CMYK Sunday Vijay Times, Bangalore, 9 May 2004 I Slow fade ... · with V have a sexy twang, don™t...
1
FICTION w The Da Vinci Code Dan Brown w The Last Juror John Grisham w Angels and Demons Dan Brown w Alchemist Paulo Coelho w Namesake Jhumpa Lahiri NON-FICTION w Being Indian Pawan K Verma w Goa, A Daughter’s Story M A Couto w Ambedkar Gail Omvedt w Last Liberal Ramachandra Guha w Prophets of New India Compilation from The Week REGIONAL 1 Aayitha Ezhuthu - Tamil 2 Autograph - Tamil 3 New - Tamil HINDI 1 Main Hoo Na 2 Lakshya 3 Yuva INDI POP/GHAZAL 1 Miss Spicy Mix 2 War of DJs - II 3 DJ Hot Mix INTERNATIONAL 1 7-Enrique Iglesias 2 Escape-Enrique Iglesias 3 Now Bless Courtesy: Premier, Music World 3 Sunday Vijay Times, Bangalore, 9 May 2004 Centrestage Painted between 1984 and 1988, Willem de Koonings 10 paintings fill the Gagosian Gallery in Chelsea, USA. Sometimes known as ribbon paint- ings, they are full of wafting, curling bands of colour. They tangle and untangle in varying amounts and tensions across fields of white, sometimes imbuing the works with pale tints of yellow, peach or blue. Nexus: Taiwan in Queens, at the Queens Museum of Art is an example of international con- temporary art that might be called the illustrational imperative. This exhi- bition recognises Taiwanese recent immigrants and second- and third-generation residents live in the museums own neighbourhood.An installation by Lu Hsian Fu, for example, consists of 100 traditional red Chinese paper lanterns with strings of glowing Christmas lights threaded among them. Dangerous Liasions, a sumptuous display of 18th-century fash- ion and furniture on view at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, recasts the museum exhibition as a double-entendre. Dangerous Liasions presents 33 silk garments from the decades immediately pre- ceding to the French Revolution. It is a delightfully choreographed dance on the edge of a volcano. Best-sellers C M Y K C M Y K C M Y K C M Y K Immigration from Taiwan Let them wear silk De Kooning From Z to A T HE artist Satish Gujral is renowned for his painting, sculpture, and architecture; in his book called a Brush with Life, he speaks of being entombed in silence after the accident that took away his hearing abil- ity. But Satish Gujrals paintings are perhaps more significant for the crucial experi- ments that he did with Indian imagery and modernist ideas. There is such a thing as deaf culture art called DeVia, short for Deaf View/Image Art which was the style of painters like Chuck Biard in America. It came about at the Deaf Way arts fes- tival at Gallaudet University, Amer- ica in May, 1989. In their manifesto put up on the website http://www.deafart.org, they say: DeVIA represents Deaf artists and perceptions based on their Deaf experiences. It uses formal art elements with the intention of expressing innate cultural or physical Deaf experience. These experiences may include Deaf metaphors, Deaf perspectives, and Deaf insight in relationship with the envi- ronment (both the natural world and Deaf cultural envi- ronment), spiritual and everyday life. But this manifesto also recogni- ses that all deaf artists neednt always speak of their impairedness. They say DeVIA is created when the artist intends to express their Deaf expe- rience through visual art. Chuck Biard, who made this style famous, said, I no longer paint what people would like to see. I paint for myself. It is about my own experience, my love of ASL and pride in our Deaf heritage. I sometimes create works that have no particular relation to the Deaf. A search on the Internet reveals that there are many resources in the field of arts which deaf people can access though a lot being available in abroad. In Bangalore one such initiative was held recently this month at the Venktappa art gallery. The gallery was host to an exhibition of paintings by the hearing impaired organised by painter M C Ganesh and A K Umesh, who is the founding secretary of the Organisation for Art and Culture of the Deaf and Dumb under whose banner this exhibition was organ- ised. The paintings were varied in theme and media, from glass to oil to acrylic and collages. Most prominent in terms of co- ntent is the art of Ganesh, which suggests