Kudos to my friend Pranav Diwakar & team

When things happen it happens in bulk and that is what is happening around me! Yes as mentioned in my earlier blog about her dance performance of Ms Vinidhra in TOI Yesterday she has been featured in Hindu Friday review link: http://www.hindu.com/fr/2009/07/31/stories/2009073151480400.htm

I also have a happy news that my friend Mstr. Pranav Diwakar studying in 8th std of Bala Vidhya Mandir, Adyar & his team has won the : "Cadbury Bournvita Confident Minds" held recently in Chennai. Even though this team beat our T. Nagar branch PSBB school branch, i am one way happy that my friend is featured in the winning team! Congrats to the team and wishing them all the very best for the National finals.

I am also happy to inform that my uncle company Modern Engineering Plastics Pvt. Ltd. (MEPPL) Metturdam has won the JEC ASIA 2009 Innovation Awards in Process technology, held recently in Singapore.

Great news on Mrudhangam Suri uncle

Great news on Suri uncle and his Mrudhangam school in Dinamalar today. This article is indeed a great recognition for his efforts. We all are very happy on same.

Happy to have known Ms Vinidhra Mani - a good dancer from SanJose - USA

Here is an article which appeared in Deccan Chronicle, Chennai edition on the 20th July'09 which speaks very high of this dancer from USA. I attended this performance and we were so happy to have made it for that performance. For more details you can contact her father on email mmani at yahoo.com

qte:

VINIDHRA COMES FROM THE USA AND HAS LEARNT DANCE THERE.

The art form of he art form of Bharatnatyam is such that unless there is precision combined with grace, one is likely to be bored while watching the same. Which is why one was pleasantly surprised to see the performance of Vinidhra Mani at the Narada Gana Sabha Mini Hall on July 18. It not just brought out the beautiful geometrical precision of Bharatnatyam, but was also laced with so much grace that all the angularities came across as aesthetic.

This comes with sound training and dedication. Vinidhra comes from the USA and has been learning dance there. She had her arengetram and has been placed in the `Top Five' at the First Cleveland Aradhana Dance competition in April 2007.

Now into her second year of undergrad at UC Berkeley, California, the artiste gave an account of herself and the margam she chose to display. Beginning with the Mallari -- one of the most traditional pieces in the Bharatnatyam repertoire, the Gambheera Nattai piece was a prelude to a recital that was filled with some very memorable moments. The stances, the positioning of the hands, the manner of being firmly in control over the nritta, and the easy mobility of expressions that came in smooth transitions -- all of these and more were evident in all the pieces chosen.

The Sadashivan Maindane in Hamsadhwani, a Maharajapuram Santhanam composition brought back nostalgic memories of this musical maestro and Vinidhra Mani gave this item a unique empathy while describing Shiva. The ode to Shiva continued into the Varnam, Konjum Salangai in Lathangi, a Madurai Muralidharan, composition, which had several beautiful jathi por tions with a wealth of devo tion attached to it. tion attached to it.

It was particularly in this that her stances bore the strength of training and practise, as she appeared light foot ed and yet firm when it came to footwork. In praise of Goddess Lakshmi, Ranjanimala in Ragamalika, was eloquently done also thanks to the sensitive vocal by Hariprasad. In fact the entire ecital felt uplifted also thanks to this element.

The Theruvil Vaaraano in Kamas, and the Thillana in Kadanakuthoohalam, concluded the recital that reiterated that for a good Bharatnatyam recital there needs to be more than just years and mere knowledge of the dance form. Guru Vidhya Subramanian must also be credited for this -and on the nattuvangam conducted the recital with quiet grace. Sigamani on the violin, Nellai D Kannan on the mridangam and Sashidharan on the flute provided good orchestral support despite the indifferent acoustics at the hall.

article link is:

http://dc-epaper.com/DC/DCC/2009/07/20/ArticleHtmls/20_07_2009_104_001.shtml?Mode=0

Pallavi of Carnatic Muisc will live in our minds for ever!

I just used part of the caption from today's (Friday, July 17, 2009) edition of The Times of India Chennai and i am sure every one will accept to my view. I still remember the day i had the blessings of this great Legendary Musician, Dr. D. K. Pattammal on the 25th April, 2008, when i visited her house along with my parents and Pyarilal uncle. She was so nice to me and listened to my playing on my Yamaha PSR 640 keyboard. She asked me to perform Konjum Purave and when i did she hugged me and blessed me for a bright and successful future. I a sure it is all the blessings like this which has made me come thus far and i am sure will take me to where ever i am destined to! I was blessed when she offered and wrote her blessings with her own had in my well wishers register and it is now indeed a greatest treasure for me and our family!

Dream come true! under the tutelage of The Musical Genius.

