Accomplishment!

There’s no better way to achieve the highest level of satisfaction than escalating productivity. Okay so I’ve only been working, so to speak, for two days, but it feels great to have completed something.

Yesterday I learned a bhajan from a video on YouTube. It was quite a nice bhajan in Ragam Shankarabharanam. The guy taught the notations as well so it was easy to understand. At the spur of the moment, when he sang the first line of the song, I took a pencil and paper and started writing. So now I’ve added a new entry to my list of bhajans. I can’t wait to start teaching bhajans. Teaching has always been what I expect to do after studying. Once I’ve learned something I can’t wait to show someone else how to do what I do. Hmm I think it’s a mixture of pride and my insatiable need to show off. Not entirely selfless. Oh well. What to do?

I did not stop there though. Later that night I looked for a song called ‘Ksheerabdhi Kanyakaku’ by Annamarchaya. It describes the beauty of goddess Lakshmi from head to toe (it gets a little vulgar at some parts, but in a devotional way :P ), and the composer’s desire to worship her (or maybe ‘worship’, if you know what I mean :P ). Anyway, the version I have is by Anil Srinivasan (piano) and Subiksha Rangarajan (vocals). Oh my god I could die listening to Subiksha’s rendition of the song. The first time I heard it, it was during Anil Srinivasan and Sikkil Gurucharan’s concert during India Beat last year. I cried teared heavily when they opened with this song. I almost died la.

Anyway I think you get how much I love this song. Subiksha’s version is quite heavy with all the brigas and all. So I found one with simpler rhythm: MS Subbulakshmi’s. My connection was a bitch last night but tonight it’s being such a good little discovery of physics that allows us to connect with the rest of the world so I’m going to attempt to download it. Then I shall learn it one of these days.

And by telling you that it was being good I jinxed the connection. It just told me it was unable to download the video. Thank you you useless discovery of mankind that is of no use to me whatsoever.

Oh look at that. It’s downloading now. I love my connection.

Just now I was watching Friends and Facebooking. Tired of virtual conversations and the eye-strain causing glare of the screen while watching Friends, I decided to do my usual Carnatic research. I tried to search for songs by Muthuswamy Dikshitar, one of the Trinity of carnatic music. I found a video of a woman singing a Dikshitar song in Hindolam ragam in absolute horrendousness. So I scrolled down the list of suggested videos and somehow thought of searching for a long forgotten video of Jai Khalsa performing Pushpanjali.

Ah Nattai! Such a wonderful ragam. I’d forgotten how much I loved this Pushpanjali that she performed so I decided to learn it. I’ve seen my teacher perform this many many times but of course I’ve never known the words to the song. It’s quite difficult and I’ve never been able to find it online. Screw the world, I thought, for not being dependable enough. I took the bull by the horns and took out my pencil and paper.

PUSHPANJALI Ragam: Nattai Taalam: Adi

Tham ×3 Tham Kita Taka Thit Tho Thanga Takutham

Dheem ×3 Dheen Kita Taka Thit Tho Thanga Dikuthai

That Tho Takatham Than ×4 Thim ×4

Thakatho Than ×4 Thakutha Thim

Dit ×4 Thai Dhikuthaka Dit Tho Hastanga

Dhiku Thaka Dit Tho Hastanga, Dit Tho Hastanga, Taka Tom Tha

Dut Thakita Thimtha Thomtha Thom Thom Taka Tham Tom Dheem

Thom Dikku That That Tom Tom Thakatham Tom Dheem

Tham Tham Thim Thim Thim That Tho Thanga Thakutaa Dheem

Mooshiga Vahana Mothaga Hasta

Shyamala Karna Vilangkita Sutra

Vaamala Roopa Maheshwara Putra

Vikna Vinayaka Paada Namaste

Thikutham Thikutham Thikuthat Thari That That Tham

Dut That Kita Janu Thaka Tom Tom Thakatam Tom Tom Thakatham Tom Them

Phew. It was not so difficult to get the words. But I feel so accomplished. :D Oh the words might be wrong here and there because I might have heard wrongly. Especially the “Vaamala roopa” and “Vilangkita sutra” parts. The second words I know are right but I’ve no idea what “Vaamala” and “Vilangkita” mean.

But there. Now I shall never forget the words because I can always check here if I lose the paper I wrote them down on.

Bye for now. :P