Warrier's Collage August 2, 2021

Welcome to Warrier's COLLAGE On Monday August 2, 2021 Good Morning Nice Day M G Warrier Collage Follow up : Pandemic Management in Kerala https://youtu.be/QXw1sBWQylg (The Wire : Karen Thaper Interview with Gagandeep Kang*) *Gagandeep Kang FRS is an Indian Microbiologist and virologist who is the Professor in the Department of Gastrointestinal Sciences at the Christian Medical College, Vellore, India. A Soorya Initiative to support stage artists AN APPEAL FROM SOORYA "The Artists Community of Kerala has been remaining jobless and living in poverty and hunger for the last 16 months. These Artists include those who work for SOORYA too, like the theatre artists, light and sound technicians , make up artists, set workers etc. They could not have a proper ONAM last year..Let us join together , in helping them to have ONAM in their houses this year. These struggling artists are planning to bring out an ONAM GIFT BOX, with 6 different varieties of pure ghee sweets ( 19 numbers in total), with FSSAI Certification, and each sweet separately and hygienically packed in re-usable containers... The beautiful gift box costs Rs 499/_ all inclusive. These gift boxes could be presented to your dear ones as an ONAM GIFT. Please book your order from 1st August onwards. No advance payment. Payment only at the time of delivery. Delivery from the 1st day CHINGOM (17 th August) till 4 th day of CHINGOM (20th August). Delivery Venue : GANESHAM Theatre, Vazhuthacaud. For door delivery in Trivandrum, please add Rs25/_ Please book through whatsapp or sms or phone calls 1 Pradeep, Thalayal...98466 18838 2 Mini Mol...95676 60829 3 Sujith...99462 86271 4 Abi...95675 52444 An act of kindness from you, can bring smiles to many hearts and homes. With Regards, Soorya Krishnamoorthy" B Book Review : Gitanjali https://abookwormsmusing.wordpress.com/2013/07/03/book-review-gitanjali-by-rabindranath-tagore/amp/ If I were to share a poem, or keep one, just one hidden away in my heart, I think that would be this one: By all means they try to hold me secure who love me in this world. But it is otherwise with thy love which is greater than theirs, and thou keepest me free. Lest I forget them they never venture to leave me alone. But day passes by after day and thou art not seen. If I call not thee in my prayers, if I keep not thee in my heart, thy love for me still waits for my love. It resonates with me most because though the people around me, who love me and care for me try to keep me tied to something, it is through poetry and His grace that I feel free. Though I can’t see God and I feel tied down a lot at times by those loved ones, I still pray and keep hope that I shall remain free, that He shall hear me some day. Gitanjali 35 Where the mind is without fear... BY RABINDRANATH TAGORE Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high; Where knowledge is free; Where the world has not been broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls; Where words come out from the depth of truth; Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection; Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit; Where the mind is led forward by thee into ever-widening thought and action Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake. C Remembering Freedom Fighters : Hasrat Mohani https://www.rekhta.org/poets/hasrat-mohani/profile Syed Fazlul Hasan (1878-1951) who chose the nom de plume of Hasrat was born at Mohan in the Unnao district of Uttar Pradesh. After receiving his early education in Arabic, Persian, and Urdu at home, he moved to Aligarh where he acquired his degree of B. A. but abandoned his further studies in law that he had joined soon after his graduation. Hasrat was acutely conscious of the socio-political condition of his time. Ever since his graduation from Aligarh in 1903 till his death at Lucknow in 1951, he worked incessantly and played various roles as a social activist, a politician, a freedom fighter, a journalist, a critic, a poet, a deeply religious Muslim of a liberal makeup, and a God-fearing communist. Working in multiple directions, he laid the foundation of an influential journal Urdu-i-Mualla, worked for the Indian National Congress Party holding important offices, moved the first-ever resolution for complete freedom, and chaired sessions at divergent platforms like Indian National Congress, Muslim League, Jamiat-ul Ulama-i-Hind, and the Communist Party of India which he also helped found. As he gave the call of Inquilab Zindabad—Long Live Revolution—he always fought for complete independence of India from the British rule. He was imprisoned on several occasions for his rebellious attitude towards the British but he always kept his spirit high without succumbing to any under-hand policy or upper-hand pressure. After India’s independence, he worked as a member of the Constituent Assembly that drafted the Indian Constitution but did not sign it as he had his own reservations in this matter. In all his positions and responsibilities, Hasrat worked in all humility, living a simple life like a dervish with absolutely no place for pomp or pretension in his life. He passed away in Lucknow and was buried there. D Received from readèrs 1) S R Badrinarayanan Cheñnai ANOSOGNOSIA Temporary forgetfulness by French Professor Bruno Dor of the Institute of Memory and Alzheimer's Disease (IMMA) at La Pitié-Salpêtrière - Paris Hospital He addresses the subject in a rather reassuring way: "If anyone is aware of his memory problems, he does not have Alzheimer's." 1. I forget the names of families ... 