I Just cannot forget the oppurtunity i got through Raja uncle who is friend of Abaswaram Ramjhi uncle which was for performing for Vipanchee on the 25th December'08! Yes! that day i had the great blessing of PadmaVibhusan Dr. Balamuralikrishna sir seeing me perform and asked me to come to his house for learning. What a great varam i got that day! It was just a dream for me then and now it has become true!

Yes i am blessed to be under the tutelage this great musician, living God of Music - Dr. Balamuralikrishna uncle, from the 9th July'09, another d-day in my life! Have already attented two classes and i just still cannot believe that he has accepted me as his sishya.It will take some time for me to realise this great reality and i pray and hope to live up & become a good sishya for him. Thanks Raja uncle for that oppurtunity at the "Vipanchee".

Jackie - we are proud of you! People do talk about achieving and i think this is one of the best one can think of - representing your country at teh age of 16! Wow! Jacqueline - my appa's friend - Mr. Thomas Kunnath's daughter has achieved this and hats off to her and to her family for the support they have given. We wish her all the very best for the tournament and beyond for greater achievements India call for Jacqueline

The 16-year-old earned her first international call for the Badminton Asia Youth U19 championships next month in Kuala Lumpur

Dev S Sukumar. Bangalore

Bangalore girl Jacqueline Kunnath, a trainee at the Tata Padukone Badminton Academy, has made it to the Indian team for the Badminton Asia Youth U19 championships. The tournament will be held in Malaysia from July 12 to 19. Although Jacqueline – 'Jackie' to everybody – is primarily a singles player, she was selected for the doubles based on her performance at the three All India junior tournaments in Chennai, Kochi and Bangalore this month. Jackie and Prajakta Sawant made the (U-19) semifinal at Chennai and the final at Kochi and Bangalore. "I'm not too happy, because I got selected for the doubles," said the 16-year-old. "But I plan to try and play the singles at the ABC. I can get to know how the others play. I didn't do well in the singles at Kochi and Bangalore because I'd stubbed my toe and it was hurting." Jackie is a product of East Cultural Association's badminton programme. Her early lessons were under senior coaches ND Murali, Biju Prasad and Suresh Kumar. It was with the arrival of former doubles international Vinod Kumar at ECA in 2002 that the programme took on a different level – two of his trainees from those days, Prakash Jolly and Jackie – are junior internationals. Jackie's primary assets are her speed and power, but there are some creases that need to be ironed out. "She needs to improve in many technical aspects," says Vimal Kumar, coach at the Padukone Academy. "She's very quick, but skill-wise, she needs to improve. She has a problem with the grip – she's unable to change grip quickly from the forehand to the backhand." That's something Jackie is aware of. "I need to work on my patience and precision," she says. "I need to play an opponent twice to get used to her style. My game is a more attacking style. I like it when I'm up against rally players, because they push me and there's a lot more going in their game." Her natural athleticism is derived from her parents, Thomas and Sarah. While Thomas was a university badminton player, Sarah was a sprinter at the school level. Senior athletics coach VR Beedu was impressed with Jackie's athletic ability and persuaded her to focus on athletics, but Jackie was keener on badminton. "She had the qualities to become a good athlete," Beedu said. "Jackie could've made a mark in national athletics. She has primarily done well in badminton because of her speed. Some of our sprinters would even find it difficult to beat badminton players like Jackie and (senior international) Ashwini Ponnappa in the 800m."

Publish Post

Article courtesy DNA, Bangalore and click on page 17 on the web link: http://epaper.dnaindia.com/dnabangalore/epapermain.aspx?queryed=9&username=&useremailid=&parenteditioncode=9&eddate=6%2f26%2f2009

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Reporting from Toronto airport

Hi all,

The two months long tour of USA Canada is now completed and i am on the verge of taking a flight to Chennai by Lufthansa. It has been great time and thanks to everyone who made it a grand success.

I am excited to write as i just saw a huge Emirates aircraft with 700 person capacity airbus 380-800 series, probably first of it kind in the world! I had the privelage to just see this aircraft on its maiden visit to Toronto. What a way to sign off from Toronto! Here is a video clipping of this flights arrival into Toronto airport parking bay!

Ellam iraiva Seyal. Avan indri oru anuvm asaiyadhu!

Will report details later.

Memorable trip into Toronto & Niagara, 31 May, 2009



What a way to complete my 1st concert tour of USA & Canada with a presentation applauded by the learned audience of Toronto and visiting Niagara by Night, thanks to NewYork Raja uncle for having driven us to Niagara and back, apart from having a greal aerial view of the same when coming from Washington to Toronto from the aircraft!

I shall detail all news later but could not resist sharing the photos!. Thanks to New York RAja uncle who took us to this great drive to Niagara and back for making this a lifetime unforgettable tour!.

Trip to the capital of USA Washington DC 29-30 May, 2009

It was indeed a great experience in Washington which i shall detail tmrw. Enjoy the photo taken here on way and during the cocnert.

