‘…simply stood and watched’

An article that intrigued me .... !!!!!! What would you have done ??????????????

‘…simply stood and watched’

It was 2.00 p.m. I got down from my bus on the relatively traffic-free St. Mary’s road in Abiramipuram. I had barely crossed the road, when I heard an auto stop on the opposite side. I turned back with a few others to see a woman get out abruptly while shouting “Did you hear what he said to me?” Her friend got out behind her. They were both in their mid 20s, clad in jeans and shirts and were decent looking. I turned back to resume my walk home.
Suddenly I could feel a change in the air around me. I turned again only to be a witness of one of the most disturbing sights I have ever seen. The woman, who had yelled to her friend, was fighting furiously with the auto driver, or rather defending herself against his beating. He was also using his slippers to beat her and was abusing her using obscene language. The only help came in the form of her friend who tried hard to hold the driver back, but to no avail. By this time cars had stopped and every passer-by was transfixed, watching the scene, as if petrified.
After a few minutes, the auto driver sped away, still shouting back obscenities. Then, as if on cue, everyone started moving, like they had just emerged out of a trance. Not one of them had a second glance for the trembling women. Two o’clock in the afternoon on a busy road, an auto driver attacks a woman, and everybody stands to watch, as if it was a live show put up for them. When I say everybody, I include myself. I could have intervened; at least could have asked people to help. But I didn’t. I was one among the crowd, who passively let such things go past me without standing up for fellow human beings. May be the others were as shocked as I or may be things happened so quickly that people did not have time to react.
Yet, there could have been someone in the crowd to help two women in dire need. There should have been someone. But there were none. I do not know what happened in the auto while the three were travelling. But something that someone said had triggered an awful scene. Having witnessed what the auto driver was capable of doing in public, it would be no wonder if it was his doing. But whatever the cause was, its effect was immense, not only to the people directly involved, but to me as well.
When something like this happens in your neighbourhood and in front of your eyes, you tend to question many things. I am now perplexed about how such incidents can happen in broad daylight on the streets of one of the ’safest’ cities in the country. I am revolted by the behaviour of the auto driver. I am infuriated at the people who just stood and watched. But mostly, I am furious with myself: for being one of those who simply stood and watched.
Sindhiya Ravi, III Year, English Literature, WCC

COURTESY-NXG-THE HINDU !

DAY II

Check this out
http://www.hindu.com/mp/2008/06/30/stories/2008063050980100.htm <---That's the article in THE HINDU, regarding the second round on selections for Airtel Super Singer !!!!!
At 8:30 AM, on a fine Monday morning, Santhome was Abuzz with 200 odd contestants and their parents, for round 3 of Airtel Super Singer selection, aka elimination round.
All participants were asked to line up according to roll numbers ! Now, oru school maadiri feeling !Me was the second contestant !!!! Ha .. nadukkam started way back though !!!!! From 2000, 202 were selected for the Monday auditions ! And apparently, 15 were going to be picked for the next round !!!!!! How non-scary !!!!!!

I was rehearsing non-stop during my time in the queue, till a relative came up !!! Orey bore ! Anyway.. the thing is .. there were the cameramen agian, instructing us to talk/not-talk,walk-in-line/stop et al ! Pretty irritating ! And, around 10:45 AM, we were there at the auditorium at the basement, lined up to get new tags !!! A new 007 :P...!!! For some time pass, Chinmayi was entertaining the crowd(BWAHAHAHAHA) with some teasers, questions and embarrassments !!!!! The most irritating moments were, when a few members(aka participants) of the crowd were perennially given importance over the others ... WHY !!!!!! And I'm not mentioning them over here .. Sorry !!!!! I'ts not jealousy that works here .. it's just lack of courtesy to invite and involve everyone else, amidst well-known-faces from TV channels ! Anyway, chuck that !!!

The judges were introduced. Today it was going to be a pair of judges .. Deepan and Sunitha !!! From what people told me on Friday, Sunitha was pretty harsh on people during selection, as in, STRICT-types !!!!!! And surely, I'd have to meet her today. Since ours was the first batch of contestants, we were constantly given instructions, and scared...nothing less !!!!!!! Another round of seating arrangements inside ... and after like half an hour, Mr 001 Went in !!!!!! H e sang close to four lines, and BEEP!!!! Red it was : Disappointing !!!!! Next was me, and I was shivering from head to toe (765 KHz) . I go in, and Deepan remembered me from the Cold-and-cough mania on Friday !!!!!!! Lol .. what a way to remember !!!!!! I go in *cough cough* ... they ask questions, *cough cough*, I answer *cough cough*. I tell the song I'm going to sing *cough cough*, start singing !!!!!! Deepan's quiet !!! Both of them do this (PART I)

1)Discuss...

