Blogs by Arvind Srinivasan

Bull'ish Proposal

2007-10-11T14:17:00.000-05:00

A woman used craigslist, ny - to look for wall street husbands making more than $500k/year.

Apparently, she made her 'business' case stating that in NY $500K means nothing. In an interesting response, ".. "plain and simple a crappy business deal."

"Your looks will fade and my money will likely continue into perpetuity ... in fact, it is very likely that my income increases but it is an absolute certainty that you won't be getting any more beautiful!" the banker wrote.

"So, in economic terms you are a depreciating asset and I am an earning asset," he said. "Let me explain, you're 25 now and will likely stay pretty hot for the next 5 years, but less so each year. Then the fade begins in earnest. By 35 stick a fork in you!"

"It doesn't make good business sense to "buy you" (which is what you're asking) so I'd rather lease,.."

So the seeker's economic interests were undercut by the provider's economic interest ! - c'est la vie :)

(courtesy: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071010/od_nm/newyork_husband_dc)

Mysterious Girl

2007-10-05T14:22:00.000-05:00

Chapter 1 : Manning learns to walk.
Walking at a pace slightly faster than a slow-mo replay of babies learning to walk, was Manning on the treadmill. Where he hails from, his name is a little bit longer - Manikandan.

He was surprised at how most people that he has worked with over the years, seem to be remarking that Manning needs to hit the gym. He was told six-pack abs was the way to go. Poor thing, no one told him that six-pack did not mean 6 packs of trail-mix cereal bars.

The gym experience was not as exciting as he thought it would be. No one at the gym would talk to him, he would stare at everyone only to realize that all were busy with their headphones. And then it happened.

Chapter 2 : Harry met Sally.
Full moon on the treadmill, yes, he was convinced. It took a while for him to realize it was indeed a very beautiful looking desi female. With an air of no-nonsense, the smile of a mona-lisa, a cute dimple, a bright smile and to top it all, no headphones on.

All of this meant only one thing to him, he should try to strike a conversation within the next 6 months, and manage a smile in the next few weeks. He knew it took a lot conviction. Smiling was second nature to him, except that he could not when she was around.

He believed in baby-steps, ironically. He would give it some time, and the chemistry would set in, for laws of physical attraction to work. His mathematical abilities signalled a very high statistical probability of getting a smile in return. It did not matter he never managed to clear any of these subjects while schooling.

Days went by, with Manning slowly mustering the courage to steal some glances unbeknownst to his angel, but not before he was totally convinced that she would not jump out of the picture on his cellphone, to slap him.

Chapter 3 : Harry nears Sally.
That day, he was really assured, as calm as a storm, that he would go near her. The steps took a long time coming, yet after 15 minutes, he was still where he was. Damn it ! these treadmills he thought !

The next day, he made sure, he was not anywhere near a treadmill - and he was not that far away from her. She seemed unflustered at a desi male approach, only to realize this guy walked past her, without even stealing a look. Hmm ! that is surprising she thought. Little did she know how Manning was turned into a nervous wreck just crossing her, and he was sure, that the act of looking at her in the eye was light-years away !

Two weeks later, he was quite comfortable walking across her, stealing glances, smiling at her without any reciprocity, and even staring at her. She started feeling the creeps. She was boiling over on the inside, but never did her facade of a smile give way to her emotions. She was carefully watching his every move thinking of how to counter him.

Chapter 4 : Interesting Weekend
His weekend was a disaster. A friend from 5-6 years back, came over to drag him out a conference where 'e-Business' was the theme and a VP of one of the largent commercial bank was to talk on how to achieve market penetration. He had warned his friend about any Amway'sh pyramid schemes. But little did he know how valuable this conference was.

The audience were urged to stop working and start their own business. The business of adding people to a pyramid. The business of making money for your upline (person ahead of you in the pyramid), of making money out of gullible people, of making people buy products at a price higher than any other comparable products in the market, of convincing them that the reason for such higher prices is higher quality. They spoke at length about 'free enterprise days', to listen to which, you had to pay atleast five or six-20 dollar bills. They spoke about how to develop your business by talking to people about starting their own business. The speakers at the conference proclaimed, this would be the most unforgettable day in every attendee's life. It sure was.

Manning was drained, frustrated, irritated and was almost gonna bash up few Indian cricket players for their performance. But, her face, the very thought of her, calmed him down, while at most other times, it would stir the tummy within.

