Learning a lot of things that are actually "commonsense''. Not that i did not know. I always knew their existence. But always missed, no.............avoided to see. Principles................ that is what i thought and still think. They do not allow me to "see'' the reality or the commonsense. So always I am like someone 'not from the present days'. People may think i am, old aunty or old fashioned or person who lacks................... courage, 'not smart', not to be living in these days. A person who leaves the given opportunity with slightest "competition". But what they do not understand is I shall take the challenge if it is with someone of my caliber, my convictions, my capabilities............. my knowledge, my experience .......... not someone who is mediocre, who is selfish, who is petty, who is adamant, who has no convictions or principles, who is very proud (looking at what!!!), who is stubborn, who is above all........ HIGHLY EGOISTIC. i do not and need not compete with such people. i am totally different. and is above all this. i have required knowledge, experience, innovation, imagination and artistry in the given form - chemistry and dance.
అమ్మ కథలు నా మ్యూసింగ్స్ Dance workshops, knowledge sharing stories general knowledge on science life experience in general
Sunday, October 28, 2012
Discovering a lot of things!! Means gaining commonsense!!
Learning a lot of things that are actually "commonsense''. Not that i did not know. I always knew their existence. But always missed, no.............avoided to see. Principles................ that is what i thought and still think. They do not allow me to "see'' the reality or the commonsense. So always I am like someone 'not from the present days'. People may think i am, old aunty or old fashioned or person who lacks................... courage, 'not smart', not to be living in these days. A person who leaves the given opportunity with slightest "competition". But what they do not understand is I shall take the challenge if it is with someone of my caliber, my convictions, my capabilities............. my knowledge, my experience .......... not someone who is mediocre, who is selfish, who is petty, who is adamant, who has no convictions or principles, who is very proud (looking at what!!!), who is stubborn, who is above all........ HIGHLY EGOISTIC. i do not and need not compete with such people. i am totally different. and is above all this. i have required knowledge, experience, innovation, imagination and artistry in the given form - chemistry and dance.
Sunday, July 22, 2012
Dealing with the death of a loved one
this is from Times of India - The Heart Chakra by Pooja Bedi - I liked it and is now very relevant - especially after kanna, appa and now amma....................... day in and out gurutuvastaaru............ emi cheyyalooo teleedu............. ala ani not sad but all the nice things, all the things i wanted to say and could not or all those things that they said and in their company........... ala anevaru, ela anevaru........ etc....
(Dealing with the death of…)
Dealing with the death of a loved one
Pooja Bedi, TNN Jul 15, 2012, 12.00AM IST
Tags:
My mom told me that she wanted everyone who loved her to laugh and dance at her funeral. And if not possible, at least to promise her there'd be no tears, sobbing and wailing.
That when her soul looked down at her loved ones she didn't want to see them grieving and sad and to know she was the cause of their pain. She wanted us to always remember her as someone who made us happy. Everyone has to die someday, but what's important is how they lived and how they made you feel. I see every moment spent with my mom as a warm and wonderful memory. I laugh when I remember her funny antics; feel grateful for her generosity, feel happy when I remember her 1000 watt smile, I feel strong when I recount her fearless spirit and feel warm when I think of her tight hugs. What she did was create a blanket for me of amazing memories to keep me warm on emotionally cold days. I miss her tremendously, but I don't grieve in her memory. The only thing you should cry about when you think of someone you love is what was left unfinished, unsaid or undone. The pain of regret is tremendous and unfortunately can never be corrected. So while your loved ones are alive, let nothing be unsaid or undone. Take them to that park/restaurant/holiday spot they've wanted to visit for months, say "I love you", and "thank you", because you want them to hear it and know it, and give them that gift they've been hoping for! When they're gone, you're going to smile as you cover yourself with the warm blanket of wonderful memories and sleep content knowing that they are smiling from above.
My mom told me that she wanted everyone who loved her to laugh and dance at her funeral. And if not possible, at least to promise her there'd be no tears, sobbing and wailing.