2) Discuss

3) Discuss !

Oh Stop !

Sunitha asked me to try a different genre, and I did 4 lines of it !

[Repeat PART I]

Again they ask me to try a different genre !!!! Oh please .. something that tests my low ranges .. ! Now here's how you should learn how to torture someone who's already unable to sing ! Fine .. I did sing though lol !!!!

[Repeat Part I] :(

And .. some mini-lecture, and she says it's unfortunate, but they'll have to reject me .. I guess the Red thing did go off, coz I had closed my eyes, and not seen a thing ! .. and here I am, typing away whatever little I know of what went inside that auditorium !

Some brainies got spot selected ... and are too modest to accept !!!! I'm only too happy for them ! May you Rock on !!!!!!!!!! Apparently , Mr. Deepan was sitting there coz there was an empty seat !!!!! Sunitha didn't really have to take an upperhand !! Anyway, winners ki jai ho !!!!!!!!!

AIRTEL SUPER SINGER .. The wait ended Lol !!!!!!!

DAY I

Ads, Video booths, Sms contests .. were enough to light the fire in many a youth .. to assemble at Mayor Ramanathan Chettiyar Centre, as early as 4:00 in the Morning !!!!! Wee hours !!!(considering the whole city is asleep). Scheduled to begin by 8:00 AM, the crowd was let in only at that time ... but it was way better, reaching there before 6:00 AM, or the crowd'd have been haunting. There were separate queue's for the video-booth-selected contestants and the CD-selected ones(me too!!!!!) and as usual, a general queue, as large as 1500... intimidating I tell you !


Chinmayi arrived pretty late(and I guess it was the reason we had to wait near the barricades for ages ! whew !!)..and a queue till the curve of the Main road(as far as the eyes see)... A MEGA EVENT !!!!! ... and going by the looks of it, Scary !!!! So many people sing ??????????????????!!!! But this was the most lovely time .. what with pre-professional singers (Ajesh, Prasanna, Vj) in the gang !!!!! Orey brighas only ! :P


Well, Mr. Sun was the only troublesome person, until the cameramen came along ! How I loathe pretending we're all happy and non-tensed, in front of the camera ?! Every movement is shot/video-ed. And a celebrity was in sight too, Actor Jeeva .. absolutely unnecessary if you ask me...but who asks ! There were hardly people noticing him(Karthi should act I guess..then Jeeva will have a complex :P) Thank God he left !!!!!!! and sooner than we realised, we were walking up the stairs to register ourselves (I was roll 1 :P...aka contestant 007 [Samma number]) We were given this nice tag to pin onto ourselves, and went up, to the second floor, where all participants had to assemble! The capacity was around 1000, and another roaring crowd was waiting down to register themselves, while the hall was already full !!!! Terrific or Terrible, I can't decide !

A wait for eternity I thought, till it was hard to believe that we(the first few contestants) were actually called to occupy the first row. A week of Cold-and-cough-control looked meek, with so many participants around. Chewing of nails, Prayers to the Almighty, rehearses, corrections, discussions in whispers and all other signs of nervousness within a room created an even more tensed atmosphere. And ... BANG!!!! Some of us were actually walking in for the auditions ! (neku konjam bhayam) Ours was Batch 1 .. now I realise, going early is not everything ! People make decisions with you as the base !!!! Our judges were Deepan Chakravarthy and Sunitha Sarathy !!!!!! They seemed sweet, until .................

Apparently, we realised that there was going to be one judge per contestant. (That sounded less scary, though, who knows which one is the beast?!?!). Contestant 001 goes in, to Deepan's arena(Battlesome: :P) BEEP !!!!! went the Green light !!!!!! How happy the contestant was !!!! ... This was an ice breaker I guess, for it seemed to ease down my apprehensions about the competition !!!!! And this chain of Red lights continued .. till roll 006 !!! Next's me !!!!!! Deepan's sweet !! He eases you down a bit before you begin !!! A few questions here and there about music and my cold (lol!!), I finally began with 'Munbe' ... and I realised, the judge was bending down rasichifying !!! Aha !!!! BEEEEEP !!!!!!!! Greeeeeeeen !!!!!!! Yo !!!!!!! It was a happy moment !!!!! A jumping ME came out, and this guy from The Hindu was interviewing me !!!! (yeah .. vekkams !) And the cameraman asked me to tell the world, over-the-mike, in-front-of-the-camera :P as to what happened inside !

