Meeting the legend

Isaignani Ilayaraja is my all time favourite music director ahead of anyone. I have a great admiration for some persons like Ilayaraja, writer Sujatha, Sachin Tendulkar, A.P.J.Abdul Kalam and a few more...
and meeting them is still a distant dream for me. But by God's grace i was endowed with the most cherishable moment on a day when we had been to Thiruvannamalai.
We used to hear about Ilayaraja's frequent visits to this place but never had an opportunity to see him due to a phase difference between the visits of ours and his. But on this day ( could be a resonance!!) we had finished our Giri Pradakshinam, visited Arunachaleshwara temple and were back to the Ramanasramam. My cousin and myself were on a walk and suddenly heard someone uttering the sentence "Raja has come today"...
"Oh man! let's rush up!"
we went all around the place and came back to the hall where we were sitting at first. I had to call my mother who was standing to witness the pooja. I could see a short man, with short grey hairs, clad in a white shirt and dhoti.
"ah yes! got him"
after the pooja got over, I got the idea of asking for a photograph with him. And went to ask him slowly, "sir oru photo eduthukkalaama unga kooda"
"hmmm, ok" he said it with a saintly smile
we took two photos with him.
I wanted to discuss a lot about his "Thiruvaasagam", "how to name it"....
But couldn't. I couldn't believe my eyes first of all!!!
Anyway, that was a great moment!!! unforgettable!!!

my first ever project!!!

It was year 2000, i was doing my seventh std when i had to do a project for the first time...and it had to be a working model!!!
Our SUPW (socially useful project work) teacher told us, one fine day, about the project, which was supposed to be a working one. We were given two weeks of time, i was damn cool and two days before we had to submit it, we were reminded of it once again by our sir. As a sincere guy i forgot it once i went home and sat before the tv to watch a cricket match.
The following day, we had one library period where i got engrossed in a book which had a good number of science experiments for children, an experiment which was to explain the working of a stethoscope caught my attention. Soon after i reached home, i wanted to try that experiment.
It had to be done with a fork, a spoon and a thread. The thread was to be wound around the holding end of fork, then the two ends of the thread had to be placed in the ears. The fork has to be hit with the spoon slightly, then the working of stethoscope can be felt.
WOW!!! so nice. I explained about this intriguing one to my parents. As parents, they appreciated me and then i went out for playing, came back, and had a good dinner. After dinner we used to watch some weekly programmes in DD metro (is it still there?!!) at home. Then the clock struck ten which was my bed time.
It was a nice bright morning at 7, when i was woken up by my mom. Suddenly something dragged my mind, "GOD, my project!"
"if i tell mom now, she can't help me!" i thought.
then this thought came as a flash in my mind, "how about the stethoscope thing?!!"
Then got ready to go to school.
" amma, i want my stethoscope!" i asked.
"oh that spoon and fork thing...ok...but what for??" she asked
I had to tell her about the project (worrrrrking model...lols!!)
"Is it enough for your project??" she doubted.
"I'll manage ma...come on, bring that"
Went to school.
Some fifteen people out of 43 brought theirs. Then came the SUPW period!!
Sir took us to the ground thinkng people had brought theirs promptly.
He used to hit the guys a lot. It was fun for him:))))))
When the names were being called, my name, roll no. 27 was called.
i went with my project (lols), wrapped up in a tiny polyethene bag.

" Enna boy...where's your praajectu??" he enquired
I got a bit scared now. He made some 19 or 20 people stand aside (for hitting them)
"will it become a big comedy??!!" i had a doubt
"sir here it is !" with a smile
"wopen it" he ordered
I took the fork, wound it with a thread and went near him.
"sir...plug it into your ears" i told
"enna pa...enna ithu" he couldn't get what i was doing to him.
Then i struck the fork with the spoon slightly.
He stared at me. Then i struck the fork for the second time (a bit harder!!!!)
" engae ya antha mara kela??" he instructed a guy to pluck a branch from a tree.
"sir...how's it??
this is how a stethoscope works!! working model sir" i knew what was about to happen after the guy brings the tree branch.
"dai...unna working model panna sonna...yetho oru spoon la kayira kattu kaatha puncture aakuriya?? he asked me as he moved nearer to hit me.
"sir...something is better than nothing" i told him slowly...
"but nothing is better thaan naansense" he gave a reply and started chasing me when i started running.

He was a very nice man...he left me just like that!!
Got transferred three months after that, but, he remembered me when i saw him in 2006(more than five years after he got transferred) in my college. Sir felt happy when he heard i was doing machanical engg...
But I don't know if he still remembers my First project!!!
Happy old school memories :-)

Saroja music

Yuvan has proved himself yet again,
this is what i can say in short. He has composed six songs including a song which has been composed exclusively for the promotional purposes of the movie.
It's my life:
This is a song for promoting the movie. The voice is very much impressive and usage of the strings for the song is splendid.
Aaja meri soniye:
this song creates a nice mood, the singers are Vijay yesudas, S.P.B.Charan and Premji Amaran.
The combination of Yuvan and Vijay Yesudas always works out well and the streak continues.
Premji's voice adds a nice flavour to the song. Usage of tabla is good.
Cheeky Cheeky:
Yuvan, Matilda, Nirdhiya have sung this song. The good aspect of this song is Yuvan's voice. He's sung this song in a completely new way. Though he sings only a few lines, it's a nice change to hear his voice in the lower registers.
Dosth Bada Dosth:
Wow. Simply superb. Haricharan, Naveen and Rahul Nambiar rock in this song. Though the lyrics is just normal, the rendering is cool. Haricharan has been the favourite voice for Yuvan in the recent past and it is very much evident in this song. Hope this combination continues to become a hit.
Kodana kodi:
This song is the best of this album. Mohammad Aslam, Ranina and Kavi have sung this song. The female voice and the expression of the voice is awesome. Aslam's best part is the second and the third stanzas. BGM of this song will become a big hit. Especially the humming wich comes through the song.
Nimirnthu Nil:
Shankar Mahadevan!!!
Who else can sing this song!!!
composed in th raaga of shanmuga priya, i feel it's a sentiment for the music director to compose fast beat songs in this raaga in particular, anyway there's a good variety.

As a whole, this album is a musical treat by Yuvan!!!