When I learn carnatic music, I ask the meaning of the song in the language (usually telugu, tamil, kannada, malyalam, sanskrit which i am curious about) taught or why a particular raga is constructed in that way, how and why its similar or not, comparison with Hindustani music, and a zillion other mundane questions; which has always always annoyed every teacher i've known till date. Not that this research interests me but its just sheer curiosity; which i satisfy via the Internet.
Vid...I wish you could come and learn Carnatic music from me. I have not had a SINGLE student like you yet. They assimilate the info I give them, but they don't ask questions on their own...if I don't know the answers, it would be fun to find out together! Yes, I do like curiosity; not that one is going to do a research paper on the subject, just that one would like to know....I give the meanings of the lyrics, talk about stuff that excites MY curiosity...(eg..."Mishram" is so called because mishram is "mixture"...it is a mixture of 4 and 3!.. and I am unable to find out why Sankeernam, the word for 9, is so called...) Deepa. On Tue, Feb 26, 2008 at 11:28 AM, va <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > On Feb 16, 2008 3:48 PM, Deepa Mohan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > Well, looks like Vijay TV has finally scraped up the guts to go beyond > > Tamil (or Hindi) serials/movies with their retrograde, biased and > suppressive attitude towards women all in the name of preserving culture > (whatever it means) are a waste of my time........ my zero paise worth on > most serials/movies/etc. > > > I don't know her; but I found this article very interesting. However, > > as a dyed-in-the-wool Tambram (Tamizh Brahmin) Mami, I find this > > strange phenomenon that I call "pseudo-honesty" amongst many members > > of my community. They are perfectly willing to watch these reality > > shows, and perfectly willing to make fairly objective comments ...as > > long as it is all in the abstract. Discussing *themselves* or people > > known to them? Fat chance. You see, they, and their friends, are all > > "normal". That is exactly what one of my relatives said to me, "Thank > > goodness, we are all normal people". The people on these shows are, > > Actually Hindu religion is truly free [0] [1] in every sense of the way and > very open to (mis)interpretation, even if its followers are control freaks in > the name of culture, honour, <whatever> > > [0] http://www.galva108.org/deities.html > [1] http://www.galva108.org/hinduism.html > > That said, as far as 'discussion' goes, that stems from the "dont ask > questions" culture. Forget such shows, it extends to every sphere of our > life. I find people unwilling to even question what they teach or learn > themselves. When I learn carnatic music, I ask the meaning of the song in the > language (usually telugu, tamil, kannada, malyalam, sanskrit which i am > curious about) taught or why a particular raga is constructed in that way, > how and why its similar or not, comparison with Hindustani music, and a > zillion other mundane questions; which has always always annoyed every > teacher i've known till date. Not that this research interests me but its > just sheer curiosity; which i satisfy via the Internet. Maybe folks are not > interested, dont care about the meaning or construction but I find the > attitude toward teaching/learning more disappointing than anything else. > -- > || vid || > >
