Sri Ganesh caller tunes by Think Music

This Ganesh Chathurthi Think Music( Music label of Sathyam Cinemas) have launched exclusive caller tunes for mobile phones. These comprise of bhakthi songs and slokas and special mantras on lord Ganesha, the cute god who removes obstacles and always paves way for victory. These are rendered by me and my sister and singer Charulatha Mani of Isai Payanam and En uchi Mandaila fame. Catch your fav mantras like Ganesh Gayatri, Jai Sumirat Sidhi hoi, Gajananam, Vakrathunda mahakaya,Mooladhara Moorthy, ganesha Charanam Chanting etc rendered by me.
Following are codes for airtel, aircel, Docomo, Vodafone and Idea users!

Track Title Vodafone Airtel Idea BSNL Aircel Docomo
GaneshaCharanam 10467053 5432111916182 918602 918602 DT565522 463971
GaneshaGayathri 10467054 5432111916183 918603 918603 DT565523 463972
Jai Sumirath 10467055 5432111916184 918604 918604 DT565646 463973
Maha Ganapathim 10467056 5432111916185 918605 918605 DT565647 463974
Mooladhara 10467057 5432111916186 918606 918606 DT565648 463975
Mooshika Slokam 10467058 5432111916187 918607 918607 DT565649 463976
Vakrathunda 10467063 5432111916192 918726 918726 DT565655 463981
Gajananam 10467064 5432111916193 918727 918727 DT565521 463982
Sri Vigna rajam 10467066 5432111916195 918729 918729 DT565653 463984

Mayakkum Malai Pozhudhu 2010

Mayakkum Malai Pozhudhu- An evening of lilting melodies 2010 was held at Kamarajar Arangam this july and it felt so great to perform golden melodies from past and present. I began the show with my favorite melody katrinile varum geetham from Meera. Myself and singer/composet Unnimenon sir were the star singers for this evening. Mouna raagam provided awesome back-ups for this show done by Universal events. I felt on top of the world performing south indian melody queen P Susheela amma's Malai Pozhudin Mayakkathile from Bhagyalakshmi movie as the theme song for the evening. It came out so well. I sang duets with unnimenon sir like Pudhu vellai mazhai, Paarta Mudhal naale and my own hits like Kanaa Kaanum kalangal, Enna indha matramo etc.,

The chief guest fro the evening was legendary playback singer Malaysia Vasudevan sir, before whom i performed Aagaya gangai from Dharmayudham, one of his greatest hits in Maestro ilayaraja's music. It was one evening to remember with all proceeds benefitting a home for orphaned special children.

Mere tho Giridhar Gopal

Hey folks! Its been quite a while since i have blogged. I was pretty shaken by the death of one of the greatest singers of our times- Swarnalatha, Lady with a golden voice. Well , anyway this post is about my recent concert for Janmashtami at ISKCON Hare Krishna temple, Thiruvanmiyur on September 2nd. I am a devotee of lord Krishna and share a special bond with the lord. the connect that i feel when i render Bhajans on lord Krishna is not quite explainable in words. So when i was approached by ISKCON to do a 2 hour concert of Bhakthi Sangeeth on Lord Krishna, i jumped at it.
This was organised on Janmashtami, Krishna's birthday. So it gave me more joy and happiness to be blessed enough to perform for the lord's pleasure on this auspicious occassion. The Hare Krishna temple at first seaward road is located by the seashore. It is a very beautiful place surrounded by palm trees, pools, green lush lawns and the lord's temple to crown all this beauty.

a pretty pandhal was put up and on the stage the decorated idols of Krishna Balarama were placed amidst much paraphernelia. krishna Balarama looked really beautiful dressed in specially designed Pink and blue outfits that made them look really smart and attractive!!

I was accompanied by sunder on the tabla, Shri. Subbu on the keys and shri. Muthukumar on the flute. I planned this concert as an evening of Bhakthi sangeeth featuring an assortment of Krishna Bhajans by various composers who have glorified krishna Bhakthi through decaded like Meera Bhai, Purandaradasa,annamacharya and the Alwars , the noted , among many great composers.

I began the evening with the evergreen katrinile varum geetham from Meera, immortalised by Bharat Ratna Smt. MS Subbulakshmi. I felt this would be a fitting beginning to the concert. This piece in Sindhubhairavi Rag was the first song that i performed on Tv show sapthaswarangal way back in 1997 when i was a kid. This earned me world fame even as a child. i guess the power of the song is such.I have always loved performing this song .

Next came Hey hare dayala, a heart wrenching Bhajan in Rag Patdeep from Meera movie. The "jaya meera prabhu meera" chanting at the end never fails to take devotees to another world of transcendental bliss across the realm of Bhakthi.

I performed songs like Nanda Nandana the famous meera Bhajan, Mharo Pranam- made famous by Hindustani stalwart Kishori amonkar, Mera Shaam thu in pantuvarali, Brundavanathil, Thane Kayi Kayi, Baro Krishnayya, Dolayam and Bhavayami Gopala balam after this.

I also included " Ayarpadi maligayil" , the cute lullaby song for Baby Krishna tuned by MSV and written by Kavignar Kannadasa who was a devotee himself. this garnered much applause and i totally enjoyed every moment of this song.

This live concert will soon be released as a live concert CD. so watch out and grab your copy!! i hope to do many such bhakthi sangeeth concerts in future. Bhakthi refines, enriches and revitalises the soul.

Here is a picture from Mere to Giridhar Gopal

An ode to Swarnalatha from her fan

The death of singer Swarnalatha - The lady with the most resonant, most appealing and most sensuous voice i have ever heard is indeed shocking to the entire music industry and millions of her fans including me. I would like to share my thoughts and outpour of my heart that never failed to sway to her metallic voice, a voice that was capable of penetrating deep into the soul and shake a thousand emotions out of it.
True to her name, her voice was golden, eternal. There are some voices that are created by god that are meant to sing, to spread joy to the people.Swarnalatha's voice was probably tailor made to suit this purpose. As a young singer, the first song that i sang on Tv shows and alway won prizes was Porale Ponnuthaayi, her National award winning song. Though i was only 10 when i first sang this song, i could understand the underlying intensity of the emotions conveyed through this song through the medium of her voice and it was the first voice that greatly inspired me from within. I have met her on one occassion at a studio. she had just finished her recording and i was about to begin mine. when she stepped out of the voice console, I fell at her feet. She blessed me and kindly asked me about my work. She wore a beautiful blue salwar and wore stunning gold ornaments. Her singing reflected her persona. So full of kindness, innocence yet a lot of intense emotions stashed deep within. It is hard to believe she died of lung infection as the kind of breath control she had, only a pair of bellows instead of lungs could produce! Be it the arabic genius humming in Humma or the heart wrenching Porale Ponnuthaayi or the playful akkada or the recent Evano Oruvan or vintage Ilayaraja hit like Malayil yaaro and the longing Aalana sedhi solli in Deva's music, She has been the other name for versatality.

The other day i was driving and listening to Kuchi Kuchi Rakkama from Bombay. Her voice was crytal- like, beaming away to glory through Rahman's composition. Though she was very reserved, she was the hot favorite of top composers of our times. She held her own throne, musical kingdom in the hearts of her fans.Her voice will always remain one of its kind, Her glory will never die. May her soul rest in peace. We love you Swarnalatha ji, forever.