that he is moving beyond themes to explore colour and style. When asked about the influences in his work, Ganesh said that his paintings were about suf- fering. Others have worked on themes such as landscapes and still life. Most of these artists have diplomas or degrees from art schools like Ken and Chitrakala Parishath or have taken exams in drawing. Rajni is an art teacher certified by Fevicryl paints and conducts art and craft classes.Jyothi does graphic design and has trained in computer aided design. R Sreedhara who likes to paint portraits in oil and watercolours is also an accomplished sportsman.Rekha Chitrakumar worked at the Canara bank for 19 years.Archana who is a sculpture student at Chitrakala Parishath has also shown some of her work here. Ganesh Shetty, Rajni, M Jyothi, K Gayathri, C Pramod, Sreedhar, and Rekha Chitrakumar are some of the other upcoming talented artists. Umesh feels that the disabilities of these people are a serious hindrance to their access to resources. He plans to conduct a painting workshop and exhibition involv- ing more people, and also hopes that the artists work will find a market in companies and bank calendars etc. It is time that even we make efforts to bring out talent in people with disabilities in India. In an increasingly competitive world, we need to ask ourselves how hostile we are turning towards the physically disabled. n If you were deaf, and like to paint, would your painting have anything to do with your being deaf? Rahima Majid reports M OVE over Grisham! William Lashners latest book Fatal Flaw (Harper Touch, Pages: 576, Price: 334 )is a rare delight - a legal thriller with a well thought out plot that is often lacking in this genre. This book is for those who are tired of searching for a solid plot among sub- poenas, arraignments and other forms of complicated legalese that John Grisham has overused in his recent books. The book starts dramat- ically enough with the protagonist lawyer Victor Carl finding fellow lawyer Guy Forrest on the porch of his lovers house, stark naked in the pouring rain, a gun beside him and the lovers corpse on the bed inside. Guy Forrest looks guilty as sin and asks Carl to defend him. The catch is that Carl himself was a lover of the dead woman - Hailey Prouix a mys- terious woman with murky past. Thus begins a story with numerous twists and turns. Here is a book where one does not have to labour through 100 pages before the pace picks up. Fatal flaw takes off like a jet plane and keeps the momentum up. In all, the book makes a brisk read. The author himself is a wordsmith and a great story teller a good mix of the pace of James Hadley Chase and the narrative style of Harrold Robbins. Pick up the book if you love crime fiction. n L OVE makes the world go round, they say. But surely they dont mean romantic novels. If Judith McNaughts Someone to Watch Over Me (Pocket Books, Pages:560 , Price:131 )is as big an international bestseller as they claim it to be, then there sure are a lot of desperate, loveless souls around. If you have a couple of love stories and a string of affairs tied up with a murder mystery, it is still going to remain a romance story. So we have a Broadway actress Leigh Manning, a smart young cop Samantha Littleton, a smarter, older cop Mitchell McCord and a very dubious business tycoon Michael Valente (names beginning with V have a sexy twang, dont they). Plus there are oversmart teenagers, jealous Oscar-winners, sexy psychiatrists and a guy who is sleeping with almost all the women in the novel. Very original. The good thing about this book is it makes no pretensions. From the very first page, it makes clear its going to be mushy and goes about it single-mindedly. It offers interest- ing characters and lots of red her- rings .Romance lovers might like it. Others, stay clear. n E VEN in the 21st century, women in general and Indian women in particular are still floating in an undefined, ambivalent space. There are areas of black, like domestic violence, sexual harass- ment, which they are still reeling under. White areas where cooperation among women has helped them find their footing in the economy, or helped sex workers to find their iden- tity within the parameters of their profession. And