Devotional Rock

Hey, the melakartha raaga Hanumathodi with a distortion guitar and a banging percussion is a devotional rock, just listen to this.

Scale:
D# E F# G# A# B C# D#

Recorded: 12 October 2006, 4:00 a.m.

Adventure

I have given names to different tracks this time, the presence of the square block during a window means the existence of that track in that time slot. A track might actually be more than one instrument.

Recorded: 11 October 2006 4:30 a.m.

The Princess is Born

This composition is on Shankarabharanam, I am jamming with my guitar over a looped background, thanks to Fruity Loops.

The song is over the no sharp major scale.

Recorded: 10 Oct 2:30 a.m.

Folk

This composition is dedicated to the art of Indian folk dance and the folk artists. The song is on an Em, there's C# and D# too.

Scale:
E F# G A B C D E
E D# C# B A G F# E

Recorded: 30 Sep 5:30 p.m.

Western Carnatic

Have you learnt a western instrument and confused over the SaRiGa of the Carnatic, well I was too, but not anymore. The melakartha scales are constructed as: out of the twelve semitones of the octave S, R1, R2=G1, R3=G2, G3, M1, M2, P, D1, D2=N1, D3=N2, N3, a melakartha raaga must necessarily have S and P, one of the M's, two of the R's and G's, and two of the D's and N's. Also, R must necessarily precede G and D must precede N. This gives 2 × 6 × 6 = 72 melakartha raagas.

Thanks to Kumaran Santhanam for his wonderful effort in compiling the Indian ragas in the mekakarta scale at http://www.nerur.com/music/ragalist.php. I have plainly converted the SaRiGa into CDE of the Western, so here you go.

On C scale, the following would be the representation:
Western Note - Melakarta Note/s (Conventional Carnatic Note)
C - S (S)
C# - R1 (R1)
D - R2/G1 (R2)
D# - R3/G2 (G1)
E - G3 (G2)
F - M1 (M1)
F# - M2 (M2)
G - P (P)
G# - D1 (D1)
A - D2/N1 (D2)
A# - D3/N2 (N1)
B - N3 (N2)
C - S (S)

Sanskrit / Dravidian Language Transliteration Alphabet
---------------------------------------------------------------------
a A i I u U Ru RU
e E ai o O ow am :

k K g G n
ch Ch j J N
t T d D N
th Th dh Dh n
p ph b bh m

y r l v
sh Ch s H
ksh gny

L zh r' (additional Dravidian letters)

R , D
1 = shudhdha
2 = chathushruthi
3 = sathshruthi
M
1 = shudhdha
2 = prathi
G
1 = shudhdha
2 = sAdhAraNa
3 = anthara
N
1 = shudhdha
2 = kaishika
3 = kAkaLi

mElakartha rAgAs
-----------------------

shudhdha madhyamam

indhu chakrA
1 kanakAngi C C# D F G G# A C , C A G# G F D C# C
2 rathnAngi C C# D F G G# A# C , C A# G# G F D C# C
3 gAnamUrthi C C# D F G G# B C , C B G# G F D C# C
4 vanaspathi C C# D F G A A# C , C A# A G F D C# C
5 mAnavathi C C# D F G A B C , C B A G F D C# C
6 thAnarUpi C C# D F G A# B C , C B A# G F D C# C

nEthra chakrA
7 sEnAvathi C C# D# F G G# A C , C A G# G F D# C# C
8 HanumathOdi C C# D# F G G# A# C , C A# G# G F D# C# C
9 DhEnukA C C# D# F G G# B C , C B G# G F D# C# C
10 nAtakapriya C C# D# F G A A# C , C A# A G F D# C# C
11 kOkilapriya C C# D# F G A B C , C B A G F D# C# C
12 rUpavathi C C# D# F G A# B C , C B A# G F D# C# C

agni chakrA
13 gAyakapriya C C# E F G G# A C , C A G# G F E C# C
14 vakulAbharaNam C C# E F G G# A# C , C A# G# G F E C# C
15 mAyAmALavagowLA C C# E F G G# B C , C B G# G F E C# C
16 chakravAkam C C# E F G A A# C , C A# A G F E C# C
17 sUryakAntam C C# E F G A B C , C B A G F E C# C
18 HAtakAmbari C C# E F G A# B C , C B A# G F E C# C

vEda chakrA
19 JankAradhvani C D D# F G G# A C , C A G# G F D# D C
20 naTabhairavi C D D# F G G# A# C , C A# G# G F D# D C
21 kIravANi C D D# F G G# B C , C B G# G F D# D C
22 KaraHarapriya C D D# F G A A# C , C A# A G F D# D C
23 gowrimanOHari C D D# F G A B C , C B A G F D# D C
24 varuNapriya C D D# F G A# B C , C B A# G F D# D C

bANa chakrA
25 mAraranjani C D E F G G# A C , C A G# G F E D C
26 chArukeshi C D E F G G# A# C , C A# G# G F E D C
27 sarasAngi C D E F G G# B C , C B G# G F E D C
28 HarikAmbhOji C D E F G A A# C , C A# A G F E D C
29 DhIrashankarAbharaNam C D E F G A B C , C B A G F E D C
30 nAgAnandhini C D E F G A# B C , C B A# G F E D C