Breakfast at 5 in the morning, and a few pieces of bread here and there kept me going !!!!! NOT ANY MORE ! This nice little friend of mine bought me food ... how generous !!!!! :P
and after friends too got selected, we headed for the best place ever ,.... HOME !!!!!! One moment I'm lying on the bed, and the next moment, Snoring !!!!!!!!!!! Selected participants had to make it at 9:00 AM, at the same venue, on Monday !!!! :)

ARR- The Man ... The Concert ... The Crowd !!!!!!!!!

WHATTA MAN !!!!!!!
What a day !!!!! Reached by around 4ish ! Yes.. that was pretty late .. but then.. bus journeys are so unpredictable !!!! This place, St. George's School Grounds was a fan-yard ! Every nook and corner overflowed with enthusiastic fans with expectations writ large on their faces ! My respect for Rahman Sir, incremented (any more if it could) by a million times !!!
It was even exciting as Sir's assistant rang me up to find out if I could help on-stage with the scrolling of lyrics !!!! OH YES, I could !!!!! And with the brand new t-shirt on (Thanks Aravind :) ), it was easier to enter the arena ... and there.. was the never before feeling ! The all-tired group from Sharjah were rehearsing on-stage !!! and THE MAN ..was seated right in the centre, rectifying any mistakes !!! It was still 4.15 !! Messages and calls from friends said the crowd was roaring at the gates and had moved onto the road !! The stage was all set, there were lightings everywhere, and one view from the stage told us, that here , was the most popular man, to see whom, the crowd could hold no longer ! People were pouring in like a meteors-on-their-way ! Nothing could give more pleasure !

I and a couple of friends did a little jig .. we had got a chance to snap-on with those celebs .. Sadhanaji, Shankarrrr, the Royal-Flautist Naveen et al ! Hariji was way too busy though !! I wish he had just spared a few minutes for fans .. the Radio Mirchi people took all the time for themselves ! And we are back, up on stage to check out the crowd :). And one glance sideways was enough to give me goosebumps .. LO ! Karthi .. seen walking right in front of me, is not spared ! Forever and ever ! Amen ! A call, a little explanation. and we meet him at his caravan ! (Yes, there are vvery few lucky people who he can identify with :P) Now all hyper and jumpy, the lyrics-scrolling didn't seem possible ! Though anyone would have exchanged diamonds to be there, the job involved little work, and no view of the concert ! So , we preferred seats with the crowd. But, it quite seemed impossible, as to walk to the crowd would be to risk a stampede ! A little contact here and there, and we were there, at the VIP section, seated in front of those dozing VIPs ! A seat, more diamonds would be swapped for :P. It was a little dark, friends could not be located, calls and messages wouldn't reach , what with a 50,000 crowd trying to do it all together !

Finally, the purpose was beginning to be fulfilled ! Vijay Adhiraj (who has laughed at us for our WOW-ing :P) anchored the show, nothing much actually ! Because, nothing need be said about the songs of the Man awaited all long ! The show began with a rocking slow number Jaage hain from Guru , Rahman sir and Sadhanaji crooning to it ... what a beginning ! The crowd went ga-ga already !

RAHMAN SIR - has never failed to churn out the best numbers .. they are tailored for relishing , at concerts or away ! He sang Dil se re .. the beginning percussions had the audience longing to listen to it ! The best of His was Khwaja, from Jodha Akbar (a song, apparently close to his heart, as he'd mentioned in an interview). They had set up a diwan, with Sir centre staged, and Md. Aslam and Javed Ali at either sides ! A prayer, nothing less ! The harmonium was played effortlessly, which only added feel to the already existing ! ROCKING !

The songs sung were
* Ellapugazhum from Azhagiya Tamizh Magan, the recent Tamil craze ..!

* Varaaga nadhi karayoram from Sangamam. What a song ... what singing ! Kudos to Shankar !

* Barso re from Guru. As I and a lot others feel, Neeti's neverr let any song down ! Awesome singing, though she did fumble at the naa-re part towards the end, lack of breath.. but chuck it ! She sings as gorgeously as she is !

* Vaaji from Shivaji had Hariji and Madhushree enjoying as they sang ! Mediocre I'd rate it !