Chapter 5 : D-Day
On monday, he had realized this was his day. The day he'd waited for all this long. The day when he was to go strike a conversation with his angel. When he got to the gym he looked around for his angel. Not to be found. He told himself, good things had to wait. He was rehearsing his lines over and over again. He also carefully considered his exit plan. After all these weeks on the treadmill, his legs were good enough to run away should she decide to explode. He knew the layout, the distance it would take for him to be safe. The number of blocks he had to scurry. All of it seemed perfect. The most oppurtune moment it was.

And there she was. Walking right past him, casting a spell of fragrance, leaving him debilitated. The drop of sweat from his eyebrow woke him up. He walked up to her, more like a disco dancer shaking his leg, only that he was not one. And yes, now he was within her striking range.

Chapter 6 : Da-moment
This was the moment. Manning was right in front of her. Only the words in his mind separated her from him. However, some powerful glue, was preventing his vocal chords to move. He still managed, "Hi, can i talk to you about something ?"

She could sense Manning's approach. The eerie feeling of yet another desi male approaching her. What could be different ? They are all the same. She seemed to be signalling someone. Before Manning could realize what was going on, He-man was standing in front of him.

Chapter 7 : He-man
She had discussed with her weight-trainer couple of days ago, over her cup of frappucino with double whip, about some help she may need to ward off a potential troublemaker. The trainer was all for it. He could swat a fly in the time it takes for you to think about it. He could crush an ant, in the time you could spell it. The airmass displaced while he walks past causes couple of treadmills to lose their bearings. All she had to do was wink, and this real six-packer would be beside her in a moment. She knew this would work like a charm against Manning. He-man he was.

Manning realized the folly of his move, but only a little bit too late. The whole word seemed to come to a grinding halt. But not the treadmills in the gym. All his exit routes seemed non-existent. He had to do something. He had to, for the love of his life.

Chapter 8 : He-does-it
He did it. His lips moved. His vocal chord produced few words. And then there were none. She had disappeared. So was the he-man. So were the guys in the hearing range.

Back home, he was narrating this story to his friends. None of them could stand the suspense. What did you do ? Hope this is not potty humor ? Did you say something bad ? How could you make a weight-trainer disappear ? Why would he-man runaway they kept pestering him.

Manning's eyes twinkled. It had mischief written all over it. With a smug face, after what seemed to extend a brief pause to an eternity, he blurted it out.

Manning had said, "Do you know how McDonald's business model works ? Can i talk to you about Amway ?"

He thanked Amway for saving his life :)

The End.

Guess the question ?

2007-09-12T21:47:00.000-05:00

Guess the question, if this is the answer...

“I personally believe that U.S. Americans are unable to do so because, uhmmm, some people out there in our nation don't have maps and uh, I believe that our, I, education like such as, uh, South Africa, and uh, the Iraq, everywhere like such as, and I believe that they should, uhhh, our education over here in the U.S. should help the U.S., uh, should help South Africa, it should help the Iraq and the Asian countries so we will be able to build up our future, for us.”

if you did, you should be the proud owner of the title 'Miss Teen America'

if you did not, too bad, you will have to settle for good grades in English.

p.s : The question was 'Why do you think more than one fifth of americans are unable to locate their country on the map'

phew - beautiful indeed ! Watch the entire video here, courtesy Youtube.com

2000 uses and counting...

2007-08-31T00:51:00.000-05:00

Now, come'on we are not talking about the popular toilet flush tablets :P

Did you know WD-40 (the common household mechanical lubricant) has 2000 and more uses ? Thanks to my colleague, you can read up all the uses here

The ones that i like the best are

Remove lipstick from carpet - ROTFL
Remove make up from carpet
Remove adhesive from bird's wings

Moral Policing - Part 2

2007-08-28T16:42:00.001-05:00

If you have not read Moral Policing - Part 1 , please do so here.

Now comes the sequel.

This cop pulled his drunk wife twice and gave her a ticket. Wow, way to go people ! :) Yet again, I should say am impressed about the morality expressed, implying the subtle human'ness in everyone.

One wonders whether the routine in-fighting at home had anything to do with this ticket.