Ruthu chakrA
31 yAgapriya C D# E F G G# A C , C A G# G F E D# C
32 rAgavarDhani C D# E F G G# A# C , C A# G# G F E D# C
33 gAngeyabhushani C D# E F G G# B C , C B G# G F E D# C
34 vAgaDhIsvari C D# E F G A A# C , C A# A G F E D# C
35 shUlini C D# E F G A B C , C B A G F E D# C
36 chalanAta C D# E F G A# B C , C B A# G F E D# C

prathi madhyamam

rishi chakrA
37 sAlagam C C# D F# G G# A C , C A G# G F# D C# C
38 jalArnavam C C# D F# G G# A# C , C A# G# G F# D C# C
39 JAlavarALi C C# D F# G G# B C , C B G# G F# D C# C
40 navanItham C C# D F# G A A# C , C A# A G F# D C# C
41 pAvani C C# D F# G A B C , C B A G F# D C# C
42 raGupriya C C# D F# G A# B C , C B A# G F# D C# C

vasu chakrA
43 gavAmbodhi C C# D# F# G G# A C , C A G# G F# D# C# C
44 bhavapriya C C# D# F# G G# A# C , C A# G# G F# D# C# C
45 shubhapanthuvarALi C C# D# F# G G# B C , C B G# G F# D# C# C
46 shadhvidha mArgiNi C C# D# F# G A A# C , C A# A G F# D# C# C
47 suvarNAngi C C# D# F# G A B C , C B A G F# D# C# C
48 dhivyAmaNi C C# D# F# G A# B C , C B A# G F# D# C# C

brahma chakrA
49 dhavalAmbari C C# E F# G G# A C , C A G# G F# E C# C
50 nAmanArAyaNi C C# E F# G G# A# C , C A# G# G F# E C# C
51 kAmavardhini C C# E F# G G# B C , C B G# G F# E C# C
52 rAmapriya C C# E F# G A A# C , C A# A G F# E C# C
53 gamanashrama C C# E F# G A B C , C B A G F# E C# C
54 vishvAmbhari C C# E F# G A# B C , C B A# G F# E C# C

dhishi chakrA
55 shyAmaLAngi C D D# F# G G# A C , C A G# G F# D# D C
56 shanmuKapriya C D D# F# G G# A# C , C A# G# G F# D# D C
57 simHendra madhyamam C D D# F# G G# B C , C B G# G F# D# D C
58 HemAvathi C D D# F# G A A# C , C A# A G F# D# D C
59 DharmAvathi C D D# F# G A B C , C B A G F# D# D C
60 nIthimathi C D D# F# G A# B C , C B A# G F# D# D C

rudhra chakrA
61 kAnthAmaNi C D E F# G G# A C , C A G# G F# E D C
62 rishabhapriya C D E F# G G# A# C , C A# G# G F# E D C
63 lathAngi C D E F# G G# B C , C B G# G F# E D C
64 vAchaspathi C D E F# G A A# C , C A# A G F# E D C
65 mEchakalyANi C D E F# G A B C , C B A G F# E D C
66 chithrAmbari C D E F# G A# B C , C B A# G F# E D C

Adhithya chakrA
67 sucharithra C D# E F# G G# A C , C A G# G F# E D# C
68 jyothisvarUpiNi C D# E F# G G# A# C , C A# G# G F# E D# C
69 dhAtuvardhani C D# E F# G G# B C , C B G# G F# E D# C
70 nAsika bhUshaNi C D# E F# G A A# C , C A# A G F# E D# C
71 kosalam C D# E F# G A B C , C B A G F# E D# C
72 rasikapriya C D# E F# G A# B C , C B A# G F# E D# C

janya rAgAs
---------------
8 HanumathOdi
AHiri C C# C E F G G# A# C , C A# G# G F E C# C
asAvEri C C# F G G# C , C A# C G G# F G C# D# C# C
bhUpALam C C# D# G G# C , C G# G D# C# C
dhanyAsi C D# F G A# C , C A# G# G F D# C# C
punnAgavarALi A# C C# D# F G G# A# , A# G# G F D# C# C A#

10 nAtakapriya
sindhu bhairavi C D D# F D# G G# A# C , A# G# G F D# C# C A# C

13 gAyakapriya
kalagada C C# E G G# A C , C A G# G E C# C

14 vakulAbharaNam
vasanthabhairavi C C# E F G# A# C , C A# G# F G F E C# C

15 mAyAmALava gowLA
ardhradhesi C C# E F G G# C B C , C G# G F E C# C
bowLi C C# E G G# C ,C B G# G E C# C
gowLa C C# F G B C , C B G F C# E F C# C
gowLipanthu C C# F G B C , C B G# G FG# F E C# C
gowri C C# F G B C , C B G# G F E C# C
gujjari C C# E F G G# B C , C G# B G F E C# C
gumma kAmbhoji C C# E G G# B G# C , C B G# G F E C# C
gundhakriya C C# F G B C , C B G G# G F E C# C
jaganmOhini C E F G B C , C B G F E C# C
kannadaban'gALa C C# F E F G G# C , C G# G F E C# C
kRushNaveNi C C# E F G B C , C B G F E C# C
lalithA C C# E F A B C , C B A F E C# C
malaHari C C# F G G# C , C G# G F E C# C
mallikA vasantham C E F G B C , C B G# G F E C# C
mangaLakaishiki C F E F G F G# B C , C B G# G F E C# C
mEchabowLi C C# E G G# C , C G# G F E C# C
mEGaranjani C C# E F B C , C B F E C# C
nAdhanAmakriya C C# E F G G# B , B G# G F E C# C B
pAdi C C# F G B C , C B G G# G F C# C
pharaz C E F G G# B C , C B G# G F E C# C
pUrvi C C# E F G G# B G# C , C B G# G F G# F E C# C
rEvagupthi C C# E G G# C , C G# G E C# C
sAranganAtha C C# F G G# C , C B C G# G F E C# C
sAvEri C C# F G G# C , C B G# G F E C# C
sindhu rAmakriya C E F G G# B C , C B G G# G F E C
thakka (a) C C# C F E F G# B C , C B G F G F G C# E C
thakka (b) C E F G F G# B C , C B G# G F E C# C

