watching through the window

Whats wrong with me??? Nowadays its not taking much to fall in love fanatically with ARR's works. I figure, he got us tuned pretty good with his style or viceversa. At the most this is the fourth time I'm listening to Meenakshi's tracks and I am relishing it already as if they have been my favorites for a long time .
If any of you looking for another TAAL just like I was waiting since the laters' release here's our wish come true; Grab Meenakshi without second thought. Of total eight tracks 3 of 'em are Instrumentals, and potters rhythm stands out of the rest.

Meenakshi (Meenaxi) - Tale of 3 Cities

AR Rahman

M.F. Hussein

Year: 2004

Language: Hindi

Actress: Tabu

TRACKS:

1. Yeh Rishta ( Excellent!)

2. Chinnamma Chilakkamma (I like it)

3. Cyclist's Rhythm (Innovative use of Cycle Bell and native Thaarai, Thappatai (instruments used during funeral ceremony of Tamil society. If you are from this part of the country you cannot help making the typical dance moves.)

4. Dhuan Dhuan (gonna be my fav forever)

5. Do Kadam (breathtaking lullaby at the end of the day! Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz!

6. Noor-Un-Ala-Noor (sounds like ARR extended kannathil Muthamittal's Sattena Nanainthathu Nenjam (remember minmini's voice in the background during Madhavan and Simran scenes) except that he moulded it into a qawwali song and extras to mark his presence.

7. Potter's Village (Absolute magical fusion!!!!)

8. Rang Hai (Awesome!)


PS: For those unfortunate souls like me stuck in the US; I bought this online at nehaflix. All together it was about 15 bucks and they shipped to me in 2 days.

Anaivarukkum enathu Iniya Thamizar Thirunaal Vazhthukkal !!!!

Click on the HORSES from left to right, then right to left abd then just one or two at a time... Its fun.

WISHING EVERY ONE A HAPPY, PROSPEROUS 2004!

Dont Ask me what happend during the last couple of months, even if I want to tell you I might not be able to becuase things happend so fast. It all started with me visiting one of my friend in the West Coast. Before I know I have started planning to move up here, got a job, BOOM! Here I am in seattle a whole new place, new much friendlier preople, moderate weather etc. Reminds me of the somewhat similar situation in Philadelphia but 3 years ago.
I wish i can upload some images here... got to learn it.
for those who celebrate christmas, MERRY CHRISTMAS !

Why lamps are lit on Deepa oli day ?

Ain't it'd be nice if our festivals are observed in the right spirit, with an understanding of their inner significance?
Yes, there is an underlying meaning behind Deepam and the whole array of lamps that are lit by the light from one lamp.
(Hey! don't take this very serious alright. I am just sharing this to talk about something different than sweets, crackers, TV programs, music and movies on a Deepa oli day. :-))

The master lamp symbolizes the Supreme power. The others symbolize the light in individual selves. The truth of the Vedic saying, "The One willed to become the Many" is exemplified by the lighting of lamps by the flame of one. The Deepavali festival thus bears out the profound spiritual truth.

The Deepam points to another significant fact. Wherever it may be placed, the flame goes upwards only and never moves down. Likewise, the flame of Gnanam (Spiritual Wisdom) leads one to a sublime level through the path of Righteousness.

So how to light the inner lamp?
Just like we need a container, second oil, third a wick and fourth a fire stick to light a lamp that removes the outside darkness we need four elements to light Gnana Jyothi (Light of Wisdom) that can remove our inner darkness.
1. Vairagyam (detachment) is the container.
2. Bhakti (devotion) is the oil. (Devotion not necessarily to god. Thats how I see it)
3. Ekaagratam (one-pointed concentration) is the wick.
4. Gnanam (Knowledge of the Supreme Truth) is the match-stick.

So Deepaoli is observed as a day for getting rid of all the bad qualities in us, symbolized by the demon Narakaasura. The Gopikas who were freed on that day represent the imprisoned good qualities in us. They should be manifested effulgently. This is the inner significance of the festival. As long as the demonic qualities remain in man, he will be immersed in darkness. Bad qualities and thoughts have to be got rid of altogether.

These thoughts are something that I learned when I questioned my Appa about the reason for Deepa Oli celeberation. Despite of the fact that all my family members are very religious and god fearing, these explanations helped me only towards making sense out of our popular practices rather than cultivating faith in god.
Hey! but that's me. May be it can help you otherwise... you never know.



.

It's all his fault. I am pointing at Padhu. ;-). He is the one who got me started with his current post at KS. Since I had my view about plagiarism, I started typing my points in the comment box as usual but when it passed few hundred words I figured, Hey! Let me save my work as a document before I loose it with Haloscan. So here I am stuck with more than a two page article and finally decided to post it in my blog.

Plagiarism as we all know is nothing but using others' ideas, words, or works without clearly acknowledging the source. Unfortunately, we encounter copycats at all walks of life. It is true that imitation is the best form of flattery, it is also true that it works only when the world knows about the original creator.