That when her soul looked down at her loved ones she didn't want to see them grieving and sad and to know she was the cause of their pain. She wanted us to always remember her as someone who made us happy. Everyone has to die someday, but what's important is how they lived and how they made you feel. I see every moment spent with my mom as a warm and wonderful memory. I laugh when I remember her funny antics; feel grateful for her generosity, feel happy when I remember her 1000 watt smile, I feel strong when I recount her fearless spirit and feel warm when I think of her tight hugs. What she did was create a blanket for me of amazing memories to keep me warm on emotionally cold days. I miss her tremendously, but I don't grieve in her memory. The only thing you should cry about when you think of someone you love is what was left unfinished, unsaid or undone. The pain of regret is tremendous and unfortunately can never be corrected. So while your loved ones are alive, let nothing be unsaid or undone. Take them to that park/restaurant/holiday spot they've wanted to visit for months, say "I love you", and "thank you", because you want them to hear it and know it, and give them that gift they've been hoping for! When they're gone, you're going to smile as you cover yourself with the warm blanket of wonderful memories and sleep content knowing that they are smiling from above.
Saturday, June 9, 2012
Project that i have written - COMPARITIVE STUDY OF KUCHIPUDI YAKSHAGANAS ON LORDS SHIVA AND KESAVA DEPICTED IN THE WRITINGS OF SRI TARIGONDA VENGAMAMBA IN LIGHT OF THEIR SHRINGARA RASA (MOOD)
Another project that was submitted for SRF to Ministry of Culture in year September 2010 - not awarded - but is being executed
- Never claimed knowingly!!
COMPARITIVE
STUDY OF KUCHIPUDI YAKSHAGANAS ON LORDS SHIVA AND KESAVA DEPICTED IN THE
WRITINGS OF SRI TARIGONDA VENGAMAMBA IN LIGHT OF THEIR SHRINGARA RASA (MOOD)
Submitted by:
Dr. G. SWARNABALA
NATURE OF STUDY: ACADEMIC
RESEARCH ORIENTED AND FOCUSES/HIGHLIGHTS THE SUITABILITY TO DANCE EXPRESSED,
ESPECIALLY IN KUCHIPUDI TECHNIQUE
I INTRODUCTION
“EXPRESSION” or “Abhinaya” in any form of dance brings out the
inner essence of conscious and sub conscious feelings in the form of “bhava”
and “rasa” enlightening the performer’s soul. This enchants the audience
watching the performer, they are influenced and so their soul also experiences
the thought process watching the performance in a “great silence”, in an
absolute vacuum created between the two during the presentation of the art
form, be it dance, music or any other form of art. A bond or a bridge is
created between the soul of the artist and the soul of the audience watching
them. It is the writer of the script
who forms a platform on which the artist and the audience connect and
experience several emotions such as happiness, sadness, anger, agitation,
turbulence, uncertainty, sensuality, philosophical thought process, etc.
In this light, the present project chosen to depict the essence of
the writings and the literary works of 18th century poetess, Sri Tarigonda
Vengamamba. In her writings, she has
portrayed the shringara rasa of Lords Shiva and Kesava in a very subtle
manner, which is different from what has been portrayed by some others. Generally
the mood is sober when it is Lord Shiva and gay when it is Lord Kesava.
The works of Sri Siddhendra Yogi’s
‘Bhamakalapam”, in which the rasa in its entirety revolves around Satyabhama,
the mood is gay with Lord Kesava participating in it. Several other compositions such as King
Shahaji’s Shankara Pallaki Seva Prabandham, the mood is again more sober with
Parvati and Lord Shiva enlightening the world with their celestial dance
together. However, it is interesting to
note the “gay” form of shringara mood between the celestial pair, Lord Shiva
and Parvati, portrayed by Sri Tarigonda Vengamamba in her writings and the mood
variations of Satyabhama being more sober when she is waiting to meet Lord
Kesava. The aspect of “Hari-Hara”,
Lord Shiva and Kesava, being not different from each other or are one and the
same is very evident in this point of view.
It appears that they are two sides of the same coin.