16 chakravAkam
bindhumAlini C E C# E F G A# C , C A# C A G E C# C
kalAvathi C C# F G A C , C A G F E C C# C
malayamArutham C C# E G A A# C , C A# A G E C# C
valachi C E G A A# C , C A# A G E C
vegavAHini C C# E F G A A# A C , C A# A G F E C# C

17 sUryakAntam
bhairavam C C# E F G A B C , C A G F E C# C
sowrAshtram C C# E F G F A B C , C B A A# A G F E C# C
supradhIpam C C# F G A C , C B A G F E F C# C
vasanthA C F E F A B C , C B A F E C# C

19 JankAradhvani
pUrnalalitha C D# D F G C , C A G# G F D# D C

20 naTabhairavi
amrithavAHini C D F G G# A# C , C A# G# F D# D C
Anandhabhairavi C D# D D# F G A G A# C , C A# A G F D# D C
bhairavi C D D# F G A A# C , C A# G# G F D# D C
Gantha C D# D D# F G A G A# A A# C , C A# A G F D# D C
gopikavasantham C F G A# G# A# G# C , C A# G# G F D# C
HindhoLam C D# F G# A# C , C A# G# F D# C
jayanthashrI C D# F G# A# C , C A# G# F G F D# C
jingla C D D# F G G# A# G# G C , C A# G# G F D# D Cm
Anji C D D# F G A A# C , C A# G# G F D# D Cm
ArgaHindhoLam C D D# F G A A# C , C A# A F D# C
pUrNashajja C D D# F A# A# C , C A# G F D# D C
sAramathi C D D# F G G# A# C , C A# G# F D# C
sudhdha dhanyAsi C D# F G A# C , C A# G F D# C
sudhdha dhesi C D F G G# A# C , C A# G# G F D# D C

21 kIravANi
kiraNAvaLi C D D# F G G# B C , C G F D# D C
kalyANa vasantham C D# F G# B C , C B G# G F D# D C

22 KaraHarapriya
AbhEri C D# F G A# C , C A# A G F D# D C
abhOgi C D D# F A C , C A F D# D C
AndhOLika C D F G A# C , C A# A F D C
bAgEshrI C D# F A A# C , C A# A F G A D# F D C
brindhAvanasAran'ga C D F G B C , C A# G F D D# C
chiththaranjani C D D# F G A A# , A# A G F D# D C A#
dharbAru C D F G A A# C , D C A# C A G F D D# D# D C
dhEvAmRuthavarshiNi C D D# F A# A A# C , C A# A G F D# D C
dhEvakriya C D F G A# C , C A# A A# G F D# D C
dhEvamanOHari C D F G A A# C , C A# A A# G F D C
dhilipakam C D D# D F G A# A A# G A A# C , C A# A G F D# D C
HindhoLavasantha C D# F G A A# A C , C A# A G F A F D# C
HindhusthAni kApi C D F G B C , C A# A A# G F D# D C
HusEni C D D# F G A# A A# C , C A# G# G F D# D C
jayamanOHari C D D# F A C , C A# A F D# D C
jayanArAyaNi C D D# F G A C , C A# A G F D# D C
jayanthasEna C D# F G A C , C A# A G F G F D# C
kAnadA C D D# F D A# C , C A# G F D# F D C
kalAniDhi C D D# F C G F A A# , C A# A G F D# D C
kannadagowLa C D D# F G A# C , C A# A G F D# C
kApijingla C A# C D D# F , F D# D C A# A A# C
karnAtaka kApi C D D# F D G F G A A# C , C A# A G F D# F D C
mAlavashrI C D# F G A# A A# G A A# C , C A# A G F D# C
madhyamAvathi C D F G A# C , C A# G F D C
maNirangu C D F G A# C , C A# G F D# D C
manjari C D# D D# F G A# A A# C , C A# A G F D# D C
manOHari C D# D D# F G A C , C A G F D# D C
muKAri C D F G A# A C , C A# G# G F D# D C
nAdhachinthAmaNi * C D# F G A# A A# C , C A# A G F D# D D# C
nAdhatharan'gini C G F D D# D C , C G A# A G F D# D C
nAyaki C D F G A A# A G C , C A# A G F D D# D C
phalamanjari C D# F A C , C A# A G F D# F D C
panchama rAga C D A G A# C , C A# A G F D# D C
pUrnashadjam C D D# F A# C , C A# G F D# D C
pushpalathika C D D# F G A# C , C A# G F D# D C
rIthigowLa C D# D D# F A# A F A# A# C , C A# A F D# F G F D# D C
rudhrapriya C D D# F G A A# C , C A# G F D# D C
sAlakabhairavi C D F G A C , C A# A G F D# D C
saindhavi A# A A# C D D# F G A A# , A G F D# D C A# A A# C
sidhdhasEna C D# D D# F G A C , C A# A F G F D D# D C
shrIrAga C D F G A# C , C A# G A A# G F D D# D C
shrIranjani C D D# F A A# C , C A# A F D# D C
sudhdha bangALa C D F G A C , C A G F D D# D C
sudhdha dhanyAsi C D# F G A# C , C A# G F D# C
svarabhUshani C D# F G A A# C , C A# A G F D C

