MUSIC AND ME

From my husband .......

A FEW OF MY FAVORITE SONGS ...

My passion with music started when I was very young and when  I first listened to Sri. Madurai Mani Iyer,  very famous for his unique style with  excellent skills in kalpana swarams, neraval and aalapana.  I have attached a few songs sung by me in my free time...

•   MADURAI MANI IYERS ENGLISH NOTE

• AMBAVAANI - Muthiah Bagavadhar Raagam : keeravani 

• THE FIRST SONG I SANG IN PUBLIC !

• KAPALI   KAPALI - MOHANAM

• ONE OF MY FAVORITE SONG - BY SIRKAZHI GOVINDARAJAN

• SHANKARABARANI RAAGAMALI

 

•  THAYE YASODHE    THAYE YASODHE

INSPIRATION FROM ANIMAL AND PLANT KINGDOM !

There are many animals and plants  from which we could  get great motivation. In fact they have tremendous lessons that could  teach us !

Eagles... 

 Eagles are great teachers in many aspects..
 If we study their lives we notice great lessons that could be quite useful to   us !

•  Eagles always fly high...  and they soar to great heights.
•  They focus on their preys till they grab and get them.
•  Eagles never eat dead creatures no matter what.
•  They love the storm , rather they use the power of the wind to fly  without  flapping their wings

•  And here is how the female eagle chooses its mate : very interesting....

 When a male eagle approaches the female eagle picks up a twig and flies, the male following her.  After reaching some height she drops the twig. Now the male chases the twig and grabs it before it falls to the ground and brings it back to the female who takes it only to drop it again after flying further higher. The male chases it again to pick and this is repeated many times for hours...till the female eagle gets assured that her mate is skillful enough for her ! only then she mates with her partner !

•  Setting up a home for the babies and then training them...

The male and female eagles share in their family responsibilities. They choose a place at a considerable height to build their nest. After that the male eagle collects thorns, twigs, rugs and grass and lay them  respectively in the same order - the thorns on the sides, then the twigs, then the twigs and grass. He puts his feathers as a top layer so that the eaglets are comfortable and feel cozy and protected from the enemies by the thorns on the sides.
Now that the nest is ready the female lays eggs and protects them to hatch and the male hunts to feed the family.

• When the eaglets are grown big enough to fly, the mother pushes them out to make them fly but the scared eaglets comes back to the nest ! but meanwhile the mother bird removes the soft layers in the nest exposing the thorns thus making the nest no longer comfortable and cozy.. this motivates the eaglets to try harder to fly ...though under supervision by the mother bird.

• CHANGE !

    Change is a very essential factor for our successful lives .. 

How eagles go for the change .

The eagles can live for 70 years but this can be achieved if they make a hard decision when they are about 40 years.
They become weak, with beak bent . wings heavy with old thick feathers. At this time they make a   Do or Die decision! 
 The eagle makes the hard decision and undergoes a long 150 days of revival.

•  He knocks his beak several times on the rock until it comes out. He then waits for the new beak to grow.
• It plucks out the talons too. and  the new talons grow.
• He then plucks out all the feathers from his wings.

Now it has new talons, new beak, and new feathers  and lives for 30 more years !

 You see ! Every aspect of eagles life can teach us many things...
 Think high
 Never compromise with a weaker decision
 Choose your trust-worthy mate 
 Train your children to be independant to make life decisions.
 Shed off unwanted useless habits and things.. 




BAMBOO 

Bamboo grass ... so beautiful to look at and at the same time great  lessons to teach us !
No need to say about the highly valuable plant . every part of it is useful.
So surprisingly strong that it is even called as vegetable steel. yet the stem is hollow !

Whats so UNIQUE about the growth of bamboo ?

When bamboo is planted, watered and nurtured, unlike any other plant, you can see absolutely nothing - no sprouts. no seedling. Not even for the whole year but  for four consecutive long years you could see no sight of any outward growth.
But on the fifth year, an amazing and incredible thing happens. The tree shoots up and grows so fast and strong.  They may even grow upto 80 ft !
Some bamboos grow upto 47 inches in just 24 hour period.