In Tampa from 26 - 28 May'09

It was a great new experience at Chicago in term of concert reception and also experienced heavy rain for the first time in USA. I am sure if it was same in Chennai, the city would have paralysed for at least 4 days. Well this was just for a shower of rain for just few hour! Mr & Mrs Usha Ravi were so nice and so was their children Hariharan and Akshy. I had good time and also made some shopping here for my family, thanks to Usha Ravi anty to have taken us to Best By store.  The milk shakes bought by Ravi uncle on both the days of our stay was indeed great. We had a great get together dinner at Mr Raghavan uncle's hose were almost all the artist who performed at CTU were there and i had the opportunity to mingle with all of them very freely. 

Coming to Tampa, the photos displayed - its a city with climate as good or bad as Chennai and on arrival we were met by Mr Latha Kumar and her son & Smt Geetha Saharsanam. The hoe of Lathakumar aunty where we are staying i huge and Target store is just rght behind! We went ot to look for more shopping but the price i bit higher than Best Buy (it has to be!) store and so had a long walk inside this huge store. All rehearsed ith mr Patrick Hernly, who perform steel drum (in the photo) and Ms Katerine Ocampo who plays Saxophone. We are jamming in on the concert stage today evening and hope it come out good!

Our Trip to Chicago from New Jersey



It was a new experience of traveling by Surface to Philadelphia to take a flight to Chicago and i was really blessed as i could be in the presence of Great Maha Vidwan Sri VV Subramaniam mama & family during the van drive from New Jersey. Also it was a great blessings to meet Sri Thiruvarur Bakthavatchalam uncle, Sri Thiruvarur Vaidhyanathan uncle, Gurucharan anna and Nagai Sriram anna at the Philadelphia airport as we were all taking same flt to Chicago. On reaching Chicago we were again splitting as respective groups as we were to stay in different houses.

We were picked up by Sri Rangam uncle and we had lunch in their house. The greatest thing was we could watch the 2nd part of IPL finals in a big TV with our web link given by Seattle Vishwa uncle and enjoyed the same. Then we came to Usha Ravi aunty's house and saw group of talented children - Shashank playing Flute (student of Smt. Sunitha Granthi), Sanjay on Mrudhangam (presently nder the tutelage of Sri Gruvayur Durai), Hariharan (student of sri B.. GaneshPrasad)  on Vocal and Akshay (still to dance so no photo of his action - learning from Smt. Sowmya Kumaran) a good dancer. Hari and Akshay are children o Mr & Mrs Ravi. I am on to playing Wi games now and will report later. bye for now.

This trip to New Jersey has been different in all ways alike we had to spilt ourselves into 2 groups with appa and self in Mr/s Venkatraman, VP CIMANA's house and Poongi uncle and Kannan mama in Mr/s Sankaran's house (President, CIMANA). While i thought this would affect our smooth flowing trip both our groups were kept busy by both families. We here enjoyed our stay with natural sorrundings with bird's sound always and fish tank at home. I also enjoyed playing / experiencing GOLF for the first time in my life.

Mr Venkat was so nice to take us to a Golf Pro coaching zone and we enjoyed it very much. I was so happy when he said i was playing Golf very ell and also told him hthat i wold like to call myself as Squirrelwood - (like TIGER WOODS!). I also had the greatest opportunity to meet Dr Ravi Dattatreya uncle at his residence, thanks to Prakash anna - Mr Venkat's son, who took us there. We experienced the Train rides all through and spent good time there. Dr Ravi uncle's family were so nice to us and we tasted Pasta for lunch apart from good chappathi's. Ravi uncle plans to make some album project and hope it comes through. Mr Mahendra - his brother was nice too and so was Srivatsa anna - Ravi uncle's son who plays Piano in a great way.

The concert here went well and we sincerely hope the good run continues. The only sad thing is that appa got sick with soar throat and hope he becomes alright soon witht eh kashayam given by Smt. Venkat mamai. The stay here has been very good and have been enjoying it with Golf, UNO and also playing Trade game for the first time in this tour. I also had good time with RIA & Rishi children of Mr Govind uncle (appa's friend for last 25 years!) when we went to their house. I played wi games and tried new games too and it was great fun. Tomorrow we are all going to Philadelphia by surface and then to Chicago for a concert on 25th May'09.

Our trip to Charlotte

Every city / venue is indeed a great experience in this tour for me and this kind of twin cities as far as music organisers are concerned namely Raleigh and Charlotte has been very special for me. It was after the great stay at Raleigh we moved by surface to Charlotte and if not for the team thinking of all of us including Mr/s Akila Arun and Mr Ravi , ho drove us, we would have had great trouble driving the distance of about 170 miles. It was raining and Mr Ravi uncle was indeed great and self, Kannan uncle and Poongi uncle played UNO cards throughout our travel.

