This is the blessings for me after the Thanjavur concert performed for Sadhya Vizha on the 29th October, 2009. A great review in The Hindu, Trichy edition dated 01 November, 2009



Full review can be read in the link

http://www.hindu.com/2009/11/01/stories/2009110157830600.htm

I sincerely thank the almighty and all my well wishers especially Hon. Sri Ubayadullah, Minister for commercial taxes, Govt. of Tamilnadu and the Festival Committee for giving me tis oppurtunity.

Concert in Thanjavr brahadheeswarar temple on 29th October, 2009

Soon after this Deepavali i had a concert on the 20th Oct'09 which went well with good audience and also was a kind of crtain raiser for the concerts to come next month.




I was so happy that i got the oppurtunity to perform for the great Emperor Raja Raja Cholan's 1024th birthday celebrations in Thanjavur which was celerated as sadhaya Vizha. Our team performed at the Big temple - Brahadheeswarar Temple and got the chance to see the deity at almost 2 feet distance. A huge Lingam was indeed great and hope to receive all the blesings of the Lord Siva. Thanks to TN Minister or Commerce and Trade Sri bayadullah and the Festival committee which had extended this opptunity.

We had a great concert and also wonderful time at the Hotel Sangam where we stayed. We were playing cricket in the swimming pool and all of us were very energetic dring the concert prresentation later in the day from 830 - 1115 pm. A memorable trip which all of cherished it and ill be in or minds for a long time.

Diwali Celebrations 2009

Wishing you all a Very Happy Diwali

Diwali Celebrations 2009

It was indeed a great Deepavali celebration i have had in the last few years! Yes I just had my Raman uncle (Athimber) coming to India from Singapore after receiving a Global award for his invention of a Tanker - I had already reported earlier, from JEC, Singapore this morning only. Also it was a long day of bursting crackers purchased from Sivakasi. It was great fun all through the day with my uncle Embar Kannan and i also had fun with my nephew Vikram Sarathy and cousins Suriya and Sowmya at my paternal grandparent's house in Santhome. We had a good family get together and in the evening it was fun with all our neighbours joining and bursting crackers. Looking forward to more such celebrations!

A great Week of travel & concerts.

It was indeed a great Pooja week for me after my performance as accompanying artists for my amma on the 21st Sep'09 followed by the concert on 27th Sep'09 - Saraswathi Pooja day at Koothanur Saraswathi Temple. Thanks to Jayaraman mama and the temple authorities for giving this oppurtunity for the 3rd consecutive year - this time on this very auspicious day to be at the Temple of Music God! I was happy to see the Nadaswara vidwan putting thalam for the entire concert and my sincere thanks on behalf of our team to Sri Kathikeyan for the same. The ambience was so wonderful i attempted to elaborate Dwajavanthi for the first time and i request you all to listen to the audio track and forward your opinion. It was a great drive from Chennai to Koothanur with Appa driving and with Karaikal Venkat anna and Keerthivasan we had a wonderful trip. Hope we are blessed to continue performing in this temple premises year after year. It was also so nice of a well wisher from Mayavaram to have stayed back for the entire concert with his family and also take photos and videos in our camera.

Following this trip i had been to Sivakasi for Ghatam Dr. S. Karthick's heArtbeat ensemble concert at Kaakivaadapatti Sri Krishnan Temple with my uncle Embar Kannan. Right from teh train journey from Egmore till return to Mambalam station i enjoyed the entire trip with me blessed to be win the team of Sri Prapancham Ravindran uncle on Mrudhangam, Sri Raman uncle on Morsing, Sri Srisundarkumar uncle on Kanjeera and Sri Arunkumar on Rhythm pad who joined us at Sivakasi. The concert was on the 1st Oct'09 from 830 pm and went on till 1230 am. It was a huge audience and a different atmosphere in a remote village and we all enjoyed the show and so was the lovely audience. We went to Srivilliputtur temple and also to a factory outlet of Sony Fireworks and ordered for our Deepavalli crackers which i am expecting to receive in a day or two. Looking forward to more trips like this!

September, 2009 - A great month - Dreams coming True!

It has been great month of musical efforts combined with Quarterly exams for me this September. I was so thrilled when our school authorities gave me permission to go to Tirumala for performing during my quarterly exam and my sincere thanks for the same without which i could not have performed at Tirumala. This was one of my great dreams and so was an oppurtunity that came my way with the performance at Sringeri Bharathi Vidhyashram on the 14th and 20th September, 2009 respectively. It was also a great blessing when Sri Umayalpuram Sir was coming into the hall on the 20th September'09 and i was so moved when he staed back for the entire concert. I hope to get good advice from him when i meet him personally soon.