Just to take it further and talk about it, I am going to recite an example and get into an awful lot of detail. To make it easier I have picked a movie and its soundtrack. I choose to talk about this particular (outdated) example because I was fascinated by the details when I first learned about them. Again, as a word of caution if you have other important stuff to take care of, this is the right time to sneak out. If you decided to stay and read ahead let there be lot of patience and good luck (as the audio links that I provided here sometime decide not to work) with you! :-)

The Movie
Although, not that popular, people who have seen Primal Fear enjoyed it specially for the great twists and very suspenseful storyline. Believe me, up until the last second, you don't know how things are going to end. A 1996 release, directed by Gregory Hoblit and studded with a stars: Richard Gere, Laura Linney and (according to me the hero) Edward Norton. As you witness Norton's dazzling performance it's hard to believe that this movie is actually his debut. By the way, if you have not watched it yet, please don't miss it. Its certainly worth watching specially if you are into suspense films.

Okay, so... If you think that I am gonna talk about some Indian movie they copied from this super hot flick, you are absolutely wrong. I'm not even gonna mention the name of the (Plagiarized) Hindi movie here for the sake of people who didn't watch the original version yet. (If you are uncontrollably curious to know about the Hindi movie click here). And if you are reasonably good reader, I would strongly recommend you to read the original novel by William Diehl which is better than anything else. But if you have any good reason not to be able to read the 390 pages, you are excused to go for the movie version (English).

God! What am I doing here? Writing a review for the movie or what? All right, too much of beating around... Lets get back to the track.

The Song
So I heard this soundtrack in Primal Fear by an unfamiliar singer and in a "never heard before" language but completely mesmerized by its mysterious tune. Honestly, it took more than a year to figure out that the song as Cancao do mar from the double Platinum album Lagrimas by Dulce Pontes, one of the best-selling Portuguese albums ever. (People say that it has the best romantic lyrics).
I started digging deep out of interest and came across the notion "It seems Amalia Rodigues sang this song ...". I was caught by surprise by this statement but later learned that in actual fact Amalia never sang "Cancao do mar" as such. It came from the repertory of her contemporary and friend/rival Marcia Condessa, who proposed it to Amalia, judging it was more suitable to her. The song was to be included in the soundtrack of a French production, but the text of the song was found not to be in line with the plot of the movie. As a result an alternative text was written and the song became, in Amalia's interpretation, "Solidao"(1955). And it became enormously famous, while the Cancao do mar version (also the later on record by Celeste Rodrigues, younger sister of Amalia) remained little known, until Dulce Pontes brought it to light again, with her 1995 Coliseum concert. That's when it was finally discovered by Hollywood and made multiple appearances in the Richard Gere vehicle "Primal Fear".

The Point
Everything was fine until the Tamil Version of this song came out in Kushi (2000). Yeah! You know what I am talking about, the "Oh Vennilla" lifted by Deva. In a way I was pretty excited about Vairamuthu's excellent lyrics decorating the original "hypnotizing" Portugal tune. But we have to accept the fact that Deva is daringly smart/stupid enough to use the whole song without acknowledging the original artist. Of course, this is just one out of hundreds that he copied.

As you could see, our DJ Deva unintentionally did a favor to the Tamil audience by redoing Dulce's track but (like always) failed to acknowledge her work as the source and cheated the audience and as well as the original artist. The worst part is that took credit for something which he don't deserve. Where as the original folk Fado came all the way from Portugal to Hollywood with proper credits being credited to the original artists appropriately. That's how the master mind gets the right credit while the audience would be able to track back and figure who did what and appreciate the value added to the original version.

The bottom line here is that there is nothing wrong in getting inspired by other's works and we all know that it happens in some point of our life, but as a fellow creator one should acknowledge the source at least to avoid hurting the creator's feelings, than to encourage them.

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Hey, If you are as crazy as I am towards songs and lyrics... proceed further.
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English translation of:
Song: Cancao do mar
Singer: Dulce Pontes
Album: Lagrimas

SONG Of THE SEA

I was dancing on my little boat
There on the cruel sea
And the sea was crying out to me
Telling me that I should steal
The incomparable light
Of your beautiful eyes
Come and prove that the sea is right
Come here and see my heart dancing
If I'II go dancing on my little boat
I won't go to the cruel sea
I'II tell her that I was singing, smiling, dancing, living and dreaming of you

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Song: Oh Vennilla
Lyrics: Vairamuthu
Singer: Unnikrishnan, Anuradha Sriram
Movie: Kushi (2000). Vijay, Jyothika

Oh Vennilla
En mael kobam yaen
Aagyam seraamal thaniyae vazhvathu yaeno yaeno yaeno
Oh kathalae
Un per mounama
Nenjodu poi solli nimidam valarpathu sariya sariya sariya

Tholaivil thoduvaan karaiyai thodum thodum
Arugil nerunga vilagi vidum vidum
Iruvar manathil aeno pada pada
Oruvan paarthaal oodal udaipadum

Nee penmaiyae
Garvam ennadi
Vaivarai vanthaalum
Varthai maripathu yaeno yaeno yaeno
Nee swasamae
Udambunoodala
En jeevan theendamal veliye sellaathathe
Nee vetri kolla unnai tholaikaathe
Yar sirithaalum paalaivanagal malarum

Oh Kathala
Un per mounama
Sollondru illamal
Mozhiyum kaanal illai illai illai

Oh Kathala
Orvarthai sollada
Muthal varthai nee sonnal
Naan maru varthai solvaen
Naam thinam solvaen
Enthan kathal solvaen
Udalil aliyaamal vazhum kathal solvaen