24 varuNapriya
vasantha varALi 1 C D F G A# B , B A# G D# D C B
vasantha varALi 2 C D F G A# B , B A# G M D R C
NvIravasantham C D# D F G C , C B A# G F D# D C

27 sarasAngi
kamalAmanOHari C E F G B C , C B G# G F E C
naLinakAnthi C E D F G B C , C B G F E D C

28 HarikAmbhOji
baHudhAri C E F G A A# C , C A# G F E C
balaHamsa C D F G A C , C A# A G F D F E C
ChAyAtharangiNi C D F E F G A# C , C A# A G F E D C
dhvijAvanthi C D F E F G A C , C A# A G F E D D# D C
HaridhAsapriya* C G F E F G A A# C , C A# A A# G F E D C
IshamanOHari C D E F G A A# C , C A# A G F D F E D C
janjUti C D E F G A A# , A# A G F E D C A# A G A C
jujAHuli C F E F G A A# C , C A# A G F E C
kAmbhOji C D E F G A C , C A# A G F E D C B G A C
kApinArAyaNi C D F G A A# C , C A# A G F E D C
kamAs C F E F G A A# C , C A# A G F E D C
karnAtaka bEHAg C D E F G A A# C , C A# A A# G A F E D E D
kedhAragowLa C D F G A# C , C A# A G F E D C
kOkilaDhvani C D E F A A# A C , C A# A A# G F E D C
kunthalavarALi C F G A A# A C , C A# A G F C
mAlavi C D E F G A# F A A# C , C A# A A# G F E F D C
mOHana C D E G A C , C A G E D C
nAgasvarAvaLi C E F G A C , C A G F E C
nArAyaNagowLa C D F G A# A A# C , C A# G F E D E D C
nArAyani C D F G A C , C A# A G F D C
nAtakuraNji C D E F A# A A# G A A# C , C A# A F E F G E D C
navarasa kalAnidhi * C D F G C A# C , C A G F E D C
navarasa kannada C E F G C , C A# A F E D C
prathApa varALi C D F G A G C , C A G F E D C
pravAlajothi C D F G A A# C , C A# A A# G F E E
rAgapanjaram C D F G A A# A C , C A# A F D C
ravichandhrika C D E F A A# A C , C A# A F E D C
sAma C D F G A C , C A G F E D C
saHAna C D E F G F A A# C , C A# C A A# A G F E F D E D C
sarasvathi manOHari C D E F A C , C A A# G F E D C
sindhu kannada C F E F D E F G A G C , C A# A G F E D C
sudhdha tharan'gini C D E F D F G A A# A C , C A# A G F E D C
supOshini C D C F G A# A C , C A A# G F D F C
surati C D F G A# C , C A# A G F E G F D C
svarAvaLi C F E F G A# A A# C , C A# G A F E D C
svaravEdhi* C F E F G A# A A# C , C A# A A# G F E
thilan'g C E F G B C , C A# G F E C
umAbharaNam C D E F G A A# C , C A# G F D E F D C
vINA vAdhini C D E G A# C , C A# G E D C
vivardhini C D F G C , C A# A G F E D C
yadhukulakAmbhOji C D F G A C , C A# A G F E D C

29 DhIrashankarAbharaNam
Arabhi C D F G A C , C B A G F E D C
atAna C D F G B C , C B A G F G E D C
ban'gALa C D E F G F D G C , C B G F D E D C
begada C E D E F G A A# A G C , C B A G F E D C
bEHAg C E F G B A B C , C B A G F E D C
bilaHari C D E G A C , C B A G F E D C
dhesAkshi C D E G A C , C B A G F E D C
dhEvagAndhAri C D F G A C , C B A G F E D C
garudaDhvani C D E F G A B C , C A G E D C
HamsaDhvani C D E G B C , C B G E D C
HindhusthAni bEHAg C E F G B A B C , C B A G F# E F E D C
janaranjani C D E F G A G B C , C A G F D C
kadhana kuthUHalam C D F A B E G C , C B A G F E D C
kannada C E F G F A B C , C A G F E F D B C
kEdhAram C F E F G B C , C B G F E D C
koiAHalam C G F E F G A B C , C B A G F E D C
kuranji C B C D E F G A , A G F E D C B C
kuthUHalam C D F B A G B C , C B A G F E D C
mAnd C E F G A C , C B A G F E D C
navaroj G A B C D E F G , F E D C B A G
nIlAmbari C D E F G A G B C , C B G F E D E C
pUrNachandhrika C D E F G A G C , C B G F D E F D C
sindhu mandhAri C D E F G A G C , C B A G E F A G F D C
sudhdha sAvEri C D F G A C , C A G F D C

34 vAgathIsvari
ChAyAnAta C D# E F G F G C , C A# A A# G F D# C
gAnavAridhi C F D# E F G A A# C , C A A# G F D# C

36 chalanAta
gambhiranAta C E F G B C , C B G F E C
nAta C D# E F G A# B C , C B G F D# C

39 JAlavarALi
JinAvaLi C D C# D F# G G# B G# C , C B G# G F# D C# C
varALi C D C# D F# G G# B C , C B G# G F# D C# C

40 navanItham
nabhOmaNi C C# D C# F# G C , C A# A G F# D C# C

41 pAvani
chandhrajyothi C C# D F# G A C , C A G F# D C# C
vijayashrI C D C# D F# G B C , C B G F# D C# C