Another great thing happened in my life on the 21st Sep'09 when i had the oppurtunity to accompany my mom on vocal appa on kanjeera with Kumbakonam Swaminathan anna on Mrudhangam at Agatheewarar Temple, Villiwakkam. The term Sruthi Matha - Layam Pitha came true in my life with my mom on Vocal as Srtuhi and appa on Kanjeera - Layam with self on Keyboard! What a great day it turned out to be! Congrats to my father who constantly was working towards performing on kanjeera and he did justice to his thoughts by giving a performance that was well appreciated by his immediate boss of the day Sri Swaminathan anna on Mrudhangam. I hope he continues his efforts and i am sure he will make a mark in the years to come.

Just going to school to write the exam i skipped to got to Tirumala and i am sure Lord Balaji will bring all that i have studied to my mind to do Well!. I also had some great private concert performance this month and i am now looking forward to the concert at Koothanoor - Temple of Goddess Saraswathi - on the 28th September - Saraswathi Pooja day and i am indeed blessed to have this oppurtunity. As mentioned by my dad in our other blog, this September has really been of "Dreams coming True" month!!

I had been to Madurai thanks to Mr. Jagannathan - cousin of Sri Srinivasan, Nadopasana - who was the first person to give an oppurtunity in his forum on the 9th December 2001. It was very new set of enhancement artists i performed, with Sri Govindarajan - Violin, Sri Palladam Ravi - mrudhangam and Sri Krishnan - Ghatam and this presentation also was well received. I am planning to ask my father to upload this and you can access same in teh link www.sangeethamshare.org/sathya under the serial number 028 after two days.

September month has started with a concert for our old neighbour's family. Interestingly when i was around 7 years, this bridegroom along with her domestic help, my amma and self used to play 4 corners - a play using four points or corners in our house. So nice of the family to have remembered me to give me an oppurtunity to be part of thel celebration during her wedding. The concert came out with all the artists giving their best , especially after knowing the above story!

August Concerts

I had few private concerts in August and also accompanied Smt Radha Parthasarathy for a lec-dem which was a different experience. It was with three differentteams i performed the private concerts in August and the audience for all the concerts did express their satisfaction on our presentation. On the 29th Aug'09, i performed the three major songs from Thiruvlayadal namely - Orunal Podhuma, Isaithamizh NeeSeidha arum Sadhanai and Pattum Nane Bhavamum Naane. This set received lots of appreciation. Looking forward to a good September ahead with many concerts and also Quarterly exam coming up.

Congratulations Jackie for this achievement - We are Proud of You.

Badminton: Karnataka State ChampionshipAditya, Jacqueline triumphDavanagere, Aug 31, DHNS:

Badminton: State Championship

Aditya, Jacqueline triumph

Davanagere, Aug 31, DHNS:

Aditya R Prakash warded off a first-game deficit to overpower SDS Krishna in the final of the men’s section in the State badminton championship here on Monday.

Aditya secured a hard fought 15-21, 21-7, 21-12 victory over a gritty Krishna to clinch the title. Aditya, who lost the first game at 15-21, bagged the second pretty easily. He gave away just seven points while taking the match to the decider. Aditya gave no chance to Krishna in the deciding third game as he wrapped the game at 21-12 for the crown. Aditya had taken a similar route to the final, edging past Mohit Kamath 18-21, 21-14, 21-9 in the semis, while Krishna crushed Rohan Castellino 21-10, 21-11. Jacqueline Rose Kunnath outclassed G M Nischitha 21-12, 21-16 to pocket the women’s title. There was some consolation for Krishna when he teamed up with Ajit Wiketilekk to clinch the doubles crown with a come from behind 15-21, 21-17, 21-12 victory over D Guruprasad and Vineeth Manuel.

article courtesy http://www.deccanherald.com/content/22627/

Jacqueline is my father's friend's daughter and i was sure that she will bring India great laurels when i saw her game 18 months before. She is just on the path to greater glory and this is just another step towards same.

All my well wishers who would like to greet her can send message to her father's email id thomaskunnath at hotmail.com

New assignment as accompanying artist - Aug 23, 2009.



It was indeed a nice experience to accompany for the first time on my keyboard for Mrs Radha Parthasarathy for a session held for Sahithyapriya to make one understand the meaning of 06 Dikshidar krtihis. The effort was to reach a new set of learned audience and i think i was to an extent successful on this effort. Thanks to the organizers for this oppurtunity extended. It was held at Raga Sudha Hall, Mylapore Chennai

Wishing you all a Very Happy Independence day. While being proud to be Indians, we at this point of our lives, I think should think of being Proud of being a Human! Yes lets shed all our inhibitions towards caste, creed and Nationality and join together to save the Mother Earth!

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!