II SCOPE
OF THE PRESENT PROJECT
Vengamamba penned several of
the above listed literary works, which have different forms of Telugu literary
grammar including yakshaganas, poetry, kritis, daruvus, tatvas, satakas,
dvipadas, philosophical writings including good mixture of shruti and
laya. Her love for Lord in the form of
madhura bhakti involved a lot of shringara rasa, imagining Him as her
husband. They are comparable to the
grammatical, theoretical forms of traditional Kuchipudi dance written by Sri
Siddhendra Yogi and others. Since all nine
rasas, especially the Shringara rasa, can be separated and presented in the
form of beautiful Expression or Abhinaya of Kuchipudi dance, this form
of dance is chosen as a best mode of presentation.
III METHODOLOGY
The essence of
about 12-15 keertanas - depicting Lord Shiva and Kesava being not
different from each other or are one and the same - their ‘bhava’, ‘rasa’ shall
be considered for deeper study and presentation. The interludes of the “charanam’s” of the
keertana verses will be interspersed with “jatis” – simple and complicated. They shall involve “sapta talas”, choreographed
in the style of Kuchipudi. The
bhavas and nava rasas shall be made to use involving some ‘sanchari –
bhavas’ too for the elaboration of some stories which are hidden in the
verses. Several times, the author’s
suggest and leave it for the imagination of the reader a number of known short
stories in their works. Such works leave
scope to the researcher or the performer to take over and depict that in the
‘sanchari’ to explain and make the work more meaningful in its
presentation. It shall be a philosophic
approach of natya-nritya combination for the aesthetic pleasure of the
performer and the audience.
IV TARIGONDA VENGAMAMBA’S LIFE AND WORKS
In Telugu literature, Tarigonda Vengamamba earned her own special
place and is known as “Telugu Meera”. She rebelled the existing orthodox
society refusing to follow the norms that existed for a ‘widow’, which demanded
her to shave her head, wear a white saree etc. She believed that Lord Sri
Venkateswara was her husband. She, as an ardent devotee, has special love and
dedicated her life and works to Lord Venkateswara at Tirumala or Lord Narasimha
at Tarigonda. Her literary works are in the praise of Lord of Tirumala or
Tarigonda. She performed rituals all day long and in the night, she performed
special prayer, in the form of ‘Mutyala Harati” which was specially designed by
her and is being adopted till date.
Vengamamba
was born into a family of ‘Nandavareeka sect’ of Brahmins in 1730 A.D. Her
father was Krishnayamatya and mother was Mangamamba. Since childhood, she was
an ardent devotee of Lord Venkateswara and her devotion made the villagers
believe that she was insane. Married at a very early age (which was a
common practice in those days), she lost her husband
Venkatachalapathi and became a child-widow. However, she refused to accept
anyone but the Lord as her husband and continued to dress as a married
woman. The priest and descendants of Annamayya, all of those who had heard of her devotion to
Lord Venkateswara, welcomed her.
Matrushri
Tarigonda Vengamamba inspired the society and whole humanity with her life
style, poetry and writings, which came into lime light recently. The simple and lucid form of Telugu language
used by her in yakshagana forms (dance dramas), finds the essence of pure love
for Lords Shiva and Kesava. Moved by her
devotion, it is told that Lord Venkateswara allowed her to enter the temple,
after temple hours, to hear her poems and songs. She attained Moksha or Salvation through her
unconditional love expressed in her philosophic approach to day-to-day common
expressions of affection and feelings.
She has depicted the most complex issues of spiritual liberation in
terms of madhura bhakti. The only other
example of such a similar situation is the character of Meera Bai who expressed
her love for Lord Krishna and dedicated her life and works to him.
Vengamamba’s writings:
In Tarikonda
|
In Tirumala
|
|
|
V Performance by Researcher relating to
Vengamamba’s works:
In 2006, Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam has revived the
works of Tarigonda Vengamamba in the SVETA project and has published several of
her works and released them in the form of CD’s. Dr. K. Uma Rama Rao, Director, Lasya Priya,
and GURU of researcher, has conducted several Ballets using this material given
to her by the Project Director.