Now what do we learn from this plant !

• Like the bamboo , keep your heart and mind hollow , open to newer and greater ideas..
• Any action demands great and strong foundation with which sky is the limit !

For More interesting facts about bamboo look into this site :

http://www.midatlanticbamboo.com/bamboo-tuf/tuf.htm

ஏழின் மகிமை !

ஏழின் மகிமை !

ஏழின் மகிமை !

இந்த அற்புதமான பிரபஞ்சத்தில்  நம்மை  அதிசயிக்க வைக்கும் விஷயங்கள் பல உள்ளன !  
 ஆனால் நமது வேகமான வாழ்க்கையில் அவற்றை நாம் கண்டு கொள்வதில்லை 

அப்படி சில விஷயங்களை இங்கே  பகிர்ந்து கொள்ள விரும்புகிறேன்.

ஒவ்வொரு எண்ணுக்கும் ஒரு சில சிறப்புத் தன்மைகள் இருக்கும் . அப்படி பார்க்கும்போது  
என்னைக் கவர்ந்த எண் 7 !

இதைப் பற்றி கொஞ்சம் அலசுவோம் !

நம் எல்லோருக்கும் தெரிந்த சில 

வண்ணங்கள் 7 

வானவில்லில் நிறங்கள்  7

சுவை 7 -  அறுசுவையோடு  நீர் சுவை 

வாரத்தில் 7 நாட்கள் 

உடலில் உள்ள 7 சக்ரம்

( மூலாதார, ஸ்வாதிஷ்டான, மணிப்பூரஹ, அனாஹத, விசுத்த, ஆக்ஞா , சஹஸ்ரஹார)

புனிதமான நதிகள் 7

ஸ்வரங்கள்  7

தொடு உணர்ச்சிகள் 7 .

இந்து மதத்தில் 7 மிகவும் பிரசித்தி பெற்றுள்ளது 

சூரியதேவன் தேரில் குதிரைகள் 

சப்தகன்னிகைகள் 

சப்த ரிஷி 

7 லோகங்கள் 

7 நரகங்கள் 

7 கடல்கள் 

7 மலை 

உணர்வு நிலையில் 7 அடுக்கு

1.உறங்கும் நிலை 

2.விழிப்பு நிலை 

3.கனவு நிலை 

4.எப்பொழுதும் விழித்துக்கொண்டு இருக்கும் ஆழ்  நிலை 

5.பிரபஞ்சத்தில்  நடக்கும் அனைத்தையும் புரிந்து கொள்ளும் நிலை 

6.இறைவனை உணரும் நிலை 

7.தானும் இறைவனும் ஒன்றே என அறியும் நிலை 

ஆன்மிகத்தை அடைவதற்காக நாம் கடக்க வேண்டிய  7 அடுக்கு நிலை 

புலன்களைச் சார்ந்த முதல் அடுக்கு 

சூழ்ந்திருக்கும் எல்லாவற்றையும் அறியத்துடிக்கும் ஆர்வம் சார்ந்த இரண்டாம் அடுக்கு 

காமத்தை துய்க்கத் துடிக்கும் மூன்றாம் அடுக்கு 

குடும்பச் சுமையை தாங்கி, பணம் புகழ் ஈட்டும நான்காம் அடுக்கு 

பொது தொண்டு செய்யவேண்டிய கட்டமான ஐந்தாம் அடுக்கு 

கலைகளில் சிறந்து தெய்வாம்சத்தை உணரும் அடுக்கு 

இறையன்பால் நமக்கு உண்டாகும் அற்புதங்களுடன்  ஆன்ம மலர்ச்சி 

  

இதில் நாம் எங்கே இருக்கிறோம் ! ?

lally

EVER GREEN MELODIES...

GREAT  CARNATIC MUSICIANS....


  

    Please click on the NAMES to listen to the best song rendered by them respectively.

DKP

MMIYER

MDR

SEMMANGUDI SREENIVASA IYER

MS

MLV

CHEMBAI VAITHYANATHA BAGHAVATHAR

G N B

MAHARAJAPURAM SANTHANAM

QUICK AND DELICIOUS RECIPIES ..