46 shadhvidha mArgini
thivravAHini C C# D# F# G A A# C , C A# A G F# D# C# D# F# C# C

51 kAmavardhini
dhipaka C E F# G G# G C , C B G# B G F# E C# C
mandhAri C C# E F# G B C , C B G F# E C# C

52 rAmapriya
rAma manOHari C C# E F# G A A# A C , C A# A G F# E C# C

53 gamanashrama
gamakakriya C# E F# G A G C , C B A G F# E C# C
gamanakriya C C# F# G A B C , C B A G F# E F# C# C
HamsAnandhi C C# E F# A B C , C B A F# E C# C
mEchakAn'gi C C# E F# G A B C , C B G A G F# E C# C
pUrvikalyANi C C# E F# G A G C , C B A G F# E C# C

54 vishvAmbhari
vijayavasantha C F# G A# B C , C B G F# E C# C

56 shanmuKapriya
chinthAmaNi C D G F# G A A# C , C G G# G F# D# D C

57 simHendra madhyamam
sudhdha rAga C D D# F# G B C , C B G F# D# D C

58 HemAvathi
vijayanAgari C D D# F# G A C , C A G F# D# D C

59 DharmAvathi
madhuvanthi C D# F# G B C , C B A G F# D# D C
ranjani C D D# F# A C , C B A F# D# C D D# C

60 nIthimathi
amarasenapriya C D F# G B C , C B G F# D D# D C
HamsanAdham C D F# G B C , C B G F# D C
kaikavAsi C D D# F# G A# B C , C B G F# D# D C

61 kAnthAmaNi
shruthiranjani C D E F# G G# A , A G# G F# E C D C

62 rishabhapriya
gopriya C D E F# G# A# C , C A# G# F# E D C

64 vAchaspathi
bhUshavaLi C D E F# G A C , C A# A G F# E D C
sarasvathi C D F# G A C , C A# A G F# D C

65 mechakalyANi
HamirkalyANi C G F# G A B C , C B A G F# F E G F D C
mOHanakalyANi C D E G A C , C B A G F# E D C
sAranga C D E F# G A B C , C B A G F# D E F D C
yamunAkalyANi C D E G F# G A C , C A G F# G E D C

66 chithrAmbari
amRuthavarshiNi C E F# G B C , C B G F# E C

Fusion

For the third continuous day, a new composition, and this time I tried a fusion into this, I know the rerecording levels are completely out of order. I will try to improve it next time, but then I can't afford much of sound engineering with just a laptop and zero processing software.

This piece is pentatonic - A# D D# F A. I was myself surprised to see how just five notes can make a lovely song. I have floundered with the lead, but then I didn't have too much patience to practice it to perfection.

Recorded: Sep 29 2006, 1:30 a.m.

Autumn

Hey, so here goes my second recording, this piece is on a bluish F#m.

F# G A B C# D E F# (C also finds a place while descending)
Recorded: 27 Sep 2006 2:30 a.m.

Baptization

I've been thinking about this for a really long time. Usually when I just walk through in silence admiring nature, I feel a few tunes vibrating in my belly. Sometimes, I record them in my cell phone or might not even do that. Later I would not remember the tune and off it would get dampened in thin air. But I don't want to let this continue, so here it is, the first such tune that I am uploading to my blog. I got the tune, recorded it and thought over for some time, could not recollect hearing it anywhere else. So, I claim this one to be original and all my own. I cogitated long enough, didn't know how to name it, so am calling this Baptization!

This has only a lead playing and the rhythm in the Guitar backing, nothing else. This might not have the studio-quality, nevertheless, this is my first, so I love it. I want to flood this blog with many such pieces and have them as reminiscences, but I can't even assure myself if I would be able to do that. Please feel free to chip in your comments, that will help me a lot.

The song is on an ornamental Cm with C D D# F G A A# C.
Recorded: 25 Sep 2006 12:15 a.m.

Braffic

Bangalore, admired as the Garden City and heaved up as the Indian Silicon Valley by the outsiders, has a reason to bow down when it comes to the road infrastructure. But no one is to blame here because Bangalore was not built to hold these many people, nor the lakhs and lakhs of vehicles getting registered every month. Most of the roads are narrow or at least look narrow even during normal hours of traffic. This is not an attempt to blame the development authorities or the politicians; why are the roads narrow, why are those narrow roads bad, why are even those narrow roads missing in some of the most densely populated residential areas - all these are not I want to talk about here. I guess the solution to that lies on people starting to realize that the country is their home and we are not going to yap about any self-realization in this billet. One obvious panorama that strikes your mind as you travel through Bangalore roads is the despairing fashion the traffic signals operate.

I will just start with a few examples. The first one is the Koramangala Sony World junction. When the signal is green for vehicles moving in the directions shown by complete green lines, there is no green for the left moving vehicles shown in dashed green and there is no free left. The next one is the Airport Road Manipal Hospital junction. The signalling system here follows the traditional clockwise green. But you will immediately recognize by just standing there for a few minutes that there are only a very few vehicles trying to take a right to Manipal Hospital. So, the straight moving vehicles going towards Domlur have to wait for long, when the queue almost reaches the previous junction. The same case on the other way, the right-going traffic towards Jeevan Bhima Nagar is really meagre. After all, this is against the basic principles of any traffic solving algorithm that fifty percent of vehicles on a road go straight.