then there are ambiguous, technicolour areas where one does not know the right from the wrong. Why are women asked to talk in a soft voice? Do they still believe in fairy tale romances? Are they still basking in the reflected glory of the men in their lives? Why do women feel guilty about eating? Is the Barbie doll just a toy, or does it offer model lessons in sexual abuse of girls? Does moderni- sation lead to more women stepping into crime? Or does it mean greater bias for women in science and engi- neering? These questions need to be raised, if not answered. Women in Black, White and Technicolour (Rupa and Co, Pages: 298, Price:295) by Shoma A Chatterjee is a step in that direction. n A legal thriller Love story with a murder mystery Different shades of women Art of deaf Art of deaf S R RAMAKRISHNA I S THE nadaswara on the decline? Not many are learning it, giving rise to the apprehension that it could go the sarangi way. It has never been a mainstream concert instrument, and many see it only as an appendage to temple and marriage rituals. Nearly all nadaswara exponents hail from the barber community,and a caste- conscious society has turned a blind eye to their artistry. The slow but steady neglect of this magnificent instru- ment could mean that it will no longer produce, as it did in the last century, greats of the stature of Rajarathnam Pillai. Nadaswara is the most recent name given to the long pipe earlier known as nagaswaram and olaga (or valaga). In Kannada, olaga means an august assembly, and S Krishna Murthy, music director and keen observer of the classical music scene, feels the instrument could have acquired that name because it was played regu- larly at the palace. The nadaswaras sound is best heard in open spaces, which is why it has evolved into a major procession instrument. No temple procession is complete without a nadaswara ensemble. The traditional ensemble comprises two nadaswara players, two dolu (thavil) play- ers, and two shruti accompanists (one on a nadaswara and the other on what is called a shruti pettige, a harmonium-like instrument that is used to provide the drone). The nadaswaras loud sound has worked to its disadvantage in modern times where open space is a luxury. Students cannot learn the instrument in privacy: the instru- ment announces itself to a radius of at least half a dozen streets. The instrument came on to the concert stage in the middle of the 20th century, but sabha encouragement has not been consistent. The nadaswara is not an easy instrument, con- sidering the lung power it calls for,but even those who pur- sue it are unhappy about the wall of neglect they come up against. At weddings, they play to a noisy crowd rather than to an appreciative,music-aware audience. While wedding assignments bring in some, much needed money, they are no substitute for the real concert experience. And lavish spenders are not necessar- ily good paymasters when it comes to deal- ing with musicians. Many upper caste vidwans in Mysore, says Krishna Murthy, would secretly walk in temple processions just to hear the nadaswara. They thought it was beneath their dignity to listen to music being played by lower caste musicians, says Krishna Murthy, but their hearts knew the value of what they were hearing. B Ramadasappa and Kodandaramaiah are Bangalores best known nadaswara players. Ramadasappa has attempted to recast the instru- ment: he uses a mute to lower his instruments vol- ume, and plays with tambura and violin accompani- ment. Kodandaramaiah has remained true to tradi- tion.Jugalbandi experiments pitting the nadaswara against other instruments have seen little success because these instruments always seem mismatched in their decibel capacities. Musicologists say some of the greatest Karnatak musi- cians of our times GNB, Semmangudi and Lalgudi have consciously absorbed the best elements of nadaswaram playing. Although its influ- ence on vocal and instrumental music is undeniable, the nadaswara is still struggling to win the respect it truly deserves. n Slow fade out? The magnificent nadaswara has many admirers, but its glory days may be over
Transcript of CMYK Sunday Vijay Times, Bangalore, 9 May 2004 I Slow fade ... · with V have a sexy twang, don™t...
