Dec04'08 - Concert in Coimbatore without my dear Gopi mama!

It was indeed an emotional trip to Coimbatore to all of us as we have always been taken care on arrival into Coimbatore by Gopi mama! May be it was blessing that we continued to get the same treatment for this concert also with the organisors being so good to us. We, Venkat anna (violin) Trivandrum Balaji anna (Mrudhangam and Hari anna (Ghatam), my parents and self, went to Gopi Mama's house and had a coffee after spending time in one of the most visited homes by all artists! With his blessings the concert also was well attended by audience showing great interest to our carnatic music and this helped us present a concert which, i understand was well received by the audience, as said by the organiser.

I always like train travel and the incidents happening in our journey. We were booked in a eight in one sweater / berth arrangements on on onward journey but were given a nine in one seater/birth coach, which appa and Trivandrum Balaji tried to explain two of our co-passenger who had occupied our seats. H/ever the lady and the gentleman refused to accept their words and when finally TTR came and asked them to shift they did not even feel sorry for all the arguments they made! I think it is better to keep quiet in many incidences when we are not sure of things - well people will have to follow this which will reduce hatred feelings amongst one another!

Welcoming the holy month for all the artists - December

It was indeed a great oppurtunity to be art of my school Bhajan group to perform on the 1st Dec'08 at Sri Krishna Gana Sabha. What else can i expect to start this holy month with a Divine bhajan performance! I look forward to a good presentation of my concert during this month. I am also happy to know that this year also i am getting an award and i.e. from a very renowned forum of the legendary Dr. Balamurakrishna's Vipanchee - "Yuva Kala Vipanchee". Looking forward to meeting you all in some of my concerts. You can log on to http://concertschedules.blogspot.com/ for the details of my concert venues.

Concerts on the 29th & 30th Nov'08



Concert on the 29th Nov'08 was indeed unforgettable as we were getting out of the house after almost 4 days of heavy rain in Chennai. Thanks to the rain god who decided to slow down on the 29th Nov'08 we all could reach the venue in time. With Tabla Rajagopal uncle's son Vijay coming in to the team for the first time we had a fairly good show with Ananthakrishnan anna on violin, Kumbakonam Swaminathan anna on Mrudhangam with Padhu uncle on the rhythm pad. Sangeetha Raja anna of Karthick audios was great as ever and Mrs & Mr Raghu from Singapore who had coordinated for this concert, expressed that all the audience appreciated our team's performance.



Concert on the 30th Nov'08 was a concert for the friend of Trivandrum Balaji anna and was for the first time the bridegroom came to our stage and requested to play Sankarabaranam notes as a gift to her bride! We all enjoyed with my appa giving some nice talk on this. I was with the team of AK anna, Suri uncle, Harish - kanjeera and Chandru on Ghatam and performed a concert with a nice audience. Infact for the first 1 hour or so every one was sitting infront of us and looked as if we were performing a Sabha concert!

Concert in Chennai on the 24th Nov'08

The concert on the 24th Nov'08 went well with Ananthakrishnan anna on violin, Arjun Ganesh anna on Mrudhangam and Nerkunam Sankar anna on Kanjeera. We were performing a kind of "Rasika's Choice" concert as it turned out to be a concert which from the start to the end hand audience request. A Music director by name Sri Manibharathi had come and he later called home to give his compliments for the team's performance. Special mention to Sampath audio whom i was meeting after a long time and they presented with perfect PA settings to enhance the show.

It was indeed a great opportunity for Sathya to perform on the 6th year of his website http://www.keyboardsathya.com/ which was presented to him by Sri Senthil, the domain name and Sri Pyarilal, the design and space. This is a live recording of a private show performed with Thillaisthanam Suriyanarayanan on Mrudhangam and N. Sundar on Tabla. It was a coincidence that Sri Tabla was the first accompanying artist onstage and was also with him for his 525th concert today. I am sure you will like the tracks rendered.

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Private concert for Padma Sarangapani Trust family 09Nov'08

As December is approaching the concert on the 9th Nov'08 was indeed kind of a prelude with this private concert with very knowledgeable audience and showing keen interest to listen. With Villiwakkam Raghu uncle playing with his new Silent Violin (very quality one), Thillaisthanam Suriyanarayanan uncle on Mrudhangam and Sri Swaminathan uncle on the Ghatam it was a pleasant concert. Infact i started off with Virubhoni varnam and also had a request from a 80 year old rasika to perform raga allapana for Gowla raga when i was about to play Dhudukugala. That shows the interest the audience showed for our concert and the sucess of our concert.

Concert on the 1st Nov'08


It was a nice concert we, Ananthakrishnan anna on violin, Srikrishnan anna on Mrudhangam and Nerkunam Sankar anna on Kanjeera performed for Arjun Ganesh anna's friends wedding on the 1st Nov'08. The bridegroom was a mrudhangam artist and most of the audience were seen to be enjoying the music. This gave us extra energy and the concert in total came out well.

