Crosswords and Carnatic Music

Identifying raagas in cine songs was never my forte. Even an uninitiated soul in my family would have an aha moment with the raaga of like "Mullai Malar Mele" or "Janani Janani", but not me.

I have worked (am still working) my way through this enchanting world of carnatic music with help of raagas of known songs. For example, once I know that "Malare Mounama" is a darbari kaanada number, as soon as I identify the similarity between "Malare Mounama" and "Ponnenben siru poovenben", I can expand my territory a little bit. This is followed by finding more similar numbers such as "nee kaatru naan maram", "oorellam un paatu dhaan","kalyaana thennila" etc - one clue leading to another, just like a crossword puzzle.

I must note that websites like tfmpage.com and Karnatik.com are of great help in this regard.

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A musical journey for the uninitiated !

If you are not so much into Carnatic Music but can identify a raaga here or there, Isai Payanam is a treat to watch. This little weekly series by Charulata Mani, on Jaya TV, handles a raaga every week. She beautifully narrates the aarohanam, avarohanam, introduces you to a few carnatic and cinematic compositions in that raaga.

Except for the fact that in recent weeks half the airtime is being occupied by movie footages, this program is nearly flawless. You can also check it out in youtube.

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God is not dead; who else gave me GreenCard :)

From day one, I was very skeptical. So were the naysayers right from my attorney. L1B and EB1 -appeared as oxymoron to everyone. Finally after 3 months of wait, here I am, smiling at the GreenCard that fell on my lap !
One thing is for sure - USCIS, like God, works in mysterious ways! Nobody can understand why you did or did not get your papers through!

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