Researcher also participated in several of these ballets in Lasya Priya
and has come across this as a good topic for further research in it. As the Researcher has been an ardent lover of
dance and participated in almost all the Lasya Priya productions since her
return to dance in year 2001, she has chosen to take up a major project as a
subject of dance to work along with her Guru, Dr. K. Uma Rama Rao and broaden
her knowledge, learning from her Guru for future development in this
field. She wishes to do projects of
Kuchipudi dance independently in the near future and develop the art form
involving the younger generation of dancers and be of help to her Guru. Other productions are given in the CV of the
Researcher. Only Vengamamba’s productions are given below:
- Researcher has performed in the Vengamamba’s jayanti celebrations participated by Lasya Priya academy, in which she played the role of YASHODA, the songs taken are from Bala Krishna Natakam at Sri Tyagaraja Gana Sabha, Hyderabad in May 2009, conducted by her Guru, Dr. K. Uma Rama Rao.
- The above was presented at Annamayya Hall at Tirupathi in July 2009. Again the researcher has performed the role of YASHODA in it. Guru, Dr. K. Uma Rama Rao, also conducted it.
- She has enacted the role of VENGAMAMBA, fitting very aptly, in Lasya priya’s Shiva Natakam presented at Ravindra Bharathi in November 2009 by her Guru, Dr. K. Uma Rama Rao.
VI CONCLUSION
The project analyses the subtle relationship between the
two, Hari and Hara - the Lords Shiva and Kesava, in the form of madhura bhakti
which will make it as a comparative study and highlights the grace or Lasya
aspect that is suitable for Kuchipudi style of dance. It shall be an offering to Sri Tarigonda
Vengamamba as well a rightful submission to the Almighty exploring the literary
lyrical expression in Tarigonda Vengamamba’s writings.
VII REFERENCES:
1
:”Matrushri Tarigonda Vengamamba” Julakanti
Balasubrahmanyam, Publisher Tarigonda Vengamamba Vangmaya Project, Sri
Venkateswara Udyogula Shikshana samastha (SVETA), Tirumala Tirupati
Devasthanamulu, Tirupati
2
“Vidushimani Vengamamba”, Sri Aandra Sheshagiri rao,
Publisher Tarigonda Vengamamba Vangmaya Project, Sri Venkateswara Udyogula
Shikshana samastha (SVETA), Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanamulu, Tirupati
3
Prof. K. L. Krishna Murthy, book on Tarigonda
Vengamamba, 2009.
The Projects that i have written - DIVERSITY IN THE LITERARY WORKS OF “MAHADEVA SHAMBHO” IN LIGHT OF “BHAVA” EXPRESSED IN KUCHIPUDI AND BHRATANATYAM STYLES
Study
proposed to be undertaken: Was prepared to be sent for SRF to Ministry of Culture in the year 2009 - August and given for verification - discouraged to apply........but found executed soon...
- Never claimed the idea, allowed to be executed knowingly!!!
a)
Title of the proposed project document:
DIVERSITY IN THE LITERARY WORKS
OF
“MAHADEVA SHAMBHO” IN LIGHT OF
“BHAVA” EXPRESSED IN
KUCHIPUDI AND BHRATANATYAM STYLES
b)
Type of the study: Academic research or
application oriented:
IT SERVES THE PURPOSE OF
ACADEMIC RESEARCH AND IS ALSO APPLICATION ORIENTED – SUITABLE FOR A STAGE
PERFORMANCE
c)
Synopsis of the project document:
“EXPRESSION” or
“Abhinaya” in any form of dance brings out the inner essence of conscious and
sub conscious feelings in the form of ‘bhava’ and ‘rasa’ enlightening the
performer’s soul. This enchants the
audience watching the performer, they are influenced and so their soul also
experiences the thought process watching the performance in a ‘great silence’,
in an absolutely vacuum created between the two during the presentation of the
art form, be it dance, be it music or any other art form. A bond or a bridge is
created between the soul of the artist and the soul of the audience watching
them. Thus, the writer of the script for
the performer forms a platform on which both excel to understand the depth of
feeling for several emotions such as happiness, sadness, anger, agitation,
turbulence, uncertainty, sensuality, a philosophical thought process, etc.
In this light,
the present project is selected to depict the essence of the writings and the
literary works of “Sri Mahadeva Shambho”, Goparaju Venkata Subbarao (A retired
cash keeper). His works have been
published in 1928 in Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh and were reprinted recently by
his daughter and shishya, Smt. Vaddadi Sowbhagyam. They have several types of literary works
such as poems, slokas, keertanas, philosophical write ups, bhajana keertanas
including a lot of bhakti bhava and aadhyatmika chintana.
