Aikya 2012 - The best of Bombay Jayashri in a Kaliedoscope concert

For a performing artist, to innovate in music, is to constantly revisit your experiences and share them with an audience at an appropriate time !

Bombay Jayashri has always believed in the path of discovery in music and when she combined this  discovery with all the experiences that she has encountered the result was absolutely magical !

Jayashri and her friends took us through an exciting journey where each note they sang / performed struck a chord in our hearts !

 

“Khaali haath aaye they Khaali haath jaayenge “ – we came alone in this world and we shall go the same way …How true… but as long as we embrace this voyage called life, it is the music around us and within us which binds us together to our memories…..

 

Be it a Thyagaraja kriti , a bandish , a film song, bhajan or a ghazal, Jayashri  guided us through the path that she had travelled , enjoying every bit and we the audience had no complaints !

Jayashri also shared that “Between us and God is a mirror and that mirror is nothing but the world which is an illusion and the easiest way to go through this illusion is music “…and her music at Aikya 2012 did just that ! It transported us to a different world altogether and made us, the audience, connect  to the memory of ours associated with the song …. What made the concert even more beautiful was the adherence to harmony and sync and dedication to details which made sure there were enough surprises but no dull moments !

 

Oprah Winfrey who I admire in her recent visit to India said that “You are what you are because of everything that has happened to you “.

Aikya was one such platform which showcased the repertoire  of Bombay  Jayashri  and her ability to share the experiences with all of us .

Kuch naa karne ki aadath !

Ever wondered why we always look forward to that amazing weekend right from Monday and when it actually arrives we tire ourselves cleaning swapping, rushing to the dry cleaners, the tailor, the designer, provision shopping OMG the list is endless !

Today was one such Sunday when suddenly the day began a bit too early and almost everything on my To Do list was actually nearing the Finish line !

Enjoyed my chotta sa afternoon siesta…..and then my hot cup of coffee…..

Uske baadh ?

Shopping  ??? Nahin….

Gappe shape ?? Naah

Well the remote as always came to my rescue and naa chahthe bhi watched one of those flicks for which I would have never ever wasted my money !!!

And suddenly my teenager beti decided to shift from her room to our bedroom with her lap top of course and then hubby too followed…so within the confines of a 15 / 12  sq ft room the family decided to do  their work on their respective lap tops with of course the Idiot box providing the commercial breaks now and then !

Within the next couple of hrs…snacks happened…some nice music which was discussed…jokes cracked amidst of course those important phone calls and not to forget the constant tapping on the lap top!!!

Dinner time someone reminded and sachets of soup and some bread n jam came to the rescue…lekin wahi 15/ 12 sq ft room mein…..

Happy to be just together in a room I thought…kyonki nahin hai aadath humein kuch naa karne ki…

But just decided that this is going to be my favourite aadath from now on……

Jab I met SRK !

It was one of those rare moments in my life where I actually wanted a photo of mine taken with this man…this friend… this phenomenon called SRK ! And once I was successful in my mission I was simply over the moon !!

At the audio release function of RaOne in Chennai , I managed to get close up to a point when he saw me and  exclaimed “Janaki” and gave me this tight warm hug which said so many things without actually saying it ! He even whispered…”I’ll call you “ much to my amazement !

All those memories of having spent a year together in a film school studying, doing projects  , attending plays at Sri Ram Centre and discussing films over pots and pots of chai , amma making him the south indian filter coffee he so liked at home ,  gifting him a tokri of vegetables on his birthday bash and then dancing to all kinds of music thru the night with all our friends ….gosh it was like a rewind trip down memory lane….21 yrs back !!!

A side of SRK that never gets spoken about is his "ready to help always " attitude. And so when I asked him several years ago, if he would spend a few minutes with a specially abled child, who was a diehard  SRK fan, he immediately agreed and spent almost an hour at a dubbing studio in Chennai in his lunch break !! Thank you Shah Rukh..we too never forget J

Why so much about a 2 mins meeting one might ask…for me it confirms a belief that old friends do not forget and the feeling of happiness that the thought and fact brings in me !

Friendship is a feeling that can start from wherever it paused…just pick up the threads and move on….It’s one of the cases where you apply the phrase “no silly feelings” and just continue !

Something I read recently feels so apt here …”you don’t have to do much to spread happiness…you just have to be happy yourself “

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Adieu Amma - 9th May 2011

How does one say goodbye to an amazing  woman who made us what we are with all the love and affection that one could ever imagine ?

Rekha and I are fortunate that we were able to look after amma in whatever way we could but she decided, that it was time to pass on to the other world and join appa there !