The next one, the Trinity junction on M G Road is a classic example of freedom being ripped off. The left-moving vehicles towards M G Road cannot move even when they see green because the straight-moving vehicles block them. (The opposite road taking to Ulsoor lake is now become a one-way). The fourth one on the Airport Road-Wind Tunnel Road junction is a slight goosy implementation. When green starts for straight-moving vehicles towards Marathahalli, it is still red for those trying to move right to Wind Tunnel Road. So, vehicles waiting behind the right-going traffic wanting to go straight keep honking without any use for the next sixty seconds. Instead of stop-allow for the right-going traffic, it should be an allow-stop approach.

You move five kilometres in the city, you will find ten signals and you will get stopped at all of them. There are a few pairs of signals which are only a few yards apart, even those, you end up seeing red when you reach both. This really infuriates you, the exasperation can even make you jump signals! I guess that's a basic criterion to be met with any automated traffic control, if not all (which is next to impossible), at least a few continuous green signals as you move straight should be synchronized. There are really a lot of pairs of signals where from one junction, you see a green on the other, but by the time you reach there, it's red and you need to switch off your engine for the next two minutes.

One-ways, fly-overs, no auto-rickshaws, no heavy-vehicles are definite solutions to traffic congestion, but there is something that we can do with existing linguistics, you just need to apply your mind on it and off you go! If the above said scenarios throughout Bangalore are solved, I reckon at least thirty percent of the traffic problems will be cleared. Our city is different, our people are different, our traffic pattern is different, then why do we have to use the all-old ecumenical ways of traditional traffic-signalling methods? Instead of the existing four-step signalling (give green for all directions on one road, move to the next in clockwise direction and complete the circle), why not make it twelve-way as depicted in the picture above (only the first six are shown), at least in those junctions where it makes relevance? Wherever possible, if we could also just 'curve' the roads leading to free-left, that would be a huge advantage, twenty five percent of the vehicles are expected to get cleared up this way.

I am no expert in traffic regulation, but these observations I make from my experience gained through working on Fuzzy Logic Solution to Traffic Control during my college days. From junctions where only three-directions of traffic are allowed at one time, this can transfer them to six at one time, just double the efficiency, you can save half of your travelling time! This is no new idea and the authorities should already be knowing about these flaws in the current model. The authorities can come up with a remodelling in the angles that we discussed and take it phase-wise through the roads of Bangalore, this will be both quicker and effective.

The birthday montage

I am just writing this one to have an entrepot for the fun I'm having. I really want to read over this post after a few years and celebrate the good company I'm enjoying at my office. It was birthday for this girl in our team, the one whose picture is on the left, well, the toad that you see here is what orkut showed her picture as, on the birthday list! I just thought I would attach her head from any of her photos and send it to her as the birthday card. I finally found a snap that seemed to match the expression, the angle and the tilt, hurray, got the right head!

As I was trying to get my conflation ready, I just felt I would attach a few more cartoon characters around that, write birthday wishes over it and send the mail. Then my medulla raised, why don't I attach the team to this? And the search began, I browsed through the album of the Gokark trip we had some time back. Well, that trip was one awesome experience, a weekend-trip in the Gokark falls, the comfy guest house; felt closer to the nature, was a right break from the smoke-surfeited Bangalore city.

And lo! I cut all heads from those snaps, poor team-mates, it was really funny to look at their photographs with their heads Ctrl-Xed. One head from here and one from there, I found suitable positions in the collage I was attempting. Slowly amidst the animals, there were human heads bourgeoning. And there it was, the montage was ready, what do I write there? This Bengali girl somehow manages to pronounce her name as "Showme" (sorry Soumi, if you are reading this!) and I find this really amusing.

I couldn't stop my laughter after it was all done, I thought it was worth the one hour that I spent on it. Among the monkeys, lizards, teddies and with Tom, Jerry, giraffe and the tiger were, from the bottom left in the clockwise direction as they appear - Rege, Renu, Me, Gopa, Shankar, Kaarthik, Sunil and Manish and this dame with a toad's body, smiling and proudly showing her kingdom!

Happy b'day Soumi!

Reservations detoxified

The malign leg sprouted -

. between the ball and the opponent's kicking leg, the referee whistled, the crowd jumped, a free kick to the home team;
. between the cricket ball and the stumps, there was an uproar, up went the umpire's finger;
. into the track of another athlete, the offender was disqualified;

if such is the rule for a few hours of a game, why is it that in the bigger game called the life, when a helping hand tries to reach out to the offended, the offenders do not take it up in the right sense, including those who are believed to be next to God in saving human lives.

Years and years of suppression, of slavery, of entanglement - how do we expect the current generation to be in par with those who have committed these crimes. They could not enter the shrines of their own Gods, they could not get the education they wanted, they could not lead the life that they aspired - and all these not because they did not wish to do them, but because they were deprived of. The backward classes are backward right now because they were humiliated and made backward. Isn't it time for the offenders to repent for this and offer the supporting hand? One nuclear bomb and still the towns of Hiroshima and Nagasaki are facing the consequences; centuries of abasement and people are not ready to accept the criminal offense that they committed. Somehow, it really pricks me hard at my heart whenever I think about all these, my nerves refuse to cooperate in a feel of guilt. I can never imagine a life where if I walk through a street, all doors remain shut or if I enter a house, the place is washed off once I leave. I would have done one of these two things in that case -

1. I would have accomplished something really great and would have proved to them that I am worthier than any of those.

2. I would have committed suicide.

Well, the most famous argument is that reservations are going to "dilute the talent pool" - I would argue that instead of giving opportunities to some 20% of the population and making a pool out of it, give it to the entire population, by all laws of science, it should result in a better talent pool; we understand that none is born intelligent! After all, this talent pool is forged out of the scores secured in some examination. During my school days, I had no other job than to have a text book in my hand and to read it over and over again - no evening-table-cleaning business, no early-morning-newspaper-delivering business, absolutely nothing. No wonder I was able to make it to one of the most prestigious engineering institutions of the country. But how do we show that the unfortunate are also part of this society? I personally know a backward class student who works in a road-side restaurant during the evening and to everyone's surprise, he was one of the school toppers in his final examination. I would definitely give my MBBS seat to him, won't you?