Budget Dental Clinic

2007-08-13T20:01:00.000-05:00

Bizzaro, the comic strip, by Dan Piraro is funny on-and-off. But last friday it was ROTFL

Here is the link to the "Budget Dental Clinic" (Courtesy: washingtonpost.com)

p.s : Notice the small live "fire cracker" on the table, to the left of the doc ;)

Now, for the artist in you, can you think of a comic strip for "Budget Mental Clinic" ;) :P

Numbers Don't Lie...

2007-08-09T20:10:00.000-05:00

... goes a popular saying.

Numbers Don't Lie...so do WRONG numbers, i'd like to add :)

CrossLoop - help a remote pc user !

2007-08-09T11:08:00.000-05:00

... from the previous post, CrossLoop is a product that lets two users connect over the internet tunneling through firewalls and let one user control another (ofcourse, with consent, and explicit action)

Will help many trying to help their parents, and less-tech-savvy friends in helping them out !

Here is the site

Microsoft, IBM, and Digital

2007-08-09T11:05:00.001-05:00

Video interview by Scoble, the popular tech blogger, talking to Tom Rolander, who was the flying partner and good friend of Gary Kildall of Digital - the duo that let go of the oppurtunity to become Microsoft !

A Long video 1 hr , the whole build up until minute 30, is important to understand the events that unfolded later.

Interesting bits - how Gates did not want OS business to start with, when the first API was born etc...

Here is the video

Paris Quoteworthy...

2007-06-27T14:49:00.000-05:00

'"I used to act dumb. It was an act. I am 26 years old, and that act is no longer cute," Hilton told ABC News' Barbara Walters. (Watch what might be next for Hilton Video)'

Source : CNN.com

In the seemingly never ending saga about Paris, this triggers yet another question about what is better for her to do. To be cute or act like dumb ! ?

Update: OMG, this lady can act ! - I saw snippets of her interview with Larry King Live, and man this is not Paris !

Update 2: Rumor mills have it that Kamal is interested in pairing with this wonderful actress for a movie 'parisodu vilayadu' ... and another with actress sadha titled 'sada'avadaram - is it not exciting ?

Extra mile towards golden Happiness...

2007-06-03T11:42:00.000-05:00

is often not worth the cost is the point made in an excellent post by Dilbert'ian Scott Adams here. Makes much sense the more one comes to think of it !

Sighghghghghghg.

Moral Policing

2007-04-18T22:27:00.000-05:00

This is not about Shilpa Shetty, Richard Gere, Choco Jesus, Khusboo or PMK.

It is about some cop deciding to write himself a ticket, coz he violated the rules ! I should say am impressed about the morality expressed, implying the subtle human'ness in everyone.

Oh well, one wonders whether these tickets count towards the monthly-ticket-goal :D ?

Spelling B

2007-04-04T23:06:00.000-05:00

We have all been amazed one time or another, at, how all these young kids in the Spelling Bee competition - manage to spell all kinds of words, spoken and not, known or not, with the ease of spelling their name.

Now, it is time to be amazed by how people NOT spell, a famous name, correctly. Before you must know who it is - let me give you some clues.

According to people who looked her up, she is a brat, brut, brit, grit, prit, brot, birt, bitt, drit, brent, rit, sprit, bright, brine, britannia (well, i made the last one up ;))

Any guesses ? Scroll a li'l bit down...

Check google's spelling correction statistics for Britney Spears

Looking at the statistics, some of the interesting observations are - how no one got her last name 'spears' wrong !! and how some people thought she owns spears (britney's spears) and how people have so many typo's looking for britney - after all they are not focussed at what they type or are they ?

Time Management

2007-04-02T18:13:00.000-05:00

Time is a factor of one's priorities.

Need more time to do things in your life ? look no further, but into your priorities !

I know most common reply would be, but how can it be ? i want to do so many things that i love to do - but dont find time - and my answer is, you may love to do them, but right now, you need to do the things that you are doing every 24 hours, or so you have chosen :)

Magnetic Untouchability !

2007-03-07T19:54:00.000-05:00

This is not a post about the much touted problem of untouchability. But it is about how to encourage untouchability - amongst cars ! - "Dont touch/rear-end me !!!!!!"

There are many silly ways one can think of preventing common rear-end accidents - most of them rely of James Bond'ish equipment - pepper spray, smelly gas, gabtun tamil, cellphone ringtone etc - all on push of a button, that would cause the driver behind you to slam the brakes.