* Jashn-e-Bahaara from Jodha Akbar. Javed Ali.. again.. one of Sir's best finds ! Effortless singing ... uninterrupted flow of the feel .. and amazing performance !!! I'm in love with him !
* GIRLFRIEND from Boys ..... YE ! KARTHI ! Enakkagave paadara maadiri oru feeling ! Lovely audience interaction .. unexpected sangadhis and a sudden burst into the high pitched 'Enakkoru girlfriend venumada' had me demented !!!!!!! I wish I just fainted , so he came and attended to it ! How i wish !

* Endrendrum punnagai from Alaipayuthey ... I dont need to mention it .. It's a rage !!!!!!!!! What with Shankar singing along ! Fun !!!

* Tere Bina ... a version better than the one at Marg's ! Looked very sequenced, but .. atleast it was flawless ! Lovely swarams .. don't know why .. but somehow, the swarams stole the show ! Chinmayi was good, she went nasal towards the end though !!

* Mayya Mayya from Guru ... Neeti Mohan ... dances, sings, poses, smiles all A+ ! What has she sung for Sir ??? Perfect singing !

* Sandhana Thendralai from Kandukonden Kandukonden ! Ha ... Shankar written all over it !
* Newyork Nagaram from Jillunu Oru Kaadhal .. rarely have I heard Sir speak so much ! H e said stuff about the day being hot and sweaty and so lets go in for a 'jillunu' song ! WOW !!!! The song was a little messy .. he went out of shruthi .. but namma Sir na.. chalta hai ! :)

* Roobaroo from Rang De Basanti . Naresh looked out of form ! The song was edited such that 'jo gumshuda' never appeared !

* Athiradee from Shivaji ... overrated song ! It was a lot of fun ! There was Md. Aslam centre stage, and Sir had vanished from his place near the Keys ! Ben, Naresh and Karthi occupied the top row and the guitar's already begun playing ! It was assumed that Md. Aslam might sing it ! But LO ! Sir emerged from underneath the Keyboard stand with Black glasses !!!!!! Sooooo situationally funny :P. Incidentally, he had forgotten a couple of lines from the song, but namma Sir dhaane :P... and yeah .. Karthi had me drooling to his 'Sananana Mananana' :D

* Chaiiyya Chaiiya from Dil Se. Reihana began the song, she got to sing after loong on stage for Sir ! Unexpectedly , it was Javed Ali for the Male vocals, and what a splendid job !!! Every note was perfect and the high pitches were even wonderful !

* Munbe Vaa from the Jillunu movie .. Chinmayi was shreya's substitute ... did a very nasal job ! She sang well though .. but the himesh-effect undid the feel ! Naresh was OK !

* Maduraikku Pogadhedi from Azhagiya Tamizh Magan. Ben was his usual Hyper self ! Dancing away all time .. and the surprise guest was Dharshana .. who sang it originally as well ! She did a nice job .. though got a little scared towards the end ! Her landing notes are perfect !

* Idhayam Idam Mariyadho from Jodha Akbar. This was a bilingual song.. there were Karthi, Javed Ali, and Madhushree on stage .. singing away ! Karthi began it so sofffftly, that, Sonu would have resigned his job ! And Madhushree was extremely captivating ! Javed ka tho javaab nahin !

* Kannodu Kaanbathella from Jeans. This , is what they call, a Surprise ! A complete katcheri feel ! Nithyashree, along with Valayapatti and a Mridangist were seated down, the carnatic way ! A full fledged RTP effect. And a couple of SGMPNSs, began Kannodu. She looked extremely confident in the standing position with the hand mic ! Lovely !

* There was a little break where the percussionists had their time ! It was not inetersting :(

* Bombay Theme ... a lilting melody everyone would die for .. and Mr Naveen , had us all mesmerised with his feet long intruments !!!!! No wonder he's the Royal Flautist ! Cheers !

* Blaaze wandered for sometime on the stage, with 'style' for the bgm .. as he introduced the instrumentalists !

* Pray For Me Brother .. a surprise !!!!! Sir sang and played with ease and Blaaze had everyone enjoying his Rap part ! It was completely sequenced .. The whole track !

* The diwan. now held the unbeatable singer-pair .. Hariji and Sadhanaji ! A little aalaap and a a few Keys later, it was a confirmed Udaya Udaya ... what a song !!!!! And from there ... Hariji announced a teencee competition for the audience where we had to repeat his swarams !!!!!! Ah ! If we could do it, we'd have been on stage boss ! A million swarams later .. the tempo picked up and Behaag appeared out of thin air ! Ae Hairathen Aashiqui , jagaaaaaaaa math !