One another ridiculous argument - the one who's "really talented will shine under any circumstance" and they end up citing the example of the Indian President. Doesn't the same argument hold good against the arguers too - those who are impoverished due to reservations can shine against any odds, even with the impoverishment. In one of the recent editions on a news channel about reservations, they showed up an example of a backward-class BITSian-IIMian who says reservations is not the solution. We are not at all speaking about those people who can make news, we are much more bothered about the vast majority who I believe have almost the same talent as any other candidate in the forward class, just that they have been stripped off of their ability to expose their talent.

The next one, this I consider absolutely senseless - "how is the small percentage benefiting from reservations going to help the remaining majority?". The counter-argument is simple - one backward class guy makes it to a big institution - his entire slum will know about it, this will slowly spread to other slums in the city, to other villages in the district. One more guy makes it, the entire state would come to know about this - people who hardly spoke about high school would now be speaking about the Indian Institute of Technology, they would know there's something called the JEE, there's something called the CAT - that's the exposure we are trying to diffuse in an attempt to create an India about which the same Indian President dreams of.

But how long should this be in practice, if the father gets a seat in reservation - should his son be allowed to make it through in the same way, whether the government should publish a white paper on the statistics of reservation and how it has affected the society, whether the creamy layer should be removed off the list, etc., I agree should be considered - but citing all these and complaining about the basic idea of reservations or what is officially called as one form of affirmative action is something that I can't digest. They say it's easy for the son of a movie director to get into the cinema world, we've been blessed to have benefited from our parents, it's time for us to recognize the lesser mortals of our own society. When we speak about reservations based on caste, it is assumed that a high majority of that caste is backward in terms of economy, of exposure and of execution. Exceptions do exist with any example, we will have to live with it if we are not able to eliminate it. I agree that there could be nothing like if we are able to implement reservations based on economy, but in a country where we keep moving on a red signal and where there is unofficial movement of money even to perform normal duties in a goverment office, I will not be surprised if Ambani's son gets a seat through reservation citing penury.

"Give them free primary education, give them financial help" - all these arguments are fine, they'll definitely help the next generation, but what answer do we have for the current generation? Why did women get 33% reservation in the parliament, because we know that they were suppressed in the Indian society and that they need representations to lift themselves up. The very presence of the backward classes in government institutions and offices itself shows that the reservation system has been successful during these fifty years of independence.

Let me just give an illustration to tell you straight of what I have been trying to convey. Imagine we never got the independence from the British in its current format. We got a kind of independence where there was no more suppression but a majority of government policies were influenced by the British; the admission policy of educational institutions, the recruitment policy in government offices, etc. In such a scenario, will an Indian (forward or backward class) ever get a seat in any of those? Does that mean Indians are not talented, no, just that the policies will not suit us. The children of the suppressed Indians will find it difficult to compete against the well-groomed English children. I bet in that case, there would be a protest from the forward class demanding reservations.

Let us come out of the selfish world where we think about ourselves, our fraternity, our neighbourhood, our children and let us peep our head beyond into the world of not philanthropy but at least of realizational empathy. If men don't help men, who else is going to? To all those who have been protesting this concept once the notorious minister made the statement, I have one question - before contemplating over facts that if this were vote-bank-politics, answer this question - if I shut you in a dark room for one week, will you be able to stay abreast with what had taken place around you during that time - will you know that Italy won the world cup, that the NASA space shuttle reached home safely, that there is an abyssal crisis in West Asia, that Maruti has lauched its new model of Wagon R - does that mean you are not fit to live in this world? All you need is a few days of interaction, a few weeks of exposure, a few reads through magazines and you will be back to how you were - this is the support that the backward classes need right now.

I am not sure if many of you reading through the above agreed to what I've been fencing, especially if you are in the reservation-impoverished class, but I completely understand what I've said till now and I'm completely aware of what it means. As I say it pricks me hard when I think of the slavery meted out to the unfortunates, I would also say that it pricks me even harder as I think that a meritorious student of the reservation-impoverished class would have to be ripped off of what he actually deserves. But I see the justification it caters and the tremendous vantage it brings to the country. I would just want to say this - they are struggling in the flood waters, let us give, at least to a few of them, a small corner in the cosy boat that we are in. We have shut them in dark while we enjoyed the light and the warmth of the sun, lets us knock their doors, let us show them the light. Jai Hind!

I have become real

I'm not sure how it started, but I was thinking about it for quite sometime then. Maybe, I was nettled by the first rented house that I took in Bangalore - almost a dungeon with only one window for the entire house, it had four portions, rented out to four families - space problem, water problem - comfort had been clearly outstripped from that house. I could never understand why I should pay five thousand Indian Rupees for that clunky place, I very well realize that the Rupee value had been dispirited over the last few decades, but didn't know to this magnitude.

Then we wanted to shift, at a stage when we felt we no longer could be inhabitants of that domicile, we wanted to kibosh the practices of almost falling at the knees of the house owner to switch the overhead-tank-motor on, of looking at his over-adiposed face and hand him over the rent - I'm not too sure what his background was, but I bet he wouldn't have passed his high school. I just felt he doesn't enjoy any quality that I want a person to possess when he thinks I owe him five thousand Indian Rupees every month.

