Mohanam

Sri. N. Vijay Siva, an eminent carnatic singer once said " “Never try to promote music. Serve it and it will promote you”.  Those very words have bolstered in me a strong motivation to serve music and hence the blog. My sincere thanks to my parents Mrs. Jayanthi Sriram and Mr. K. Sriram for sowing the seeds of 'wisdom of music' since my early age of 3. I would also like to thank my teachers Smt. Geetha (from Chennai), Smt. Akila Siva mother of Sri.N. Vijay Siva, Sri. Koviladi Rengarajan & Sri. Madhvaprasad (Srirangam) and my present teacher Smt. Shobha Shekar (Kalakruthi school of carnatic music and Veena, Melbourne) for lighting my way on my journey towards His kingdom of music. Special thanks my husband Anand and my daughter Amrita who have been really supportive for me to continue with this wonderful journey of music.

For a common man to understand carnatic music let me begin from the compositions of Maestro Isaignani Illayaraja whose compositions has reached every corner of the Indian society.  Each and every composition of him would bring out the essence of the 'Raga' the song is based on. A Raga in simple terms is a unique combination of any of the notes sa ri ga ma pa da ni.  There are more variations of notes ri,ga,ma,da but lets not get there now as too much theory generally makes my husband fall asleep.  Lets dive straight into Raga Mohanam and learn to appreciate the songs based on the raga mohanam the next time we listen to it. 

"Ninu kori varnam" song from the movie 'Agni nakshatram' is based on the raga Mohanam. This is a striking example of the Masetro's composition with strong roots in carnatic fundamentals. "Ninu kori" is a 'Varnam' that you will learn when you begin your journey of carnatic music. A 'Varnam' is a mini song based on a Raga. Generally you can find the raga of any song by listening the first few notes of a song. This is called "Alaapana" in carnatic world. 'Alapana' in simple terms is an introduction of the Raga.  'Mohana rama' song sung by Maharajapuram Santham in the raga Mohana is a must to listen to appreciate and understand the essence of the raga Mohanam. For the lovers of A.R.Rehman, the song 'Omana pennae' from the movie 'Vinnai thandi varuvai' is an excellent composition based on the Raga Mohanam. I have sung a medley involving the carnatic varnam and the other two songs just to make the readers understand the essence of the Raga.

Quotes from my husband:

"I remember the day (I was 9 years old then) when the legend Maharajapuram Santham passed away due to a tragic accident when I was playing cricket with my friends on the road. I didn't feel a thing then.  But after listening to the song 'Mohana rama' after 23 years I did shed a drop of tear for the legend from my heart."