* Azeem-o-shaan- Veerapaandi kottayile- Rukkumani. How does Sir know how to merge his own songs to get the best feel ever !!!!!!! Towards the end, there were little kids on stage, (whom I envied) drumming and smiling from up there ! (naangalum varuvom) !

* Humma Humma. Ha ! Shankar and Sir were on stage with a little teaser of 'Ammmaaaaaaaaaaa' .. as it metamorphasized into HUMMA HUMMA as Blaaze had us all tapping our feet !!!!! And security guards appeared out of nowhere ! This was the cue that the concert was about to end ! Anyway .. Humma saw the bursts of several paper clouds and oohs and aaha from fans !

* VANDE MATARAM .. Salaam to Rahman sir for having given us this wonderful concert ! Towards the end of the song, all singers appeared on stage .. as is customary !

I thank Times of India and Rahman Sir for this ultimate opportunity , to sit close to the stage and have the time of my life ! I profusely thank Mr Radhan for having made this possible ... and on BIG hug to all the crazy fan-friends who made it there ...viz a viz Sandhya, Aravind, Anupriya, Vijay, Satya, Narayan, Anees, Rakesh, Vithur, JJ, Radhan, Prasanna and my sis !!!!

One special mention to Mr Faiz .. without whom .. I'd not have experienced these moments this early in life !

Backstage- After the concert .. !
Ha.. funny ..the t shirt made me proud !!!!!! We were allowed with no hindrance whatever ! Met Md. Aslam, and had Karthi meeting me to find out how we enjoyed the show !!!!!!!! YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS ! Pics shall be uploaded !!!!!!!

ARR ROX

I WANT TO... !

Dear Sir,

I WANT TO SING FOR YOU !!!!!

I pray you can hear me (out) someday !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Loaaaaaaaadssssssss of Love (and Prayers)
Manasa !

TOP TEN IR !!!!!!!!!

Hey .. I'm freaking bored ... with exams coming up :P .. I think I'll post my fav 10 IR songs ... verrrry selective ... no mundane songs here .. not the typical IR types !!! some reallllly mellifluous only !



1) IDHAZHIL KADHAI EZHUDUM (UNNAL MUDIYUM THAMBI)

Bloody brilliant ! verrry Vasanthaish !!!!!! supposedly Lalitha ! I love every bit of this song ! Especially that aalaaap !!! More than Balu sir, Chitra akka is one heck of a heart-throb !!!

2) NEE ORU KADHAL (NAYAGAN)

One of the best duet pairs known, Chitra akka and Mano. Lovely song.

It's truly

'isai mazhai engum pozhigiradhu

engalin jeevan nanaigiradhu'

3) KUZHALOODHUM KANNANUKU (MELLATHIRANDHADHU KADHAVU)

Chitra akka yet again !!!!!!!! Every 'ku koo ku koo' sounds like the cu-ckoo itself !! IR and MSV amalgamate in this movie .. and every piece is precious !... and namma chinna-kuyil Chitra ku indha paata paada cholli tharanuma ?????? :P

4) EDHEDHO ENNAM(PUNNAGAI MANNAN)

Unless you are irrational, you'd love this song !!!! Lovely beginning, simple though ! Check out the feel !

'neeye anaikka vaaa

theeyai anaikka vaa'

Double interpretation there , anaikka as in hug as well as to put off, and who else but namma Padmashree Chitra could have delivered this better ?!!

5) MEENAMMA MEENAMMA (RAJATHI RAJA)

SPB, KS Chitra ! Doesn't it say it all ? Senjurutti I think !!!! I love the charanams ..

especially .... 'kodi minnal seerudhey' .. and that chord changes immediately after this .. the end of every line has this glide .. and it adds to the already existing feel ! innum 'vendaamoooo' :P

Looks like I'm not going to let go of Chitra akka lol :D

6) THENDRAL VANDHU ENNAI THODUM (?)

Saranga Tarangini ... close to kalyani in more ways than one ! I can't say why I looove this song ...... but I am in Loveeeeee with it !!!!!!!

7)KATRIL VARUM GEETHAME(ORU NAAL ORU KANAVU)

Now this is Kalyani :P.. lovelyyyyyy. The way Bhavadharini sings, surprises meeee ! Then there's Shreya, about whom nothing need be said ! She starts with this aalaap ...

'Isaiyin payane Iraivan dhaane' ! :)

Sadhanji joins at the end, but makes no difference though. The only Apparent difference if anything is Hariji's entrance !!!! And those lovable swaras !!!!! :)

8) NINNUKORI(AGNI NAKSHATHRAM)

lOl ... Chitra akka .. MohanaM.... was a rage due to the original 'ninnukori' varnam !!

