Monsoon Music

o sajna, barkha bahar ayee- My favourite for years... based on megh malhar If I am right, beautiful visuals.... makes sitting at the window and watching the rains come down heavenly...
Just in case you cannot watch it on this blog, go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGAIrcQEe0M



bol re papi hara... ek man pyasa ... definitely quenches any thirst for good music on any day.. rainy or dry:)


chasme budhoor kahan se aye badhara ... love the music and yesudas at his mellifluous best...try not to get distracted by the visuals:)


laagan ghanan ghanan... this time around the monsoons threatened to give us a miss and therefore were welcomed when they raged down for days...


barso re megha.... come monsoons and everyone wants to get drenched.. all ages both genders....


shuba mudgal- aise barse sawan... there you go.. if you want to party in the rains:)


Suresh Wadkar and Kavita Krishnamurthy singing the classical(Miyan ki malhar or Megh malhar?) based "badal ghumad" . Inspiring for artists and musicians.

Suresh wadkar-badal ghumad badh aye


Kavita Krishnamurthy - badal ghumad badh aye


RhimJhim Gire Saawan - I used to enjoy this while at IRMA in 86-88 when it used to be played on the radio.


I somehow could not find any songs in Malayalam that celebrated the monsoons. Possibly it could be because Kerala gets rain all through the year... convectional rainfall or the 4 O clock rains in summer, some rainfall even in November due to the spillover from the Eastern cyclonic rains et al. The month of July also coincides with the Malayalam month of Karkadakam, when austerity is practiced and with mortality rates at its highest, Ramayanam is read in every household following the Hindu religion. Up north Shravan which coincides with Karkadakam also means austerity. So the monsoons are not all about romance:)
At Ayurvedic spa's and Kalari's it is the season for curative treatment as the weather is considered to be ideal for this. Pizhichi thirumal which is a comprehensive massage regimen is done during this time.
I guess that about explains why I did not get any Mallu songs ....

But in Hollywood,it certainly means dancing and singing in the rain... :) and here it is....http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmCpOKtN8ME

I saw a movie by my favourite director Francois Truffaut "A man who loved women too much".It was so insightful and reminded me of my rather tempestuous adolescence.
It also reminded me of a poem that I wrote 20 years ago. I guess it was in Cochin, or was it Trivandrum? when ogling was an all time passion.
The torrid heat of unrequited lust in those days was drenched by the occasional showers that fell in the form of a pretty persona passing by and on occasions a girlish glance, that seemed to both quench and tease the thirst yet again. There are times when I am glad I am past my prime ... you are able to hold a conversation and your glance without sinking to the depths(pun intended) of depravity :)
What better way to sublimate these thoughts than to let them fly free on the "viewless wings of poesy"?

Monsoon Magic

The rains had subsided, but the ground was wet,

Puddles here, rivulets there, umbrellas bobbing here and there,

She hitched up her saree and jumped across a puddle

Her hair shook in waves her necklace askew

She looked up, caught me staring, looked away

A raindrop fell down her hair

Down her forehead, around her eyes

Soft liquid brown, doe like, avoiding mine

Towards her lips, curved and rosy

Which twitch slightly as the rain- drop ended its journey

The rumble of a bus broke into my thoughts and my dream

A glance before she left, was all I had to dream

Vinod Natesan

1988