In Charlotte it was in my god's brother's home we were staying i.e. Dr Ravi Dattatreya's (who had presented me with a Korg Trinity workstation in Nov'09 and we in our family really think of him as god) brother's house. I enjoyed the concert on May 17th 2009 after having good lunch and has been enjoying the stay here. e have been playing Tennis, went to IMAX theatre and had the experience of being to Grand Canyon - Colorado River film and playing UNO. I also recorded few krithis for Ravi uncle. Pooja and Rupa akka (one in the photos dancing) were also nice and so was the dinner hosted by committee members with Mr&Mrs Krishna family, Mr & Mrs Vijay family and Mr & Mrs Muthukrishnan & family. Thanks to Jayashree Pandurangan aunty and Pandu uncle for having given us great time in their house with great homely food. They also took us to Cizi's Pizza and e enjoyed the buffet spread! Hope our good run on and off the stage continues!!

Our stay in Raleigh 13 - 17 May'09

It was wonderful stay at Connecticut with Mr Vir Gopalan and family continue to host us in the best way done by all the hosts during our tour till date. I enjoyed playing Tennis here for the first time in the tour apart from the opportunity to visit New York which photos are already there in my earlier post. 

It was a hopping flight from Connecticut to Raleigh via Washington Dulles airport and were received by Mr Mohan (who helped us to be dropped) and Ms Akila Arun, our host in Raleigh. It has been very good here with good food and pleasant stay. We are enjoying the cinema viewing and UNO cards here. Also having fun with Dia, 18month old child of our host. IPL matches viewed here has been great with close finishes.

I also had the opportunity to try out cycling here for the first time and had fun at both the dinners at Mr Manohar's family, both the daughters Preethi & Namitha playing Piano and Mr Arthanareeswar's family (his son Karthick, a talented singer under the tutelage of Sri O.S. Thyagarajan uncle, sang a Thodi raga krithi for us which was very good). We also had Charan who as good on Piano and with him we had fun trying the jumping jack game, Trampoline which was really a good experience. It looks easy but really pains at the joints after few jumps. The theatre style setting to view dvd made us watch couple of songs from Chandramki at Mr Manohar's house. We have our concert today night and hope it goes well. We will be proceeding to Charlotte tomorrow  by surface and report further from there. 

 

Great day of this tour. Thanks to Dr. Vir Gopalan uncle for the NewYork trip today 12th May'09



details follows

Concert in Hartford & our day on 11th May'09



details follows.

Concert photos in LA 09 May'09



details follows.

A great day in Los Angeles - Visit to Disneyland my amma' review in Dinamalar

More than me my mama Embar Kannan was waiting for this day as he was always wanting me to be taken here to Disneyland. He was also scarring me with lots of inputs from Seattle here we had a good stay in Seattle and reached Los Angles on 6th May'09 evening. First few photos are taken at the airport and on way to our host's Mr & Mrs Ramamurthi's house. Here too they are very nice with two children here and one in India. Surprisingly he is working for a company in India on deputation from USA! As soon as i arrived i started playing TT ith Siva anna, thier last son now studying in 11th grade.

I was very excited and also little scarred of going to Disneyland in the morning but it was all a different feeling in the evening when e finished all the rides and amusements. Yes Poongi uncle told me not get scarred and so did my appa & i just enjoyed every ride. My mama as so happy and i am glad i could full fill his desire here in Disneyland by taking all the rides he wanted me too!

Really a great day and thank to our host who had dropped and picked us from Disneyland and also for the wonderful lnch they had packed for us. Appa and Poongi uncle were enjoying the match seeing it live! and also saw Mozhi - tamil film.

We came back around 9pm and appa showed me the Dinamalar article on amma's concert, and i was doubly thrilled and was really happy. Technology has helped me see this article at the same time when my amma was seeing it at home! I understand appa and my chithappa made all in our family to come on skype conference call and shared this joy.

I am now watching the match, thanks to Vishwa uncle from Seattle who has given a special link to see the match in full now!

It was indeed nice to have performed a concert for ISKON temple yesterday and it as a full house concert. Every one enjoyed and had a great dinner and played UNOtill 1am. The host Priest Lakshminarayanan and Priest Vasudeva uncles were very nice and the highlight of this city's visit was the viewing of IPL matches on both days. Thanks to Vishwa uncle who had specially given us a link today for us to see the match ninterupted. It was done ydy by LN uncle. We all enjoyed this stay in Seattle to the greatest extent.

It has been a great stay in Seattle hat with a new concert fixed up after seeing our performance on 3rd May, now at ISKON temple on the 5th May'09. e are really blessed to have Mr Lakshminarayanan & Mr Vasudevan who have have been taking care of us so well with great food from Mr LN's house. Here are the photos taken on 4th May'09 with some exercises, visit to a temple and the highlight of visit - MICROSOFT office thanks to Gayathri akka for arranging same. thanks to LN uncle for having taken s to the temples of ISKON and Nithyanandam with his father.