Kudos to the "Men in Uniform"

Congrats to the team of "Men in Uniform" who had fought with great determination and brought the city of Mumbai to calmness!

Kudos to people of Mumbai for showing support to these "Men in Uniform".

Kudos to all the news channels and their staff for their tireless coverage of the events LIVE from the action place.

Let's all take a owe now that we should support of Politicians who are ready to serve the people in real honesty else just should throw them out like how the Men in Uniform dealt the terrorists in Mumbai. Let's pray the almighty to give us all this mental strength to take India forward!

My dear Gopi Mama is no more with us!

A real sad news was awaiting me when i woke up this morning when i got the news that my dear Coimbatore Gopi mama passed away late in the night yesterday 30th Oct'08. Gopi mama is so dear to me that he was and is one of the major reasons for me to be like this in the field of Carnatic music. When i met him last, during my trip to Coimbatore for a concert organised by him on the 19 Oct'08, he was remembering our first meeting at the gate of KrishnaGana Sabha two years back with Thadi Sarathy uncle and i did not know that would be my last ever meeting with him! I could not take this news and feel very sorry for him. Gopi mama had great vision as far as my carrier is concerned and let me do all that possible and make his ambitions come true! I request all who see this message to pray for his soul to rest in peace! I am sure this is not only a loss for me and our family but a great loss for the Carnatic music in general.

My Deepavali Celebration - 27 Oct'08

Diwali Celebration of Sathya & Embar S. Kannan

Birthday Celebrations for Three days!!!

Yes it is indeed a unique feature in our family that the birthdays of three generations falls on the successive days in October and it goes like this:

Generation - 1

23rd October - Birthday of my Paternal Grandfather Sri K. T. Pathy

Generation 2

24th October - Birthday of my Chithappa - Sri. Sriram [grandfather's 2nd son]

Generation 3

25th October - Birthday of my Chithappa's son - Chi. Suryanarayanan [my grandfather's grand son]

We celebrated the first 2 Generations birthday today itself and the pictures are uploaded on same. Surya, Sowmya [Surya's younger brother] and self enjoyed firing crackers on this day. We have a good party on the 25th Oct'08 and shall report on same later.

Concert no. 3 of 3 in 2 Series 18/19 Oct'08.

With the grace of God we did manage to be there in Chennai and at the venue in Annanagar at 650pm and started the concert at 7pm. Ananthakrishnan anna and Suri uncle with Sowrirajan uncle on Ghatam & kanjeera were there already and we gave a performance which once again impressed the audience and it was exhibited by Smt & Sri Ganesan & family from Bangalore giving us a cash reward. Sorry for the pure photo quality as we had only my appa's mobile to take one!

We were totally dependant of various factors beyond our control like the flight being on time, traffic jam due to the new over bridge being opened in front of the Chennai airport, developments of problems in the vehicle we travel like puncture etc. and the rains in Chennai which was continuing for the 4th day in succession. At the end of it all with the grace of Almighty we accomplished the task of 3 in 2 and it did give us lots of experience in terms of logistics and also added our faith on the Almighty! "Do your duty and the rest will follow you" & "Have faith on God and taste the success" are the two great theories i have started believing after this 3 in 2 experience!

Day Two Concert no. 2 - 19th Oct'08 of 3 in 2 series

We reached Coimbatore and had a good coffee at GowriShankar near the station before going to my Gopi mama's residence. After having a wash and change had good breakfast and proceeded to the venue of the concert number 2 which was to be performed from 11 am. With Pakala Jayaprakash anna, [thought of uploading his photo as it was not done before] Kumbakonam Swaminathan anna on Mrudhangam and Hariharasubramanian anna on Ghatam we presented a concert which was appreciated by the audience with Smt & Sri Periasamy family blessing me with cash reward also. Special applause was extended to my amma for her singing two devotional songs during this concert. {I accompanied only on the keyboard this time though!). While appa and self were to take Paramount Airways flight to Chennai at 1640 hrs for performing a concert in Anna Nagar, Chennai same evening, the rest took the train back to Chennai leaving at 1445 hrs. Every thing went as per schedule including our flight departure and the train for the group from Coimbatore.

Thank you Lord for Three in Two for the weekend18/19 Oct'08

It was a great weekend and was looking forward to it as we were to perform 3 concerts of 2 and half hours in two days. It was indeed a godly act and Almighty's grace we could perform these concerts without any trouble. The first of the concert was in Chrompet in Chennai on the 18th Oct'08 with Ananthakrishnan anna on Violin, Suri uncle on Mrudhangam, Hari anna on Ghatam and Sathya on Morsing. After may be 2 hours i was looking at appa if i had to finish early but appa was confident of the plan of going to Central by Electric train and at the end it did work. The learned audience were giving us a feeling of performing in a public forum instead of a private concert and this made us to extend the concert a little. The concert was over by 855 pm we, appa, amma and Hari anna and self left the hall. My athai had already arranged to pack dinner for us and thanks to Thillaisthanam Suriyanarayanan uncle's student Sri Anand, who was kind enough to go early to Chrompet station and buy our tickets to Park Station.

