Jaladharangam

I leaped out of my seat listening to the Jaladharangam in the prelude of the song - "Kothamalli Poove" - a not so famous song from the movie 'Kallukkul Eeram'. Ever since I heard the Jaladharangam in the song "Dheena Karunakaranae", I have had a fascination towards this wonderful instrument. But blame it on the 'too-many-choices-available' world, I never really had a moment so far to reflect on this instrument... And this song was a trigger to revive my (listening) interest on Jaladharangam..

Contine reading on Jaladharanagam (only) below.
Contine reading on Jaladharangam, Ilaiyaraaja and "Kotha Malli Poove" here..

So a casual browsing on Jaladharangam or Jal Tarang (So its called in the Hindustani music where its been around for longer than in the south) became a temporary obsession and I used the too-many-choices that was available to my advantage..

Firstly it is humbling to know that its one of the very ancient instruments..
Secondly it is alarming to learn that code red is designated on this instrument as there is hardly any mainstream players left :-(

While the conundrum of music found in nature is easily exemplified by Flute - a case where it is believed that the ancient man noted the wind blowing through the holes in bamboo that are made by beetles created music, I wonder why the beauty of sound waves produced by striking a container that's filled with just plain water (another natural element if you missed it) is often drowned. Also in a literal sense that is !!

There are couple of things that immediately strikes me as far as the uniqueness of this instrument is concerned.

Just think about the beauty of sound engineering here.. The proportion of size of the container viz the level of water in them, producing the same musical notes capable of any other acoustic or electronic instrument.. Also the technology scalable to same frequency ratios between successive notes.

Secondly, as far as I can think right now, this is the only (or certainly one of the very few) instrument where a single working atomic piece of an instrument is used to produce only one note (one swara); In fact what you call as Jal Tarang is a collective term used to denote 22 unconnected different cups placed around the artist. So put in perspective, Keyboard or Violin or Flute or Guitar or any instrument that I can think of has one integral piece of instrument, from which all the swaras can be produced. But here, if you want to play all the 12 notes in an octave, you will need 12 disparate instruments placed next to each other.. So from an acoustical engineering stand point, its as digital as possible that music can get ... With no viability of Analog sound (i.e., no possibility of one note "becoming" another through 'Gamakas'), Imagine the challenge that it poses to the artist as an Indian classical art instrument, a genre where usually a note arrives sliding from/to another... Combine with it, the natural short span of the note produced by this instrument (or 'Sustain'-ability as one would like to call it in musical terms).. With almost no reverb, this makes it unsuitable for establishing notes in a Raaga where usually artists hold on to a swara (especially at high pitches) for couple of Thala vottams.. Yet this is a bonafide classical instrument that has survived the test of time like no other.. Isin't this absolutely unique or am I going overboard here..!!

Next, this is in principle a melody instrument.. but the way of playing (by striking the bowl with a cane) and the crispiness of the output is akin to a Rhythm instrument.. just like a Drums or Mirudangam. So the melody played by this instrument involuntarily gets a rhythmic feel to it.. In fact if tastefully used, this instrument can well be used just as a percussion instrument.. Just a crazy thought crossing my mind...

To round up, I came up with couple of interesting references in the net...
- About an 80+ Maami who is apparently a legend..
- And this video... I was really dumbstruck.... She is so nimble that it completely contradicts the persona.. I was thrilled.. really really thrilled to watch this video. Such artists are one of a life time artists. I only hope that the legacy passes on...




And, If I do get an opportunity, this is definitely the next instrument I am going to learn..