Todays' concert at Seattle 03 May'09

Pleased to upload photos of today including the concert held today which well received. Will detail later as i thought of uploading it at the earliest.

We had great fun at San Jose staying in Mr & Mrs Viji Mani's hose and enjoyed the walking trail in a small mountain. I have given the links of the photos and also that of the concert evening.

Appa received this message from Bharath Uncle, Uhooroo.com and i feel this is one of the greatest recognition i have received. Thanks to Bharath uncle and Mr Teed Rockwell.

Qte:

Hello Mr. Krishnababu,
You might remember Teed Rockwell from Uhooroo. He just sent out this email to his mailing list. I hope it brings a few more to the audience tomorrow. Thanks, Bharath
---------- Forwarded message ----------From: Teed Rockwell <mcmf@sfo.com>Date: Fri, May 1, 2009 at 3:40 PMSubject: Rare Carnatic music performance.To: Music Bay area mcmf@sfo.com

This week end on 2nd May'09 Keyboard Sathya is peforming in an instrumental ensemble "heArtbeat" at the Livermore Hindu Temple, Livermore 1232 Arrowhead Ave, Livermore, CA 94551 <http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=livermore+temple&aq=f&oq=#> the concert is from 5 - 7:30 pm.
This thirteen year old prodigy is the first person to play traditional Carnatic music on the synthesizer. He has figured out how to use the pitch wheel to play the broad Gamakas which are so important to Carnatic music. I frequently go to listen to his music at this website.
http://www.uhooroo.com/keyboardsathya
Musical Prodigies are usually very good at copying their elders, but I’ve never seen anyone his age who has also been so innovative. He has transferred Carnatic music to a whole new instrument in ways that I am sure will effect the future of this music in many important ways.
He lives in Chennai, India, and to my knowledge this is the first time he has ever played in the United States. It’s a long trek from Berkeley to Livermore, but I’m definitely going.

-- Teed Rockwell, Touchstyle Fretboard (aka Chapman Stick®)
http://cdbaby.com/cd/teedwww.myspace.com/teedrockwell

In Atlanta from 26 - 29 April'09

It is indeed a great city just for the reason that it has Dr Ram Sriram who is one of the very few Crt. Distinguished Professor in Accountancy ho has won one of the most prestigious award of the Nation for the year 2001-02 for excellence in teaching accountancy. His wife Smt Rama Ram is also a distinguished Medical research analyst who has more than 30 - 40 research papers to her credit. We had the great honor of being in their house and we are thoroughly enjoying it. They are so simple and it is nice to learn this from them!

We had the great opportunity to visit Coca-Cola Museum which was a thrilling experience! I had the the chance to taste all the products of Coca-Cola throughout the world at one place and one has to experience it to understand the thrill. We had a 4d demo of the making of Coke and it was indeed fantastic. Only sad thing is appa dropped our camera after coming out of the museum and he felt very bad for same. Well this has been keeping us all united bring my memories to you and so we have decided to by a new one either today 28th April'09 or tomorrow at SanJose. I am sure you will enjoy the pictures taken here in the museum.

We also went to Dr Ramesh's residence in the evening on 27th for dinner and had a "maja" time with hi sons Nikil & Pranav playing wi games and discussing on Cricket, which game they were not very much clear. I explained to my knowledge and also had lots of fun with every one there especially their thatha. Appa, Kanna mama and Poongi uncle went to Swaminarayanan temple which i believe is one of the most beautiful temples in the world. You can have details in http://atlanta.baps.org The Shiva vishnu temple we performed on 26th April'09 also was very beautiful and divine. We will be leaving to SanJose on 29th April and will report from there later.

St. Louis -Playing Cricket & Watching IPL - 22nd to 25th April'09

It was a drastic change of climate we experienced when we reached St. Louis from Calgary. Yes after being to Banff no to a place almost like November Chennai as far as the climate! It was kind of hot and sultry and we were met by Mr Anand who took us to our host for the next couple of days, Mr Sridhar's residence. Poongi uncle jokingly was telling me that we will have 

"vathakozhambu and urulai karimudhu" during the flight but that became true after a long day flt journey at Sridhar uncle's residence. We not only enjoyed food but also their warmth. 

While we were playing UNO Sridhar uncle taught us a new game on cards - Mail - which resembled rummy, but i was not very much impressed. Appa and Poongi uncle liked it and it as all fun for them. Poongi uncle was the winner almost every time and the host family was all at loss - i am sure just in the game. We also got opportunity to Play or dear game Cricket and were all happy. H/ever as during all or local games we also had fight which could have been avoided. Well that's gully Cricket any way!

Later e moved to Mr Chandramouli's residence which was like being in a big Hotel in Kodaikanal. Yes! so big and beautiful it was. Ms. Mahitha Bhardwaj, his daughter, a talented personality who has given performances on Keyboard, plays Piano, sings and performs Bharathanatyam. It was so nice of her grandma to wish me and it was all fun being with the family to watch "Bommalattam" a movie e all like, not only for the film but also for the ambiance we were seeing it. Eventhough we could not see the "St. Louis Arch" we left with great satisfaction of having been with two excellent families.

