I really must admit that the driver was very very helpful in telling us many stories and keeping us entertained. Was amazed at their endurance. They have 24 hr shift and 24 hr rest. In a day they do minimum of 5 trips between Kumbakonam & Tanjore.
From Tanjore bus stop, we immediately boarded a bus to Trichy. This time the bus played numbers which are technically called 'Dappankuththu'. In dappankuththu, it is the rhythm that matters. Mostly it is an 8-beat cycle - mostly choukam (where each beat is counted 4 times). I was amazed at some tishra nadai (where each beat is counted thrice) - like
123-123-123-123
jhinku-chakka-jijikku-chakka
takita-takita-takita-takita
tadhina-takadhina-tadhina-takadhina
The lyrics were of no consequence - something like
machan unna pakka yile
manasu kulla verka yile...
Contrast that with choukam
1234-1234-1234-1234
jinchaka-jijichaka-jinchaka-jijichaka
tarikita-takadhimi-tarikita-takadhimi
ottagaththa-kattikko-gettiyaaga-ottikko...
Well, it is the lyrics that I dislike most....it is so vulgar, and unfortunately I end up concentrating on lyrics. So, instead, this time, I ended up usefully learning about rhythm and the various ways in which 8-beats were being interpreted. I was amazed at some of the eduppus in dappankuthtu - very very interesting. Eduppus are the places in an 8 beat cycle, where the playing would start on a beat other than the 1st beat of the 8 beat cycle. It might be 2, 3 etc. Something like
;taka,takita
;taka,tarikitataka
This is of course very simple....anybody would know, but, some of the eduppus and the way they finished at the 8th beat were fantastic. Finally, with all the bang we reached Trichy at about 7:00 PM.
Phew....I'm tired already....more later.
Where was I??? Kumbakonam. Ok, at Kumbakonam we went to a relatives' place. Who said it is not good to have relatives. I thoroughly enjoyed the Idlis and Thakkali(Tomato) Chutney at their house. It was so much more better than going to a hotel. What more, my Manni (Uncle's wife) had also packed some Chappatis for us for our journey. I also met their neighbours who were very much eager to meet us. What a contrast - I don't know my neighbours here in the city! We only stayed for half an hour at their place. Why, pray tell me, do we have the recent trends like - relatives are bad (we just follow a mass feeling like that). Friends alone are best. I'm not downplaying friendship - but why this unnecessary animosity without any thought. Why, in Indian society (and its numerous soap operas), DILs, MILs & SILs should only plot against each other??? Why, again, in the city, do people NOT want anybody visiting them. Feeding an athithi is a nithyakarma - something to be performed everyday, says not me - Paramacharyar of Kanchi. Better still if the person is unknown to you. 'Athithi Devo bhava' (Guest is God!).
Hmmm....
Anyways - we left Kumbakonam and took a bus to Tanjore. This time the roads were good. Just that the bus was playing some sizzling Tamil Numbers such as Shivarathiri (of Michael Madana Kama Rajan fame) at 4:00 in the evening!!! I was amused to watch the completely Manjal bathed woman (a lady who had smeared turmeric and hence her face hands etc were yellow - indicates someone very religious) tap her feet to the song!!! :-) This was thankfully followed by some other melodies of Ilayaraja which were not as sizzling! I happened to be very privileged for I got a seat just next to the driver. The only thing in front of me was the front glass. Occasionally, I was given an option to break through it and land at the bus in front of me. But, I couldn't muster enough strength although the bus ahead was pretty close! I really must admit that the driver was very very helpful in telling us many stories and keeping us entertained. Was amazed at their endurance. They have 24 hr shift and 24 hr rest. In a day they do minimum of 5 trips between Kumbakonam & Tanjore.
From Tanjore bus stop, we immediately boarded a bus to Trichy. This time the bus played numbers which are technically called 'Dappankuththu'. In dappankuththu, it is the rhythm that matters. Mostly it is an 8-beat cycle - mostly choukam (where each beat is counted 4 times). I was amazed at some tishra nadai (where each beat is counted thrice) - like
123-123-123-123
jhinku-chakka-jijikku-chakka
takita-takita-takita-takita
tadhina-takadhina-tadhina-takadhina
The lyrics were of no consequence - something like
machan unna pakka yile
manasu kulla verka yile...
Contrast that with choukam
1234-1234-1234-1234
jinchaka-jijichaka-jinchaka-jijichaka
tarikita-takadhimi-tarikita-takadhimi
ottagaththa-kattikko-gettiyaaga-ottikko...
Well, it is the lyrics that I dislike most....it is so vulgar, and unfortunately I end up concentrating on lyrics. So, instead, this time, I ended up usefully learning about rhythm and the various ways in which 8-beats were being interpreted. I was amazed at some of the eduppus in dappankuthtu - very very interesting. Eduppus are the places in an 8 beat cycle, where the playing would start on a beat other than the 1st beat of the 8 beat cycle. It might be 2, 3 etc. Something like
;taka,takita
;taka,tarikitataka
This is of course very simple....anybody would know, but, some of the eduppus and the way they finished at the 8th beat were fantastic. Finally, with all the bang we reached Trichy at about 7:00 PM.
Phew....I'm tired already....more later.
posted by appalam vadaam at
1:56 AM
2 Comments:
Hey good to know you listen to carnatic music...Yeah the dappam kuthu songs are a bit on the vulgar side.
By
Arbit, at 7:38 AM
karthik,
thanks for dropping by. saw the pics on ur blog. cool! :-)
-Vasundhara.
By
appalam vadaam, at 10:12 PM
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