But why not have a magnet ! - make it mandatory on front and rear-ends of cars - voila - "dont touch me" will be the language spoken by those magnets ;) - the problem that i can see immediately being, if the momentum is high enough to overcome the magnetic repulsion, it will cause a shear on the car and hence cause side collisions :| - so why not drive magnetic cars !! :)

before anyone attempts to patent it or make money out it - remember, i own the idea :D

Sleep and Save yourself !

2007-02-12T18:17:00.000-05:00

If you are awake to read this, bad news, you may have heart problems.

If you are asleep, you can't read this, but hey that is the good news !

A new study has shown that napping has beneficial effects that could save your heart :)

p.s : The funniest bit in the article is "..It's likely that women reap similar benefits from napping, but not enough of them died during the study to be sure, said Dr. Dimitrios Trichopoulos"

ROTFL

Next Worst Thing...

2006-11-05T11:00:00.000-05:00

We all have our own ideas about what is the worst thing that human kind has known. So no discussions around that topic.

But, the next worst thing, is always kind of open to debate. So i nominate 'Reply to All With History' in email for the award.

What say guys ?

FlexiMusic Wave Editor

2006-10-27T21:00:00.000-05:00

I came across this interesting software called "FlexiMusic Editor". FlexiMusic Wave Editor is an easy-to-use audio editor for professionals and home users (for Windows). It provides a powerful and user-friendly editing environment for novice users. You can edit and record music, apply effects and filters, adjust stereo channels, save audio to all of the popular formats and burn songs to CD. It includes many features for audio editing and converting.

Do check it out !!

Debut of Conspiracy Theories

2006-10-18T21:00:00.000-05:00

Humorous Conspiracy Theories - My new blog about outrageous, exaggerated takes on some day-to-day events. Enjoy

Debut of Musical Musings

2006-10-12T21:47:00.000-05:00

Musical Musings My new blog about anything musical - raves, rants, reviews - come'on - what else dya expect a blog to be huhh ;)

Check it out...

RFIDs and India : A Trick missed ?

2006-10-10T21:23:00.000-05:00

Here is an interesting article in BusinessWeek.com that talks about how the RFID technology is yet to take off in Asian countries. Some of the factors outlined are cost, non-availability of airwaves due to irregular standards and patents preventing standardization.

First thing that surprised me in the article, was how there was no mention about India - are we to assume, that it is a reporting error/bias or is it virtually non-existent ? - I'd tend to go with the latter.

Second, if the same countries like South Korea can manufacture chip at throw-away rates, that when added with profit etc, is still down-right cheap in US - why is it that it becomes costly in their own country ? What drives the cost.

Third, irregular standards that is not surprising giving the lack of foresight and planning in the Asian region

And finally, patents preventing standardization - are corporations missing a trick by following the American route - or are we still hung up about capitalization ?

Thoughts ?

[C Says...] Umm...Smells good

2006-04-11T17:57:00.000-05:00

How about mint-flavored-passive-smoke cigarettes ;) ?

C also wonders at the stupidity of the rule that all cigarette manufacturing companies should advertise about the 'quit smoking information' on THEIR website !!!! - how dumb can one get ?

It is like telling people who are trying to diet, "Hey we have many tips on dieting - please come visit our site pizzamut.com and click on a link "How to stop eating pizza" - right next to the cheese-dripping, "order a pizza now" link :P

In the past, C had said...

See C's Origin

Can you hear me now ? good...

2006-04-07T19:34:00.000-05:00

'Can you hear me now ? good..' is an often heard commercial from a popular wireless cell phone provider. How would it be, if it were to be aired for an email service provider ? - can you hear you my email ? can you hear my voice mail ? :-)

NowPos is the first voice mail provider, that lets you do that. NowPos, founded and run by Ayyappa - and good buddy of mine, i have been associated with for over 4 years now, has changed the way you look at email in a radically different manner.

You can send a voice mail to any of your contacts - whether or not they have a NowPos account. They can choose to listen without sign-up - but why would you wait to sign up - when you can now interact with your near and dear ones vocally as opposed to verbosely typing up stuff.

It really takes me back by 6-7 years when there used to be this service called Navin mail (?? or something similar) - where you call up a local number in India and leave a voice mail for the recipient in USA and they'd be able to listen your voicemail by dialing up a toll-free number.

This concept trumps that idea by a long way. The next question on all of your lips would be, alright how do they make money ? Right now, as you might have guessed, it looks like they play ads before the voice mail similar to all the online radio stations like Raaga etc - and that forms a steady revenue stream.