Great news

I am pleased to inform all that i have passed by 8th std and now promoted to 9th std! I got this information in the night at 1145pm 21st April our time and we were in Calgary. We reached St. Louis today and was greeted with Pal Payaam by Mr & Mrs Sridhar and family. We enjoyed the evening celebrating the result ith UNO card game and Ifi games. All this after a long day -  Yes we woke up at 430am caught a flt at 8am at Calgary and reached St. Louis at 430pm. We were met Mr Anand and reached our host's residence at about 6pm. Looking forward to a great time in St. Louis.

I am happy to give two video clippings of taken at BANFF - Calgary. Hope you all enjoy.

Tour to BANFF - A great Tour - Thanks to Mr Shree and Raga Mala

It was an exiting morning for me and appa as we were to proceed to BANFF - Snow capped mountains. We were met by Mr Shree who had offered to take us to this tour after the concert on April 19, 2009 when Poongi uncle told him about my wish to see these mountains. It was indeed a never to miss trip and Poongi uncle (ho had already seen it) and Kanna mama also joined us for the tour. It was a drive for about 2 hrs and on way Shree uncle showed us many thing including the Ghost Lake. We enjoyed walking on the icy lake and proceeded to Banff. it was really a exciting scene to see White ice mountains all round us. The time we spent there, the Winch drive and the drive etc cannot be said in words and so i am requesting you all to see the photo link above. 

It is interesting to know that Mr Shree's father was one of the pioneers to have explored to go to the top of the BANF mountain and to study  impact of COMIC rays at this place. His name Mr. venkatesan is inscribed on a plaque at the top of the mountain crediting him for this effort by the Canadian Government. What an achievement and Mr Shree  uncle  is a proud son indeed!!

We were hosted for dinner by Sri Bharath uncle who was very friendly with me and took us to Maurya restaurant. Its so unfortunate we could not take our camera so missed to take a photo with him. May be it is reserved for our next visit!

In Montreal on 18th & Calgary on 19th & 20th April'09

It was indeed great day on 18th April with a sound sleep after viewing a film at our host Dr Krishnamurthy's house and in the evening the venue was just at a walkable distance. The concert went well and Alex & Alex on PA did a great job or the audience. H/ever we had no monitor and so all the three of us had some difficulty.  The concert was very much appreciated and when we told this problem after the concert Mr Gopi Menon & the team felt sorry and appreciated the good presentation given by the team. The dinner was a kind of get together of many of the volunteers and friends and was really good. I really loved the Pussy - the Black cat very much in this house!

After waking up early, proceeded to the airport to go to Calgary on the 19th april'09. Thanks to InduReka aunty, we had our brunch in the flight. Calgary airport was nice and we were met by Mr day Thakkur, president Raga Mala and Mr Howard and drove us to "Nirvana" a Indian restaurant here we had good lunch. Later we reached Econolodge, the place of our stay which had swimming pool. The concert in the evening went well with appreciation for the team from all the adience. Here too we had standing ovation after the concert. 

We had nice swim yesterday 20th April and spent good time with Mr Sudeep who hosted us for lunch at a East Indian Restaurant named Namaskar and enjoyed the food. He discussed many subjects with appa and it was interesting for me to listen. It was also nice of Udhay Mathur uncle to have taken us to "Sears Mall" to buy shoe for Poongi uncle to go to Banf - Sno mountains on 21st. e went to Southern Spice restaurant. while i had Onion Rava Masala other three had Thali meal and the food was very authentic. Later we found out that the chef as Mr Mohan from Trichy and we gave him lots of compliments for a great dinner. 

My mother's wedding day gift to me!

It was a different wedding day April 12th, celebrations for my parents as my amma had a great concert in Villiwakkamn, Chennai and appa and i were enjoying the sight seeing in Montreal. Here is the concert pictures of my mom and thanks to Raghu uncle for sending it to me.

Canada - where i am going to play Kaanada

Welcome to Canada! Yes i am welcoming you all to see the pictures we have taken as we enter Canada. On April 16, 2009 we left Dallas. After having idli at St. Luis and Puliyodharai and Curd rice (thanks to Jayashree aunty, Dallas) at Chicago, we took a small 52 seater plan and arrived in Montreal. We stayed for our organiser who had to come from downtown and so had the taste of Canadian Hot Chocolate at the airport. Mr Gopi Menon, who had come here before 35 years for good, i o nice and took us to our host's house. Dr. Krishnamurthy's family once again, touch wood, has been very nice to us and we are having fun with great warmth & good food just for the asking.