On 9th May, Monday, at 5.20 am when she breathed her last, the face was suddenly filled with a sense of calm and peace which was absent since March 17th, when she was struck by the stroke.

It was sad to see amma slowly slip into a phase of almost nothingness...a situation which made us totally helpless

But amma  planned her exit so well…she made sure Rekha settled in her new home , that  she and Raghav could come from Delhi ,  gave us enough time to plan her last journey , and by 5.30 pm she had moved on  !

All our friends, hers and appa's  have been calling and remembering not only her hospitality but her cooking…like appa used to say “anybody can cook, but in Sarasa’s cooking, the main ingredient is love “ How true !

In all these years we don’t remember Amma ever raising her voice at us at all…. She used to maintain her calm at all times and was always there for us whenever we needed her

Sabesh and Raghav will miss their caring mami and Dhwani & Dakshina their doting Patti

We know she won’t be there to chant those prayers when we want, she no longer will patiently explain the recipe whenever Rekha needs it but yes she will be there always by our side helping us, guiding and blessing us.

As Amma would have liked , we have  donated to a few institutions that have conducted cataract surgeries, educating the girl child, helping school drop outs to complete their education ,  to an old priest who is on a hand to mouth existence in Trichur , anna daanam and so on  from the 9th day to the 12th day. On the 13th day we had a navagraha poojai followed by a Tirupugazh bhajanai which was conducted beautifully by Raghav’s father  (again amma’s wish) followed by dinner.

Love you amma and will miss you lots and lots :-(

Zombie

While we are so busy with our lives, attending to whatever needs to be done minute by minute, day by day, week by week , year by year, suddenly LIFE presses the PAUSE Button ,  some incidents happen , taking  us completely by surprise !

Thoughts such as …why ? How will I ? What will I do ?....keep knocking at my temple…but I try and shoo them away almost in reaction that what is happening right now is actually not Happening to Me….. a state of  Complete Denial !

Like a friend of mine said , “there is always too much pressure to be interesting and be interested in life ...it’s nice to take a break and feel nothing...and if u are liking it then it’s probably what u needed :-)”

I call this state, ZOMBIE…but does this mean I have stopped appreciating the good that’s happening also ? Not at all !

There is so much of good and positive vibes that are happening …. We as a family are spending  time together ….Though in her own world, amma is with me ….learning so much from amma’s young nurse, Shankari who will put a Robert Bruce to shame , such are her efforts and that too with a smile J

My best friends …my maids Nirmala and Vijaya with their pleasant dispositions despite their  HUGE personal tragedies , force me to take charge of Myself  and breeze  thru the  day with a SMILE !

I am liking this state of being a Zombie for it has its own teachings…..most important being that I should live for Now and let me take each day as it comes and not wait for anything dramatic to happen !

Somehow the intellect and the intuition both seem perfectly happy in this harmonious state of being !

Yahi waqt hai !

Yahi waqt hai karle poori arzoo one of the old Hindi melodies kept me company as I was driving back from work….made me think yes…the lyrics are so relevant even to this day  !

Aagey bhi jaane na tu …peeche bhi jaane na tu…job hi hai bas yahi ek pal hai!

What we have is just the present so why not live it fully eh ?

I remember this conversation with my MIL ….. I had got a call from Cochin about the death of one of her close friends and as I broke the news to her ….athai (as I call her ) looked at me and with sadness descending on her face ...said “yes she had been ailing for some time….paavam !”  ….she paused and suddenly asked me “did you see the knock Sachin played last night ?” !!!

Wow ! that was a Sixer !!! What an attitude ! At 80 + she had  taught me the true meaning of “live this moment”...what was gone was gone but one can remember the happy moments right ?

Never ever will I ridicule her watching innumerable serials , her tryst with the Tata sky remote … as she  makes the maximum of the present  juggling along with the  slokams / cricket / indulging in those countless books on fiction and occasional participation in family conversations J

Jeena shaayadh isi ko kehte hain !

Power of a Blink

If only she could express with words, if only she could tell us how painful it is to listen to all the stories that we keep telling her but unable to participate ….

As she lies there , in her own little world , which one can only try to imagine ….but you know what she has found a new way of connecting with us !!!

Though the dictionary says ….” BLINK is to open and close (the eye or eyes), usually rapidly and repeatedly”  Amma uses the blink much beyond …

She blinks slowly to acknowledge …sometimes even to shut herself away from what’s happening around her ….

It makes me wonder how we take everything for granted in life …and today a simple blink has the power of communicating with all of us…