'pen alla veenai naan '

.... is for Chitra akka right ? :P

9) THOONGATHA VIZHIGAL (?)

Lovelyy song... realllly hard to sing !!!!! Yesudas sir is fantastic ! Amrithavarshini right ?????

10)KALYANA THENILA(MOUNAM SAMMADHAM)

Hey .. lol.. Darbari Kanada ..

says it all ????? :P

:)

EXTRAAAAAAA :d

11)AAGAYA VENNILAVE(ARANGETRAVELAI)

The extra comes with minimum description .. Darbari Kanada lol .. hey actually the song stated above and this, have been my favourites, ever since I knew they exist ! So.. no Ragam biasing here ok ?

MY TAMIL TOP TEN[for (i< 82736464, i=0, i++)

I thought really hard about this ! My own list of top ten favourite TAMIL songs ... but it's just soooooooo hard !!!!
So It may be noted that here will be my top 25 :P ... I bet yours too might match .. check it out !
PS (:P) - also note that another set of songs shall be included , so I don't miss out on any of yours :P
IN NO PARTICULAR ORDERRR !

1) Malargaley !!!!!! (Love BiRds)
Need i say why ????? My personal opinion is ... Rahman Sir can't 'make' another like this !!!!!! Not anymore, now that digital music has set in ! Saraswathi, is melody personified in this ! Lovely prelude with a mellifluous crescendo which only Rahman Sir can do justice to ! Hariji and Chitra akka , a flawless combination on their own, beautify the song more ! There's this ultimate feel to it ... Hariji's

'vaanoda neelam poley inaindhu kondadhu indha urave'

sooo tactile ! and so is Chitra akka's

'unakkaga uyir vaazhven .. vaAa en vaazhve vaa' !

And there is this mandolin-flute interlude .. whoaaaaa ... a never-before thing ! Hats off to Sir !

2)Sonnalum ketpadhillai (Kadhal Virus)
Just the 6 second flute prelude is enough to judge this song , as the violin joins hands immediately ! Beautiful female chorus, the husky feel, gives a pleasing touch ! Harini and Unnikrishnan's pair is one of the 2 best pairs I know. The other will come in a while :D. Anyway, back to the song. . I just can't describe more!Nalinakanthi is awesome, and this song is just too invincible !

3)Kattre En Vasal !!!! (Rhythm)
Darbari kanada is JUST SO BEAUTIFUL ! one of my previous posts must have read lots about it!I think it's the triangle they've used in the rhythm section! Beautiful! The female chorus lyrics are soo funky .. 'seeley si seeley seeley' lol ! My favourite line in this is by Kavitaji @ Charanam1.kaAtre :P

'anbe naan uranga vendum, azhagaana idam VENDUM...'

This is Vendum thing is just so crystal clear, the sangadhis, the feel, the voice ... and everything else ! Especially the interlude 2 where the flute merges with the female chorus (funny though) ... but aweeeeeeesome ! I'd probably rate this no.1, but then, there are so many more !

4)Suttum Vizhi Chudardhaan (Kandukonden Kandukonden)
This is what they call 'SHORT AND SWEET'. Rahman Sir at his best with the usage of bare minimum instruments! Hariji rocksssssss ! The million ragas fed into the song , and the way every raga drifts into the mood, something only Sir can do ! 'nakshathirangaladii' sees a variety of instuments at the bg .. if any of you knows what all , please do post :)... 'alaigaladiii' sees some casually awesome singing by hariji.. and that 'idhuvaa' is just so adorable, he'd have konji konji sung it !!!!!!!

5)Kannamoochi enada (Kandukonden Kandukonden)
Yet again, the same movie ! This audio missed a National Award, like many others did. Nattakurinji fused with sahana, both soothing ragas on their own, give a combined feel, Constructive interference they call it :D. Chitra akka's

'vaAa en kanna,'

and the aalaap that follows is mindblowing ! the 2nd interlude sees the use of 'Oud' till the lyrics begin , and why dont they use more of the instrument ????

6)Uyire (Bombay)
o7.18, a real long song !!!! Rahman Sir says it was the most difficult song to compose. Took him 7 days ! wow ! I DONT NEED TO STATE REASONS TO LIKE THIS SONG !