2. I do not remember where I put some things ... (Continued at H1) 2) Vathsala Jayaraman Chennai Chowdiah is 'Sound'aiah' This need not be estimated as a criticism. It is actually an award. Let us first understand the origin, existence and practice of Violin that will set the context for the article. Around the world, several groups of tribal communities have used violin like instruments. They were all of local origin and very crude without refinement. These were made by using coconut shells, small wooden dish, wires, fibre etc. and played using matching bows. An arrow fired from a hunter without his knowledge from the thread of the bow producing a melodic sound resulted in the making of Dhanur Veena. Similarly, many instruments have their origin and discovered unexpectedly. (Continued at H2) E Happy Friendship Day 2021 1) Friendship Day 2021 was observed yesterday : https://indianexpress.com/article/lifestyle/life-style/friendship-day-2021-date-history-significance-and-all-you-need-to-know-7429009/lite/ Significance Friendship is one of the most blissful relationships a person shares with another person; the association works as a strength developer in an individual’s life. The thing about friendship that sets it apart from all other relationships is that it is pure and divine, and surpasses barriers of race, colour, caste and creed. 2) Your Best Friend https://www.speakingtree.in/article/your-best-friend/m-lite Why do we hide secrets from siblings we have grown up with, and yet tend to be totally open, for instance, in a ‘brother-like’relationship formed outside? Is it because friendship is the only relationship we choose for ourselves? We don’t learn to survive a friend;we decide to live with it.Even parents,once their children have grown, and spouses, after certain years of togetherness, aspire to be friends with their kids and partners, respectively. Both Arjuna and Draupadi, despite being husband and wife, could be completely at ease with their every vulnerability with Krishna, their sakha… but not with each other. This perhaps explains why some of our deepest,life sustaining bonds often happen outside of a marriage. F Leisure Feminine body parts* Dr X is a topmost surgeon. One fine morning, his very young son perusing a newspaper asks him “Daddy, where in a woman's body are her fracas and yet?” Dr.X is flabbergasted. He knows everything on human anatomy but never has known fracas and yet as parts of the human body. He hurriedly checks several reference books but can’t find a solution. After some time, he asks his son-“Why do you want to know?” The lad gives him the newspaper. The headlines say-‘Woman shot in fracas.-bullet in her yet” *Received from A P Ramadurai Cheñnai G Quotes about Freedom Movement in India https://www.cntraveller.in/story/independence-day-2020-remembering-indias-independence-struggle-immortal-slogans/amp/ Like : "Inquilab Zindabad" While the slogan was popularised by Bhagat Singh, it was coined by activist, freedom fighter and Urdu poet Hasrat Mohani in 1921. One could say it awakened the patriotic spirit among India's youth, inspiring them to join the battle for Free India. It's rightfully credited to the revolutionary, seeing as how Singh was one of the most courageous freedom fighters who gave his life for the country at the young age of 23, and the slogan translates to "long live the revolution". It was a battle cry that brought countless number of people to the streets." (Syed Fazl-ul-Hasan, known by his pen-name Hasrat Mohani, was an Indian activist, freedom Fighter in the Indian independence movement and a noted poet of the Urdu language. He coined the notable slogan Inquilab Zindabad in 1921.) H 1) Continued from D1 It often happens in people 60 years and older that they complain that they lack memory. "The information is always in the brain, it is the "processor" that is lacking." This is "Anosognosia" or temporary forgetfulness. Half of people 60 and older have some symptoms that are due to age rather than disease. The most common cases are: - forgetting the name of a person, - going to a room in the house and not remembering why we were going there - a blank memory for a movie title or actor, an actress, - a waste of time searching where we left our glasses or keys ... After 60 years most people have such a difficulty, which indicates that it is not a disease but rather a characteristic due to the passage of years . Many people are concerned about these oversights hence the importance of the following statement: "Those who are conscious of being forgetful have no serious problem of memory. "Those who suffer from a memory illness or Alzheimer's, are not aware of what is happening." Professor Bruno Dubois, Director of IMMA, reassures the majority of people concerned about their oversights: "The more we complain about memory loss, the less likely we are to suffer from memory sickness." - Now for a little neurological test: Only use your eyes! 1- Find the C in the table below! OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOCOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO 2- If you have already found the C, Then find the 6 in the table below. 