ninavu online magazine from cet alumni in UAE

I have been reading the interesting travelogues published by my fellow CETAians during the previous issue of
NINAVU. Since I have not been an avid traveler, I thought of writing about my interesting travelogues with music which
has taken me to some great "places".

My journey started during my school days in FACT staff quarters in Cochin where my father used to work in the early
seventies. My Dad was a big fan of Hindi music of the likes of Talat Mahmood, Hemant kumar, Rafi saab and Manna
Dey. We had a good collection of the vinyl records of old hindi movies (Anarkali, Shree 420, Baiju Bawara, Jaal,
C.I.D, ....) and I was brought up to the sounds of these great singers during my school days. One of my Dad's favorites
which had become sort of our family song was "Yeh Raat Yeh Chandini Phir Kahan" by Hemant kumar. Seeing my
interest in music my Dad sent me to a music teacher to learn carnatic music. Thankfully, I was the only boy in the group
and this gave me a good excuse not to go for the music classes after couple of them! Me being the eternal cricket
fanatic, I used the music classes as the "Great Escape" to play cricket with my friends! The day my Dad found that I
was singing "googlies" instead of "gamagas" my "music" classes stopped!

It is always sheer nostalgia that the hit songs during out college days bring to us whenever we hear them now. We all
some how relate to these songs much more than the current breed (not taking any credit from the talented composers
of current music era). I studied in CET during 83 to 88, one of the golden periods of Malayalam music when the likes of
Ravindran and Shyam ruled the music scene. I was so smitten by the Ravindran bug that I ended up buying each and
every cassette of his ; some of the fantastic compositions during this period which still give me goose bumps are
Manatharil Engum (Kaliyil Alpam Karyam), Paalaazhi Poomange (Prasnam Gurutharam), Vida Tharoo (Ente
Nandini Kuttikku), Rajeevam Vidarum (Belt Mathai) and Pon Pularoli (Ethiri poove Chuvanna poove). I will be
uploading a collection of Ravindran mash's unforgettable songs to a shared website for my fellow CETAians shortly.

My journey took a very interesting turn when I joined Government College of Technology, Coimbatore for my M.Tech.
For someone who had been brought up to Malayalam and Hindi music the Coimbatore life opened the flood gates to
the magic of Isai Gnani Ilayaraja and likes of Deva, Keeravani…. The songs from Puthu Puthu Arthangal (Keladi
Kanmani, Kalyana Malai, Guruvayoorappa), Kizhakku Vaasal (Pachamalarpoovu), Idhayathai Thirudaathe (O
Priya) and Guna (Kanmani) were chart busters during those days. These songs are still popular with our current crop
of Reality show singers. I was fortunate enough to have a group of Tamil friends who were equally crazy about music; I
still remember my friend Suresh who used to buy each and every cassette produced by Ilayaraja (who gave music to
almost 30 films a year during his peak in early 90s!). Some of the notable songs of Ilayaraja which I still keep close to
my heart are Valaiosai (Sathya), Puthan puthu kalai (Alaigal Oivathillai), Thenral Vanthu ennai thodum (Thendrale
Ennai Thodu), Kalyana then nila (Mounam Sammadham), Pothi vecha malligai mottu (Man Vaasanai)….the list is
endless.....what a genius.

In my musical journey I have stumbled upon some rare gems which never become popular and heard some great
voices which never made it big. As said by Vidyasagar (one of the great composers of current era) about recognition
for music, "When success eludes you, nobody is bothered about you, what you know and what you could do. That is
why mediocrity succeeds. If you are successful, nobody questions your knowledge".

We will talk about these in the next edition of Ninavu; till then happy listening and Mangalam.

Cheers
Aji