FICTION
w The Da Vinci CodeDan Brown
w The Last Juror John Grisham
w Angels and DemonsDan Brown
w Alchemist Paulo Coelho
w NamesakeJhumpa Lahiri
NON-FICTION
w Being IndianPawan K Verma
w Goa, A Daughter’s StoryM A Couto
w AmbedkarGail Omvedt
w Last LiberalRamachandra Guha
w Prophets of New IndiaCompilation from The Week
REGIONAL
1 Aayitha Ezhuthu - Tamil2 Autograph - Tamil3 New - Tamil
HINDI
1 Main Hoo Na2 Lakshya3 Yuva
INDI POP/GHAZAL
1 Miss Spicy Mix2 War of DJs - II3 DJ Hot Mix
INTERNATIONAL
1 7-Enrique Iglesias2 Escape-Enrique Iglesias3 Now Bless
Courtesy: Premier, Music World
3Sunday Vijay Times, Bangalore, 9 May 2004Centrestage
Painted between 1984and 1988, Willem deKooning�s 10 paintingsfill the GagosianGallery in Chelsea,USA. Sometimesknown as ribbon paint-ings, they are full ofwafting, curling bandsof colour. They tangle
and untangle in varying amounts and tensionsacross fields of white, sometimes imbuing the workswith pale tints of yellow, peach or blue.
�Nexus: Taiwan inQueens,� at theQueens Museum ofArt is an example ofinternational con-temporary art thatmight be called the illustrational imperative. This exhi-bition recognises Taiwanese � recent immigrants andsecond- and third-generation residents � live in themuseum�s own neighbourhood.An installation by LuHsian Fu, for example, consists of 100 traditional redChinese paper lanterns with strings of glowingChristmas lights threaded among them.
�Dangerous Liasions�,a sumptuous displayof 18th-century fash-ion and furniture onview at theMetropolitan Museumof Art, recasts themuseum exhibition as
a double-entendre. �Dangerous Liasions� presents33 silk garments from the decades immediately pre-ceding to the French Revolution. It is a delightfullychoreographed dance on the edge of a volcano.
Best-sellers
CMYK
CMYK
CMYK
CMYK
IImmmmiiggrraattiioonn ffrroomm TTaaiiwwaann
LLeett tthheemm wweeaarr ssiillkk
DDee KKoooonniinngg FFrroomm ZZ ttoo AA
THE artist Satish Gujral is renowned for hispainting, sculpture, and architecture; inhis book called a Brush with Life, he
speaks of being �entombed in silence� afterthe accident that took away his hearing abil-ity. But Satish Gujral�s paintings are perhapsmore significant for the crucial experi-ments that he did with Indian imagery andmodernist ideas.
There is such a thing as deaf cultureart called De�Via, short for DeafView/Image Art which was the style ofpainters like Chuck Biard in America.It came about at the Deaf Way arts fes-tival at Gallaudet University, Amer-ica in May, 1989. In their manifestoput up on the websitehttp://www.deafart.org, they say:�De�VIA represents Deaf artistsand perceptions based on theirDeaf experiences. It uses formalart elements with the intentionof expressing innate cultural orphysical Deaf experience.These experiences may includeDeaf metaphors, Deafperspectives, and Deaf insightin relationship with the envi-ronment (both the naturalworld and Deaf cultural envi-
ronment), spiritual andeveryday life.� But this
manifesto also recogni-ses that all deafartists needn�talways speak of their
impairedness. Theysay De�VIA is createdwhen the artistintends to express
their Deaf expe-rience through
visual art.
Chuck Biard, who made this style famous, said, �I nolonger paint what people would like to see. I paint formyself. It is about my own experience, my love of ASLand pride in our Deaf heritage. I sometimes createworks that have no particular relation to the Deaf.�
A search on the Internet reveals that there are manyresources in the field of arts which deaf people canaccess though a lot being available in abroad. InBangalore one such initiative was held recently thismonth at the Venktappa art gallery.