7)Anjali (Duet)
08.06. Another lengthy song, but we sure shall ask for more if permitted :D. Maandu has been used veryyyyy differently ! There's this something that affines you to the song, from the word Go ! The Sax prelude, Chitra akka's 'Laa la laa' shower all the flavour of the song, while you realise that the charanams are better, and when you get deeper in, the flute is sheer magic!! Hats off TO Naveen !!!!! I wanna be able to do that humming one day !!!!!!!! I wish ...

8)Theendai (En Swaasakkatre)
Something about the beginning sucks ! The husky female voice, but it's only to realise that the song is as beautiful on the inside ! Balu sir and Chitra akka are mindblowing! Sriragam is nice, though i always used to think this was Anandha Bhairavi ! Btw, what does the male chorus at charanam 1 mouth ? lol .. so hilarioussssssss ! And what a scale... whoa ! The end is the loveliest part, where the female voice overlaps the male voice! Just so good !

9)Thirakaatha Kaattukulle (En Swaasakaatre)
I think I like an album and stick to it for the rest of my life lol ! An equally beautiful song... some ragam combined with nelambari ! which ? Neelambari adds the needed emotion in such a beautiful manner ! 'AaaaAAnom' is so cherubic !!!!! The lyrics are funny, 'veedugal idam maarumo' lol ! the Violins(??) , (and violas i guess) at interlude 2 sweep you off your feet!

10)thoda thoda (Indra)
There is something about flutes and me, as it is to Chitra akka and Rahman Sir !lol! The way she begins in the charanam 1 'nandavana karayil.. parithaAaR'... something I look forward to, everytime I listen to the song !The 'ghungru' is used explicitly throughout the song. The second interlude has this wonderful piece ever, the flute plays in, Sir sings along, there's this pause, the violin plays sad notes and the flute Jumps in again.. for like a brief period of 2.5 seconds, and stands out !!!!!! to Whoever discovered the flute , I Bow !!!!!!!!

11)Thikkuruviyai (Kangalal Kidu Sei)
No Rahman Sir fan can leave out on this album ! It's just as precious as the crappiness of the movie may be defined ! Mukesh makes his debut, with Sir and I think he did pretty well ! Not many big offers for him then though. Harini, as usual, kekkanuma ... orey brighas only !!!!! Interlude 1 is my favourite with the flute thing coming in... I've never heard anyone use the flute so extensively ! And the absolute end of charanam 2 where harini sings

'mazhai nera katre katre manam thinna vaa vaa, kudaiyora ootre ootre gunam solli thaa thaa'

is soooooooo awesome ! I love Harini in this song ! And how can I forget the end of the song with the Brighas at some unknown pitch!!!! Wah Harini ji ! Wah !

12) Nila kaaygiradhu (Indra - Hariji/Harini)
The same tune can create different moods and this is an example ! Hamir Kalyani ! Harini's version is as child-like as it can get ! Adorable ! (though I have different opinions on kids :O) Clear sangadhis et al ! Actually, she's just a prodigy, nothing less !
Coming to Hariji's version, what do I say ! That shruthi at the beginning itself denotes sogam ! His 'hm's and 'aaaa's add to the feel ! avar innum paada ve aarambikkalai lol ! Effortlessly paadirpaaru ! "yaarum SugiKYAvillaye" lol .. that mallu touch :P
and that 'haaaaaaaa vaanum mannum..' is so Cute :P. there's this one string that gets dragged at after 'mazhaiyum kaanavillaiye' .. the song needs lot of attention ! 'poOoOvanam', that light Big sangadhi crammed into that small time .. amazing how he can do it ! The whole song became a rage with Srini sir auditioning every singer thru this song lol ! then Karthi sang it to him, and all that is a BIg story ,, some other time may be :P

13)Vellai pookal (Kannathil Muthamital)
A R RAHMAN, one name that says it all ! I cant not mention the flute part !!!!!!!

14) Minnale (May madham)
I love Balu sir in this. The way the song begins.... so grand ! Interlude 1 is awesome.. the female chorus and Balu sir together do the humming with a super cool flute support! And how much feel he adds to the song ! I love this part when he says 'chinnamey' .. and also 'kaathirukkiren' where there is a mild female backing ! Soul stirring composition ! The rhythm section is simple yet gorgeous ! The glide at 'irulumillaiya' is loaded with tears I guess .. such a beautiful song !