They've already been featured on all major magazines including Forbes, Rediff, Hindu etc.. Listed as one of top 20 broadband innovations in Asia Pacific of 2005 - think it is definitely worth a try.

Considering that this an all-desi product, i think we all should give it a try and support such new innovations by people like Ayyappa.

It is still in beta mode, if you need any invites for signing-up do let me know.

Disclaimer : All the names, references of companies are for linking purposes only, no content replication intended - and all registered Trademarks apply.

'Pun'ny Headline

2006-03-21T23:40:00.000-05:00

Warning : Sense of humor/wit is a prerequisite - don't try this at home - AND don't ask me to explain :)

From Hindu.com - "Cong. to move cautiously on tie-up with DIC-K: Chandy"

ROTFL - politicians deserve this pun.....

[Song Watch] Duet

2006-03-04T17:23:00.000-05:00

Back with music review after a long time - was looking at my draft and found this was stuck since oct ! - long gap by any standards - standing testimony to even one of the few things that i love to do (music,analysis) suffered by the blog de' interest syndrome ;)

Duet
A very non-K Balanchander with so much masala-mass entertainer elements, rumored partly due to the fact that Prabhu (hero) - was acting in his 100th movie. Nonetheless, KB's love for ARR's music and the maestro's loyal weave of his magic wand to produce lovely melodies for KB's banner continued...

En Kadhale - SPB

Summary: A simple, soulful song with minimal rhythm, set in a dreamy ambience, conveying the pangs of pain from the separation of lovers. Amazing rendition, lovely chords and wonderful lyrics form the core of this song

Details: SPB opens this song with his legendar voice. His silky, golden voice lends such melody to the song. Sax, being the theme of the movie, is used as the 'duet' singer of the song. Lovely chords join in to complete the pallavi.

Sax interlude which is short, but beautiful takes you right to the stanza. SPB and higher octaves are guaranteed to produce the goose-bumps that you sorely miss in the new-gen of singers. Piano and bass guitar adequately back the stanza. The standout section is 'Ini meeLvadha' (2.12 - 2.27). Lyrics - Vairamuthu seems to have had a field day 'Amudhenbhadha, vishamenbadha, illai amudhavishamenbadha' (Translation: What am i to call you ? - as sweet as nectar, or a poison or a poisonous nectar ?)

Second interlude provides the interesting, context based composition - where Anjali (herione) appears, and the hero, playing the song, gets carried away and renders 'Anjali Anjali' (reviewed later) and recovers his composure to continue with the song. Beautifully interwoven that section is ! Second stanza is no different than the first, including, how SPB simply distances himself from other singers strolling this earth with his rendition !

Quite minimal bass & chords section (relative to ARR standards), supportive rhythm, nice dreamy sections also adorn the song. The tune and SPB are tailor-made for each other. I'm quite positive that no other singer could have done such justice to the emotion and diction evoked by power-packed words of Vairamuthu.

Rating 4.8 out of 5

Sax Theme Sad

Simple bass (wood?) forms the ideal backdrop for a free-flowing alaap by the Sax (KadriG ?). Nice and short, still wondering what made them title it as 'sad' :-? :)

Rating 4.2 out of 5

Duet Title Melody - Kadri Gopalnath

Summary: Theme/Title melody of the film 'Duet' played out by the peerless KadriG with a sad slant to the tune, slowly begins to grow on you and has you hooked-on to the end. Lovely instrumental section. ARR must do more of these kinda pieces !

Details: Hearbeat kinda lub-dubs welcome you to the song. With female chorus setting the stage with some humming, KadriG dons his wonder-hat and belts out AWESOME rendition of the ragam Kalyana Vasantham ( A: s G2 M1 D1 N3 S, Av: S N3 D1 P M1 G2 R2 s) - a janya of 'Kiravani' melakartha. The alaap can compete with most carnatic performances second-for-second. The splash of waves of water (thematic) and the birds chirping away, set the tune for some early morning context.

Starting at 1.48, the song takes an upbeat turn - percussion joins in the mela, with the KadriG upping the tempo. Female chorus singing swarams to back the twist and turns of the song forms a beautiful combo. 2.07-2.15 showcases, the maestros command over the ragam, what beautiful brighas that are made out ? Bass and chord provide so much emotion to the theme, starting at 2.45- 3.01. Just when ARR has you awestruck, the song tapers off suddenly !. Tease and stop seems to be the keyword ! - Guess, we will have to live with the tease rather than the absence of it ! ;)

Awesome composition and rendition !