Myself and appa went out with Sri Gopi Menon, who keeps singing Sai bhajan very well all throught, and explored Montreal city shopping mall. It is all underground and covers almost entire city. The metro is very good, i experienced it in Kolkatta as well, and you can see the photo of all this above. We had good lunch with Pizza and Ice cream for me and Naan with potato & Mutter paneer for appa and Gopi Menon uncle. Gopi uncle also took us to the gigantic Olympic stadium (1976) and the BIO-DEM centre. He also drove us on a city tour of Montreal.

Later in the evening had good practice session with Embar Kannan uncle and then after dinner saw "Naan Kadavul" before going to bed at 1115 pm. Now we are going for another practice session before lunch and will be going ahead to the venue at 530 pm. will update on concert later tomorrow.

In Dallas on April 15, 2009

As i had written earlier we went to Mr & Mrs Shanthi Mrali's residence for dinner on April 15th 2009. Their daghter Megna sang a song and has got a good voice. Their son Shyam who is 16 years old has jst returned from Cleveland after performing a one hour concert there on Saxaphone. It was indeed a srprie to know that the instrument cost around $ 2000 and also he hd got a new one which is more like a clarinet costing just $ 700. Shyam played both and e had good time listening to hi skills in Carnatic & Jazz music. They had a Casio keyboard and on their request played western lessons there. Also took photo just before leaving Dallas from Sri & Smt Jayashree Manikantan house and hope to return back soon!

I hope you like the photos above  which were taken on the 15th April'09.

Our Dallas Trip April 12 - 14, 2009

After the Austin concert we all left to Dallas in two cars thanks to my appa's friend Sri Manikantan and my thatha's (paternal) guide and well wisher Smt. Om Bhavatharini's son-in-law Sri Baskaran who had come down to Austin to pick us up. It was joyful 3 hr drive and we could not stay for Sri VVS mama concert here also as we had to drive down. We picked up Bakthavatchalam uncle's baggage as he was coming to Dallas by flt next day and this gave an oppurtunity to meet him in person in Jayashree Manikantan aunty's house. We had good fun with lots of jokes shared by all of during his visit. Jayahree aunty & Manikantan uncle were very happy to have got Bakthavatchalam uncle visit their house. 

I have been having good time here even though TT is not available but UNO and WI games are here and i play with Sahana, Sanjana and of course our team of appa, unlce and Poongi uncle. We visited Smt Athirai & Sri Baskaran uncle's house for dinner yesterday 14th april'09 and met lot of people who had come to see us. I played with Akash and Avinash, Mr/s Baskaran's children for some time. We had nice time and today we are to meet Poongi ncle's friend's family Mr/s Shanthi Murali. Today we went to buy luggage as one which we brought is of no use now with handles broken and spent some time on shopping. 

Understand Dallas is the  place where John F. Kennedy was shot dead and had a glimpse of the museum from outside. Monuments entry fees are really high with $ 20 as fee for this. I was thanking our Govt. as they are charging very low entry fee for our monuments!

Weekend concerts at Boston April 11th and April 12th at Austin.

It was indeed a great weekend with a concert at Boston on Saturday afternoon from 230 - 4pm and i was really moved to see lot of people coming and appreciating me for the performance. Thanks to Marc Rossi uncle who had come for interaction on 9th April'09, there was a music company which wanted to make an album of mine! A great news to have after a performance. God willing it should be happening soon! Later we (myself and appa) were picked up by Sasi uncle and his son Suraj & drove us to their house. It was indeed a long drive but for all the people in USA it is just 40 mts drive! On reaching we had some pleasantries exchanged and Suraj and me enjoyed playing car game on the computer. Well i earned lots of points too!

Appa was treated with tasteful Adais and i had ordered for a pizza which i shared with Suraj. Suraj's mom packed us Adai and Puliyodarai for the next day long flt Boston - Chicago - Austin. The food with the curd rice of Sumana Aunty tasted really great when we had them as breakfast in Chicago during transit on 12th April'09 on way to Austin. My uncle Embar Kannan and Poongulam Subramaniam uncle stayed back at the concert venue and returned to Mr & Mrs Anand uncles house after performing a concert with Sri T, M, Krishna. We also wanted to stay for that but having come to Boston and for seeing appa's' friend;s family we had to leave. Appa had great time over lunch with Mr  Mrs Srinivasan on April 9th as i could not go due to slight ill health which caught on me due to being inactive on the 8th April as we did not play at all the entire day! 

At Austin airport we had the opportunity to meet Sri VV Subramaniam unlce, Violin Maestro, and his son Sri VVS Murari along with Sri Thiruvaroor Bakthavatchalam sir, Mrudhangam genius. We all were picked by Sri Nagarajan sir's volunteers and drove to Studio 6 Hotel for a healthy and tasteful lunch. We had our concert from 3:30 - 5:30 pm and thanks to Mr Dan, the Sound Engineer all well went well with regard to concert with good appreciation for us.

Here is the link for the photos taken during our trip till date.