15)Azhage sugama (Parthale Paravasam)
Sahana, a comforting raga, is used brilliantly ! Srini sir is just too good ! The song is pretty slow, yet , at the charanam, where Srini Sir sings 'azhage unnai pirindhen', the backing(Similar to what Sir offered Naresh in Munbe vaa) makes you wonder what's happening..and the song's back on track already ! Sadhanaji is equally appealing. Her best line in the song being

'vaazhkai or vattam pol, mudintha idathil thodangadha'

and then there is this kutti violin bit..so pretty ! And there's the violin solo at the end,after the keyboard solo that is! Listen to the song at 4.19 and from there ! Closely from 5.00 to 5.07 .. so funny the pattern is. Hear it and you'll know what I mean!

16)Kannuku mai azhagu (Puthiyamugam- Unnimenon)
One of Rahman sir's best ever !!!!! Non neelambari thaalaatu I'd say ! Every interlude is a Gem! The song, a Masterpiece all the same! I cant describe the song in words, you've to feel it to know it !

17)Udaya Udaya (Udaya)
This pair is the other of the 2 best ever. Hariji and Sadhanaji !!!! Both sounding as dulcet as possible! Everytime each of them utters the word 'kaadhal' , there is so much you can empathise with them ! The movie never came from jail, and the audio went unnoticed. 'unnaaale' by Sadhanaji is commendable for the crescendo effect, as is the 'thannaaley' by Hariji ! What are the instruments used in interludes 1 and 2 ?? The male chorus joins brilliantly at int.1, after which the violin(?) continues! 'en netrin paadhayil ...pirandha' ... WHAT A COMPoSITION !

18)Uyirum neeye (Pavitra)
I got no reasons ! it's just brilliant !!!!!!

19)Sakhiye (Andhimandharai)
Though i heard it reallllllllllllllllly late, it's never Ever gone off my lips since then !! What a man Rahman Sir is!!!!!! The song begins in such a lovely way, (it's odd though... aN 8-8-8 -bar pattern, something he's used in Bol sajni as well)and Unnikrishnan begins the song in this awesome way ... this .. something , that kindles your emotions! As usual, the mridangam takes you by surprise in the pallavi!'naangu kangal kalandhpinaAALEY' ..so sweet ! And the first interlude with the flute[:)] and veena and ,mridangam is too good to describe !!!!! Every charanam is a masterpiece !!!!!!!!!!!!! Note that voice control at 'saadhiyai kettaal, kaadhalum thoongum' at charanam 1 ! The second charanam transmits you to a different world altogether ! On the whole, indescribable !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thanks to this git who introduced me to the song ... The 'thanks' was on request :P

20)Bombay Theme -
Nothing to write !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

after like 20 songs, i come to the non-Rahmantic songs lol ......
21)Sudum nilavu(Thambi)
Reethi gowlai-what a beaaaautiful raga !!!!!!!! Every element in this song is so rasichify-able !!! This is another of those beautiful songs with the Unnikrishnan-Harini combo ! The female chorus, husky as it is , is As good !!!!!! There are some weird sounds at interlude one, as always in a Vidyasagar melody, still, lovely ! The rhythm is a normally normal pattern, yet so different ! Hey what's that instrument after every line in the charanam that goes 'trrr' ? :P also the lovely way it ends, with a muted beat pattern! Lovelyy song !

22)Mazhaiye Mazhaiye (June r)
I like the Hariji version better than Sujatha's ! but well, essentially it's the same tune !!!!!! Brilliant orchestration !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And the song is so difficult !!!!! It's a Sharrath musical.. the man who scares most people,as he expects absolute perfectionism. Wonder how many takes Sujatha might have taken for this one ? All in the high notes, and so damn difficult ! There's this part which sounds like the keyboard interlude 2 in katrin mozhi !!!!!!!!!!!

23)Moolaiyai thirugum (Kana kanden)
Something about this song, Srini sir himself, is soooo adorable !!!!!! Kalyani only adds to the beauty !!! The song begins like some shlokam ,while the Charanams are pretty interesting actually ! Slow and simple ! Minimal orchestration, yet brilliant song !

24) Poovasam purappadum penne (Anbe Shivam)
Sriram parthasarathy at his best ! Sadhanaji is good, though, utna impression nahin jama ! soulful !!!!!!!!

25)Poi sollakoodadhu kadhali-(Run)
Hariji... all over i say !!!!!!!!

oh hell .. it's over !!!!
there are just so many !!!!!!!!
26)Rayile ( 5 STAR)
27)Uyire en uyire (Totti Jya)
28)Edhedho ennam (Punnagai Mannan)
29)Kanda naal mudhalai(Kanda Naal Mudhal)
30)Alaipayuthey (Alaipayuthey)
enoughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh ~! :P