Rating 4.8 out of 5

Kathirikka Kathirikka - Sujatha

Summary: Enterprising, catchy and foot-tapping casual song. Lyrics are very amusing taking potshots at the 'fat' (chubby) Prabhu (hero), starting with age-old cliche of 'Endha kadayila nee arisi vangara' to 'Othayila nee nadantha oorvalam pogudhenu...' (When you walk-by-yourself, people call it a procession). Sujatha comes out all aces with this song.

Details: Bass backs up alaap of the first line Kathirikka. The rhythm gets interesting with the shakers/bells that are part of the horse-rides or bullock-carts along with a liberal dose of Ganjira sounding percussion. Amazing bass and guitar riffs support the pallavi with Sujatha emoting very well. Especially, when the words 'moochu muttanum' (breathless) where she literally sings those words breathless bringing a nice-touch of reality singing ;)

ARR pulls out his typical rhythm-alaap for an interlude - simple, but keeps the momentum going. Stanza is on predictable lines, more conversational but sweet, filled with minimal chords (guitar?) and nice work on bass continuing.

Second interlude continues from where the rhythm-alaap left off in the first. But then, ARR has other ideas. He plays around the words 'Kathirikka' using a female chorus providing nice variations to complete the second interlude. Stanza follows the first stanza to a 'T' and the final sections of the song provide a nice crescendo.

Classic example of no-frills, simple, sweet, easy and casual song - very well sung.

Rating 4.5 out of 5

Mettu Podu - P. Susheela, SPB, Kadri Gopalnath

Summary: Carnatic based melody, sees the return of the queen-of-yesteryears P.Susheela, the combo of SPB and KadriG producing very loveable melody. Mridangam and Drums form an awesome pair producing very foot-tapping tune. Good use of chords, nice bass riffs (mute?), and nice selection of instruments (which has always been ARR's forte) like Veena, makes this song appealing to everyone.

Details: Susheela opens the song by singing the verses from 'thirupugazh/thevaram' (not sure, pls be kind enough to correct me). Even after all these years, she still has the knack for singing and beautifully does her part. Ragam Anandha Bhairavi (A: S G2 R2 G2 M1 P D2 P N2, Av: S N2 D2 P M1 G2 R2 ) is written all over the song. Interestingly, after this album, there were a spate of songs based on this ragam :-)

Against the roaring beats of the drums, SPB starts off with 'Thangame...' KadriG opens his account as well. Starting off at 1.56 - there is this interesting instrument, which shows up occasionally at the background, playing some wonderful sections, goes quite unnoticed in the larger scheme of things :-(. Chords and Mridangam are so apt and increase the melody value of the pallavi. Once again, i have to, but, register my surprise at how sweet/musical mridangams do sound when played at ARR's stables !

The first interlude is so beautifully done with guitar/veena combo (Kaapi'sh touch ?). I simply just cant stop loving that section between 2.47-3.04. Amazing ! =d>

Stanza is an interesting structure of 1-2 between the Sax and singer. Mridangam and drum continue their lovely, musical journey with some adorable company from chords and the reappearance of the 'mystical' instrument. Watch out for the section starting between 3.38-3.48 when the piece is simply awesome, with every passing line, the song seems to gain on melody.

Second interlude, is KadriG all the way with awesome alaap of Anandha Bhairavi, this time around, the mridangam more free-flowing and chords to back it up. The Kaapi section once again brings the song to the second stanza, which is a very similar to the first one.

Song extends to shower you with some lovely interchanges between SPB and KadriG on the sax. Yet again, you can listen to the music produced by the mridangam and bass shows up for a brief period to bring this superb song to a close.

Right from the word go, till the end, there is not a moment of slack, lovely rhythm, wonderful tune, nice instrumentation, awesome singing by SPB and KadriG - Perfectemo !

Rating 5 out of 5

Kulicha Kuthalam - SPB, T.K Kala

Summary: A simple folkish song, with SPB at his playful best. Catchy rhythm, and selection of instruments reinforce the theme of the song. TK Kala, seemingly caught ARR's attention with her voice (she used to be a regular with DD's troupe) - that she unfailingly finds a spot with any of ARR's rural based attempts (check out most of ARR/Bharathiraja combos- why dont they pair up any more, produced some good melodies) , does a decent job. Quite a faced-paced song.

