I got to hear Vivek Moozhikulam live for the first time this evening. He sang for two and a half hours at the Subh Siddhi Vinayaka Mandir in Mayur Vihar. I liked his voice and he justified his tag of a rising star of Carnatic Music. Sudhha Dhanyasi. (couldnt recognise the krithi he sang) Ganapathiye … Continue reading Vivek Moozhikulam at the Siddhi Vinayaka Mandir
With great difficulty, Sruthi and I managed to reach the venue on time. The choice of organizing this in Dwarka was quite perplexing. Anyways, the Prince, with his typical wit, charm and humour took time to explain each piece. He sang for two hours accompanied by S.R. Vinu on the violin, B. Harikumar on the … Continue reading Prince Rama Varma at CCRT Auditorium Dwarka
It's not often that one gets to attend three Carnatic music concerts over a single weekend in Delhi. Sanjay sang at the Andhra Bhawan this evening and he was in top form. As usual he was accompanied by Neyveli Venkatesh and Varadarajan. (The Men in White) Valachi - the Navaragamalika Varnam Parvataraja in Sriranjini (Dikshitar … Continue reading Sanjay Subrahmanyan at Andhra Bhawan
As part of the KNMA Music Festival, curated by TM Krishna, Jayanthi Kumaresh performed this morning at 7.30 am. Despite the hassle of roadblocks due to the Delhi Marathon, and the even bigger task of waking up and lugging two disgruntled kids at 6:30 a.m, we managed to make it on time.. She was accompanied … Continue reading Jayanthi Kumaresh at Sundar Nursery
I return to Delhi as I return to my mistress Bhagmati when I have had my fill of whoring in foreign lands. Delhi and Bhagmati have a lot in common. Having been long misused by rough people they have learnt to conceal their seductive charms under a mask of repulsive ugliness. It is only to … Continue reading The Khushwant Singh of Our Times
Last evening Ganesh and Kumaresh, performed at the Kamani Auditorium as part of the annual Parampara Festival organized each year by Natya Taringini. The concert was short and in under two hours, the duo performed: A Purvi Kalyani piece A Ragam Thanam Pallavi in Kalyanavasantam (a raagam I got to listen to after ages) and … Continue reading Ganesh-Kumaresh at Kamani
Last week, I attended a heritage walk in Old Delhi exploring the Thugs of India, organized by Gaurav Sharma from India Heritage Trails. After the walk, I picked up Mike Dash’s ‘Thug: The True Story Of India's Murderous Cult’ and learnt quite a bit about this lesser known period of our history. Bandits and highway … Continue reading The Thugs of Hindustan
Cleopatra was not the exotic, scheming, and lustful queen of legend who ensnared Rome’s greatest men. Her affairs with Pompey, Caesar, and Antony were historic realities, but these were driven by realpolitik. As Adrian Goldsworthy writes: Cleopatra was not another Helen of Troy, a mythical figure about whom the most important thing was her beauty. … Continue reading Antony and Cleopatra
Cats evolved sometime in 7000 BC in the Fertile Crescent. But unlike dogs, they never really caught the imagination of the earliest humans. The transition of the cat from a scavenger to a cultural object began sometime in the late part of the 19th century and a lot of it was due to the art … Continue reading Louis Wain and his Cats
I tried to dig out a few enduring cultural legacies of Caesar... C-Section: Caesar’s mother didn’t die giving birth to him. So the belief that he was born by a cesarean surgery has been widely discredited. Despite this, the association gave his name to the procedure. The Ides of March: referred to the 15th day … Continue reading The Enduring Legacies of Caesar
