Relationship. . . . Great relationship

I was not getting sleep yesterday night (May be the cup of tea which I took late evening was interfering with my bio rhythm!) and I was tossing for long in my bed. Not surprisingly, I was thinking about many things and one led to another and finally I landed on the word ‘relationship’. ‘Relationship’ and ‘Great relationship’ to be more specific. What makes it different? I was trying to find the real difference between the two words.  What makes a relationship great? What it means to me? 

According to me a relationship, - is a state of mind or a mindset. I would like to call it a state of mind as it happens in the Mind! 

Relationship to me is the act of relating to another human being. This, more often than not, occurs through a genuine conversation, a personal story or very importantly an exchange of a shared feeling. Stepping beyond those boundaries to extend an act of kindness, a show of genuine interest or to simply exude positive energy in a sincere J can make a relationship a great one! 

If you have one with whom you have a great relationship, then you are lucky and fortunate, if not, too bad, you are less fortunate!

Does Peter Principle apply to fine arts?

This morning I was listening to Dr. N Balamuralikrishna’s Nagumomu Ganale, which is a live recording of his rendering in Indian Fine Arts Society, Madras in 1961.  It means that this song was recorded half a century back! Hence this post. 

Way back in 1968 Peter Principle was first put forth by Dr. Laurence J. Peter a psychologist, which, later on he published in his book called ‘Peter Principle’. He observed that in an organizational hierarchy, every employee rises or gets promoted to his or her level of incompetence. The Peter Principle is based on the notion that employees will get promoted as long as they are competent, but at some point will fail to get promoted beyond a certain job, because it has become too challenging for them. Employees rise to their level of incompetence and stay there. Over time, every position in the hierarchy will be filled by someone who is not competent enough to carry out his or her new duties. Dr. Peter explains it in simpler terms, "The cream rises until it sours." So this is Peter Principle.

I now come to fine arts, South Indian Carnatic music. I am a great fan of Dr. N. Balamuralikrishna and I have been listening to his music over two decades now. May be more! In my opinion he is a genius and no one living today can be compared with him! Musician par excellence!

My observation of him over the years now, made me think that Peter Principle probably works in fine arts too.

I have a collection of a single song sung by Balamuralikrishna in different places spread over 38 years. The song is Nagumomu ganale set to Ragam Abheri. He has sung the same song in different places over four decades! The first one was recorded in 1961 and the last one in 1999.  Spread over 38 years or four decades!!!

The one recorded in his early days are superb and you can actually feel the enormous effort that has gone into the song. His popularity as an acclaimed Carnatic singer was not big in those days. He was climbing up the ladder of his career during those times. As it was recorded in the early stages of his career naturally his repertoire would have also been limited.  Ironically with all these limitations the net effect of the songs that were recorded in the early stages of his life are brilliant!

But the same song recorded after he became an acclaimed singer and internationally popular are not so good! (What I actually mean here is that lot of songs that are recorded recently are not so good when you compare them with those recorded during his early days)

Is it because in later stage of life after one reaches the top, one starts to think that whatever he sings will automatically be appreciated? Or do they become complacent? Or because in the later stage he started to experiment more because he no longer fears anything as he has already reached the top position? Or he has become more creative and fears nothing and in that process fails more often?  Or is he indulging in more ‘sondha sahityams’ – own compositions, which are yet to become popular? Or finally is it because they reach the level of incompetence as Peter would say?

Whatever it is, in my opinion there is no one comparable to Dr. Balamuralikrishna and he is the best in today’s South Indian Carnatic music. As my daughter would say “He is God level”

(The above pictures were taken from internet and not taken by me)

Here, the parts are equal to the sum!

Generally it is said that the sum is greater than the parts. But in case of Taj Mahal, the parts are equal to the sum!

Every bit of Taj is a work of masterpiece! Everything is symmetrical and crafted with at most precision!

 

 

Taj Mahal - different point of view

When I visited the Taj this time, I wanted to shoot it from a different angle, having exhausted all the conventional angles during my previous visits!  Many of the conventional angles are still irresistible.

In Agra I went to a place called Mehtab Bagh. This is a garden which is on the other side of the river Yamuna exactly opposite to Taj Mahal. From here one gets an uninterrupted view of the back side of Taj Mahal. I must say this place is a photographer’s delight! I was unfortunate in the sense that there was very little water in the river Yamuna. Had the river Yamuna been running full, I would have got the beautiful reflection of the Taj, especially after 2 PM, when the sun is shining bright over Taj. Perhaps there is always a next time and the next time I would be luckier!!!

The Garden complex, situated on the opposite bank of the Taj Mahal, is also known as “The Moonlight Garden”. Three hundred fifty years ago, when the Taj was built on the Yamuna's south bank, this garden was also laid just across the river. It was laid alongside the northern waterfront. It seems this place was once an oasis with fragrant flowers, shaded pavilions, fountain jets and reflecting pools but it ceased to exist in the due course of history. Slowly, the site became barren.

This place is not known to many in Agra itself! I asked many people but no one could tell me how to get there. Finally I got an auto guy who immediately understood the place   I was asking about. So I gladly fixed him and left the hotel at 6:30 AM, so that I could get some nice shots of the Taj when the sun is just rising. But when I went there the atmosphere was totally different and the Taj was  completely covered by early morning mist! As the sun rose, the Taj was getting slowly exposed from the clouds or mist and the sight was awesome! Wow! That was much better than what I had expected! I am sure anyone who sees the pictures I took would agree with me.