US Photos Arpil 3rd, 2009

photos 4apr-7apr

It is indeed a great blessing from god that we were hosted by Mr/s Sumana Anand family here in Boton and i had all the best of what my uncle Embar Kannan use to talk good about his USA trips. The food was to my liking thanks to Ashiq (15yr old) & Sneha (9yr old) children of Mr/s Sumana Anand, who also has similar food habits. There was TT table which was kept busy almost everyday for 6 - 8 hours. Big screen TV with movies going on and on. UNO card game, Basketball throwing efforts and most important a chill & freezing cold climate. 

We had lunch out with TARA aunty, a renowned Violin & Vocal teacher and Shailaja Gargeya aunty (relative of my guru Kalimamani A. Kanyakumari madam) one day and had fun playing carrom & Wi games. The interaction session with Marc Rossi uncle at Sumana aunty's house was interesting and i also caught up little illness which made me miss appa's trip to visit Mr Srinivasan's, Rasikapriya yahoo group,residence. It was nice of him to have come to drop appa and also spend some time with me. The medicine from Sumana anty and the warmth from all with me made me recover soon and i was ll set for the concert on Saturday 11th April'09

Ellam Iraivan Seyal

It all looks to me a dream. Yes i am now in Boston having completed a lec-dem and a concert in Portland, USA on the 3rd & 4th April'09. It was indeed like a suspense thriller for me till i actually took the flt on the 3rd April. We were suppose to take the flt on the 1st morning but at the last minute we were informed that our passports were held up in Canadian Embassy for Visa issuance. It came only on the 2nd evening at 7pm and now the space for us in the flt!

While Kannan uncle, Poongulam uncle and self got ourselves booked in a direct flt MAA/Frankfurt/Portland, appa got only the flt MAA/Frankfurt/Seattle/Portland. Then we reached Portland by 12noon on 3rd April'09 and just went to the hotel Phoenix Inn and we changed ourselves and proceeded to Intel Factory or a lec-dem.

Many thought we would probably have jet lag but "Ellam Iravan Seyal" all three of us were fit to do the lec-dem in a grand manner. Appa could reach hotel directly at 5:30pm only. Then we had good food organised by volunteers thru" Mr/S Raman who were the host thru' Rasika - an organisation committed to promoting music in Portland.

Portland was indeed cold and a great small city. I loved the climate and it was all systematic every where and every one was so cool! No tensions seen and as appa said every one was with the attitude of nothing will go wrong!

On the 4th April we had the concert at Portland Performing Art Center, a beautiful hall and i was fortunate to perform there. The PA system was great and the ambiance was simply superb. After the concert we were greeted and appreciated by many and it was a great feeling.

Thanks to my uncle for bringing the laptop i could easily access skype and speak to my mom every now and then. Also thanks to the hosts who all are very kind and nice to me. Ellam Iraivan Seyale!

Greetings to all of you.

It has been long time i posted in my blog and so thought of greeting you all first. I did have 2 concerts in the month of March on the 7 & 14 being private functions and also have one tomorrow the 22nd March'09 at Coimbatore.

Lots of things are happening around me with exams already having started on the 20th Mar'09. With the grace of god and all the wishes of my well wishers i am really happy to inform you that i am scheduled for a USA & Canada concert tour with Sri Embar S. Kannan (my own uncle)on Violin, Sri Poongulam Syubramaniam on Mrudhangama and my father on thalam. The first concert is on the 4th April'09 at Portland and the last of the tour is scheduled on the 31st May'09 at Toronto, Canada. I shall surely display the detailed schedule once finalised and hope to have all my well wishers living in the cities i am performing in USA & Canada for my concerts.

My sincere thanks to my school management Smt YGp Madam, Mrs Madhuvanthi Arun, Mrs Chandra Srinivasan my school Principal Smt Indra Vaidhaynathan and my teachers for having given me permission to take this tour which has been advanced by a month from the originally scheduled 30 April'09. I also owe my thanks to dear Kalyan uncle, a great well wisher who had a forethought probably and co-ordinated in the right time along with my parents.



I am also happy to say that my parents have gifted me with a new Korg X-50 model keyboard today for my US trip. It is so cute and looks like a real baby, weighing just 5 kgs. It has all the features of Korg TR 61 model and the greatest advantage is less weight and the portability. I sincerely thank my parents and the almighty for this and hope to live up to the expectations of one and all. Thanks to Srikanth Deva and Siva uncles (Music Directors) for having given their consent for me to play their instrument and check if it is useful for me. Thanks to my nephew Vikram Sarathy and guru Sada master who helped me in locating this board and buy it. My thanks to Radha Vijayan uncle of Singapore also for helping appa get the correct price of the keybaord. Sincere thanks to Vir Gopalan uncle of USA who tried to get it for me while he was here in Chennai. I am sure he will be happy to see this now.

I need all the wishes of all my wishers to complete my exams and also to have a successful tour ahead.