My goof-ups

This happened some 15 years back. My kids (they were kids, then!) and my husband used to discuss about the Olympic medals' tally (Olympics time).

After they left to school and office, I opened the sports page and saw the medals' tally:

           G    S    B    T
Russia    20   12    9   41
Germany   15   10   10   35
China     14   12   11   37
India      0    0    0    2

My comment about it in the evening: Everyone got lots of TIN medals! (yellaarum naraiya TIN medal vaangiyirukka!)

Have a good laugh at my cost!

P.S.: this joke has gone the world over through my kids and their friends want more!

Lijjat paapad - Indian Womens' Co-operative, celebrating 50 years

Eighty-year-old Jaswantiben Jamnadas Popat defies her age.

She seems more agile and active than her grandchildren.

"I don't want to stop working," she says with youthful determination.

Mrs Popat is the only survivor of a group of semi-literate Gujarati housewives who founded Lijjat Papad 50 years ago.

She will be celebrating the Lijjat golden jubilee on 15 March with 45,000 other women who are part of the women-only co-operative.

Mrs Popat cannot believe that what started as a desperate move to "supplement the family income" 50 years ago has come so far.

She says after taking a deep breath: "I feel I am living in a dream world. When we started our business it was not meant to become so big."

I read this article in BBC news website.


7 Women from Gujarat started this co-operative business on 15th March, 1959. And it has grown up in to a $100 million business.

I am so happy to read this news among all the negative news, we hear from world over. These women are not very educated, but take care of their family and earn money for bringing up their children. Indeed the Lijjat women seem to have proved that success does not necessarily need money and infrastructure, as long as there is determination. This is the true 'WOMAN POWER', I feel.

And Lijjat Papad is in India, for which we should be proud of!

Musical tag

I should have written this in my previous blog. Anyway, here it is now:

Shall I tag you people? I know you are all interested in music:

Sai Charan, Soul searcher, R.Ramesh, bum bum bhole, Ramya and whoever wants to do this tag.
The rules (!) are: The songs should be slow, soulful, melodious and in any two languages. The number of songs should be ten. Try this out - it is fun, I promise! Take your time, I did!!

Musical tag - Soulful, melodious songs - Hindi, Tamil & Kannada

This is my second tag and it was very very difficult to select just 10 slow, soulful and melodious songs. I have tried my best not to add more than one (!) to the prescribed list! Hindi is my favourite language, I live in Tamilnadu and Kannada is my mother tongue, so instead of 2 language tag, this is 3 language songs' tag:


1. My favourite actress, Nutan in 'Seema' - Lata Mangeshkar singing 'Man mohanaa...bade jhoote':

2. This is my favourite Kishore. I don't fancy the video:



3. Naseeruddin and Rekha - my favourite actors and Ashok Kumar's daughter, Anuradha, I think. One of Asha's best songs:



4. One of my favourite Rahman song, Shreya's is the best female voice now. :



5. I must have heard this song hundred times! Sonu and Shreya are superb:



6. I feel Sridevi was beautiful before her nose job and she got better roles in Tamil films. She looks beautiful and Kamal is Kamal! Ilayaraja's music and this was lyricist Kannadasan's last song, beautiful lyrics:

7. Shreya's beautiful song and the picturisation also is nice:

8. This is one of my favourite Shivaji' song. Saroja Devi is dancing! T.M. Soundararajan and L.R. Easwari are singing. T.M.S. used to change his voice to suite Shivaji and MGR's voices. Great singer:

9. Jayanthi and Rajanand (not familiar with him!) are the actors. S.Janaki and G.K. Venkatesh (I think!) are singing. True to the word 'melodious' song:



10. Here, Rajkumar is singing and acting. He is a very good singer. Saritha is the actress. After hearing this song, I cannot hear any other song for sometime...you don't need to know the language to hear songs like this one:




I had been selecting and deleting songs for some days now! Both my husband and I were discussing about the songs - when we were going for morning walks, while having our morning coffee... even while watching our favourite (?!) 'Balika Vadhu' serial! Selecting good songs from our musical ocean, is difficult. So many songs are there. As I am writing this, I can hear 'Amar Prem' song...shall I change some song again? NO!

My sincere thanks to the persons who started this musical tag and to Shilpa and Renu who tagged me. I enjoyed preparing this blog!

Now, this song is the concluding song. I have tears in my eyes, whenever I hear this one:

Begum Parween Sultana - The Flawless Queen of Hindustani Classical music

Begum Parween Sultana! I must add her in my 'People whom I admire' list!

I had been to her concert yesterday. I have heard her concerts here, in Chennai, I think, thrice. I was not a very great fan of proper classical singing. When I started learning Carnatic music, my teacher was teaching my senior students, how to build the swaras step by step in the 'aalaap' stage, within the framework of the aarohana, avarohana of a raaga. I was very much fascinated by it. I loved her singing raaga 'Varaali' with 'aalaap' etc. Even now, I love that raaga.

Somewhere in between, I started liking Hindustani music. Maybe, Sangeeth Saritha's influence, or maybe childhood memories of hearing it, because of my father. All of us were teasing him for hearing 'aaaaaaaa' in those days! Nowadays I hear a lot of Hindustani music.

Now, to Parween Sultana. She has got a beautiful god gifted voice. I heard the first two songs which are in the videos, in yesterday's concert. The last one is pure classical music. But beautiful rendition. Please hear this one with medium volume. Esp. this type of song should be heard at night......divine music!

It is like I am at the concert again! The same tabla vaadak, Shri Mukundraj Deo and harmonium by Shri Srinivas Acharya. She said that she had been singing here from 1969 and this song is Chennai audience's pet song! They never allow her to leave, without singing this beautiful song. I get goose bumps whenever I hear this song and it happened again, yesterday, thanks to Begum Parween Sultana!

This 'Taraana' is like 'Thilllaana' in Carnatic music. The name of the raaga also is the same in both Carnatic and Hindustani - Hamsadhwani/Hansadhwani. 'Bhavani Dayani', was soft and melodius and the 'taraana' was making the whole audience nod their head.

The anchoring person said that enough time is not there for listing her accolades and awards. Whenever she comes to Chennai, she wins the hearts of its audience! If you are interested to here more music of hers, please click the link given below and enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_type=&search_query=parween+sultana+-+bhavani+dayani&aq=f