Shanti Nilava Vendum

Pattammal's alongwith M.S. Subbulakshmi and M. L. Vasantha Kumari were ones which were almost always heard at home. My grand mother used to be a big time rasika of DKP. She has made many kritis of Dikshitar immortal. Coming from an age when ladies were not allowed to sing in public leave alone sing on stage occupied by men, Pattammal was a revolutionary, paving way for many to follow her foot steps. Her clarity of pronunciation and also singing is something every aspiring musician should learn.

Praying for her soul to rest in eternal peace in the Almighty


Clip of her voice rendering Vaishnava Janato from Hey Raam

Adieu MJ

It cannot be said it was shocking to hear about the passing away of the king of pop, Michael Jackson but still shocking it is. Personalities like these are ones who live on beyond their physical life.

He had been suffering a lot of health, medical and other issues, but that did not do a bit to wane his fans. Controversy was his middle name, with reports of him sleeping in an oxygen chamber, to his pets, to his bleaching his skin light, his conversion to Islam; all have been lapped up hungrily by his fans. The scandals and his exploitation by his music promoters which forced him to sell of his priced possessions, all left the newspapers and tabloids with a lot of fodder to fill their pages with.

My tryst with western music began with his songs actually. ABBA, BoneyM et al did not seem to be western music till "Beat It" from "Thriller" by Jackson came about. The way he sang, the way he danced, the way he made his videos...all seemed so unique and special and left us all spell bound. It surely changed the way music videos were made. "We are the world" that he alongwith Lionel Richie got all top artistes of the time to perform is another feather in his cap.

“Farewell and adieu to you, Jackson".

Though your music and videos will remain, you will surely be missed.



Though not perfect, his life can be an inspiration on what one can achieve if one had the talent and the drive.

Rest in Peace

Google Creates Wave

Google Wave seems to be the biggest product launch in recent times which is an in browser communication and collaboration tool. Sounds exciting but the proof of the pudding is in its eating. So waiting for its release to public

Here is a guide to what the Wave is

April 1st

An entertaining video for April 1st.

Earth Hour

Earth Hour is all about small changes that people are capable of making and we in our day to day life forget about environment and all that needs to be done to preserve it.

On March 28th, 2009, some 1000 cities across different countries together are observing the Earth Hour by switching off lights for an hour. In Bangalore, there is touted to be large scale participation of people to this need of the hour by switching off lights from 8.30 to 9.30 PM. This is primarily aimed at sending a powerful global message that it’s possible to take action on climate change.

In Bangalore atleast, we have forced Earth Hour once in the morning and once at night not taking into account the numerous Earth Minutes:-), so it wont make a difference as we have learnt to live in darkness as well as in light.

The Taare Zameen Par Effect

The SSLC Board in Karnataka has made concessions for students with learning disabilities or dyslexia by allowing them to use simple calculators and the assistance of a scribe while writing the 10th Standard Board examinations. Is this the Taare Zameen Par Effect? I did not know what dyslexia was, though had read a little about it and knew the spelling of the word till the movie came and shook me to the reality of dyslexia. Hope we wake up and realize that it is not just the dyslexics who need understanding but also others equally if not more challenged.

Recalling E-Mail the Google Way

Google Mail has come out with yet another interesting feature that allows the sender to recall an email.

This feature aims at giving the sender an opportunity to rethink if he wants to send that email and if he feels like it, recall it by clicking on the Undo Button as G-mail holds the message in its draft form for five seconds before sending it. This does not recall a mail which is already sent. This could be a revolution in so far as sending emails is concerned. However, nothing would be achieved in holding the mail for 5 seconds more, when the sender had all the time in the universe while drafting that email to contemplate whether to send or not. Maybe, a mistake in address etc. could be rectified, but would this 5 seconds be enough? So, if a person has second thoughts about a mail, he better think fast.

Well, for all we know, google might have more in store for us in ensuring human relations are kept intact after their experiment in preventing users from sending emails when in a drunken state or reminding a person about a forgotten attachment if the attachment is mentioned in the mail.

Personally, using Gmail has spoiled me for any other email!!

Super Brain Yoga

This ancient Indian practice of worship to Lord Ganesha, they have found has many beneficial effects. Only hope, they do not patent this and start slapping us with royalty for worshipping Ganesha in any temple..