With Love
Vicky

Thunder Usain Bolt

Just a week ago I was celebrating the lone gold medal of my home country.. Hey, I even left a comment on Abhinav's own blog on the same day that he won the gold (although he hadn't blogged yet after his winning at that time ..) Mine was the 788th comment in here... How more personal can you get in wishing the first olympic champion of your country.. !! (and 788th rank out of 1.1 billion is not that bad you know... )

Well, that had re-kindled my Olympic Fever and I wanted to watch the 100 mts Dash finals, the event that caught my fascination as a boy due to the dramatic episode (the rise and fall) of Ben Johnson in 1988 Seoul Olympics.. But I was too busy doing my Saturday chores, that I couldn't watch it live. When I wanted to catch-up online I found that the videos of Usain Bolt's amazing run is hard to come-by until I found one on dailymotion.com. (I guess the clip is again removed...) what a race.. Being Jamaica's first gold in this Olympics, I can imagine how ecstatic the Jamaicans would be feeling now...

Theory of relativity is clearly demonstrated in here.. When you realize that, 9.X seconds is normally the time you associate with gulping a glass of water, You have to admit that time is relative.. these are the fastest 9 Secs ever.. !! :-)

The victory dance that the media highlighted is a bit overdone in my opinion. The slowing down towards the end part is also exaggerated. You do notice a drop in his pace when he crosses the blue hoardings near the finish line.. But Its what I call realization of the victory a little too early and hence going with the flow.

Stumble Upon Raaja

You can define yourself a genuine fan or follower of something when you have learnt the art of distinguishing it/ them from the rest. So I feel, your benchmark to become a true Illaiyaraaja follower can be measured by the same postulate! But the challenge is, souls like Raaja are more trend setters than followers. And there are a few successful followers who tempt you to take the bait. So when you hear a good "Raaja - like" song that you have never heard before, the following can happen.

- You take a cautious approach.. You are not fully sure about its origin. Nonetheless you enjoy the song and make it a point to check who is the composer. When you find its not Raaja, you feel happy because you feel vindicated. (Eg: When I heard "Thulli Thulli pogum pennae"); But at the same time you feel sad because you couldn't be so sure yourself to begin with. You are still a boy, you are yet to make that crossover to a mature fan;

- Or You swear to death that, "this is Raaja..!"; Your beliefs are so strong that when you finally find out that its infact not Raaja, you see more red than disappointed. Because you refuse to believe the reality and rue on your wrong judgment at the same time.. because you have to deliberately downgrade the song you liked as it missed out on your definition of a good song, usually only accredited for Raaja's !! (Eg: When I heard songs like, "Oh... Ponmaanguyil Singaramaai", "Oru Kaadhal Enbadhu" for the first time); And actually on subsequent listening in hindsight, they no more seem as attractive as it was !!!

- Or You just know its Raaja. Verifying its authenticity is a mere matter of formality. (For example When I heard "IlaVenil Idhu Vaigasi Maadham" for the first time)

So recently I heard this one from a Talent hunt show - one from the 3rd category. The decent job of replication both by this aspiring singer and the accompanying orchestra didn't make me miss the original flavour for a first time listening.. The prelude was so rich with its whistle flute (like the one from the orchestration piece of "Isai Paadum Thendral"), that I was immediately convinced this is Raaja. Those Guitar strums through out the song and the rhythm arrangements with those variations.. Those out of the world chord sequences (Don't miss the augmentated chords on "Kathakal sollu nee" in first line.. bliss...) The unorthodox turn midway of the stanza's melody touching the chinna Gha and thus exhibiting the heights of innovation on an otherwise major oriented melody... I was dead sure this is Raaja. And I was smiling when the 2nd interlude started.. because I was expecting it to be strings show and sure it was.. that brahmaastra of Raaja, the "String Ensemble", again stamping its authority all over... my moments of self anointing glory.. for having expected the unexpected...

But a bigger boost when you come across such beauties is that, your day is made and you get this unusual satisfaction as if you have done something good yourself just listening to them while in reality the composer has just accomplished the divine task of exuberating his feelings through the listener.. The composition itself is a 20 or 30 or even centuries old is irrelevant, for its these numbers you call timeless...

With Love
Vicky

PS: Later I learnt from a friend that this song, 'Poonkaattinodum' is one of all time classic songs in Kerala from a movie called "Poomukhappadiyil ninneyum kaathu" and I might actually be jailed for tagging this an anonymous song.. I hope I am not alone !!