We took Electric train to Park station, walked to Central Station to catch Cheran Express to Coimbatore and reached at 1005 pm. The train actually left 5 mts or more later and understand it was probably due to the traffic jam because of a political rally held in Island Grounds, Chennai. God's grace we were in time. Pakala Jayaprakash anna [on violin] and Swaminathan anna [on Mrudhangam] also reached station in time and we were discussing about our experiences of reaching Railway station due to the traffic jam before going to sleep.

Welcome Indiran uncle from Mauritius

Even though i was in school on the 17th Oct'08 it was nice of Indiran Uncle from Mauritius to have visited our house. Yes he is so special to be as he was one among the artists who was there in my first foreign tour to South Africa & Mauritius under Indian Academy, Durban South Africa arranged by its Director Smt Vasantha Naidoo in May 2003. I am sure we will surely meet up soon probably during his next visit to India during December Music festival which he has been attending regularly. Indiran uncle is a Bharathanatyam dancer and has a school in Mauritius also. His wife Smt Malina is also a Bharathanatyam dancer and works for Mauritius University as a professor. Their 4 year old daughter Vardhini also understand is catching up on the dance and i am sure she will become a great artist in the years to come.

Another PAKA Kid in the making!!!!

It was a good enjoyable evening for me [Pogo amazing Kid Musician Award '06 winner] when i met Vignesh Pogo Amazing Kid Singer Award '06 winner] at Abhilash's house [Pogo Amazing Kid Musician '08 finalist] in Pozhichallur on the 16th Oct'08. It was a meet to wish my friend Abhilash to win PAKA Singer '08 Award. I had bought a cake for him and we enjoyed the evening with Ms Anuradha, Ms Abhilasha along with the crew from POGO channel and Abhilash family. Wishing him all the very best for the Finals to be held in teh alst week of November'08.

Congrats Suri Uncle for B. Music degree!

Congratulation Suri uncle for passing B. Music degree examination from Annamalai University, Chidambaram. You are a real inspiration for studies as you have done this apart from your M.A., B.Ed and also being a busy mrudhangam artist and a laeding teacher with more than 100 students. I am proud uncle Thillasthanam R. Suriyanarayanan M.A., B.Ed. B. Music - uncle.

Private concert in Coimbatore.

The concert on the 12th Oct'08 for a private function was with Anankrishnan anna on violin, Thillaisthanam Suriyanarayanan uncle on Mrudhangama dn Pradeep uncle on Tabla,. While we enjoyed the concert (I am sure the audience also did the same!) we were happy to be in Gopi Mamma's house to have nice food adn gala time playing cricket. This time we also saw snake's skin of about 8 feet! [true no jokes] This was noticed while playing cricket in front of teh house and Gopi Mama casually says that there is a Naga pambu [ is it called king cobra?] which is living for quiet some time! really thrilling to see the skin!

Concert at Koothanur Saraswathi Temple 09 Oct'08
I was happy to have got the opportunity to perform for the 2nd consecutive year at the Sarawathi Temple, Koothanur and i enjoyed the concert as well as the trip. With a bus journey after a long time, i thought would be tedious but the Ratheemeena bus was very comfortable and so was our return travel by Reliance bus service. I was also happy to do cycling in the village for close to 2 hours! Real joy indeed with no traffic, in fact it looked as if we both i.e. Pakala Jayaprakash anna and myself were making the traffic movement at least. A pleasant temple and a divine atmosphere added up for us to give a nice concert which i am sure the audience received it very well. Here is teh link for the Video clipping:
http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=51E0788D6392FE18

A 2 hour concert as a violin accompanist

Thanks to my amma and Violin Raghuraman uncle who had organized this concert, i got my first oppurtunity to perform a full fledged concert as an accompanying artist on violin. I am so blessed that it was for my amma Smt. Lalitha Krishnababu which gave me enough oppurtunity to do rehearsals at home. We had a good understanding and all this was seen very much on stage on the 6th Oct'08.

It was a different experience altogether as an accompanying artist as my focus was just following and doing my solo turns for ragam and swarams. Complete planning was left to amma and i realy enjoy this side of the stage also very much. However, i am at this point of time not deciding on anything with regard to continuing this act of an accompanying artist. I need to go a long way in terms of learning the nuances on violin and i am pleased to say that i like this also and will continue doing my practice on violin. Appa, for a change, has taken the videos and photos and please do view the same and forward your comments to my email keyboardsathya@gmail.com Audio track also will be uploaded soon.

My sincere thanks to the almighty who has provided an excellent oppurtunity to perform at the Hayagreever Sannadhi and what else can i expect more with great and learned audience who were there to bless me. I had the blessings of my grandparents also for this concert and they were all thrilled to see me in my new assignment, which i do like a lot.