999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999969999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999 3- Now find the N in the table below. Attention, it's a little more difficult! MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMNMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM If you pass these three tests without problem: - you can cancel your annual visit to the neurologist. - your brain is in perfect shape! - you are far from having any relationship with Alzheimer's. 2) Continued from D2 It was during 1400, the form of modern violin was born and acquired fame universally. There were no restrictions about the number of strings which varied from 1 to 15. The credit for introducing the European origin violin into karnatik music should go to Baluswami Dikshitar (1756), the younger brother of Muthuswamy Dikshitar. Travancore Asthana Vidwan in Maharaja Swathi Thirunal's court further popularised the violin. Swathi Thirunal's court Vidwan Vadivelu, younger of the famed natya charyas Travancore Quartet (1830-1845), Natuvanar, Thirukodikaval Krishna Iyer (1857-1913), Fiddler Malaikottai Govindaswamy Pillai (1931) have all developed violin and popularised it. Sangeetha Ratna Chowdiah belonged to this eminent violinists' group. Had he preferred to remain as a violinist/soloist, he would not have acquired this much of universal recognition and fame. He was far ahead of his contemporaries in his thoughts and innovative mind which was always craving for achieving something new. He never bothered about failure in his efforts. He withstood adverse comments and resisted stiff opposition to his new inventions like a solid rock undeterred. Finally, he emerged victorious with a tag “Sound'iah." In western countries, the number of strings varied depending upon the requirements for achieving required volume. Hence they used between 4 to 14 strings. None of this usage was within the knowledge of Chowdiah. Prior to Chowdiah several attempts have been made to increase the volume of violin but not by increasing the number of strings. According to Harikatha exponent C Saraswathibai, Marungapuri Asthana Vidwan Gopalakrishna Iyer fixed a 'Horn' to his 4 strings violin called 'Phonoviolin' to enhance the sound which resembled and sound like a gramophone. The present violin made its entry into Indian classical music 100 years prior to the entry of Chowdiah. A lot of efforts and attempts were made by players to learn the technique of play and to acquire perfect mastery over the instrument to popularise it both as an accompanying and solo instrument in Karnatik music. Masalamani Mudaliar in the later part of 19th century fixed 5 strings to his violin and tuned it to 'anu mandra shruthi' and played in the vocal concert of Coimbatore Raghava Iyer. The traditional Tambura with only 4 strings used mainly for Shruthi support was added with another 3 extra strings during the life time of Thyagaraja and was used by Shatkala Govinda Marar but this experiment was never tried on violin before. One cannot conclude whether all these experimentations were within the knowledge of Chowdiah. The experiments conducted by Chowdiah were out of compulsion. Let us understand what those compulsions were. It was in 1911 that Chowdiah made his entry at the age of 16 to Karnatik music. He made his debut as an accompanist to his Guru Bidaram Krishnappa who was blessed with a powerful resonant voice that could reach a gathering of over 1000 enthusiastic listeners. Like Thyagaraja's song "Naabhi hruthkanta rasana"(Shobillu sapthaswara in the raga Jaganmohini), he believed in the emergence of melody from the nabhi, passing through heart and coming out of mouth. His supporting accompanying instrument western originated violin was not at all audible to the vast audience in concerts. This always bothered Chowdiah since there was no sound amplification then. By 1924, Chowdiah was a top class violinist regularly accompanying his Guru Bidaram Krishnappa besides Ariyakudi Ramanuja Iyengar and other leading performers. It was difficult for Chowdiah to match Bidaram's voice with his 4 stringed violin to reach the vast gathering of listeners. Frequent change and design of bows were of no use to enhance the violin sound. As a last attempt he thought of modifying the instrument instead of tweaking the bow! As a first step he concentrated on the strings by adding an extra string to the 'panchama' string and tried it as a five string violin. The resulting nada was somewhat satisfying. Enthused by this result, he added two more strings to the other 3 strings. The arrangement was fixing additional strings to 'Shadja' and 'madhya panchama'. He avoided mandhra Shadja. The first set was taara Shadja- mandhra shadja, second set was madhya panchama - mandhra panchama, and the third one was madhya shadja- mandhra shadja. This improved the overall enhancement of the sound of first three strings. He ensured that the pitch of the strings was in arohana system. This resulted in the flow of melody like a stream. He discussed this inventive arrangement with his violin manufacturer Rangappa who was a close friend and never felt tired of implementing Chowdiah's requirement and modification of violin. They spent many days discussing the pros and cons of these modifications and finally formed the seven stringed violin. In proportion to the length and breadth of this new instrument, Chowdiah rigorously practiced fingering and bowing techniques applying equal pressure on the strings and bow. All these developments were out of the notice of his guru Bidaram Krishnappa. The next step was to try it out in concert which was the real proof of the pudding. In 1924, Krishnappa's concert was arranged in the residence of Veena Sheshanna with Chowdiah providing the violin accompaniment and he had come with the 'saptatanti' violin. Chowdiah was not at ease playing