Vickypedia-FY08

Since Feb 29, the day when Mr. P Chidambaram delivered his Union budget, I have had few emails to update the Vickypedia. So here I am back with the "Naya Nimbu Shakti", FY 08 compliant Vickypedia - Your Tax dashboard.
(Click here to download now; You can alternately right click and say "Save Target As..")

I also created the below FAQ for the benefit of new comers:
1. What is Vickypedia?
A: A very basic tool that calculates your 'Income Tax' and 'Net take home Salary';
Disclaimer: This tool is designed at the best interests of it's end user. Though at most care is taken to ensure its basic authenticity, this is far from being perfect; Figures are indicative and may not be accurate; Author is not responsible for any discrepancies that may arise in the calculations. Don't use it to finalize the amount that you need to pay to the IT dept!! Use it only for personal reference.

2. There are umpteen similar tools probably available in the internet. So whats different in this one ?
A: In my personal view, Simplicity and Aesthetics are the USP of this tool. Also this is a tool for the "tax payer" made by a "tax payer" (well.. ex tax payer.. .!!); So you can feel that the sheet is made from 'your' perspective and not from your auditor's perspective.

3. So any "tax payer" can use it?
A: No. Its made for salaried employees who pay income tax in India. The salary components used typically applies to professionals in the high end organized labor sector as it assumes a salary structure of Basic + HRA + Special pay etc., It also assumes that you are paying a professional tax of Rs. 200 every month;

4. What are the salient features:
A: There are quite a few actually.
- The complete tool is in fact a dashboard; A one stop overview of your salary and tax story.
- Data is captured in one screen; Results are displayed in the same screen;
- Tool is very printer friendly and is printable in a single A4 sheet for handy reference; (Thank you Yogish)
- The tool has a HRA (House Rent Allowance) Wizard, that gives you the actual component (out of the rent that you pay) that is tax free. It also deduces the maximum rent that one can afford to pay which will make one pay zero tax over HRA, there by taking its full advantage. If your actual rent is above this figure, there is no further tax advantage and if its below this figure you are leaking additional amount as tax on underutilized HRA.
- The tool is focused upon the Net Take home salary. I've even deduced a perceived Monthly net salary component, which gives you the holistic view of the monthly salary

5. What is the tool based on? Is it safe to download this..? Does it uses Macro?
A: This is a simple MS Excel spread sheet. There are no Macros in the tool. I've made this by simply leveraging MS Excel's powerful arithmetic, logical and referential capabilities.

6. Why is the tool not fully editable?
A: The tool allows user inputs as needed on the fields with Yellow background. Other cells are protected because its very easy to inadvertently modify these cells and most of them are formula based. Trust me, some formulas are so long that it will be a mess to fix it again if you change them!! A password will be prompted when you try to edit cells that you needn't.

7. What is "Monthly Take Home - Cash" and what is "Net Monthly Take Home Salary"?
A: "Monthly Take Home - Cash" (cell: G27 in the sheet) is the amount that you usually see on the first of every month in your bank account. "Net Monthly Take Home Salary" (cell: G32 in the sheet) is the figure including the "Monthly Take Home - Cash" and monthly pro-rated values of annual components such as LTA, Medical and other allowances that are paid one time through the year. For instance, a high gross salary may or may not result in a high take home salary as LTA or medical or other annual component might skew up the stack; So "Net Monthly Take Home Salary" completes the picture. Mind you, its still a "real" figure except that you don't feel it that way on a monthly basis.

