DIARY OF A JANIAC

NIT Trichy always brought to my mind an image of a bunch of the countries biggest brains stuck together in a classroom solving a bunch of complex mathematic equations, after going to NITT for Festember '11 I've got to say I couldnt have been more wrong. Here's why!

The first time I had heard of Festember was when my band decided to send in our entry for the battle of the bands contest. Unfortunately, we didnt make the cut. Later I heard that motherjane were headlining the show and I thought to myself that we had actually been selected, I would have actually played a gig in front of my idols. Woah! I'm pretty sure I would have been shivering so bad before getting on that stage, but yes it would have been such an amazing moment. *sigh* -- Some dreams do take time to come to life I'm guessing :)

Saturday early morning, and I set off on a bumpy bus ride to the land of NITT. Reached Trichy at about 3 and headed straight for the hotel where motherjane was put up. A nice little nap, a bit of TV, and a little tea and motherjane was all set to rock the night. And so was I.

Soundcheck got super delayed because of a lot of technical difficulties, but the show did go on and motherjane took to the stage at around 9.30 PM or so.

The Panchari Melam music began to play and the stage was filled with smoke. The stage was set for motherjane. The crowd began to go wild. And soon, motherjane lit the stage on fire with Disillusioned. The energy was mesmerizing and the guys were really starting to enjoy (i specifically say guys because the guys were made to stand about 50 feet away from the stage and the girls were made to stand right in front. The only sad thing in an otherwise brilliant setting). The girls, still sitting, were clapping and cheering but very very few had gotten into "the zone".

Next up was Maya and Suraj dedicated this song to all the beautiful women that were sitting right in front. He urged the girls to stand up and get dancing. If I were asked to name two people that came to mind right away that had the ability to get a crowd going, I would say "Suraj Mani from Motherjane and Vishal Dadlani from Pentagram" without giving it any thought. Suraj got the girls going and soon there were numerous girls dancing to motherjanes tracks.

I love this picture :) -- so natural.. so much passion.. and so much fun :D

Blood in the Apple followed, and motherjane played the song sans the bass solo at the start of the song. The solo that Clyde plays gives the song a little more feel, or so I think and I did miss that part. But the rest of the song was note-perfect and by this time, everyone in the crowd was headbanging deliriously.

Deepu really seemed to be enjoying himself and he could be seen jumping all around on stage. It made for a really nice sight :)

Soul Corporations, tweaked at the start a little bit, followed. Santhosh played a mind numbing solo during the song that left me speechless. It was an extremely beautiful solo that had that unique motherjane touch, yet had many more elements that were new. If anyone has any doubt what so ever as to where motherjane is headed after Baiju leaving, trust me, they are in real safe hands. Santhosh is a guitarist that will blow your mind over and over again every time you watch him. No exaggeration what so ever, I promise.

The auditorium was then filled with the words Thaka Thakita Thaka Thakita as motherjane belted out Chasing the Sun. John, playing with a finger injury, and yet brought so much life to the song.

Their newest single, No Contest, was up next and I with my short hair successfully executed ze WINDMILL! WOO HOO!! I believe that the aggresive riffs that Santhosh has composed for this particular really does suit the theme of the song and though it aint very pronounced but Santhosh has played some really beautiful parts in the song that will not fail to amaze you.

Fields of Sound, Broken, Jihad, Mindstreet followed. Santhosh played two brilliant solos, one at the end of Jihad and one after the last verse of Mindstreet. I'm sorry if I'm talking way too much about Santhosh but he was just that brilliant.

motherjane ended the gig with Karmic Steps. It was unfortunate but the gig was a rather short one because of the delays and the curfews. But none the less, it was a brilliant show and I really did think every single person in the crowd enjoyed himself.

I did hope they played a few more tracks, especially Maktub as Santhosh(yes him again) has added a lovely piece at the start which plays on the Flamenco Guitar(Box Guitar). It sounds so beautiful and adds a lot of soul to the song. I cant wait for the new album now. He has promised to bring in a lot of new elements and I cant wait to lay my hands on it.

Anyway, the bumpy bus rides well worth it and I must add a note to thank all the students at NITT for making it a lovely experience, and special mention to Pankaj for the hospitality and the company. Thank you all :)

p.s. Photo Credit : Charles and Vishal Nambiar

Cheers

Hari

The entire Pooram features about 96 elephants(according to a newspaper article but I believe there were a lot more) and is a sort of a friendly competition between two temples - The Thiruvambady Bhagavathi and Paramekkavu Bhagavathi with the Sree Vadakumnathan Temple playing a role almost equivalent to a mediator. The festival is not just important in the Hindu calendar and even churches take place in this gala event. Apart from the events at the temples mentioned, there are numerous smaller events that take place at the other temples in Thrissur and also at various other smaller gatherings throughout the city.

The Pooram is almost an 8 hour music festival with various instruments, such as the Chenda, Thimila, Edakka, Kombu, Elathalam, Sanghu, Kurumukuzhal being used. Every event at the festival is accompanied by music played by local maestros. Every event is presided by the elephants of the two major temples carrying golden plaques depicting the Gods of the respective temples. For most of the events these elephants are flanked by as many as 14 other elephants. Each one of the elephants has an umbrella, fans made out of peacock feathers and a bunch of yak tail which are held by people seated on the elephant. These are swayed rhythmically to the music played around the procession of elephants.

We reached Thrissur on the day of the Pooram at about 7:00 AM and as a result missed out the "Arattu" at both the Thiruvambady and Paramekkavu Temples. However we were just in time to catch the main elephants leaving the Thiruvambady Temple and accompanied the elephants for a small distance during the Poorapara, which is when various households offer their donation to God, such as rice, bananas, flowers, etc.