The most
important and noteworthy of these writings is that they all had a “Akshra
niyamam” means that every first letter of the stanza of the verse created will
form a word after the verse is completed.
This is the “Aksharahamsalu” the bhajana keertanas. The ‘akshra niyamam’ for all the keertanas
have been very creatively molded with poetry, which is very apt with the ‘bhava
prakatana’ in the individual verse. This
poetry has become very much known amongst the godmen and the general public who
have faith in the Lord. They all have
revolved around Lord Shiva to a large extent and so he was given the nickname
as “Mahadeva Shambho” and was known by the same name.
There are a
number of keertanas, which were sung by several musicians on All India Radio
and there are some more known very popularly.
His daughter and student, Vaddadi Sobhagyam, also released several of
the keertanas in the form of Cassettes for which good dance choreography can be
done and performed on stage.
Infact, several
of the keertanas such as ‘shivudu tandavamu chesenamma’, ‘entavada vavura
sankara’, ‘bhava mruda haea shiva namo namo’, ‘sivuni tatvamu nerigina
vaariki’, etc. have been performed by students of Lasya Priya in several
occasions.
The essence of
about 12-15 keertanas, their ‘bhava’, ‘rasa’ will be considered for deeper
study and presentation. All nine rasas
mixed in different forms of the literary work will be separated and presented
in the form of beautiful Expression or Abhinaya of Kuchipudi dance. The interludes of the ‘charanam’s of the
keertana verses will be interspersed with ‘Jatis’ composed in both the styles
of Kuchipudi and Bharatanaryam for a full length of about one hour natya –
nritya combination of presentation for the aesthetic pleasure and philosophic
approach of the performer and the audience.
The songs that
are chosen for the project to be executed:
1
Sidhhi vinayaka buddhi pradayaka
2
Saraswati ninu golchiti
3
Bhava mruda hara siva namo namo
4
Raja rajeswari raavee
5
Adi lakshmi kaameswari kanumaa
6
Raa raa samba raa raa
7
Siva tatvambunu erigina vaariki sivude taanagu satyam
8
Ramaa ramaaa ramaa stita ramaa ramaa
9
Ksheera saagara sayana naarayanaa hari
10
Dorikenamma venna donga naaku dorikenamma
11
Hari harulu venchesinaaruu bhakta varula
12
Aanjaneya neeku pranjali chesedaaa
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
New lesson of management................................ learnt...............understood!!!!
merely knowing something isn't enough.................understanding the vairagya or the principle of detachment is very much essential!!! for example, one of the management stories goes....
Ravana, king of Rakshasas, was well versed in the Vedas. He knew so much that he needed ten heads to contain his knowledge. Being a great devotee of Shiva, the supreme hermit, he would travel every day from Lanka in the South to Kailas, the abode of Shiva, in the North. "Why don't you come with me to my city? he once asked Shiva. "Why don't you take me with you?" said Shiva. "I will", said Ravana, his eyes gleaming. "Good", said Shiva, who shut his eyes, and continued meditating.
Ravana then used his massive strength to uproot Mount Kailas with the intention of carrying it to Lanka. "What is he doing" screamed Shakti, Shiva's consort, as the mountain shook, terrifying all its residents. "Have you asked him to do this?" she angrily asked her husband.
Shiva opened his eyes and looked down. "As usual, he misunderstood", said Shiva, pushing down his big toe on the floor. Such was the pressure that Shiva generated, that Ravana buckled under the pressure and found himself trapped under Kailasa's weight. He sang songs in praise of Shiva until Shiva eased the weight, enabling Ravana to slip out. Ravana then went back to Lanka sheepishly.
As he left, Shiva spoke to Shakti, who was looking at him impatiently for an explanation, "I told him he could take me with him. I meant he could understand and internalise the idea that is Shiva and take me wherever he went, for I would be embedded in his soul. He, however, understood it as possessing Shiva. That is why he is very knowledgeable, but not very wise".
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