8. How accurate are these figures?
A: If you have made proper tax savings declarations at the beginning of the financial year, then the actual take home salary should be reasonably accurate. If you change these declarations during the course of the year, then this figure reflects your average actual take home (i.e., Sum of 12 months' salary divided by 12); Similarly, I've calculated the perceived monthly net salary under the maximum tax bracket (30%); So if you are in a lower tax bracket, then expect a more perceived monthly net. (Taxing the perceived net based on one's actual bracket is a little more cumbersome process; May be in the next version !!!) However the actual net salary is calculated properly across all tax brackets;

9. Does it cost anything? Can I re-distribute this tool?
A: This is not a commercial tool and you are very welcome to use it prudently. Always refer the original source to others for downloads. Besides properly crediting the author for his efforts, the end users are sure to get the latest version of the tool.

10. How do I send Comments/ Suggestions/ Errors on this tool?
A: Use the Comments section of this blog or send me an email.

11. What are the known limitations?
A: The tool doesn't cater for advance tax needs of the users such as Tax on Capital Gains, Tax benefits on NSC interest accruals and other special tax exemption sections and categories. Please use the cells C16 (Other components - Taxable) and C17 (Other components - Tax free) for including additional income accordingly. The idea of this tool is to give a bird's eye view on one's salary profile with minimal user inputs and displaying key outputs. While its possible to make it as complete and correct as possible by adding all exotic features, I didn't want to do it at the expense of its simplicity.

12. What is the motivation behind this tool?
A: Doing unofficial tax consultancy was one of my hobbies at my work. And for some reason I always found that the realm of salary, payroll and tax is perceived as the domain of Payroll executives, Auditors and that retired Government Officer uncle who lived next door. Hence I playfully started with a simple tax calculator last year to demystify these notions. I received many encouraging responses and rolled it as a handy, unofficial tool in my local circle. I decided to update the tool and publish it in this blog because after Budget 2008 I received many a enthusiastic shout from the existing users. Beside I just thought of seeding some useful content to Internet, a place from where I've been only leeching info so far !! I would be happy if you felt I've graduated in that attempt after using this tool.

Ski is the Limit !

The only other occasion when I have given serious attention to Skiing is while watching James Bond movies. So when I had the opportunity to do some real Alpine Skiing in Austria along with my fellow colleagues, it was more an experiment to see if its something for me; It was just a 2 day trip.. If it’s a flop, the ordeal would have lasted only a couple of days and neither my stamina nor my wallet would be over drained … More importantly I will have someone to bring me back home if need be!!

And to realize that Skiing is at least not as easy as sipping a Shaken Vodka Martini, one has to be in ones own shoes. Ski shoes I mean. This dawned on me the day when I first tried them on during the trial day in our office; With a couple of kilo grams added to each of my legs and a thick boot arresting my calf muscles, I along with everyone else, was walking like some one who is just discharged from a family planning ward!! “Is this how uncomfortable it’s going to be wearing this thing..?” I asked.. “Yup.. For the whole day”.. a matter-of-factly colleague replied. That evening I was contemplating, “Well.. I still have the choice …!!”

The place was a small ski village in the Innerkrems region of the Kranten province in Austria called Schonfeld, a location which our bus driver described as “middle of no where”. The First session on the first day of Ski lessons was bewilderment. The Ski instructor, one Mr. Roland, an easily 60 plus native but as agile as a rabbit, was explaining how to put the skis on to your shoes. He was locking the shoes with the skis by simply applying a little pressure on the feet while to me it felt as complex as if I am an Astronaut preparing for my first space walk. Despite jumping harder than Javed Miandad imitating Kiran More, I was always caught off balance landing my feet down only to get my boot’s sol thicker by a few centimeters of snow - which in turn made the shoe fitting process much more complex than what it is. By the time I got over it, I was up and running.. quite literally .... because the moment you are on your skis you are on a zero friction surface and even slightest of the slopes is good enough to put you on an involuntary take off that ends up with a grand fall finale unless you know how to stop yourself, which being on my first day I didn’t; If I manage to get up(which is again a very cumbersome and irritating process), within seconds I was moving again mildly along the direction of gravity and a seemingly unsuspecting situation turns to a disaster in no time. I simply could not stand on my own. I ask Roland, “Is there something wrong with the Skis..?” He replied “No... This is one of the best brands...” with a funny look on his face that meant “its not the skis... its you...”