The gallery was host to an exhibition of paintings bythe hearing impaired organised by painter M C Ganeshand A K Umesh, who is the founding secretary of theOrganisation for Art and Culture of the Deaf and Dumb
under whose banner thisexhibition was organ-ised. The paintings werevaried in theme andmedia, from glass to oil toacrylic and collages. Mostprominent in terms of co-ntent is the art of Ganesh,which suggests that he ismoving beyond themes toexplore colour and style.When asked about theinfluences in his work,Ganesh said that hispaintings were about suf-fering. Others have
worked on themes such as landscapes and still life.Most of these artists have diplomas or degrees from
art schools like Ken and Chitrakala Parishath or havetaken exams in drawing. Rajni is an art teacher certifiedby Fevicryl paints and conducts art and craftclasses.Jyothi does graphic design and has trained incomputer aided design. R Sreedhara who likes to paintportraits in oil and watercolours is also an accomplishedsportsman.Rekha Chitrakumar worked at the Canarabank for 19 years.Archana who is a sculpture student atChitrakala Parishath has also shown some of her workhere. Ganesh Shetty, Rajni, M Jyothi, K Gayathri, CPramod, Sreedhar, and Rekha Chitrakumar are some ofthe other upcoming talented artists.
Umesh feels that the disabilities of these people are aserious hindrance to their access to resources. He plansto conduct a painting workshop and exhibition involv-ing more people, and also hopes that the artists� workwill find a market in companies and bank calendars etc.
It is time that even we make efforts to bring out talentin people with disabilities in India. In an increasinglycompetitive world, we need to ask ourselves how hostilewe are turning towards the physically disabled. n
IIff yyoouu wweerree ddeeaaff,, aanndd lliikkee ttoo ppaaiinntt,, wwoouullddyyoouurr ppaaiinnttiinngg hhaavvee aannyytthhiinngg ttoo ddoo wwiitthhyyoouurr bbeeiinngg ddeeaaff?? RRaahhiimmaa MMaajjiidd rreeppoorrttss
MOVE over Grisham! WilliamLashner�s latest book FatalFlaw (Harper Touch, Pages:
576, Price: 334 )is a rare delight - alegal thriller with a well thought outplot that is often lacking in this genre.This book is for those who are tired ofsearching for a solid plot among sub-poenas, arraignments and otherforms of complicated legalese thatJohn Grisham has overused in hisrecent books. The book starts dramat-ically enough with the protagonist �lawyer Victor Carl finding fellowlawyer Guy Forrest on the porch ofhis lovers house, stark naked in thepouring rain, a gun beside him andthe lover�s corpse on the bed inside.Guy Forrest looks guilty as sin andasks Carl to defend him. The catch isthat Carl himself was a lover of thedead woman - Hailey Prouix � a mys-terious woman with murky past. Thus
begins a story with numerous twists and turns.Here is a book where one does not have to labour through 100 pages
before the pace picks up. Fatal flaw takes off like a jet plane and keepsthe momentum up. In all, the book makes a brisk read. The authorhimself is a wordsmith and a great story teller � a good mix of the paceof James Hadley Chase and the narrative style of Harrold Robbins.Pick up the book if you love crime fiction. n
LOVE makes the world goround, they say. But surelythey don�t mean romantic
novels. If Judith McNaught�sSomeone to Watch Over Me (PocketBooks, Pages:560 , Price:131 )is asbig an international bestseller asthey claim it to be, then there sureare a lot of desperate, loveless soulsaround. If you have a couple of lovestories and a string of affairs tied
up with a murder mystery, it is stillgoing to remain a romance story.
So we have a Broadway actressLeigh Manning, a smart young copSamantha Littleton, a smarter,older cop Mitchell McCord and avery dubious business tycoonMichael Valente (names beginningwith V have a sexy twang, don�tthey). Plus there are oversmartteenagers, jealous Oscar-winners,
sexy psychiatrists and a guy who issleeping with almost all the womenin the novel. Very original.
The good thing about this book isit makes no pretensions. From thevery first page, it makes clear it�sgoing to be mushy and goes about itsingle-mindedly. It offers interest-ing characters and lots of red her-rings .Romance lovers might like it.Others, stay clear. n
EVEN in the 21st century,women in general and Indianwomen in particular are still
floating in an undefined, ambivalentspace. There are areas of black, likedomestic violence, sexual harass-ment, which they are still reelingunder. White areas where cooperationamong women has helped them findtheir footing in the economy, orhelped sex workers to find their iden-
tity within the parameters of theirprofession.
