Student Life...

Talking about the issues of students at the conference today took me back to my days when no one gave much thought to the research behind student development. Our parents tried to understand us, and helped us develop at our own pace- a blessing.

Father and Balamurali

Father had an interesting take on Balamuralikrishna- he respected the latter's abilities and his singing, but considered him an egotist. While nearly all Carnatic musicians start their performances with works of the great trinity of Tyagaraja, Muthuswami Dikshitar and Annamacharya, Bala often started with his own works.

Father's pain

When father was alive, I never realized the pain and suffering he went through and fought. If my brother was not with him, I do not know what might have happened. Life is such a mystery!

Is mod se ja te hain...

The wonderful song from Aandhi- has many memories. It was one movie which we all used to discuss. The songs are also very meaningful.

Records of C. Ramachandra

My father's range of musical tastes amazes me..he had records of Pankaj Mallick, Saigal, C.Ramachanrda, as well those of Kishore and SPB.

Tossing the Newspaper...

When we lived in Himayat Nagar we were on the second floor. The newspaper man, on the occasional day when he chose to deliver the paper, would swing by and toss it from the road onto our balcony. The newspaper was one of the eagerly awaited moments of the day. We had to keep track of the days the paper was not delivered, so that we could deduct it from the bill at the end of the month. On my recent visit to India I saw the newspaper packaging operation on the streets of Gurgaon...an interesting entrepreneurial sight.

Taking a bath

As I washed my hair and head today, I was reminded of the many times father applied oil to our head and then washed it. He would also apply a drop or two of oil to our ears so that they would be clean. So much care provided by our parents, despite all the complaints and grief we gave them.