It wouldn't have taken as long for Newton to discover the force of gravity had he skied before he bit the apple. Whatever else I managed further that day in the name of skiing was just fluke. No techniques, No control... At the disposal of Mother Gravity.. However I had found one fall back option to stop in case of emergencies; and what’s that..? I just told you.. Fall Back… !!

Being starters we were practicing on a ski area that was meant for Kids. And there were so many of them skiing so wonderfully well that I was not sure if it was humiliating or inspirational. But by now, I've learnt what I need to learn (!!). My balance while on the move was Ok. I am leaning forward and bending my knees. But I didn't know how to brake, how to steer and how to walk with my skis (Trust me, this is a very essential part for beginners.. Don't forget.. Mother Gravity is always watching you..). Exhausted - both mentally and physically, Score line at the end of day one read: Down.. almost Out...

Back at the hotel, I asked another colleague, for some personal tips. He and his wife were kind enough to explain me the basics. For braking, just make a 'V' with the Skis with the pivot of the V pointing in front of you while simultaneously bring your knees close to each other. (This way the inner skis will make friction against the snow and eventually reduce your speed… Aah…); For steering, Move to your right (as in move your shoulder and right knee a bit forward) and you will automatically turn left.. Do the opposite to turn right. Difficult to visualize..? Well.. Think of birds or Aeroplane.. Now, finally to anchor yourself or for walking with the skis, First get yourself perpendicular to the slope (with the help of stocks); Now peg the ski that’s towards the slope outward, take a small step with the other leg and peg it parallel to the first ski. Small steps.. all the time.. And you have taken a giant leap in skiing..!

Day 2 was crucial. Having learnt the theory I was anxious how am I going to fare in the practicals. Thankfully it was not as futile as my engineering Electronics Devices and Circuits lab (where Milman & Halkias along with the toppers of my class seemed to be the only rare breed to prove what the text book said) but as tangible as the high school chemistry lab (Blue..? Crystalline...? Ok.. Its Copper Nitrate..); Whatever I was told, seem to be working as I realized this is a race between You and Fear.. the winner takes control.. It’s just a mind game…

As I continued, I could slowly overcome the fear.... Then, I started to enjoy it…. And then I became obsessed.... I didn't even go for the first break session and kept practicing; After 3 to 4 routines, I had the confidence to try out the first blue piste. Along with Roland, I skied down a basic slalom of 8 flags; And once I had the hang of it, I repeatedly took the lift and kept skiing ignoring my calf muscles which was throbbing already. After one such slalom, a stranger came to me and asked in his broken German English "Where you from..?" and I replied "India..". "You have mountains in India?...". "Yes.. the biggest of all !!..." "You ski in India? .... ". "No.. This is my first time.....". "Oh! Can I take picture with you..?". Bemused I ask him "Why..?"; He then said "I haven't seen anyone from India who could ski that well..." I was not sure if he sounded like someone congratulating a batsman scoring a century on his debut or someone who found me as amusing as a Pomeranian riding a one wheeled cycle on Gemini Circus. Either ways I had to take heart from the fact I was a subject worth a photograph.

Much of the 2nd day's afternoon was spent taking joy rides on lifts to much higher altitudes and having nice Italian Ravioli for a late lunch at a 6500 feet restaurant that offered some breath-taking panorama of Alpine scenery. Back at my room, that night I saw the clearest sky ever and noticed some famous constellations with amazing clarity thanks to some real wilderness absent from any human light. It was the culmination of a productive trip. From the most miserable starter on day one, I ended the day 2 spotting Orion's dog for the first time together with some confidence to handle a blue piste. I am still just a 2 day old novice slogging to ski and my technique no where near perfection... but these 2 days did re-ignite some long forgotten learning skills;

I am not fit enough to be at your majesty's secret service yet. But I am sure even James Bond started like me... !!