Details : Gummi (Dandiya?), claps and jalra along with drums (emulating a ganjeera ?) forms the core rhythm and sets off the song. SPB starts sounding in his 'festival' mode right from the word go. Lyrics are based on "perfect-pair" themes, needless to say, hero-herione including themselves amongst the other perfect's ;). Before you know, you land up at the pallavi - which witnesses ARR lending his voice, quite similar to his attempt at Chinna Chinna Asai (Roja).

Charanam is a logical extension of the pallavi, and ARR irresistably brings out his chords which makes the section Koozhukku mor molaga (2.06) sound very pleasing (and makes the stomach growl too ! - mor molagais - yummy !! :-D ) The second interlude uses a chant like arrangement to kick start a flute section and tops it off with lovely veenai. The second charanam is no different than the first one.

This was a typical masala song, with not much scope or value for experimentation, and ARR takes the safe route out. Bit disappointing

Rating 4.2 out of 5

Vennilavin Theril - KJ Yesudas

Summary : A love-lost song, showcased, ARR's inclination to experiment with his orchestration - memory serving me right, one of his first attempts at using hordes of violins. KJY who was seemingly active at that point in time for ARR (Raakozhi - Uzhavan) renders the song with his usual elegance. Good work on the bass and chords makes this a quite complete song.

Details : Violin piece, that forms the core of the song, opens this song. KJY starts the vocals and nice female harmony/chorus helps accentuate the pain the hero is supposedly undergoing. The running bass, rhythm arrangements, shakers all form a critical combo that keeps up the tempo of the song. For those interested in lyrics, check out MIO for the same.

Quite an one of kind ARR experiment, definitely successful - could have been more variations in the song itself.

Rating 4.3 out of 5

Anjali Anjali - SPB, Chitra

Summary : A must-hear melody, super selection of instruments, lovely arrangements, chords, lyrics, and amazingly emotive vocals. One of maestro's All time best melodies.

Details :Sax plays out the opening lines of the song with Chitra following the sax. This intro alreadys sets you up in a cheerful mood. Some of the bass riffs reminds you of Kanmani Anbodu (Guna - IR). Some improvisation on the sax paves way for SPB's rendition. Guitar and bass follow the lead vocals with nice chords. Chorus like echoes of SPB's voice adds to the beauty of the lines poove un padathil... The first interlude is just a walk-through of the song's opening and just serves the purpose of setting up the charanam.

Boy, is it worth a wait or what ? - Maand ragam ripped inside out it is ! Starting at lines thirumagal thirupadam the piano rolls form a nice backing tacking the song to a wonderful crescendo at 3.29, the song returns to the few lines of the pallavi, without actually landing at Anjali - a nice setting after hitting the high octaves.

Chitra, seemingly unable to wait to get her chance to showcase, throws in her weight with a wonderful alaap of Maand - She is at her best when she does such alaaps that lets her demonstrate her improvisation skills. The charanam however, makes her sound strained at the higher octave, may be it should have been in a lower one ! - but the interesting addition to the instruments is the tabla which is a amazing - the Loy Mendosa style of 1980s.

The third interlude (yes, this is a long song - 8 odd minutes :-)) - is Naveen putting his hand up to add to the top-class performers. Whatever flute-like instrument (piccolo ?) it is, it is too cute and lovely. Amazingly done, only as he can, Naveen later returns to the closing stages of the song with super alaap backing to the rendition - just too good !. (The same way ARR does in Netru Illadha Matram - Pudhiya Mugam).

Must hear !

Rating 5 out of 5

Naan padum Sandam - SPB
A nice and easy song, with SPB and Sax forming the 'duet' for a song, that bases it theme on duality of everything. Quite a fusion genre song - with very good improvisation by the Sax (Kadri G ? - no credits available on the web) - Very soothing relaxing song - ideal for a sleep-time play list :-)

Rating 4.4 out of 5

This movie announced ARR's arrival on the stage with melodious, classical-based song quite apart from the popular fast-paced rhythm number that he was more known for. The alliance with Kadri G, was so successful that they repeated their magic with one more Carnatic based number Sowkiyama in the movie Sangamam. SPB was another major contributor with his inimicable enthusiasm. This album, is a must-have in any music lover's collection.

Overall Rating : 4.6 out of 5

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