 Here are some easy but delicious recipes !

1  CUCUMBER SALAD.. somewhat Thai style..

 Ingredients you will need
 Cucumber   3 to 4
 Groundnuts ( roasted and peeled ) 150 gm
 Green and Frsh red Chillies  4 to 5
 Small ripe tomatoes 3
 Salt to taste
 Half a teaspoon  Lemon Juice

 Method
 1. Chop tomatoes into small pieces.
 2. Cut cucumbers into thin pieces (about 1 inch long )
 3. Coarse grind groundnuts with chillies and finally add  tomatoes for just a few seconds. Do not crush the tomatoes too much.
4.  Mix the cucumber.
5. Add salt to taste and add lemon juice.


 2. A QUICK AND  YUMMY VADA

 You feel like eating  vada and you dont have any dough prepared ? No worries !  here is how  you can make with what you have instead

Boiled  and mashed potatoes.
 Coarse Crushed groundnuts / or roasted  split chanadal  (  pottukadalai )
Chopped green chillies or red chilly powder.
 1 or 2 bread  slices
If you dont have bread , just add little cooked rice  (Its for binding the stuff )
Add salt , lemon juice to taste.
Mix all the ingredients together and  make small flat balls and fry until golden brown.

3. ALL NEW  RAITHA !

 All of you may be knowing  many varieties of Raitha.  But  try this new one  which is a blend of indian,  Greek and Thai  recipe .

What you need..

Sesame  seeds  3 tb spoon

Thick Curd     1 cup

Groundnut       2 tb sp

Green chillies  as per your need

Cucumber      2 or 3

Garlic pods 1 or 2

Grated Coconut  optional

                                                      Corriander  leaves

Method

Roast sesame seeds  till it splutters

Grind sesame ,  roasted ground nuts,  and coconut into a smooth paste adding little water.

Beat curd and  add this paste

Chop cucumber and green chillies into small pieces and add to this mixture.

garish with corriander leaves.



 4. CAULIFLOWER  /  RADDISH   PICKLE 

 What you need...

 Fresh and crisp cauliflower 1 big ( or carrots )
 Fenugreek (menthayam ) 50 gm
 Mustard     75 gm
 Sesame oil  half cup
 Turmeric powder
 Salt to taste
 Ginger sliced 1 to 2 tsp 

Method

Cut cauliflower into small florets. Wash in hot water thoroughly.
Slightly dry roast fenugreek seeds and then mustard seeds.
Grind them into coarse powder.
Mix salt, turmeric powder, sliced ginger and the ground powder to the cauliflower florets.
Heat oil and cool it. Add to the mixture when cold. If the oil is hot  the vegetables become saggy.

1.RICE POTATO TIKKI

cooked rice  1 cup

boiled potato 2

chopped green chillies, ginger and garlic ( optional ) mixture

chopped corriander leaves

salt to taste

bread crumbs or mashed bread pieces

OK. Now you mix all these ingredients and make lemon size balls. Deep fry and serve with spicy chutney .

You are sure to hear "WOW"  as your kids or friends eat them !

2.THAI STYLE TOMATO CHUTNEY

Red Ripe Tomatoes 2

Green and Red Chillies  4 or 5

Garlic

Corriander Leaves

Salt to Taste

Boil tomatoes for 2 minutes. Peel the skin. Mash with all the other ingredients. hand method is better than mixer grinding

TOMATO RICE  -- IN A DIFFERENT STYLE !

All of us know how to make   tomato rice  But this one I learnt from my daughter !

Easy Lazy yet Yummy !


What you need 

Large tomatoes  4 or 5
Green chillies finely chopped 
Mustard oil. 4 to 5 tablespoons.
Rice  cooked 2 cups 
salt to taste 
sliced onion 1

 Method

Cook rice. Boil tomatoes till they become soft. Now mash these tomatoes with chillies .
Add salt  and mix this with the cooked rice adding mustard oil. Eat it with sliced onion.
Yummy new style tomato bath!