And then there are ambiguous,technicolour areas where one doesnot know the right from the wrong.Why are women asked to talk in a softvoice? Do they still believe in fairytale romances? Are they still baskingin the reflected glory of the men intheir lives? Why do women feel guiltyabout eating? Is the Barbie doll just a
toy, or does it offer model lessons insexual abuse of girls? Does moderni-sation lead to more women steppinginto crime? Or does it mean greaterbias for women in science and engi-neering? These questions need to beraised, if not answered. Women inBlack, White and Technicolour (Rupaand Co, Pages: 298, Price:295) byShoma A Chatterjee is a step in thatdirection. n
A legal thriller Love story with a murder mystery
Different shades of women
Art of deafArt of deaf
S R RAMAKRISHNA
IS THE nadaswara on the decline? Notmany are learning it, giving rise to theapprehension that it could go the sarangi
way. It has never been a mainstream concertinstrument, and many see it only as an appendage
to temple and marriage rituals. Nearly all nadaswaraexponents hail from the barber community, and a caste-
conscious society has turned a blind eye to their artistry.The slow but steady neglect of this magnificent instru-ment could mean that it will no longer produce, as it did inthe last century, greats of the stature of RajarathnamPillai.
Nadaswara is the most recent name given to the longpipe earlier known as nagaswaram and olaga (or valaga).In Kannada, olaga means an august assembly, and SKrishna Murthy, music director and keen observer ofthe classical music scene, feels the instrument couldhave acquired that name because it was played regu-larly at the palace.
The nadaswara�s sound is best heard in openspaces, which is why it has evolved into a majorprocession instrument. No temple processionis complete without a nadaswara ensemble.The traditional ensemble comprises twonadaswara players, two dolu (thavil) play-ers, and two shruti accompanists (oneon a nadaswara and the other onwhat is called a shruti pettige, aharmonium-like instrument thatis used to provide the drone).
The nadaswara�s loud soundhas worked to its disadvantage
in modern times whereopen space is a luxury.
Students cannot learn the instrument in privacy: the instru-ment announces itself to a radius of at least half a dozenstreets.
The instrument came on to the concert stage in the middleof the 20th century, but sabha encouragement has not beenconsistent. The nadaswara is not an easy instrument, con-sidering the lung power it calls for, but even those who pur-sue it are unhappy about the wall of neglect they come upagainst. At weddings, they play to a noisy crowd rather thanto an appreciative,music-aware audience. While weddingassignments bring in some, much needed money, they are nosubstitute for the real concert experience. And lavishspenders are not necessar-
ily good paymasterswhen it comes to deal-ing with musicians.
Many upper castevidwans in
Mysore, says Krishna Murthy, wouldsecretly walk in temple processionsjust to hear the nadaswara. �Theythought it was beneath their dignity tolisten to music being played by lowercaste musicians,� says Krishna Murthy,�but their hearts knew the value of whatthey were hearing.�
B Ramadasappa and Kodandaramaiah areBangalore�s best known nadaswara players.Ramadasappa has attempted to recast the instru-ment: he uses a mute to lower his instrument�s vol-ume, and plays with tambura and violin accompani-ment. Kodandaramaiah has remained true to tradi-tion.Jugalbandi experiments pitting the nadaswaraagainst other instruments have seen little successbecause these instruments always seem mismatched intheir decibel capacities.
Musicologists say some of the greatest Karnatak musi-cians of our times� GNB, Semmangudi and Lalgudi �have consciously absorbed the best elements ofnadaswaram playing. Although its influ-
ence on vocal and instrumentalmusic is undeniable, thenadaswara is still struggling to
win the respect it trulydeserves. n
Slow fade out?TThhee mmaaggnniiffiicceenntt nnaaddaasswwaarraa hhaass mmaannyy
aaddmmiirreerrss,, bbuutt iittss gglloorryy ddaayyss mmaayy bbee oovveerr