with the modified violin without letting his Guru know. As the concert started, the somewhat unusual increased sound of the violin distracted the concentration of Bidaram Krishnappa. He looked at the instrument and thundered what is it? Chowdiah said he added 3 strings and made a new formation of the violin. Everyone including Veena Sheshanna were expecting a slap from Bidaram Krishnappa to the disciple. That didn't happen. Krishnappa stopped singing and asked Chowdiah to continue playing. He mustered all the courage and played. Bidaram Krishnappa did not speak but started thinking will this new invention be accepted by music world? Will the staunch traditionalist accept this violin? How can I support Chowdiah? Will Chowdiah face the stiff opposition from the traditionalists etc. It was later Sheshanna who assured Krishnappa not to bother about it as he was fully convinced of Chowdiah's new invention and its overall success in music field. Subsequently Bidaram Krishnappa appreciatesd Chowdiah and for the rest of his life the new invention becomes a companion. Although leading performers like Ramanuja Iyengar, Maharajapuram Viswanatha Iyer etc. wholeheartedly extended their welcome to Chowdiah's new 7 stringed violin, still there were some musicians who vehemently criticised it as unfit to be used in classical music as an accompanying instrument on account of apaswaras it produced. This stiff opposition and criticism emanated out of jealously from those who could not digest Chowdiah's instant popularity and domination over other contemporary violinists of that period. According to writer Rajashri, during the annual music conference under the aegis of Madras Music Academy's morning academic session in 1947, CS Krishna Iyer expressed his opposition to the usage of 7 strings violin in Karnatik music which produces apaswaras and the sound being very harsh, it was fit enough to be deposited to the corner along with clarinet, Jaltarang, Khanjira etc. In his reply, Chowdiah strongly defended his instrument and challenged CS Iyer to play all the gamakas on the 4 stringed violin and that he would precisely reproduce it with accuracy on his 7 strings violin without a single apaswara! If one doesn’t like my invention no problem. When my guru Bidaram and other leading performers have whole heartedly approved my invention, there is no need for me to care and answer sundries, he blasted with full of anger. He challenged his critics to elicit the opinion of leading performers like Ariyakudi, Alathur Brothers, Madurai Mani Iyer, GNB and the conference president Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer who requested Chowdiah on several occasions to accompany him and how come they didn't notice any flaws in his play? If the critics proved right he is prepared to discard his new invention there itself, he challenged. The large gathering gave a thundering applause to Chowdiah's spirited reply silencing his critics. Finally, Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer used all his diplomatic skills and vocabulary to console an enraged Chowdiah. Throughout his long career, Chowdiah dominated the Karnatik music arena like a tiger. By sheer hard practice, innovative approach, deep dedication and absolute mastery over the instrument he earned immense popularity in the field. Always attired in spotless white, after occupying the centre stage and passed the bow over the strings to tune the instrument, the audience were eagerly looking forward to relish his play. Many of them returned home disappointed on noticing a substitute violinist in the place of Chowdiah. Whatever may be the jealous attitude of local players, maestros like Yehudi Menuhin expressed their surprise as to how Chowdiah could so effortlessly play on his 7 stringed violin when they were struggling on the 4 stringed instrument! Once Ariyakudi Ramanuja Iyengar out of curiosity was having a close look at Chowdiah's violin. On inquiry he replied that he wanted to know if any extra strings are attached to the instrument. Chowdiah’s close friend Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavathar gave him the title "Saptha Tanthi Visharada", GNB gave him the name “Sound"iah, whereas Pudukkottai Dakshina Murthy Pillai called him" Mysore Dore". What more one can expect in life? In the past, Tanjore was hailed as the peak of Karnatik music. Musicians from this area were highly admired by the music world. Chowdiah by his sheer efforts and achievements snatched this credit and elevated the status of Mysore as the prime centre of Carnatic music. Chowdiah used main instruments like Veena as his accompanying instrument. Whenever he was invited for solo concert, he used to have either a Veena or Harmonium as his accompanying instrument along with percussive support. The credit of introducing Jugalbandhi goes to Chowdiah who used to occupy the centre seat on the dais and his co players on both the sides. Delivering his Presidential address in 1957 music conference under the aegis of Music Academy, Madras, he justified the seating of his co-players by his side. He called upon the main performers to give up professional jealousy towards accompanists and to develop co-operative attitude. Performers should not convert the stage into a battling ground. Should never develop the intention of dominating over other co-artists. Violinist should follow the main performers like a shadow he suggested. Chowdiah during his lifetime made lot of sound and justified his name “Sound'iah" given by GN Balasubramaniam. Vathsala Jayaraman