We then headed back to get a bite to eat before slipping out again to catch the Madathil Varavu at the Vadakumnathan Temple Grounds. Three elephants had left from the Thiruvambady Temple and had been joined by two elephants at regular intervals and when the procession reached the Vadakumnathan Temple, the count had become 15. 15 elephants had also arrived at the same grounds from the Paramekkavu Temple. When the elephants reach the grounds, the artists that have accompanied them play the Panchavadhyam. This display was especially entertaining for Praveen, Raja and Me as the artists seemed to be headbanging while playing a few sections of their set.

We then hung around near the grounds for a while. We caught glimpses of the elephants taking bath which was a pretty cool sight. The elephants were spraying water all over themselves and over a few of the people that surrounded them as well. There were elephants all around us and when sometimes some elephants even crept up behind us. [:P]

The Elanjithara Melam was next at about 2:00 PM. This was a musical display by some of the most experienced musicians of Thrissur and the neighboring cities. The entire display is divided into 3 kalams, based on the speed. As goes unsaid, the 3^rd being the fastest was the most explosive in nature.

We went back for lunch and had a bit of rest before we headed to the Vadakumnathan Temple for the Pandi Melam. This was where we got our first taste of the huge crowd. On the way into the temple, we each got about five blows to our rib cage each and it was a sheer miracle that a stampede didn’t break out. We eventually got inside the temple and Praveen and I tried our best to get to the front row (because of our concert mentality). We did get peppered with blows but we did catch a glimpse of the musicians who were performing. The music was pretty good. My favourite part from this set was the Chenda. The format of the Pandi Melam was very interesting to me. The tempo is increased to a certain level slowly then the tempo drops a few notches and then increases again to a higher tempo than the previous time. Ultimately it reaches a very explosive tempo. The entire set is similar to climbing a stairway in the following order – two steps up and one step down – and repeating this cycle until you reach the top of the stairway.

Immediately after this was the Kudamattom. This is a competition between the two temples. There are about 15 elephants from each temple that face each other at the Vadakumnathan Temple Grounds and they change the umbrellas that are mounted on the elephants. The umbrellas are all made out of silk and are beautifully decorated. There were over 40 umbrellas that were mounted on the elephants, one after the other. This is the main event of the Thrissur Pooram and about a 100,000 people witnessed this live at the grounds (and we were right in the middle of it all) and many more saw the entire spectacle on their television set. Each time the umbrellas were changed the crowd went into a bout of madness. Some of the umbrellas were very unique and colourful. Many had intricate designs on them which made them look very beautiful.

During the night many of the events were repeated again. We picked up my sister, Gauri, and headed to the grounds and caught the Panchavadhyam once again. However there wasn’t much of headbanging this time around. But it was fun nonetheless. We strolled around the grounds for a while and saw numerous people lying around on the streets waiting for the Vedikattu, the pyrotechnic show.

The Vedikattu was at 3:00 AM and was literally explosive. The fireworks were amazing and the colours that filled the sky were beautiful. According to a website, the Pooram committee had employed a chemist, Dr T.C. Krishnamenon, to bring about the right combination of colours, such as Calcium Chloride for the Orange colour and so on.

After just a few hours of sleep, we woke up for the Pagal Pooram which consisted of a repeat of the Kudamattom and another dose of the Vedikattu. The Kudamattom this time was attended by many families and not just the men. Half way through the event, a few men of the committee came and buried huge containers in the ground. They contained about 10 kgs of gunpowder I’m assuming. We were all asked to clear the ground and we stood on the road waiting for the Vedikattu. This time there were no colours involved, just noise. And the noise was deafening, to say the very least. The entire Vedikattu lasted for about 15 minutes and there were people of all ages standing and trying to cover their ears.

The two main elephants from the two temples then made their way to the Vadakumnathan Grounds. The two elephants faced each other in front of the Vadakumnathan Temple deity, Lord Shiva, and raised their trunks to one another. This symbolized the end of this year’s Pooram events. It was like the two elephants were bidding adieu until next year. We unfortunately couldn’t catch this magnificent event live and had to satisfy ourselves by watching it on television.

Later on in the day, we visited the Thrissur Pooram exhibition, which wasn’t very interesting but fun due to the company. The best part of the Pooram exhibition is the display of the Anna Chamayam, which are the adornments that are placed on the elephants. However, this display is removed a day before the pooram and hence we couldn’t see it.

The Anna Chamayam

Finally, a few warnings for those that desire to catch this magnificent treat. The entire event will sap all of your energy due to the excruciating heat. Next, be prepared to catch a few blows and also don’t be afraid to GIVE a few blows if you want to get a good view of the things happening. And never miss out the free drinks that the people give out on the roads. Those are probably the only way you'll get through the entire day.

However having said that, neither the heat nor the blows can stop anyone from having the best time of their lives in THRISSUR – GODS OWN CITY, during the Pooram! For those of you who haven’t had the opportunity to catch this magnificent festival yet, please do so as soon as possible. I can guarantee that you will have the TIME OF YOUR LIVES here!

p.s. Special Thanks to Praveen, Hari Menon, Manorama for the Photographs.

Cheers

Hari

amajaniac n so r u

The Level with the clock is the one with the numerous prayer rooms.


A Closer look at the intricate designs on the entrances to the Charminar



View of Old Hyderabad from the Charminar


The Artwork on the Ceiling
Also showing the prayer rooms at the second level





The four minarets of The Charminar
Unfortunately wasnt able to get the entire first minaret




Raja at the Mecca Masjid

My Dad with his face painted
The coolest, most spirited dad you'll ever find [:D]



A small attempt at a photolog. Pictures taken with a 2MP E63 mobile camera. I'm a begginer so take it easy on me [:P]