I just casually looked at some advertisements about apartments and sites in one of the newspapers - cogitating over it again, I agnized the benevolence it would bestow upon me - no rent-paying business, tax exemption, own-house-pride and you can then become a rent-collecting house owner, at least with the satisfaction of making someone else stay in a comfortable house. It then started, first as a knowledge-hunt, then as a passion-hunt and then the fervour got into me so powerfully that I wanted not to stop till I own a property in Bangalore.

Apartments or an individual house? The decision took around two months of the hunt. Built house or a plot, another three months - in these five months, I would have visited at least twenty apartments, a dozen of built houses and at least four dozen plots - plots almost spanning the entire East Bangalore. Then I began to realize the stretch this process has brought in me, almost every weekend I would be with some real estate broker or would be hashing out with some property owner. Weekend hunts became daily hunts, and my bike reached the 10000-km mark, I am sure half of it would have been spent in the roads (or the no roads) of East Bangalore.

The wheedling of the brokers - this site will triple in the next one year, water in the next two months, roads in the next six months - come on, the Airport Road flyover is lying unattended to for the last one year, thanks to all the hardwork (or the no hardwork) by all people involved, it was opened up for public recently. It was a hard time believing all those palavers, at least, I had, in the journey developed the maturity to identify which ones to trust.

HSR layout - Airport road - VivekNagar - Koramangala - CV RamanNagar - BTM layout - Outer Ring Road - Sarjapur Road - Ramamurthy Nagar - K R Puram - Whitefield - Hosur Road, that's lot of places to explore. Environment - Budget - Future - Proximity - Location, that's lot of qualities to analyze. How many phone numbers I had to store on my cell phone, how many people I had to speak with, how much I had to understand about the real estate business in Bangalore - how much encrytion, how much decryption - it was actually a good period of ten months in my life. Newspapers, magazines, web sites - I left almost no stone unturned. But the one thing I liked about me - every time I turned on the keys in my bike, I would believe this one I would finalize, till the last plot that I saw, the one near Marathahalli, the place is called Doddanekkundhi - five hundred metres from the outer ring road, five kilometres from where my office's new premises would be.

Well, I have now become real, from this day, the twenty first of July, 2006, all that piece and parcel of residentially converted land bearing Site numbers 7 and 8 in Gururaj Layout of Mahadevapura City Municipal Council belongs to me!

Triplets at my imagination

This strange form of poetry, they call it the haiku, has always fascinated me. Coming from the Japanese roots fostered by greats like Basho, Buson, Issa and Shiki and farmed over in English by legends like Blyth, Henderson, Stryck and Beilenson, whether it is the nature or the nurture, haiku has now become the most convenient form for penning down imaginations.


What is a haiku?
A haiku has three lines, describes the images of nature. It is not a single sentence broken up into three lines, but it can be said in one breath. It usually has a 'punch' in the last line, well, does it have some syllable-structure - some say 5-7-5, some say that's only for the Japanese, in English it has totally 9 syllables, short-long-short. Punctuations - go ahead and use them, but the split is clear even without them. Metaphors and similes and rhymes, why do you want to use them when you have only three lines? Capitalization, your wish; use paradox, use puns; well, the freedom is you, extend it to your discretion is the rule. An ordinary event in an ordinary style with a thought of difference is the motto.

I guess I spoke too much on the rules of what's supposed to be a liberation-poetry. Haiku veterans say "Learn the rule and forget it", so I have buried them.

My first attempt
I am not a poet or a lyricist, but somehow involving with haikus over and over in the recent few months, trying to help out my dad doing menial works of typing and formatting for his books, I thought I should experience how it feels to write something that closely resembles a haiku. I really don't know if I would come along and would want to cherish the moments of writing haiku by doing them more, but I really want to get such one and a half hours over me again.

Golden moon
Feast to the eyes
My sleep?

"Save trees"
In bold letters
On a wooden plank.

"Don't pollute"
Hardly visible from behind
Auto-rickshaw!

Porter applauds
The reel hero in his role
Irony?

Minister's Mercedes
Well,
my tax?

Untouchable rescues
From the deep well
The upper caste daughter.

Baby near
Everyone around
A baby!

Leave me alone
No lights please
My shadow!

Mutualism
The snake and
The venom.

Will I proceed?

This is just a start to what I think might be an immurement of thoughts, from incidental emotions to perdurable beliefs, that I might want to look upon in moods of pensiveness to jubilate over what have occurred in me.

Dianthus (dios - God and anthos - blossom in Greek) is a flowering plant found in Europe, Asia and Africa, one species of which is called the carnation (supposed to have originated from corone - flower or carnis - flesh). Carnations have been cultivated at least ever since Jesus was born. Their pedigree dates to the flower garlands in Greek ceremonial crowns.

Carnations have a great degree of symbolism and sentiments attached with them - from Roman weddings to Korean horoscopes to Portuguese revolution to Oxford University till William Mckinley, the 25th President of the United States. But the most familiar of them is the representations of their colours - light red carnation depicts admiration, dark red symbolizes deep love and white, pure love. Green limns joy while purple indicates capriciousness. Pink carnations have the most historic significance - according to legendary fables, these sprung up from the tears of Virgin Mary as Jesus carried the cross, so pink has now evolved to represent undying love.

I found carnations to be special as I skimmed through wikipedia, so I named my blog as carnations and the blogspot link as dianthus.