Sunday, December 30, 2007
My Violin Guru's Father
I saw the tamil movie called salangai oli -- it has its share of moments that have aged, but its central theme is quite enduring: that excellence does not necessarily imply popularity.
I remember my violin guru's father, who attempted to teach me the "art of raga aalapana". An extraordinarily talented musician, he spent most of the time contemplating about music, and would make notes in his diary. Equally adept at both carnatic and hindustani music, his music, in some sense, attempted to unify both classical forms -- not unlike the protagonist of salangai oli. A simple, and a straightforward person, he did not have a "successful musical career" and hence was not popular among the masses. It is all easy to become philosophical and question the importance of popularity. But...
I will remember Sri Thirugogarnam Ramabhadran most, for showing me how to be a good "rasigan".
I remember my violin guru's father, who attempted to teach me the "art of raga aalapana". An extraordinarily talented musician, he spent most of the time contemplating about music, and would make notes in his diary. Equally adept at both carnatic and hindustani music, his music, in some sense, attempted to unify both classical forms -- not unlike the protagonist of salangai oli. A simple, and a straightforward person, he did not have a "successful musical career" and hence was not popular among the masses. It is all easy to become philosophical and question the importance of popularity. But...
I will remember Sri Thirugogarnam Ramabhadran most, for showing me how to be a good "rasigan".
Friday, December 28, 2007
Melbourne Test
The pitch in which the ongoing Melbourne test is played, bears an uncanny resemblance with the pitch of the recently concluded bangalore test against pakistan.
Both venues experienced a lot of rainfall during the lead-up to the match, which affected the pitch preparation. This meant the pitches could not dry out and hence were quite soft. This in turn meant the pace and the bounce of the pitches were lower than what the curator would have ideally wanted.
If you observed the Bangalore test match, experts expected the pitch to play worse in the 4th and 5th days. Eventhough the pitch kept extremely low at times, it did not affect the batsmen greatly since the pace of the pitch was so slow. It was a case of batsmen getting themselves out, and not otherwise.
Likewise, if you observe the 3rd days play of the Melbourne test, only one dismissal (that of Symonds) was caused by the bowler -- in this case reverse swing from zaheer khan. All other dismissals, were due to errors on the part of the batsmen.
Hence, I would say that there is a realistic chance of India surviving 2 days in this melbourne pitch (and hence winning the test). The only real threats are reverse swing and hogg's variation. For all their talk before the match, I am not sure if the Indians actually are picking Hogg's variations.
Both venues experienced a lot of rainfall during the lead-up to the match, which affected the pitch preparation. This meant the pitches could not dry out and hence were quite soft. This in turn meant the pace and the bounce of the pitches were lower than what the curator would have ideally wanted.
If you observed the Bangalore test match, experts expected the pitch to play worse in the 4th and 5th days. Eventhough the pitch kept extremely low at times, it did not affect the batsmen greatly since the pace of the pitch was so slow. It was a case of batsmen getting themselves out, and not otherwise.
Likewise, if you observe the 3rd days play of the Melbourne test, only one dismissal (that of Symonds) was caused by the bowler -- in this case reverse swing from zaheer khan. All other dismissals, were due to errors on the part of the batsmen.
Hence, I would say that there is a realistic chance of India surviving 2 days in this melbourne pitch (and hence winning the test). The only real threats are reverse swing and hogg's variation. For all their talk before the match, I am not sure if the Indians actually are picking Hogg's variations.
Monday, December 03, 2007
No Country for Old Men
/********Mild Spoilers***********/
The protagonist fights hundreds of minions before he meets the big boss in the final battle; In the final battle he may come on top in three out of 4 films (the 'happy' ending ones) and loses out in the other (the 'tragedies').
But what about the case in which he is overcome by the 76th minion???
/********************************/
I am still trying to whether this is a "good" movie...but riveted and entertained I was throughout the movie...so isn't it already a good movie?
The protagonist fights hundreds of minions before he meets the big boss in the final battle; In the final battle he may come on top in three out of 4 films (the 'happy' ending ones) and loses out in the other (the 'tragedies').
But what about the case in which he is overcome by the 76th minion???
/********************************/
I am still trying to whether this is a "good" movie...but riveted and entertained I was throughout the movie...so isn't it already a good movie?
