Column: The Good Life: for Mint Lounge
Festival of Sacred Music
My friend, Ranvir Shah and his Prakruti Foundation does The Festival of Sacred Music in Thiruvaiyaru every year. Details here This year, the festival is from March 6 to 8 and has a terrific line up. The Manganiyars, Kadri Gopalnath on Saxophone and Filter Coffee, a rock band. Imagine sitting under the stars and listening to this music on the banks of the Cauvery. This festival is open to all. Driving distance from Chennai and Bangalore. Reasonably priced hotel rooms are available and you will be helping village tourism. Details at the website and on Facebook here. Please share. Please [...]
In Times of India
Thank you, Asha
The psychology of a Matunga Tamilian: Mint Lounge
I was conflicted about writing this, because I don't think people should define themselves so narrowly. In terms of the "land they sprung from." But I cannot deny the fact that such an identity exists. So I wrote it. Tried to keep it light. The psychology of a Matunga Tamilian I grew up in Bombay,” says Gayatri, one half of the Carnatic singing sister duo of Ranjani-Gayatri. “Actually, you should say that I grew up in Matunga, which in many ways is like growing up in an agraharam (an enclave beside a temple, usually occupied by Brahmin priests and their [...]
HOW TWO WOMEN ARE CONNECTING POPULAR AND INDIAN CLASSICAL MUSIC THROUGH RAGAS Tanvi Dubey 894 Stories Friday January 16, 2015, 2 min Read One fine day over a cup of coffee, two friends decided they wanted to do something about making classical music accessible to a larger audience given their mutual love for classical music and storytelling. This is how HumRaag was conceived. The two women, Chitra Srikrishna and Shoba Narayan, are well-known and respected in their fields. Chitra Srikrishna is a Carnatic musician. She started learning music at the age of five, and performing when she was in [...]
A concert
My friend, Chitra Srikrishna and I doing a music gig called "Hum Raag." It is a fun project where we link film songs to classical Indian music. Kabir bhajans, abhangs, light songs, carnatic music, hindustani music and the like. Our next show is on Sunday, January 18th from 5 to 7 PM. At Unnati Bangalore's auditorium. Please do spread the word to music lovers in Bangalore. Details below. Dear Friend, This month we have planned a special program as per details attached. Please do not miss the same. Please make a note: 18th January at 5.00 pm Hum Raag is [...]
Chennai Music and Women
I thought about this a lot, but cannot come up with any solution. Everyone lays it on the women artistes to get together and fight the discrimination, but that's not going to happen. A note of dismay over inequality at music and dance festivals in Chennai Shoba Narayan January 3, 2015 Updated: January 4, 2015 11:21 AM Every year, between December 15 and January 15, hundreds of thousands of people across India congregate in Chennai, the capital of the southern state of Tamil Nadu, for its Carnatic and Bharatanatyam festivals. More than 300 concert halls in the city host [...]
Indian dance
Of all arts, dance is the one that encapsulates a country's culture. I was thrilled to discover this link about Kamala here. My other dance connection is that I went to Women's Christian College and Urmila Satyanarayana was my classmate. She is here. A dance questionnaire for dancers and critics The most important thing in dance appreciation is to have the courage to respond to it Shoba Narayan I am a failed dancer. As a child in Chennai, some of my most memorable visits were to my aunt’s house. Her name was Kamala and she was known in dance circles [...]
Monsoon Diary
On a California bookshelf
Somatic Exercises
These really work. And they are terrifically relaxing. How exercising your body can help reset your brain Shoba Narayan December 31, 2014 Updated: December 31, 2014 04:49 PM What do you do when you stand in a queue at the airport, while waiting in line to get off the plane, waiting for your luggage or waiting for transport? Many of us check email, answer texts and appear busy. But once you’ve done all that and the bags still haven’t come, what do you do? I sometimes use that time to “reset” my brain. In the 1970s, a movement therapist named [...]
K. Balachander
As someone who has watched and tracked Tamil movies all her life, one of the things I notice is the fall of the heroine. There are exceptions, but by and large, Tamil films these days are hero oriented, action films with a thin storyline. Women play the love interest, or dance an item number, with Rajnikanth’s Linga being the latest example. What Tamil films need are strong directors who are fascinated with women like those directors in the 70s and 80s.