Then, I went to the same place in the afternoon by 4 PM and took the following shots.

Khajuraho temple

The moment someone hears the name Khajuraho the bell it rings in the mind is - statues of sex poses from Kama sutra. 

But when I visited this great place what I saw was something significantly different. I have visited many places in India and to my mind this is perhaps the only place where you can see hundreds of beautiful statues in a single temple. Clusters of statues in fact!

I have never seen such beautiful statues of women in so many numbers anywhere in India. This is a collection of several master pieces in one place! Architecture cannot get bigger and more beautiful than this! Not a single square inch is left free in these temples. There are four temples which are the most important ones.

Khajuraho is much more than what it is generally known for!

Jain Statues

Till I visited Gwalior, the capital city of Madhya Pradesh, India, I did not know that this city had such a treasure of Jain Statues. These statues have been carved or cut in the natural rocky hills by Jains between 1425 and 1459 AD. There are 26 statues in different postures like standing and sitting.

Of course over time and during invasion of Muslims they have been mutilated in the name of religion! Very sad indeed! It is beyond my ken that someone with normal thinking can do this! The people who mutilated these statues saw only religion in them and not the art that these statues represented! 

There are many inscriptions in the pedestals of these statues. These inscriptions refer to the name of Tomar king, Dungar Singh.

Many of the statues are sheltered in the caves and crevices of the rocky hills. They are outstanding pieces of art and very original, the likes of which were seen in Afghanistan till they were destroyed recently by Al-Qaeda. 

There are many more such instances of little known architecture in India, and it would take a whole life time to see everything! My India is a great land of culture!

My province

My parents have told me that we belong to Thanjavur province (District). Although I have never lived in this great province or born there, we have been visiting my home village Swamimalai which is in Thanjavur province, probably once in a long while, may be once in 5 to 6 years! The result? I know no one in this place except Mr. Swaminathan, the presiding deity in Swamimalai temple! All this while I never understood the great contribution this province has made to the culture of Tamil Nadu (Tamizh Nadu as it is pronounced in Tamizh). I feel quite proud to know that my roots are from this great province!

Professionally in the recent past, I visited this place a couple of times and this made me realize the contributions of this great province to one of the ancient cultures of the world.

The first and the foremost contribution which would strike anyone who visits this place is the art of building a massive structure which stands gloriously even after one thousand years - The Big temple as it is popularly called. Everything in this temple is big, in fact the biggest – the entrance, the area around the temple, the Nandhi, the Shiva Lingam, the vimanam or the tower. The tower of this temple standing at 216 feet is the biggest granite tower in the world with thirteen floors! Magnificent temple indeed!!! (Big Temple)

The next would be Carnatic music! Thanjavur is the birth place of Saint Thyagaraja. Thyagaraja gave a new dimension to  Carnatic music. He has composed hundreds of songs and also set  them to tune. He believed in reaching God through music and practised the same throughout his life. The best among his compositions are known as ‘Five Gems” or ‘Pancharatna Krithis”. Even today all the  leading exponents  of carnatic music celebrate his birthday during the month of January by visiting his ‘samadhi’ or cemetery’ in Tiruvaiyar near Thanjavur. This is called  Thygaraja Aaradhana where all musicians sing together at his Samadhi. For those who like Carnatic music , attending this festival in January would be an unforgettable experience. 

Music is everywhere in Thanjavur district! Every Brahmin girl from this province would have learnt Carnatic music at some point in  her life! In fact, my wish is that in my next janam – life- I should be a great singer of Carnatic music probably like Balamurali Krishna?

Tanjavur has another contribution to Carnatic music to its credit.. It is  the Thavil. Thavil is a percussion instrument which has today become an integral part of Tamizh culture. Thavil is played by the artists with great enthusiasm and fervour. Any religious, social and cultural event of Tamizh Nadu is incomplete without the accompaniment of the traditional musical instrument of Thavil. The ancient city of Thanjavur has several music schools that impart training on playing the Thavil. No marriage in Tamil Nadu takes place without playing  the Nadaswarm, the major accompaniment of which is  the Thavil. 

Veena or Veenai as it is called in Tamizh is another contribution of Thanjavur. It is an ancient string instrument called earlier as ‘Yazh’. When a Veena maestro plays Veena the music is so melodious that one forgets everything and gets engrossed in the music. It is supposed to be a great stress reliever because of the melody it can produce. Goddess Saraswathis is always seen with the Veena. 

Thajnavur metal plates. This handicraft which is produced only in Thanjavur is a masterpiece. It is made in various designs and traditionally given as gift if someone is honoured for their  good work. For generations ,artisans of Thanjavur have been making these metal plates and the skill is being passed down from generations! This is an art which is over 300 years old and confined even today to Thanjavur province only.

Then the exquisite Thanjavur paintings, which, portray the rich artistic skill and creative imagination of the local artists of the ancient city. Also known as Tanjore paintings, the Thanjavur paintings were introduced by the royal patrons of art and craft under the Chola dynasty in the 16th century. The beautiful Thanjavur paintings are known for their harmonious blend of different colours.

Panchaloha or Pancha Loha idol is probably the greatest contribution by Thanjavur in my opinion. As the name indicates (Pancha means five and loha means metal) it consists of five metals. Panchaloha idols are found in many Hindu temples in India especially in South India. Panchaloha consists of Gold, Silver, Brass, Copper and Iron.

I think now anybody would agree why I feel proud of my province. . . !